When the well is dry we learn the worth of water. ~~Benjamin Franklin
Learning the worth of water The Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's fourth international assessment released earlier this year predicted that "drought-affected areas will likely increase"
In our quest to beat the hydrocarbon energy dead horse we are abusing our environment and depleting the natural resource that we cannot live without, water. Each year approximately 3,066,000,000,000 gallons of water is permanently removed from our hydrologic cycle causing a deficit in our available water budget.
I will not commit murder to drive my car or turn on my lights but I will kill you for a drink of water.
Today I got a call from the District Manager of the Wichita Falls branch of the Texas Railroad Commission in response to the formal complaint I filed last week about the Barnett Shale class II commercial injection well near me.
The RRC reinspected the site and found numerous violations resulting in an order to shut the well in, fines and legal action against the operator.
Because of the complaint, procedures for RRC injection well inspections have changed. There will now be one trained person with direct responsibility for inspecting all the injection wells in this district. That way the inspections will be consistent.
I should receive a copy of the inspection report tomorrow.
ANSWER: Both inspections are conducted by the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC).
NOTE: If you think this is of no concern to you because you don't live in Wise County, remember, water, even groundwater, flows downhill.
Brett Shipp's investigation into the RRC's cover up of the faulty gas couplings in north Texas probably saved more Texans from a death like Bennie and Martha Cryer's when their home in Wylie, TX exploded due to faulty gas couplings.
We need Shipp to conduct an investigation into the RRC practices regarding injection well inspections. Injection wells can also cause fatalities. Although, because they don't blow up, death by injection well may not be quite as spectacular. Oh wait! They do blow up!
In an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle this morning, Republican Elizabeth Ames Jones --- our current Railroad Commissioner of Texas --- argues for (surprise, surprise) the expanded use of oil and natural gas. Here are some of her arguments:
Worldwide energy consumption is expected to increase 40 percent in the next 25 years, and widespread adoption of alternative energy sources is decades away.
It's a traditional talking point of conservatives to talk about effective use of alternative energies as if it's going to happen around the same time as we have flying cars. The fact, though, is that renewable energy and energy efficient technology are available today. Wind and solar power are available now -- businesses just need to invest in them.
Modifying our personal behavior to conserve energy by doing such things as using better light bulbs, insulating our homes, and buying better appliances is simple. Republicans argue that forcing anyone to modify their behavior in such a way is unfair and unrealistic -- but remember, these are the same people who want to force families to love one another.
Strict environmental rules and targeted tax credits for drilling in hard-to-reach reservoirs are tools that have kept Texas the nation's top producer of oil and natural gas.
Don't get too impressed by those "strict environmental rules" -- especially when you remember that Houston competed with L.A. for dirtiest air. Or the fact that, " Texas leads the nation in the number of treatment plants and industrial facilities that fail to meet pollution standards for the wastewater they dump into rivers and streams." (Source).
Our country's energy dependency makes us dangerously vulnerable in economic terms and compromises our national security.
Not drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge (which Ames Jones advocates for) endangers our national security --- but starting a war in Iraq makes us totally safe.
I'd be much more impressed with the argument by Ames Jones if there was a straight-up capitalist argument: it helps profits to drill for oil and gas. Pretending that it's environmentally safe and that we need to drill for oil to protect our national security is disingenuous.
If we really want to protect our energy dependence, then we need to live cleaner lives. Oh, and maybe listen a little to that Nobel prize winner.
Toxic Ethics: Coats Reaffirms Polluter's Agenda
Dallas Mayoral Candidate and TXI Board Member Sam
Coats Refuses to Cut Ties To DFW's Largest Industrial Air Polluter - Even as the Company Fights City Hall
(Dallas)-A local clean air group is deriding Dallas mayoral candidate Sam Coats decision not to quit his membership on the board of cement giant TXI, or even pledge to distance himself from the company's campaign to defeat air quality measures backed by current Mayor Laura Miller and Dallas City Hall.
"He doesn't seem to understand the meaning of conflict-of-interest," said Jim Schermbeck, staff organizer of DFW-based Downwinders At Risk."
Downwinders, the 12-year old group that has made the nation's largest concentration of cement plants in Midlothian its central focus, met privately with Coats after his membership on TXI's board was revealed earlier in the month. This is the first time the group has spoken out about the results of that meeting, because, representatives say, they wanted to give Coats an opportunity to differentiate himself from the company's policies that put it at odds with cleaner air in DFW.
