I broke my ankle in May. As I have been laid up in bed for three months I have had plenty of time to catch up on current events. Reading the many recent articles and watching YouTube videos on the crisis of abrupt climate change, I always think of this clip from "The Hunt for Red October."
The next thing that comes to my mind is a phrase from the bible. It is one of those things Jesus said, that certain "christian" groups never pay attention to. Republican candidates certainly won't quote it. It's the part where Jesus talks about counting the cost.
He said, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? ... Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?"
We are experiencing a climate change crisis and additional negative environmental situations because
Arrogant Asses have not been
Counting the Cost.
Here are my local examples.
This is my 23rd year in Texas. It is hot here in the summer. Two summers I remember as being especially hot and dry. Those years many trees died from the drought. The most recent was in 2011 when we had the wildfires.
Texas has about 150 man-made lakes. They are beautiful, but in drought years they will get very low - like 10 feet low. Some west Texas lakes have gotten much lower. In 2011 all of the lakes were low. And the farm ponds were low, or dried up.
Since 2001, we have often vacationed on Cedar Creek Lake, at the edge of east Texas. My husband's family had a place there for years, so he knows the lake well. After the drought in 2011, the lake just wouldn't fill up again. There was one big rain the following spring, but then the levels dropped almost instantly. It was low the rest of 2012, still low in 2013, and just as low in 2014. Last year (2014) I got suspicious. In that area, only two lakes were low. The rest of them were full, and all of the farm ponds were full. Last year was not a drought year. In our part of Texas, rainfall was slightly below average - like maybe an inch - that's all.
It is no coincidence that the two lakes in our area that were still extremely low, (while having the same weather as all of the other lakes) were those that fed the Tarrant County Water District - the home of the Barnett Shale. When a lake is ten feet low and you travel ten miles to another lake and it is full, something is fishy. There is no doubt that millions of gallons of water were taken from these lakes for fracking.
Some Arrogant Asses did not count the cost. They did not take into consideration the thousands who earn their livelihood from lake activity.
Thankfully, this year we had massive rainfall that filled up the lakes in Texas. Sadly, it caused destruction and we lost some folks too.
The Arrogant Asses are still not counting the cost. The are revving up for more fracking by building a new, bigger, longer, water pipeline to take more water from east Texas lakes. What will that cost us in terms of jobs and drought relief?
To the right is a map of a massive water pipeline being built in north Texas. The picture links to the Integrated Pipeline website. They say they are a regional partnership for water supply. In reality, their purpose is to take water from east Texas lakes for fracking the Barnett Shale. |
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This is a picture I took of this pipeline being built about 15 miles from my home.
In this second example of not
counting the cost, some
Arrogant Asses somewhere are expanding fossil fuels instead of reducing them.
We have two natural gas pipelines running perpendicular to each other on our property. They were there when we bought it. Running parallel to our property, about 300 feet away, is a crude oil pipeline. This past winter they added an additional pipe next to the existing pipe. How easy. No new easements required. No need to get permission from anyone. It is very difficult to find out information about it. I suspect that oil companies might not even need the Keystone Pipeline. They will just lay additional pipes by the existing ones.
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On the left is a picture of all of the oil and gas pipelines in the country. It was hard to find such a map. The organization responsible is ProPublica, and the picture links to their site. The Texas Railroad Commission has an interactive map for the public on their website that is supposed show all of the oil, gas, wells, pipelines, fracking, contaminated water . . . . wow . . . Looks like they really have transparency. But it doesn't work. When I finally got it to show gas lines in my county, it was inaccurate. I have two lines running through my property and it only showed one. |
These next two pictures show the construction of the additional pipeline by my house.
This next picture shows where the water tankers filled up each day. The blue hose comes from the end of the water line and it is unmetered. The water company is not measuring how much water they are taking. Do they get it for free?
This morning, I go to read the Huffington Post and see another article on
abrupt climate change by Jason Box. He is continuing the
discussion begun last week by Dr. James Hansen. Trying to state it simply, they have recently discovered that their climate models have not been taking all of the factors into consideration. Consequently, the ice is melting much much faster. They have been seeing conditions they did not expect to see until 2100.
The ice is not just melting from the sun shining down on it. It is also melting from the warmer ocean beneath. And the melting ice water is flowing and melting it in places they did not expect. Plus the old models do not take algae and darker ice (which does not reflect as well) into account. And there was something about dust in the air, and how the smoke from wildfires hinders reflection.
We all need to quit being Arrogant Asses and start counting the cost. Frankly, I hardly know where to begin.
Maybe we should get with the dudes up at Other Power, and learn to make personal windmills for ourselves and help our neighbors do the same? Sounds like thousands have been built already.
Professor Peter Wadhams, leading Arctic scientist Cambridge University, says that not only do we need to stop using fossil fuels, but at the same time implement adaptation. He says that every scientist in the world needs to focus on ways to reduce greenhouse gases. For example, fracking techniques could possibly be used to extract methane gas from the arctic ocean.
As for the Republicans, many Democrats, business people, and citizens . . . they need to Count the Cost. How did we get this greedy and selfish?
In conclusion, this is one of the main reasons I am supporting Senator Sanders for president. He is promoting aggressive action on climate change.
End note: Thanks to everyone who commented on my first diary. That was swell. :)