Policies – Page 294 – Public Intelligence Blog

2014/05/052014/05/05

SchwartzReport: US Nuclear Infrastructure a Radioactive Time Bomb — We Are Not Ready and USG Lies to the Public About This…

04 Education, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, Officers Call

Here we have a pretty realistic take on the state of the U.S. nuclear industry. We have been so lucky not to have had a crisis like Chernobyl. Click through to see the supporting graphics.

Our Nuclear Infrastructure Is a Radioactive Time Bomb
BRENDAN SCOTT – Vice News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has had a busy few weeks. Last month, thanks to Freedom of Information Act queries filed by numerous organizations, the Commission was forced to disclose a dossier of emails showing the lengths it had gone to in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima disaster to downplay the risk of a similar catastrophe happening in the US. The correspondence showed a startling lack of preparedness.

In one example, NRC public affairs officer David McIntyre offered his opinion on what Energy Secretary Steven Chu should have done when asked by CNN whether American nuclear plants could withstand a force 9.0 earthquake: ‘He should just say, ‘Yes, it can.’ Worry about being wrong when it doesn't. Sorry if I sound cynical.”

The documents also show a background briefing for then NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko and other commissioners that split intelligence into ‘public answer” and “additional technical, non-public information.” In some cases the NRC withheld crucial details and misdirected the media.

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2014/05/04

Berto Jongman: Pig Virus Killed 7 Million US Piglets Last Year — Other Nations Starting to Worry

02 China, 07 Health, 08 Wild Cards, Earth Intelligence

Concerns grow in Europe over threat from deadly pig virus

France is expected to suspend pig-related imports from a number of countries as worries grow over the spread of a deadly swine virus.

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea Virus (PEDv) has killed some seven million piglets in the US in the past year.

The disease has also been found in Canada, Mexico and Japan.

While the virus isn't harmful to humans or food, France is concerned over the potential economic impact and is set to suspend imports of live pigs and sperm.

PEDv is spread in faecal matter and attacks the guts of pigs, preventing them from absorbing liquids and nutrients.

Older animals can survive but fatality rates among piglets run between 80% and 100%.

So virulent is the agent that one expert estimated that a spoonful of infected manure would be enough to sicken the entire US herd.

The disease is believed to have its origins in China, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

“According to the information from genetic analyses, there is some similarity with a strain from Asia,” director-general Dr Bernard Vallat told BBC News.

“But the evidence of the crossing from Asia to the US is not yet established. For the moment it is not possible to make a final conclusion on the formal link, it is a suspicion.”

In North America, the disease has moved rapidly, with around 4,000 outbreaks in 30 US states, in four Canadian provinces and in parts of Mexico.

Virus on the move

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2014/05/042014/05/04

SchwartzReport: Fracking, Earthquakes, & 1% Corruption

05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, IO Impotency, Law Enforcement

The matter is settled: Fracking causes earthquakes. My prediction: The carbon energy interests see Fracking and natural gas as a way to prolong the dominance of carbon energy for another 30 years. It may bring your house down in states like Oklahoma? Destroy your kids school while they are in it? A small price to pay so that the carbon barons and their corporations can continue making their obscene profits. And the people who voted ! the politicians in that will permit this? They can be relied upon to vote against their own self-interest, even their survival. It is one of our national mysteries.

Earthquake Experts: Yes, Fracking Earthquakes Are A Thing
Clean Technica

When the Seismological Society of America says that fracking earthquakes are a real thing, then it’s a good bet that they are. The annual SSA meeting last Thursday featured a daylong session on ‘Induced Seismicity” that featured new research indicating that oil and gas fracking, and the practice of disposing wastewater underground, can alter the state of an existing fault. The result is to spread the range of seismic hazard farther out from the faultline than previously thought.

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2014/05/022014/05/02

Sepp Hasslberger: Ocean Energy

05 Energy, Earth Intelligence

I like their design and the professional prototyping. The turbine can tap the huge energy potential of moving water in ocean currents without disturbing the marine eco-system. It can supply power constantly, 24/7/365

Crowd Energy seeks funding for vertical axis Ocean Energy Turbine – Renewable energy from ocean currents

The Ocean Energy Turbine is important because it is the first renewable energy system designed to effectively harness ocean currents on a commercial scale. Globally, ocean currents can provide the power to completely replace the worlds dependance on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. The quantity of energy available from ocean energy greatly exceeds that of wind and solar. Ocean energy production is also a consistent reliable source of energy, whereas solar and wind power are limited by the availability of sun and wind.

Learning Options:

Fossil Fuel Pollution Problems with Wind Energy Problems with Solar Energy Problems with Wave Energy Problems with Nuclear Energy Global Energy Use Protect Our Future Limitless Ocean Energy

2014/05/012014/05/01

Sepp Hasslberger: Nanoporous Material Combines the Best of Batteries and Supercapacitors

05 Energy

Storing electricity for later use is a factor that imposes limits on what we can do with our technological gadgets. If this turns out to be commercially viable, the battery-supercapacitor hybrid being developed could improve things tremendously.

Nanoporous Material Combines the Best of Batteries and Supercapacitors

From spectrum.ieee.org – April 30, 10:22 AM

2014/05/012014/05/01

Kenneth Robinson on Education — Five YouTubes

04 Education, Academia, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, IO Sense-Making, Liberation Technology

Four More Short YouTubes Below the Fold

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2014/05/012014/05/01

SchwartzReport: Grass-Roots Anti-Fracking

03 Economy, 05 Energy, Civil Society, Commerce, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics

Here is a wonderful story of how a single couple has been able to take on a destructive industry and win.

The Real Secret to Beating the Koch Brothers: How Our Broken Political System Can Still be Won
LINDSAY ABRAMS, Assistant Editor – Salon

You probably haven’t heard of Helen Slottje, or, for that matter, of her husband, David. But in the past few years, the former corporate lawyers have become arguably two of the most powerful opponents of fracking in New York – not to mention the most successful. As the (sort of) public face of the duo’s efforts, Helen Slottje on Monday was honored with the Goldman Prize, the world’s largest environmental prize.

Like most fracktivists, the Slottjes became embroiled in the issue when they moved to an area targeted by drilling companies – in their case, upstate New York, which sits atop the gas-rich Marcellus Shale, and where Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly put off making a decision about whether to lift the state’s five-year moratorium on hydraulic hydrofracking. Lacking confidence in the power of the picket sign or citizen engagement on oil-funded big government, they instead decided to approach the program at the most basic level. Their weapon of choice is a principle known as home rule: If individual communities decide that these industries pose a significant risk to common resources like air and water, then those communities can decide to keep those industries out, regardless of what state and federal laws say.

One by one, the Slottjes have helped small towns in New York enact such bans, to the point at which, even if New York’s moratorium were to be lifted tomorrow, the oil and gas industry would find itself effectively barred from drilling in 172 communities. After being decided in the towns’ favors at all of the state’s lower courts, two of those cases, in Dryden and Middlefield, are now up before the Court of Appeals. A decision, which will determine whether towns have the right to override state law, is expected this fall, and its anticipated impact can’t be overstated. As Thomas West, a lawyer for the energy company seeking to have the ban overturned, told the New York Times last year, ‘It’s going to decide the future of the oil and gas industry in the state of New York.” (The Slottjes, it should be noted, weren’t even mentioned in the piece.)

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