A new climate

637

Hope, courage, love, and solidarity

“Life is the art of encounter, even though there’s so much disagreement in life” sings Vinicius de Moraes in “The Blessings Samba.” Pope Francis surprised Latin America using this poetic line in “Fratelli Tutti,” calling for universal brotherhood and a culture of encounter.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris bring confidence, courage, love, and solidarity, a new climate of hope. Americans are coming together, restoring the respect and care of our Common Home, based on science. “It’s better to be happy than be sad,” says Vinicius.

In a democracy, people have the power to choose, Biden and his team will follow the Constitution. This is also a huge win for the climate emergency. Everything we do must be aligned with global decarbonization to avoid warming beyond 2°C by 2030. Noam Chomsky says we are facing a stark cruel dilemma.

Fracking radiation

Fracking is done at a much deeper level than standard oil and gas extraction, it pulverizes the earth’s bedrock leading to the release of uranium.

Last month, a Nature study found radiation data of 120,000 fracking wells (from 157 US fracking sites) and concluded that radioactivity of airborne particles is significantly higher within a 12-mile radius of fracking areas as compared to non-fracking sites.

The flowback water is rich in radioactive material and the radioactive elements may contaminate surrounding habitats, including wildlife areas and human communities. The spillage of flowback water is common. With the addition of new scientific findings, a convincing set of scientific data establishes fracking-induced radioactive transmission through air and water.

Last month, a peer-reviewed report found highly radioactive particles from wastewater flowing out of wells. In the U.S. there are over 1.5 million unregulated wells and 13 million metric tons of methane emissions per year approved by the Donald.

The Arkansas Fayetteville Shale has over 11,000 unplugged and abandoned wells.

Fracking bust

Last month, “The Great American Oil & Gas Massacre: Bankruptcies Hit New Milestone as Bigger Companies Let Go” shows the high risk of fracking, with $89 billion bankruptcy debt in 2020.” Banks holding fracking assets may not have money to cash your checks.

Turning banks green

Big Banks use our deposits to fund large projects and make profits for their shareholders and top managers.

The old bank business model is broken. Banks have great office buildings to inspire trust and attract clients. They use your money to make loans, making high profits by keeping the money flowing, charging fees at every step. Deposits are insured and big banks are bailed out, “too big to fail.”

The new business model gives clients a voice on the investments made by the banks, not only to make profits, but to protect the environment and stop carbon emissions. Green Banks get advice from biologists, ecologists, soil scientists, and energy experts. They send easy to read online summary reports to clients disclosing the sustainability of everything they do. Forests and trees are spared with paperless, secure, online transactions.

JP Morgan’s Risk project report

On January 14, 2020, JP Morgan confirmed the climate risk. Our home is on fire, let it burn, was JP Morgan’s decision. The report says, “business as usual (BAU) will be the path policymakers follow in the years ahead. It remains to be seen what the consequences of this will be, but one thing is sure: BAU opens the earth to a greater likelihood of a catastrophic outcome from the fat upper tail of the probability distribution. It also increases the likelihood that the costs of dealing with climate change will go up as action is delayed. And finally, it increases the likelihood that the changes in the climate will be irreversible.”

Rise up

Go local, community banks run by your neighbors can do all you need using the same software as the Big Banks.

If you have investments with JP Morgan, send an email to their top officers: Thasunda Brown Duckett, thasunda.b.duckett@jpmchase.com, and Sol Gindi, sol.gindi@jpmorgan.com. Tell them about Green Banks. If they want to keep fracking, take out your money and protect your family.

Dr. Luis Contreras

5 COMMENTS

  1. Some frackers like Ernst Monis, are the worst type there is. Building and retrofitting nuclear power plants, the best way to generate abundant, safe, and clean energy without burning fossil fuels, will create thousands of good paying jobs. Solar and green energy are the fastest job creation industries, with innovations simplifying the installation of rooftop solar systems.

    Monis is a short and round climate ignoramus, a Green economy requires Electric Vehicles of all types on the road. These are the automotive jobs of the future, burning gasoline and diesel for transportation has to go. Everyone has the right to work 40 hours per week and care for their families earning enough to save for retirement. Healthcare services should be provided free of charge, defunding the war department and the trillions of dollars for nuclear weapons.

    No one wants to work on coal mines or oil fields – Japan, China, France, Germany and other leading nations are leading the world with the best transportation systems and scientific research. Monis wants to keep low paying dead-end jobs, to keep Labor Unions happy.

    Here is a sample of the NPR interview:

    NPR: Let’s start with that Green New Deal that we were just hearing about. It calls for eliminating the U.S. carbon footprint by 2030, just over 10 years from now. Does that goal seem attainable to you?

    MONIZ: Well, let me first preface my response by saying that a Green New Deal, which to me means both pursuing very low carbon and social equity, is exactly what we have to do. Now, when we come to the Green New Deal, I’m afraid I just cannot see how we could possibly go to zero carbon in the 10-year timeframe. It’s just impractical. And if we start putting out impractical targets, we may lose a lot of key constituencies who we need to bring along to have a real low-carbon solution on the most rapid timeframe that we can achieve.

    NPR: What are those constituencies that you’re afraid might be driven away by this?

    MONIZ: Well, the labor unions who I think are very much aligned with the idea of low carbon but also understand we cannot strand too many assets and, frankly, strand too many workers with impractical, unrealizable objectives. We will jeopardize what has been, I think, the very significant movement of the large energy companies towards developing their new business models to function in a low-carbon world.

    https://www.npr.org/2019/02/07/692466412/former-energy-secretary-weighs-in-on-green-new-deal-legislation

  2. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, will make the Green New Deal a reality

    The Donald is dragging his feet, and “making a mess,” in more than one way. He says:

    “Under my Administration, we are no longer beholden to foreign powers or domestic radicals. We are powering our Nation on our own terms.”

    If domestic radicals are the people protecting our children’s future and the most beautiful planet, I hope to be on the list.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-supporting-hydraulic-fracturing-technologies-protect-jobs-economic-opportunity-national-security/

  3. Banks move money from place to place, making fees at each step.

    Please call your bank. Ask if your money is in the hands of JP Morgan.

    If JP Morgan is in the loop, please email the two top officers and tell them how you feel about climate and public health. I will let them know you may be asking how they are going to choose sustainable investments, Green is the new color, our only hope

    Thank you.

    Thasunda B. Duckett, thasunda.b.duckett@jpmchase.com

    Sol Gindi, sol.gindi@jpmorgan.com

    https://www.jpmorgan.com/solutions/treasury-payments/case-studies/global-oil-and-gas-company

  4. New facts

    The old truth does not hold wastewater:

    Our New Report Highlights Truth About Fracking

    Despite modern advances in energy development and our country’s abundance of natural resources, we still lack a responsible approach to meeting our energy needs.

    A strategy for the future should embrace renewable forms of energy, but also the safe usage of the vast amount of traditional fuels with which we have been blessed. If it’s American, we need to be using it safely and responsibly.

    No single source alone is the answer, but one of the most promising sources is natural gas and oil produced by hydraulic fracturing.

    Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, has been on the rise in the U.S. as innovation and technology have been put to use in recent years, including in a large geologic formation known as the “Fayetteville Shale” in Arkansas. The natural gas extracted from shale rock provides a clean source of electricity for millions of Americans. Just one trillion cubic feet of natural gas is enough to heat 15 million homes for one year, generate 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity or fuel 12 million natural-gas-fired vehicles for one year.

    Along with easing our energy crunch, hydraulic fracturing is a boon for our economy. According to a study by the University of Arkansas, more than $12.4 billion was added to our economy from fracking in Arkansas over a three year period. The study found that this energy production provided jobs for at least 22,000 Arkansans, increased pay, and led to secondary small business and manufacturing jobs across the state.

    As proven in Arkansas, we can extract this natural gas in a safe manner. Fracking is an important, commonsense component of comprehensive energy strategy.

    Clearly hydraulic fracturing offers many benefits, leaving opponents little ammunition with which to attack. For that reason, opponents have relied on a campaign of misinformation and scare tactics to cloud the debate.

    That’s why several of my colleagues and I on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee released a report today to shine a light on the truth behind the science and economic benefits of hydraulic fracturing.

    The report documents a concerted effort by fracking opponents, including many within the Obama administration, to mislead the American people about the benefits and safety of fracking. The report debunks claims that fracking has a devastating impact on the environment with empirical evidence and outlines how states have safely regulated the process for decades.

    I encourage you to get the truth on fracking by reading our report.

    https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2014/10/new-report-highlights-truth-about-fracking

  5. Fracking radioactive waste is 100 X worse than nuclear waste.

    Over 1.5 million shale wells all over the U.S. are unregulated and the toxic waste is sold as brine. If it makes a profit, the GOP will protect the crime, 2016-2020

    Please see this 2019 Ohio report:

    The liquid waste also contains toxic metals, radioactive materials, and brine resulting from contact with the ancient rock formation that is being fracked. As a well is fracked, millions of gallons of fracking fluids are injected deep into the rock strata. According to a 2018 study out of Dartmouth College, in just hours, radioactive Radium 226 and Radium 228 can be leached out of the rock and into the saline solution. As the brine is pulled to the surface to be disposed of, the water-soluble radioactive isotopes hitch a ride as well.

    “More than 18 billion gallons of waste fluid from oil and gas is generated annually in the USA” according to the American Petroleum Institute. The waste is often referred to as Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials or TENORM.

    A Pennsylvania study found that produced water from a horizontal unconventional well can contain water soluble Radium-226 in concentrations ranging from 40- 26,000 pCi/L. The safe drinking water standard for Ra-226 and RA-228 is 5 pCi/L. This toxic radioactive waste is what is pushed down injection wells in Ohio. In addition, much of the waste injected into Ohio’s Class II wells comes from out of state sources (Pennsylvania and West Virginia).

    According to a study done by our allies at FrackTracker Alliance, Ohio has 226 active Class II injection wells. These wells dot Ohio’s landscape in and along the area of Utica and Marcellus drilling, as well as expand into Ashtabula, Trumball, and Portage counties to the north and Washington, Athens, and Muskingum counties to the south.

    FracTracker data shows that the top twenty wells within these 226 are accepting more waste each year, at least 24,822 barrels more annually. This is due in part to an increase in the horizontal distances drilled to frack a well. In the beginning of the fracking boom, most lateral lengths were approximately two miles, now they have increased to three to three and a half miles. These “super laterals” require more water to frack and therefore create more wastes or “produced water”.

    https://ohvec.org/injection-wells-brine-fracking/

Comments are closed.