Here We Go Again? — Breaking News: Another Oil Rig Explosion

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Disasters, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

Lovely: An oil rig has exploded 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, with 12 people overboard and one missing, the Coast Guard said Thursday morning. UPDATE:  The rig is owned by Mariner Energy.  And leased to….???  Well, we don't know yet. UPDATE #2:  It bears mentioning that this is NOT a deep-sea oil well, unlike BP's Deepwater Horizon, and reports are … Read More

Where Did The Spilled Gulf Oil Go?

Ken AshfordDisasters, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & Energy3 Comments

Now that the well is capped, there seems to be relatively little effect on the environment — at least as not as much as anticipated. I'm not complaining, of course…. but one wonders why the environmental effects aren't devastating. The answer, possibly, is this: A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe suddenly is flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico and  gobbling up … Read More

Another Quote Of The Day

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

From today's New York Times: “According to NASA, 2010 is on course to be the planet’s hottest year since records started in 1880. The current top 10, in descending order, are: 2005, 2007, 2009, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2004, 2001 and 2008.” Right.  Good thing that global warming is just a hoax.

Thought Of The Day

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & Energy, WeatherLeave a Comment

Whenever, in winter, it would snow – or was extremely frigid – someplace, the climate change deniers would do a little dance and sing, "How can there be global warming???  Look at my snowman!" Of course, these morons don't know the difference between climate and weather.  Nor are they aware of their complicated relationship, and how "global warming" doesn't necessarily mean … Read More

Oil Spill Gushes Faster and Claims Two More Lives

Ken AshfordDisasters, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

The BP oil spill has upped the ante.  This is breaking news…. Oil gushing at spill site after vent damaged Cap removed after sub hits vent; 2 cleanup workers die in separate events BREAKING NEWS NBC News and news services updated 12:53 p.m. ET, Wed., June 23, 2010 WASHINGTON – Oil was again gushing from the BP spill site on … Read More

Obama Has Sharks With Lasers, Too

Ken AshfordDisasters, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & Energy, Right Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

I miss Kaye Grogan.  She was a columnist for Renew America, a right-wing Christian/political website started by many-times presidential candidate Alan Keyes.  Kaye was crazy, and her columns had the added pleasure of being written in the worst English-torturing manner.  I mean, worse than my writing even. Kaye's columns quietly disappeared from the Intertubes a year or so ago, and there's … Read More

Drilling Ban Lifted By Dead British Googly Eyed Comedian

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Disasters, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

Bloomberg: A New Orleans federal judge lifted the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by President Barack Obama following the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Obama temporarily halted all drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet on May 27 to give a presidential commission time to study improvements in the safety of offshore operations. Government lawyers told U.S. District … Read More

Bachmann Quote Of The Day [Update: Rep. Barton (R-TX), Too!]

Ken AshfordCongress, Disasters, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

Wow.  Just wow.  Here is Rep. Michelle "Crazy As A Loon" Bachmann on the BP escrow fund to compensate Gulf shore residents for their losses: The president just called for creating a fund that would be administered by outsiders, which would be more of a redistribution-of-wealth fund.  And now it appears like we’ll be looking at one more gateway for … Read More

Yet Another In A Series Of Posts All Relating To “How Much Oil Is Being Spilled”?

Ken AshfordDisasters, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & Energy1 Comment

…. and like all the other posts, the answer is "More than we've been led to believe".  Sigh: The new estimate is 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day. That range, still preliminary, is far above the previous estimate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day. These new calculations came as the public wrangling between BP and the White … Read More