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| BULLETIN The Dark Side of the Planet chapter 9 |
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Feb 2009
The Dark Side of the Planet Chapter 9 All rights Reserved. 2005
Max Casebeau
CEEI reserves all rights
(Chapter 9 of forth coming Book "The Dark Side of the Planet")
Max Casebeau
Its OK to save the Planet
"After 25 years of environmental law (26 laws on the books in the US), we have still little or nothing to show for the billions of dollars spent trying to contain or stop environmental destruction. For the last six years, our present administration has ignored most of these laws, or simply hasn’t enforced them, even though they were in their constituent’s best interests. WHAT'S IS MORE DISTURBING is that the EPA considers CO2 after twenty (20)years of research, NOT a pollutant in the context of climate warming ! THE CASE WAS ARGUED BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT ! SANITY WON.
CBC Canadian Broadcasting had an extensive interview with Ontario's Minister of the Environment, Laurel Broten. Broten used to be an environmental activist, protesting on Parliament Hill against various social and environmental outrages and the negligence and indifference of the federal government. Since she became environment minister, she's been under enormous pressure to deliver on her rhetoric, and is finding that it isn't all that easy to do. She has had to defend a host of unpopular and environmentally destructive provincial government policies:
o Backsliding on the promise to close the province's coal-fired generators, which are Canada’s greatest polluters; she claimed that the technology to replace them with renewable and other nonpolluting sources of energy is not yet up to the task, and it will take another 10-20 years to do so.
o Defending the province's decision to invest additional money in nuclear power for the province, despite the dreadful record of the existing nukes, their astronomical cost, and the safety and waste disposal risks associated with them.
o Being accused of having a double standard when she criticized the US for not reducing emissions in the six Duke Energy private coal-fired energy plants that dump most of their toxins in downwind Ontario.
o Inaction in the face of Toronto's decision to buy a huge landfill site near London Ontario (adjacent to First Nation lands) to serve as a dump site for Toronto garbage that Michigan is justifiably no longer accepting.
o Allowing toxic paper mill sludge to be spread on Ontario lands with no control or oversight, despite a report commissioned by the province suggesting that the sludge needed to be decontaminated first.
o Allowing the giant Lafarge Cement corporation to burn a massive quantity of tires on its site as an 'experiment.
What is even more disturbing is that there is nothing in place in the schools where a baseline benchmark of environmental knowledge is available. Few students and the general public understand the full picture, but each has knowledge of a piece of it. Much of the debate centers on the visible and the obvious like forest service campgrounds being managed by private contractors, rates going up, or other land use issues in various parts of the country. An example of this is President Bush’s authorization of 1000 miles of the Hawaiian chain of coral reefs as a national monument. While these visible disputes or advances, take over, TOUTED AS VICTORY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT much more important changes escape the headlines.
Environmental objectives of a healthy world and peace some where got lost in the shuffle. Now 50 years later, the planet Earth has come back to bite these forces hard with an atmospheric chemistry "climate" problem that is clearly out of control. It turns out that what impacts the environment impacts the "climate" directly or indirectly as well.
A sample of the weather impact this year on the climate is the fact that an area the size of France and Germany put together, is thawing, (permafrost) in Siberia and has has turned into a methane engine producing huge amounts of co2. This is also happening in Alaska ! NOT good for the atmosphere, and not good for the planet upsetting weather patterns, displacing water temperatures, heating up oceans the Arctic particularly, and generally raising havoc with the status quo of civilizations all over the planet. Weather patterns may become unstable and resulting drought or floods and more generating more uncertainty where we work and live. It is possible that ocean levels may rise 3 ft, this is an urgent
consideration. Greenland is thawing now ten times as fast as thought 2 years ago.
Although this commotion may be very human, it has raised havoc with our schools and subsequently environmental education. Its affect has been subtle, undermining what is important, such as species extinction and stream pollution which are not reported in any depth at all. Just lately CEEI has down loaded 600 search terms for the last 6 months on the climate alone, (640,000) articles that one way or another impact climate warming. The media has no way of reporting 4000 CLIMATE news articles a day.! See . News directories.
They display their complete ignorance or willfulness by over looking an avalanche of climate news.
CEEI has designed a news system that can easily expanded, so that all of the planned CEEI 40 web sites will have their own respective news that impact these major world environmental problems.
Species are now disappearing at a rate of 150 a day, up from 100 a day ten years ago. This worldwide information is provided by the World Conservation Union who has calculated these numbers. The WCU has also acknowledged that 12,000 species are now at risk from Arctic and global warming. The President and his appointees from industry are now attacking the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Forest Management Practices Act, The National Environmental Policy Act, the Chemical Safety Information Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. His policies are in place despite the IPCC report in Paris Feb. 1, 2007.
As announced in June 2006 by the EPA (press releases enclosed), 50% of the streams in the US are now polluted. Their latest figures, according to the Clean Water Act, indicated that 30,000 streams were polluted. CEEI disputes this and believes the numbers could be between 200,000 and 400,000. The states reported 40,000 streams to the EPA in the year 2000. The Congress doesn’t know the real number nor does the CEEI, and the American people no longer know what to believe. ( MORE ON THIS ).
There has been some clean air improvement, however, in certain areas, but overall the car manufacturers don’t have sufficient incentives to make the necessary changes, ( except the price of gas at the pump)so pollution continues and the climate problem is spinning out of control. Acute asthma is occurring to children subjected to all this in the big urban centers on the east and west coasts. Recent information from the Harvard Center for Health suggests that the droughts in Africa are affecting China’s climate and unheard of allergies are falling on the west coast of the US from dust storms crossing the Pacific Ocean ! Regardless of all this information, the Bush administration still maintains climate change has to be proved.
Unfortunately much of the detailed environmental information has been withheld by the media for the last 30 years. Editors and publishers, fearful they would lose their subscribers and advertisers (as many had been threatened), wouldn’t publish hard hitting eco system information. Because of this, all state and federal polluted stream lists have never been seen in the public press. Though the US is said to be responsible for 25% or more of the world’s pollution, the press simply can’t seem to face the 4000 or so stories about environmental destruction or climate impacts, that must come across their news feeds or desks daily.
The schools further compounded this problem of bad communication by simply curtailing or eliminating environmental subjects at the grade and secondary school levels. Certain school boards, however, would not be intimidated and continued their environmental education, particularly in large urban areas.
Gas well drilling has increased by 100%. The 25,000 wells, now numbering 50,000, are fast encroaching on places in the Rockies thought to be wilderness. Mountain states are severely divided over the Interior Department’s natural gas well drilling and coal power generation policies. The press is finally reporting comments such as: "They are fed up." "We have to take back our government and media." "Earth is more important than a political party." Even the National Geographic, normally a neutral publication, reported that "westerners were now fighting westerners over the destruction of their lands as a result of gas well drilling in the mountain states."
CHANGE IN THE WIND
CEEI believes that three huge factors have come about -- the internet, the breakdown of enviro-education IN the schools. AN ABANDONMENT BY THE US OF ITS ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY. In regard to schools, some in New York City have a reported 80% dropout of students. The public, I believe, is ready for a change. Over all school performance seems to be holding its own, but government interference simply undermines planning. Given the resources available, and govt. interference, the schools have held pretty well. What is really at issue is that their are too many latch door kids with no supervision. ( subject for another web site).
In 2004 Jeffery Immelt, chairman and president of General Electric announced that GE was going to face the environmental challenge by producing whole new industries to help solve the huge problems that face the world -- problems of burning coal, fuel cell energy, jet engine pollution, etc. We need these new industries. The White House attacks the laws that prop up the potential to make these changes by not supporting education. or under mining it with corp. testing. Just recently GE and a raft of other companies and countries demanded that the Bush Administration get on top of co2 climate problem and give the nation specific energy co2 limits. (no more cap and trade that does nothing but perpetuate the co2 problems).
These leaders were tired of no limits being the policy, Bush was publically criticized by the chairmen of Americas 10 biggest corporations for not setting these specific limits to pollutants that would further damage to the earth’s atmosphere. He turned them down, and the IPCC down as well. The IPCC had just announced that with 90% certaintly the the earth is warming and man is responisible for causing it at their FEB 07 Paris meeting ! One wonders what constituency he, Bush, represents ?
STATE OF THE NATIONS ECOSYSTEMS
The Heinz Center, a Washington DC environmental science and economic think tank commissioned by the Clinton Administration, stated in their 2002 report, State of the Nation’s Eco-Systems, that "it may be that all the waterways in the United States are polluted," (mercury being one of the biggest polluters). Many other studies have stated exposure to certain chemicals have long been linked to human cancer. The Heinz Center report was recognized by 160 of the nations leading scientists and is a great beginning.
The Heinz Report further stated that of 13 indicators their message was "data not adequate for reporting." The EPA simply went ahead as if nothing had happened even though it was clear the report was talking about the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, National Forest Management Act, Federal Land policy Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act and the Wilderness Act all central to good environmental planning and management and restoration. The point is that the government is not in the business of criticizing itself.
According to the Heinz Report "the US may not have any streams that are free from chemical contamination." The report also noted 103 indicators of environmental health hazards in streams – some indicators very new – and stated that the report’s mission is to raise the factual level of the debate of environmental affairs. It is likely that as many as" 1/5 of the animal species and 1/6 of the plant species are on the way to extinction." Even more sobering, the report says vital data on our rivers and streams are just not available after 30 years under the Clean Water Act. Stream indicator numbers and size, use, chemical content, clarity, at-risk native and non-native species, stream habitat quality, ground water levels, recreation use – are all missing or are incomplete, or as sometimes noted, "data not adequate for national reporting." The SNES report came out in 2002. Another report is due this year. Mind that the WCU came out right after the ACIA Report to Congress, that 12,000 species are at risk from climate fallout. (CEEI added "man" to The ESEW web site, Endangered Species Early Warning).
The PEER organization, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY survey, dated May 1999, was a scathing white paper regarding the EPA, its management and information systems and their progress so far. CEEI has included this report in the CEEI network proposal as one more source of backup which Congress has ignored. ( see this report (CEEI Clean Water Act #4)
This new information is important but the laws that protect or control are not working. This has to change. The Clean Water Act is dead simply because the EPA and Congress will not provide the leadership to enforce the laws. The Endangered Species Act, until November 8th 2002, has been an obstruction for western ranchers and loggers who see only profits to be made using public lands. Unfortunately, the state governments only do what they are told to do. The citizens of idaho were treated to a spectacle of mob rule when 150 hunters on the capitol steps, and the new governor of the State "Butch" Otter exclaimed "I can’t wait to get out the 30.06’s to get the wolves" ( Wolves are back to 600 pairs and are to be taken off the Endangered Species Act in the fall).
Facts do speak. That’s what the CEEI’s new environmental education network will do. The present EPA web site is an organization chart and not much more. They have withheld 78% of the polluted stream information from the public for six years -- another reason why the environmental community simply has to challenge the press. The CEEI Network Project’s educational network of web sites would do that. Such a giant network would serve everyone, not only students, but the media, the government and the general public as well. It would also serve as a clearing house, since it is no longer possible to discuss these issues with the government with any confidence. What has changed is that it is OK to save the Planet !
Although the Environmental Protection Agency has a mandate to survey all of the streams in the United States and report every two years to Congress, according to the General Accounting Office GAO Reports, RCED 00-54 and 99-45, 81% of US streams have never been surveyed. The EPA failed to note this lack of completeness in its report to Congress. This is not an oversight, it is neglect.
Simple math suggests that the nation’s true pollution picture is much larger than the EPA reports. For example, in Idaho the last state legislature approved a list containing 702 streams. Add to this the 600 more that the Idaho Sporting Congress believes are missing, then factor in the 81% of streams not surveyed. The Idaho lists could be missing 5000 streams. This does not include unnamed streams and those streams with Giardia. This scenario applies to every state, making the EPA numbers totally unreliable. To this you can add the mercury drifting in from the new coal fired plant in Montana. just recently the Oregon State Univerisity brought out a report that stated all western states streams and fish are polluted with Mercury. " Its ok to eat the fish except bass" says the EPA who paid for the report.
In the past CEEI has been criticized for duplicating some of the information already on the EPA net. It turns out that CEEI caught the EPA withholding information critical to the management and administration of the Clean Water Act. After one CEEI press release was distributed to the press in early 2004, the 40,000 streams, as reported in the 2000 survey, were decreased by the EPA to 27,917. CEEI intends to document all polluted streams and rivers. (This is covered in CEEI’s proposal for a simple new computer program to process government 303(d) polluted stream files.) The latest official total of polluted streams is now 28,704.
EDUCATION, COMMUNICATION, PARTICIPATION
CEEI proposes a systematized environmental resource to help educate our youth, American citizens and the world. This new CEEI network is now available to all schools for free, but it is a resource in immediate need of funding and development to see this program reaches its full potential.
CEEI now has an Eco-pedia program at (www.eco-pedia.org> somewhat like Wikkipedia. The students already are used to term papers). What CEEI is now doing is publishing all eco, geo, and bio papers. Each class can do a class term paper too on restoration which can be cataloged and archived on the Eco-pedia web site and the authors applauded. A choice of subjects can be all climate problems at the local and state level or whatever the teacher chooses as important. CEEI has identified 35,000 unique projects which are outlined in the Eco-pedia Proposal and the upcoming Eco-pedia web site.
The Eco-pedia web site is designed to facilitate the learning process by providing all sorts of ideas and links, how to get a handle on local concerns, providing directory phone lists and link leads to public information. The papers they write will make a contribution to their community and state. For this the students and their schools will be recognized and become experts on local environmental status. All this is done at the grade school, high school and college level (see Eco-pedia Proposal). The point is, there are no rules, no government guidelines and no government interference. This program is ready-made for young minds that are eager to learn – the whole program being voluntary. They can win an Pin-pod or a computer for their class or them selves, all win a BAR Award for their resumes. ( Best Assessment Research). ADDED TO THIS CEEI is giving full cooperation to those institutions that parcel out scholarships that apply to science, journalism, english, and law based programs.
Check two original CEEI web sites -- America’s Polluted Streams and Restoration Strategies (APSRS) www.apsrs.org, and Endangered Species Early Warning (ESEW) www.esew.org -- were designed originally for high school and college lower division students. It was based on the idea that after seeing line after line, page after page and state after state of polluted streams, and more recently the numbers of species in trouble in North America and the world, interrelationship of this information, that they are more able to understand the magnitude of environmental destruction in the United States and world and now the Planet is definitely on this menu.
CEEI’s VISION and DISCUSSION
CEEI is therefore proposing an environmental educational network of 33 more super web sites as a major resource for the environmental, educational and general community with all the nuance, scope and dots connected to achieve a new level of understanding. The magnitude of the different kinds of impacts was surprising even to experienced observers. Those relationships are revealing themselves daily to CEEI – another possible web site that needs to be a part of the CEEI network. ( 0ver 400 categories that impact the climate alone not just co2). CEEI will have over 640,000 articles on the web site. that show and tell of those impacts to the planet for the last 9 months ! ( now 2.600,000 srchives )
By contrast, the US Government has organized their environmental information around their organization charts, particularly the EPA, making it totally unsuitable for educational purposes. Whereas preliminary study indicates that link paths are obvious between all the new CEEI super web sites, making it very feasible. These relationships are discussed in another part of this paper, which is in itself a major web site. The statement that there is no environmental education in the United States, especially in the Department of Education, is very real and cannot be defended except in a few college level classes. The only other example is the NOAA weather input from all the high schools in the country. This was done proving that students can be trusted to send daily weather data nationwide into the NOAA weather system.
The next big improvement could be in the UN Environmental Programme that has the network but at this moment no environmental education program on the net They are still into the Idea that we need to recognize that climate warming and the environment are killing the planet and most species not necessarily affecting people in the developed world which is not true.
The UN Environmental programme is full of wormwood and needs to establish systematized approach to environmental education not dealing with nuts and bolts of constructing and doing as much as a education program dealing with all sorts of environmental problems. This kind of information should be free and all on the net with video clips. (how PTO's"and hand books on stream restoration, well design, water purification and aids information ( prevention and availability of treatment locations).
These new CEEI web sites will greatly increase the awareness and knowledge of young people as well as those that now simply see environmental concerns as undermining their economic well being. The opposite is true. Those students with interests in science and engineering and technology should be more than interested and challenged. One size does not fit all but there has to be a model for every one to start with.
The President of Brazil told the press that he is going ahead with his Rain Forest (destruction) Program" and developed nations can simply "Butt out" and take their message elsewhere. (The rain forest uses huge amounts of co2 to supply oxygen to the world atmosphere). Some people simply cant deal with his problem. Replant the rain forest. Get rid of the cattle, ( it takes enough water to float a destroyer to supply one cow) plant beans for protein instead.
Africa has a whole set of different problems, and first things have to come first. The UN politely has suggested that the developed world has caused all the pollution and "they can jolly well pay for the cleaning up."
This may be true, but security and health, drought problems are ruining their country and have to be addressed first. India and China are working their way out of poverty and have have become the newest polluters of 21st century. They are doubly blind if some how they think they can get a free pass from enviro-responsiblity.They have to get creative about power sourcing and usage and climate co2 problems NOW.
The powerful coal industry seeing the thirst for electric power is countered by wind , solar boiler generating, and the nuclear interests. Coal people now say that the govt must pay for research and development (the taxpayer) to rescue their industry, despite the mercury pollution "full speed ahead." Eighteen coal plants are scheduled for the state of Texas. People are up in arms about
the impacts on their health verses the economy debate. The coal people short circuited the process by getting the governor to simplify the permitting process.
Just think what this Iraq War has cost the US. and what we could have done with the money that has been spent ? The climate (which includes all the pieces of the environment that needs attention) is where the war is.
Isnt the Iraqi a war over resources ? We have to address education, poverty, and security issues and connect all these dots to environmental progress with economic viability and hopefully the GE model will be something to build upon.
CEEI has proposed that "Plant a tree for Christmas" would be far better
solution than cutting fir trees down by the millions. This message has to get out to the developed nations in the west. CEEI is doing just that. We are also giving away free broad leaf Aspen tree seeds. ( works in the mountain west.) Oak seeds, work well in the east and south. Broad leaf trees work twice as well as fir trees. This is a good way to sequester Co2 with oxygen !
As an advanced Idea to "Plant A Tree for Christmas " this actually helps nurserymen to sell potted xmas trees (that can be replanted later) saving millions of fir trees from cutting ! This is a thorny proiblem for merchants and governments who no doubt reason that tax revenues will be severely
curtailed . But the debate is over trees not Christmas.
Broad leaf trees are best co2 sequesters. ( the US needs 3 trillion trees planted) particularly where they will grow well. They can be harvested for toilet paper as they grow to make room for bigger trees to grow. Oak trees put out 6 times as much oxygen and 6 times as much co2 is sequestered. ( the world needs to plant about 25 trillion trees) It can be done if we are serious about saving the planet.
The urge to zone and construct Coal fired power plants is on. This industry trying to beat a deadline whereby they can get the permits before the laws change.In Texas. 18 new power plants are working their way through each county permitting process. The state has already signed on apparently. They should consider the solar power system below.
Consider Solar ( Reflective light energy /Solar boiler energy.)
Coal power companies I believe see the hand writing on the wall. They have nowhere succeeded in selling coal lately and , the public will not stand for coal any longer. There are too many studies and reports that has found Mercury fallout everywhere. This is why the nuclear people have a big smile on their faces.
In the Mohave desert right near the Muroc Dry Lake, and Victorville California, there is a Luz Engineering designed Solar powered plant that has been operating for 40 years ! It is a high focused sun light beam energy that has been generating energy and selling this power to California (by Southern Cal Edison) .
The Luz Company advertised several years ago that they would design, fabricate, install, operate and maintain any new site for 8 cents a kilowatt hour ! This site can for the most part carry the heavy day time load for the area, Much of the South West and Mexico are good spots coupled with modern transmission lines (an up grade that is really priority No 1. to install this pollution free system.
This is worth looking into. ( its only problem it does take some space to put up reflectors).
Jet engine powered emergency generators are good back ups where the sun is shinning 300 days a year. They are cheap too/ and can be scrubbed for co2.
"Our Stolen Future" by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson Meyers stated that "certain chemicals mimic hormones and are thought to be responsible for the collapse of fish population in the Great Lakes area. Human sperm count now varies all over the world and seems to be connected with chemical exposure which has long been linked to human cancer."
Robert F. Kennedy’s book "Crimes Against Nature" documents the organized efforts of the Coors family, with breweries in Colorado, who have made the "environment" the boogie man that it is today. This was where most of the corporate organized effort was plotted and distributed to corporate, rural, and urban America.
Kennedy wrote a scathing personal account of how mercury has invaded his household in upstate New York and put his family at risk. The entire Eastern Seaboard is, for the most part, awash in mercury. Citizens are warned not to keep fish they catch. (The EPA lists two states that are mercury ridden – Vermont and Pennsylvania).
For those who are unfamiliar with all the enviro-problems, The Cousteau Almanac by Jacques-Yves Cousteau is excellent.
Finally, fifty major enviro-policies were CHANGED OR ILLIMINATED by the Bush administration (reported by the Miami Herald). Not a peep from the media. The Bush Administration installed all these industry friendly appointments .(This was done 5 years ago).
It will take time and dedication, CEEI can’t do it by itself. But with an informed citizenry and students with hands-on experience, who will gain confidence and exposure to the real world as they deal with real problems -- these people will be hard to fool. Only then can progress be made. by the next generation !
Finally the environmental community has to come together and start cooperating in every possible way. For example stop grandstanding and arguing over territories and grantors. Share infomation and double THEIR power over night ! Just recently two national environmental organizations got on the wrong side of a federal law that pretended to save wilderness.
What was going on was a public land givaway that got every one in idaho
upset with Rep. Simpson. (The bill was defeated). This was a pilot raid on federal lands. if it hadnt been for local environmental groups and Carol King who ended up fighting the Wilderness Society ,the Idaho Conservation league, and the Sierra Club. ( the administration wanted to solve their budget problems by selling off public land).
Just this week There seems to be a shift of enviro-attitude reported by the press. The BIG shift is the fact that a big Texas utility polluter TXU wants to sell out to an investment group. According to the press,
they report that the new owners will not persue any more coal plants ! And that "the investors will invest in wind, solar and new "kinds" of power generation. This is a "Reformation" if true." In the meantime back at the Ranch" in Idaho and Texas ( i hope this message is heard and seen) is the last holdout to lower toxic gases ( co2 to combat climate warming )
Objectors see this deal as "window dressing" and environment groups are being used. WE had the same problem in Idaho, this summer the administration wanted a "wilderness bill' that would trade public land that would benefit Custer and Blaine county. Allowing more
snow machines, but in effect "Help reduce the federal debt by also selling off public land". says the critics.
The Bill was defeated by Carol King who argued for "Wilderness "and the fact that its Idaho's best resource (showcase ) for tourism and available real estate for people want a simple life free from pollution etc.
On the other hand the bill allowed that land would be available for developers to build big trophy houses right outside of Stanley . This morality play took place in the heart of the Idaho Rockies and 20 miles from the White Cloud Mountains where all "The Ceidra bill was to take place".
We have had 50 years of media noise and rarely substance, (dog and pony shows on TV radio and even the print media) of treating people like children and certainly terrible reporting or no reporting on issues like the Clean Water Act in the US that simply not mistaken but driven by design by the media itself.
The keepers of "free press" decide whats important to them. With the consolidation of the media companies in America one wonders where it could all end. ? The media is clearly driven by profits and fear that they will lose even more profits by the fact that 50% of the people in this country are unsympathetic to Washington driven enviro- policies . ( They cant be on the wrong side of that argument for fear of loss of advertising and subscriptions). They are doubly hit because people give up on the media because they know information IS NOT being published at the same time.and if they do publish they are put on the hit list of people who "object" to the word "environmental".
CEEI appeals to the educational and scientific community that it is far better that together they take charge and have their own correct version of scientific facts ( a network without media spin) available for public inspection and education. CEEI believes that it can quick start this environmental education engine with the CEEI Network and Eco-pedia make converts and make it all work at the same time. This a long term project. Why leave the environment and now the climate to chance ? We have to change the way we work with the public and with one another.
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(Details about the CEEI network, the CEEI news Cats program, the Eco-pedia Proposal and its position in the internet market are in the rest of the CEEI was established in Ketchum in 1991 and has 4 educational web sites
now on the net. Polluted streams in the US. , Species in
trouble in N. America , and CEEI climate
CEEI carries the ACIA (Arctic Climate Impact
Assessment) report made to Congress in 2004. Another report is due soon.(www.ceei-news.org)
CEEI Web Sites and Accomplishments
1 "Americans Threatened Streams" Hits 1.8 .The APSRS lists all the polluted streams in America by state. EPA Report to Congress maintains 27,000 streams. CEEI disagrees. Between 200,000 and 400,000 are missing.http://www.eco-pedia.org/NewStateDEQpollutedstreamsinfo/tabid/75/Default.aspx
2 "Species at Risk in N.America" CEEI lists all the species at risk in N. America. The WCU World Conservation Union believes there are 12,000 species at risk.CEEI lists all the species that have not made the Endangered List yet like the Polar bear and 35 more. ( many species are going through climate change like he Snowy Owl,) A newer Alaskan and Canadian list will be out this summer.
3 "CEEI-Climate" web site This new web site is reprinted with permission of the ACIA (Arctic climate Impact Assessment) CEEI Is adding 440,000 articles
that impact the climate, (9 months of down loads). (see front page of web site for News-Cats (directories).
4 Eco-pedia Students can publish their science research and assessment papers on the net. CEEI archives and publishes them. These papers are on Geo, Eco, and Bio subjects. All students get a BAR Award for their resumes. http://www.eco-pedia.org/CEEINetworkofwebsites/tabid/64/Default.aspx
5 Coming Soon CEEI-News (600,000 articles that are impacting the climate, ( Planet) and all CEEI web sites, All articles are tracking all the major environmental categories in the world. see the Cats
(categories) at click on news directories.
6 Coming soon "CEEI-Clean Air in America". & Eleven Major Enviro- generic web sites. Urban areas, Suburban areas, Farm lands and ranches ( CAFO’s), Lakes, Coasts, Oceans, Forests, Shrub lands , Deserts. ready next fall. check out http://www.eco-pedia.org/CEEINetworkofwebsites/tabid/64/Default.aspx
7 After CEEI posted the 303(d) polluted streams reports ( www.apsrs.org> in 1994 all the states DEQ's finally came around to publishing their lists by 2000 ( it took six years) and EPA still "disguises" (HARD TO FIND)their 303(d) state lists on their web site . CEEI would like to take credit for this shift by the states to uphold parts of the Clean Water Act.
CEEI publishes a special list of all states who publish Clean Water Act polluted stream lists on the net and the links to find them. See Eco-pedia special links.
.( Click on DEQ links).
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Feb 2009
CEEI now down loads 4000 (line item) climate articles a day) into 1000
enviro-climate categories. These downloads go into CEEI’s new climate archives now total 2.500,000 line items. These categories are available to
all students in the world to down load again SOON . They may research climate issues for papers on a local, state, provincial, or national level enviro-climate issues. CEEI will publish them and archive them. For example 400,000 polluted streams are missing from the Clean Water Act polluted stream lists. Students can survey all streams in the US, check for mercury, Giardia. sediment, etc. it might take 3 years . We would get students who can write papers and scientists from such a program that we need ! The beniifits are many. Streams that are identified that can support fish life. tourists, etc. and “can do students” that are productive. and ready with a can do attitude. One third the high school students now drop out! What a waste.
RIGHT NOW IDAHO CANT EVEN RUSTLE THE EPA AND THE STATE DEQ. TO WRITE A REPORT TO CHECK WHY SILVER CREEK RAINBOWS HAVE 60 TIMES THE MERCURY (ABOVE BACKGROUND) ! IT WAS REPORTED BY THE IDAHO CONSERVATION LEAGUE on NPR. “That a gold mine has been spewing out mercury equivilant to 120 coal fired plants !”
Down wind are Ada county Boise, Gooding County, Blaine County, Twin Falls county. Jerome county, All news media still haven't reported these astonishing
tacts, ( Silver Creek is a spring fed stream in the Wood River Valley)
SEE story CEEI-News “Clean Water Act” See Clean Water Act #4
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