August 13, 2010 by admin.

We have made a lot of progress in cleaning up the environment.  Air quality is now a lot better, on average, than it was 50 years ago.  In London, England, for example, blue skies  are now the norm, while just a few decades ago the infamous London smog was a frequent visitor and often caused the deaths of many people.  The air quality in London is now much better than it was before at any time since the height of the industrial revolution.

Living- and health standards improved.   Average life expectancies rose, for example in the U.S.A., from about 59 years for women and 52 years for men in 1930 to 79 years for women and 73 years for men by 1996. (Source: USA Population Figures for the Years 1980 to 1996)

Yet, there is all-pervasive alarmism that the sky is falling and that we are all going to die.

A large dose of reality is required to illustrate how far we have truly come in a relatively short time and how much success we had in coping with what once, not all that long ago, were apparently insurmountable problems.

Portrait of an Unhealthy City: New York in the 1800s
From: Columbia University | By: David Rosner

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION | As New York City ascended from a small seaport to an international city in the 1800s, it underwent severe growing pains. Filth, disease and disorder ravaged the city to a degree that would horrify even the most jaded modern urban dweller. David Rosner, professor of history and co-director of the program in the History of Public Health and Medicine at the School of Public Health at Columbia University, paints a vivid portrait of a city in the throes of an ecological crisis….(Full Story)

And here is a video recording of a deservedly glowing report of the roles of human ingenuity and of exchange of skills and goods in human evolution, by Matt Ridley at TED : TED - Ideas worth spreading.  It is one of the best presentations on the subject of human ingenuity I have ever had the pleasure of watching. (Watch the video, 16 minutes)

Here is another video, this time of a presentation by Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute, on What stops population growth? (10 minutes)

Dr. Rosling’s presentation of dynamic graphs is excellent and very informative.  He ends his presentation with, “The only way to stop population growth is to have small families.”  That is technically correct, but it seems to me, going by the information contained in his presentation, that Dr, Rosling should have added the proviso, “and that can only be brought about by ending war and creating wealth for all.”

It should not be necessary to point out that the best and perhaps only way to create wealth for all is to make cheap energy accessible by all.  It is neither humane nor practical to keep a quarter of humanity in the dark, without access to electricity and refrigeration.

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Thanks for some of the links in this posting are due as follows,

• Portrait of an Unhealthy City,  John F. Hultquist
• Video recording of Matt Ridley’s presentation, pointman
• What stops population growth?, chris y

Those links were provided through comments posted in a discussion thread at wattsupwiththat.com: The Three Chinas and World Energy Demand, Posted on August 13, 2010 by Anthony Watts, Guest post by Thomas Fuller.

Posted in Propaganda debunked, Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

April 19, 2010 by admin.

The current air flight ban in Europe is not necessarily a panic reaction of the masses, even though it is caused by “great terror without any visible ground or foundation.”  After all, although the ban affected a good portion of the masses, namely a few million of stranded passengers, the cause of that inconvenience was largely an overreaction by the European air control authorities at Eurocontrol.

The problem with central control is that the larger the number of people controlled by it, the greater will be the impact of its diktats — regardless of whether those diktats reflect right or wrong decisions.

It will be some time before things in European airspace will return to normal.  However, without a doubt, eventually common sense will prevail. The first signs of that are emerging:

• Cowardly Europe has lost its nerve over volcano ash and this absurd air travel ban
• Volcanic ash cloud restrictions ‘embarrassing’, say airlines

As those two articles indicate, some airlines conducted test flights this weekend, something that should have been done far sooner rather than relying on predictions by computer models.  The test flights showed no adverse effects on the airplanes used.

We now know what is the right thing to do.  All that remains is to do it: “Let the people go.”

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Update 24 04 2010: Posted in Explosions & Fires, Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

March 22, 2010 by admin.

Now and then someone observes that, wherever the observer is located, “uncontrolled breeding” (or out-of-control immigration) makes things getting to be intolerably crowded.

In most cases, such observations are subjective.  They need to be looked at in terms of “compared to what?”

The vast majority of concerns that things are becoming crowded is overrated.

Posted in Propaganda debunked, Pollution: Health Issues | Print | No Comments »

March 21, 2010 by admin.

National Post

March 17, 2010
Ross McKitrick, Air pollution, University of Guelph

Models that predict thousands of smog-related hospitalizations in Toronto don’t hold up

By Ross McKitrick

For many years we have heard that air pollution in Canada is responsible for thousands of annual deaths and hospitalizations. In 2004 Toronto Public Health claimed that 1,700 premature deaths and 6,000 hospitalizations occur each year in Toronto alone, due to air pollution. The Ontario Medical Association, provincial and federal governments, lung associations and other groups regularly cite these kinds of figures in support of calls for new regulatory initiatives. These death and hospitalization rates are astonishing. It is like suffering a 9/11-sized terrorist attack every 10 months.

But is it really true?….(Full Story)

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Note: At the end of the National Post Article is a link to a file that is supposed to contain the full study report on which Dr. McKitrick’s article is based.  The link does not function and returns a 404 error.  Here is a functioning link to the study report at Dr. McKitricks web page.

Posted in Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues, Nitrogen-Oxides, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

March 9, 2010 by admin.

For some time now, the media reported on the case of the ducks who died at a Syncrude tailings pond, near Fort McMurray, in Northern Alberta.  First it was claimed that about 500 ducks had been killed.  That claim was later revised upward to 1,600 ducks in the incident or incidents.

The front page of the March 9, 2010 issue of the Edmonton Journal carried an article that reported Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach as stating that he had not seen the images of the ducks coated with bitumen at the Syncrude tailings pond, quite properly casting some doubt on Ed Stelmach’s claim that he had not seen those all-pervasive images.

The insinuation by the article in the increasingly liberal Edmonton Journal was that the pro-industry Alberta Government’s premier is in open denial of the truth, namely that the oil industry is deadly to the environment and specifically has little regard for the death toll it imposes on Alberta wildlife.

The deaths of 1,600 ducks appears to be a red herring dragged out to draw attention away from the death toll inflicted by “environment-friendly” alternative sources of energy, particularly wind power.

No doubt, environmentalist are ready and eager to crucify Ed Stelmach for daring to — either deliberately or inadvertently — belittle the deaths of the ducks in Fort McMurray.  The goal of the environmentalists’ exercise has been achieved.  Ed Stelmach’s denial is evidence of the Alberta Government’s program to insert “dirty oil” into the world market for oil production.

The deaths of the 1,600 ducks in the Syncrude tailings pond needs to be put into perspective.  The Alberta Government is an ardent promoter of alternative energy in the form of wind power, even though wind-power production cannot be justified economically and can be kept alive only through massive taxpayer-funded subsidies.

However, with respect to the impact of wind power on the lives of birds, the simple truth is that wind power is at least thousands of times more deadly to the lives of birds than the Fort McMurray tailings ponds could ever be feared to be.

 “Bernd Koop, based on monitoring studies conducted in Holland by Winkelman, estimated there would be 60,000 to 100,000 bird collisions per 1,000 megawatt installed capacity in his country - annually (13) . . ..Applying his estimate to Germany´s 17,000 MW, we obtain: 1,020,000 to 1,700,000 bird collisions per annum. And the closer we are getting to territorial saturation, the lower the chances for migrating birds to find safe routes through the maze, especially if we add the deadly power lines.

Already, birds in Germany die in great numbers from collisions with 70,000 km of high-tension lines that criss-cross the country - 30 million birds per year is an extrapolation found in Hoerschelmann, Haack & Wohlgemuth, based on a study along 4.5 km of high tension lines - electrocutions excluded (14). - As windfarms need more power lines, this mortality will increase as well; there is already evidence of this : Windfarms - the bird massacre continues. (Please follow this link, photos must be seen; author.)

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Source:
Wildlife Conservation Examiner

Deadly blades; death toll mounts as wind farms massacre birds of prey
August 7, 8:52 PM; by Cathy Taibbi

Not that anyone should downplay the unfortunate deaths of the ducks at Fort McMurray, but if we wish to measure the impact of energy sources on wildlife, let’s do justice to all sources of energy.  By objective measures, wind power is far more deadly to wildlife than the Syncrude tailings ponds are.

At least Syncrude is trying to do something, and largely successfully, about protecting ducks and other migratory birds, while most environmentalists who harp on Alberta’s “dirty oil” are totally silent about the massive deadliness and excessive costs of wind power.

Posted in Alternative Energy Sources, Fines & Penalties, Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | 1 Comment »

October 14, 2009 by admin.

By Bob Carter

Quadrant Online

October 12, 2009

“Watch this film, and use the knowledge that you will gain to lobby your Senator to vote against the Australian emissions trading bill.”

Bob Carter

This documentary film is an examination of the human effects of environmental alarmism, with especial reference to the still hypothetical “problem” of human-caused global warming. The film is not so much about the science of climate change as it is about explaining the sociology and politics of what is now perhaps the world’s greatest-ever scare campaign….(Full Story)

Posted in Climate Change, Pollution: Health Issues | Print | No Comments »

April 11, 2009 by admin.

The NRCB hearing of HAZCO’s application for the construction of a sulphur-forming, -storage and -shipping facility between Bruderheim and Lamont (less than two miles east of Bruderheim, SE of the junction of Highway 45 and Range Road 2002) will begin April 14, 2009 and last an estimated four days.

The location for the hearing: Lakeview Inn & Suites, 10115 - 88 Ave, Fort Saskatchewan

The start of the hearing: 9:00 a.m., April 14, 2009

Here is an important note by FOLC’s lawyer, Richard Secord, dated April 08, 2009:

…We heard back from the Board this afternoon and we have been given 2 hours to present our direct evidence.

Best regards,

Richard C. Secord, B.A., LLM

Barrister & Solicitor

The NRCB hearing is crucial to the future of the people who live in Lamont County.  What is at stake is essentially whether Lamont County — at the very least the areas that have been rezoned Heavy Industrial, and the areas adjacent to them — will within the space of a few years become as devoid of residences as is the Industrial Heartland in Strathcona County.

HAZCO’s sulphur facility poses a threat to residents within a large radius from its location (including the residents of Bruderheim and Lamont).  That is what is at stake at the NRCB hearing beginning on Tuesday.

It is in the best interest of every single resident of our county to attend.  It is especially in the interest of the residents of Bruderheim and Lamont to attend.

A good number of concerns by Lamont-County residents have not yet been addressed satisfactorily.  It is our health, our lives and our wellbeing that is at stake.

Make sure you are there!

 Lakeview Inn & Suites

10115 - 88 Ave, Fort Saskatchewan,

April 14, 2009, 9:00 a.m.

Posted in Town of Bruderheim, Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues, Hazco | Print | 1 Comment »

April 4, 2009 by admin.

Calgary Herald

April 3, 2009

Oilsands giant must pay $850,000 after pleading guilty to environmental violations

By Hanneke Brooymans, The Edmonton Journal

Energy giant Suncor was handed the largest fine in Alberta history for environmental violations Thursday after pleading guilty in Fort McMurray provincial court to charges stemming from two different incidents.

The oilsands company was fined a record $675,000 for failing to install pollution control equipment at its Firebag facility near Fort McMurray, and for failing to tell Alberta Environment about the oversight.

The company was penalized another $175,000 for failing to properly supervise a camp operator that allowed inadequately treated wastewater to flow into the Athabasca River. The fines add up to $850,000….(Full Story)

Posted in Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

April 4, 2009 by admin.

Tampa Bay Business Journal

April 3, 2009

Florida governor makes federal case out of ‘Chinese drywall’

By Michael Hinman, Staff writer

Gov. Charlie Crist is seeking federal help in dealing with the growing concerns over certain drywall used in homes throughout Florida, calling on both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to step in….(Full Story)

Posted in Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

March 20, 2009 by admin.

Consumer Reports

March 19, 2009

Chinese-made drywall causing home and health hazards

A gut-turning smell like rotten eggs hit Richard and Partricia Kampf the day they first walked into their new house in Cape Coral, Florida, in July 2007. At first they thought it was some kind of “new home” smell that would go away quickly. Patricia bought some scented candles to help cover the odor.

But the smell didn’t go away and other strange things started happening. The metal coil on the central air conditioner turned black and then became so badly corroded it had to be replaced after just a few months. The mirrors in the bathrooms turned black. The Kampfs had to replace the motherboard on their computer three times and their son’s Xbox stopped working—after two repairs they bought a new one….(Full Story)

See also: Comment by folc.ca at  Chinese drywall in Florida may be causing health problems, re: radioactivity of phosphogypsum.

Posted in Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | 1 Comment »