Coal and Oil are the new cigarettes

Remember most electricity is not really clean!



Have you ever driven past the huge electric power plant near Eatonton Georgia?  There are mountains of black coal next to the large smoke stacks.  Some folks don't understand that if you invest in an electric car, you may not have any visible emissions from your vehicle, but somewhere the electricity that you are using is likely to have origins in coal.  Burning coal produces carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide that contribute to climate change just as gasoline powered cars do, but there is solid . waste left and other gases like sulfur dioxide that contribute to acid rain.

When I was a kid, the evil in our society was determined to be cigarettes.  It took over twenty years to convince the general public how dangerous cigarettes were.  The research was clouded by "scientific research" that was later determined to be financed by the cigarette companies.  Over time the government added taxes, regulations and eventually the number of smokers greatly decreased.

Last summer the headlines were that we have surpassed the carbon levels ever scene on the Earth.  We have had scientists trying to warn us about the dangers of greenhouse gases since the 80's.  Finally, President Obama made a speech about reducing emissions last week.  This is not a problem that we can control in the United States.  The emissions we release effect countries like Bangladesh.  The fact that we had the knowledge about the dangers of oil and coal back in the 1970's and we decided not to invest in solar energy technology is simply abhorrent.  Is money is more important than life?  Will that be the legacy of our society?

Knock Knock- Aren't you glad I did Say Orange is the new Black?

I threw my pie for you!

Who is your favorite prisoner?

I have to say that my daughter and I have thoroughly enjoyed our Netflicks subscription.  Orange is the New Black has been our favorite show in a while.  It is rare that a show can make you empathetic to prisoners and also give you a deep belly laugh at times.  If you haven't seen this yet- I highly recommend it.  It is definitely worth the subscription cost for Netflicks.

It is difficult to pick a favorite. Piper is not it.  She is changing, adapting and has become less whiny this season, but we love crazy eyes and red the best.  Pennsatucky, Tastee, Lorna and Nicky are strong seconds.  The best part of the show is learning the back stories of the inmates and why they ended up in prison.  The show is well-written.  We loved the band with the prison guards called - Side-Boob!  Ha- larious!  
 

The Years of living Dangerously

This is a picture of Long Beach Island. I grew up here.  Since I live live in Georgia now, I only visit LBI once or twice a year. I used to tell my students that I noticed the sea level was higher every time I visited.    LBI was decimated by Sandy last year. It turns out that the storm was so much worse because the sea level was over a foot higher than it was when I was growing up there.   Many of the houses have not been rebuilt yet. Many of the damaged houses have to be raised over 11 feet before they can be rebuilt. Many of the people can't afford to do this and they won't get any help from FEMA unless they raise the house. 

   Here is a picture of the type of damage the storm caused.






  I have been teaching about climate change since the 80's.  I was blown away by the data presented in the original reports.  Growing up on the beach, I witnessed many changes to the quality of water.  We used to get plastic bottles and  tampon applicators wash up on the beach each day.  Why did this happen?  Because trash and sewage was being dumped into the ocean and the remnants would wash up on our beaches.  Legislation was passed that made dumping sewage into the ocean illegal and now there is very little evidence of trash on the beaches each morning.  Positive things can happen when we make an effort.

  Our air is cleaner now because of the clean air act.  Why can't we wake up and realize that our sea levels are rising because of human greed?   Burning coal, natural gas and gasoline are drastically changing our climate.  We have to cut down on greenhouse gases.  I truly have appreciated the Showtime series- The years of Living Dangerously.  The documentary series explores many different problem areas around the world.  Politicians are interviewed.  Daughters of fundamentalist Christians try to convince their preacher fathers that climate change is real. I have family that live near Apalachicola, Florida.  The oyster population has decreased to 10% of what it used to be.  The Chattahoochee river (Atlanta) drains into the Gulf of Mexico here.  When there is a lack of fresh water form the north,  the salinity of the bay changes and oysters are attacked by more parasites and then less of them make it to adulthood.  We, Homo sapiens are doing this!  In Atlanta, because of urban sprawl, the water is needed more and more for a growing population.  We also suffered from drought for several years in a row and the Apalachicola bay suffered as a consequence of our over population. (400 miles upstream)

We are all connected to each other. Why are we so scared to turn away from oil?  $$$$$$$$$$$$$ What harm will cutting back on emissions hurt us?   If we move forward with legislation that phases out the production of greenhouse gases and it turns out that the scientists were wrong, then our legacy is still a cleaner environment.  Isn't that a win/win for the silly Homo sapiens?

Wild wild West!

Welcome to the wild west in the heart of a city.  Don't you think the conceal and carry laws in Georgia are as ass-backwards an idea since the proposal to place stickers on Biology text books claiming that Evolution is one of many ideas to explain how the world was created?

Remember how our state took the hit on that one?  We were the laughing stock of the nation!

I feel that this new law that allows you to carry your gun anywhere- even schools and church- it just leaves me very uncomfortable about my surroundings.  Somehow alcohol and loaded guns do not make me feel safe.  Way to go Georgia Legislators- you have carried our fair state back in time to pre- Civil war days.  I know it is difficult for some of you to give up on the Confederacy and ass-backwards way of thinking.  Congratulations on your progressive thinking!

Is there a connection to bad weather and greenhouse gases?

Have you noticed that the top three stories on the news each day are the weather? There is flooding from Florida to Philadelphia. Tornado damage in the Midwest and south.  Fires out west.  Now, we have always had to deal with crazy weather in the springtime, but was it "normal" to have these events occur on a daily basis?  Think about it!

Anita Hill- 23 years after the hearings

I just saw Anita Hill on the Jon Stewart show and she is really a class act.  She paved the way for women in the work place.  The laws were on the books when she testified about Clarence Thomas and his indiscretions in the work place, but if you need to educate yourself about inappropriate behavior in the work place just watch a couple of episodes of Mad Men.  

I started working in education in the early 80's.  I can remember some of the coaches going out in the hall between classes and rating all the girl students.  The cheerleaders got extra high ratings when they had their short uniforms on.  I had a principal that always put his hand on my shoulder or arm whenever he spoke to me.  It gave me the creeps-but what could I do?  It wasn't an egregious offense. I would have lost my status if I had said anything. I had a boss during my summer employment in college that made me go out and drive him to get pot and then sit with him while he smoked it and then drive him home ( to his poor wife and family).  I didn't really like it but I didn't have any power, so I did what he asked.  

 When Anita Hill stood up to Clarence Thomas and spoke about his behavior to congress, she spoke to a panel of 14 old white men about sexual harassment.  Do you think they really had any idea why she was offended? She spoke of the sick perverted jokes and even worse the overt sexual overtures and those congressmen were probable thinking- this is nothing that I haven't done myself. But- it put a little bug in the minds of our nations's male dominated work bosses and within a couple of years, a lot of that behavior was curtailed- at least it wasn't considered normal.

I have always admired Anita Hill and apparently there is a documentary that is coming out that will explore her story and present it to a new generation of girls.  I can not wait to see it. If we had listened to her and nixed the judicial appointment of Clarence Thomas- would that really have been such a bad thing?  

A plea to the global citizens out there- Watch Vice and listen!

If you haven't yet gotten the message- drought, hurricanes, floods, record highs, record lows- this is called climate change.  Everyone has been affected in some way.  Probably the most overt example to me is hurricane Sandy.  The weather is trying to tell us a secret and that is that we are polluting the world with some gases that don't have an odor or a color.  They envelop the the atmosphere and cause a trapping of heat that can change the wind and water currents, increase the number of catastrophic storms and cause the Arctic ice to melt into the oceans.  

We have all heard about the idea of global climate change.  Some of us have worried about this, some think it is a load of crap.  I mean the Northern states just had the coldest temps in a long time- so what do we have to worry about?  I will tell you what we have to worry about- Greenland is melting .  and if the glaciers melt completely- the sea will rise over 20 feet.  There goes the coast. 

If you are concerned watch last week's episode of Vice on HBO. 

We need to decrease greenhouse gases by 80% or there will be a global catastrophe in 3 generations. Does this sound serious to you?