Mobile Alabama: A Tar Sands Mecca in the Making – Julie Dermansky
Mobile Alabama: A Tar Sands Mecca in the Making (via Desmogblog) It took a while for the Alabama public to understand that their state is being transformed into a tar sands Mecca. Proposals for rail and pipeline transport and tar sands storage facilities were first presented in 2010, and by 2012, most were rubber…
Alaskan Politicos Weigh In On Climate Change
In an article today in the Anchorage Daily News written by Lisa Demer our outstanding representatives were reached for comment on several different questions pertaining to climate change. While none of them out right denied what 95% of scientists now agree on – that climate change is caused by man… they’re answers danced around the truth. Mike Chenault’s was my favorite. When asked by the ADN. “Do you believe there is a human-caused element to climate change? House Speaker Mike Chenault slyly answered: “I think that there is. To what extent there is, is the argument, I believe.” Ok, Mike….
Coverup at Exxon’s Pegasus Pipeline? – from Farron Cousins
An Orchestrated Cover Up Of Exxon’s Pegasus Pipeline Spill Health Hazards? (via Desmogblog) Nearly six months have passed since ExxonMobil’s Pegasus tar sands pipeline ruptured and released as much as 7,000 barrels of diluted bitumen into Mayflower, Arkansas. And as soon as the company realized that they had a problem, the cover up began…
Bird of the Week – Black-headed Parrot
Technically, it’s Birds of the Week this Saturday. These are Black-headed Parrots, photographed in Ecuador. And this is courtship behavior. The male is holding a tasty leaf in his left foot, offering it to the female. Spoiler alert! She wasn’t interested, and left a few seconds later. Leaving our disappointed suitor clutching and, eventually, eating the leaf. Tech stuff: Amazon jungle, along the Rio Napo, from a canopy tower. Tripod, f5.7, 1/250, ISO250. For more bird photos visit Frozen Feather Images.
Lead Developer Abandons Pebble Mine Plans
Many of us were hopeful when “Cyanide Cynthia” Carroll left Anglo American last year, and my thanks to Mr. Cutifani for his mastery of the obvious. Wrong Mine. Wrong Place. Within hours Northern Dynasty’s stock was falling fast. Anglo didn’t announce the plan on a Friday afternoon to give cover to the remaining partner. Apparently the decision didn’t come until well into the day on Sunday. In 2011, Northern Dynasty had put its 50 percent interest up for sale. It put the plan for the mine online. (I know, that made the whole “we don’t have a plan” thing a…
Rock for the Salmon! – Music at Salmonstock
Salmonstock was several weeks ago – I know – but we just got so many awesome photos we’re finally ready to start posting them all. Please keep checking back for more photo-essays from our fun visit to Salmonstock… and start prepping for next year. Photos above by Zach Roberts A couple extras below by Jeanne Devon
Salmonstock in Photos
A few weeks ago I traveled down to Ninilchik, Alaska—population 883. The sleepy little hamlet saw it’s temporary ranks swell by more than six times, as thousands made the pilgrimage to SalmonStock III, a music festival celebrating the one things that all Alaskans love – wild fish. Even for those very few who don’t like fish and keep that horrible secret to themselves, fish drive the economy, tourism, support subsistence users, sport and commercial fishermen, and a culture that has existed here for thousands of years. In one way or another, Alaskans are bound up with fish. When fish prosper,…
Inconvenient Private Sector Jobs
Time to don your rain ponchos, because Republican heads are going to be exploding across the state. This is one of those times when philosophy and reality are on opposite sides, and the confused elephant brains of the majority of the GOP in Alaska are going to have to out themselves, or change sides. Ah, another inconvenient truth. ” Ready? Guess what industry is the largest private sector employer in the State of Alaska? Oil? <<<HOCKEY BUZZER NOISE>>> Mining? <<<REPEAT ABOVE>>> Nope, it’s fish. A recent report issued from the McDowell Group for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute reveals: The…
Do Alaskans Like Fish More than Pot?
Me: Hey, Alaska! Alaska: WHAT? We’re busy fishing. Me: Just a couple quick questions… you can keep your line in the water. Alaska: Make it fast, the silvers are running. I don’t want to get distracted. Me: Would you rather have more money in the coffers of the state, or make sure you always have fish? Alaska: Fish. Me: Would you rather have people earning more money and boosting the economy, or make sure people can earn a living fishing. Alaska: Fishing. Me: Would you rather smoke pot, or salmon? Alaska: I can’t do both? Me: No. Alaska: OK, salmon….
Salmon: Feel the Love, Have the Party
I fell completely in love with an ad campaign. I know. Between the halibut haters at Domino’s and “The Salmon Project,” I should have whiplash. The campaign is brilliant. It’s got a fantastic kiss mark with a salmon in it! If I were a tattoo girl, that would be my pick. It’s genius. Salmon is more than something on a plate — it’s a lifestyle. I first noticed all this when I stopped to get supplies at the Seward Safeway on the way to my very own salmon project: Operation “Acrobatic Coho!” (Mission accomplished. Thanks for asking!) Even if…