MUENCHHAUSEN, Feb. 16, 2015

MUENCHHAUSEN

AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT ENVIRONMENT,

RENEWABLE RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,

AND RELATED TOPICS

By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.

BETHESDA, MD

JJGREENBARON(at)VERIZON.NET

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

==============================================================

WELCOME!

The Green Baron (TGB) welcomes one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen. He aims to “tell it like it is” as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and ideological positions. There are enough of those to go around in other publications.

The Green Baron also welcomes comments from anyone who may read Muenchhausen. Please send comments to the e-mail address above.

KEYSTONE XL PASSED CONGRESS: SO WHAT?

Well, a bill to approve the construction of the much-debated Keystone XL Pipeline to ship Alberta Oil Sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast area of the US finally has passed both houses of Congress, been reconciled, and forwarded to the President for signature, after years of discussion. TGB believes that the chances of a presidential signature or a Congressional veto override are lower than TGB’s chances of hitting the jackpot on the Mega Millions or Power Ball lottery. But let’s see what political and economics analysts at the Union Bank of Switzerland have to say about it in their own words (and they reputedly are among the best in their professions):

More Energy to Come After Keystone. The House voted this week to pass the Senate-passed legislation approving the Keystone XL Pipeline project. The bill will be sent to President Obama, who is expected to veto it. A federal study from the Environmental Protection Agency indicating possible adverse environmental impacts from the pipeline project was strategically released last week, and it will be cited as part of the reason for the President's veto. The veto will end legislative efforts on Keystone for now, but it will not end the broader debate over energy policy. Look for new and separate debates and votes soon over lifting the prohibition on the export of U.S. crude oil, accelerating U.S. exports of natural gas, pipeline infrastructure improvements, designation of land to be used or not used for energy production, and other measures (1).

FUNDING TO STUDY “R”

By “R”, TGB means microbial resistance to drugs. It appears that $100 million could be allocated to the National Institutes of Health’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to study how bacteria attain “R” and to develop new drugs and diagnostics that detect diseases and get around “R” (2). In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA) could receive funding—perhaps nearly $700 million—to create an “isolate bank” of “R” strains and to educate hospital personnel in properly using antibiotics in such a way as to minimize the emergence of resistant organisms. Among other efforts would be working on ways to minimize the use of antibiotics in animal feed or, better, exclude them from feed (Food and Drug Administration and US Department of Agriculture). 

Resistant bacteria: trying to meet the challenge.

GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS?

Not if the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has its way. In southwestern Alaska, near Iliamna Lake, it is estimated that there is ore containing 6.7 million pounds of gold, worth about $120 billion at current prices (3). Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., a Canadian firm, proposes to establish Pebble Mine to extract this ore. Problem is that this mineral treasure is located beneath spawning ground for one of Earth’s biggest runs of sockeye salmon. This fishery is reputed to generate $500 million a year in revenue.

EPA might invoke a rarely used legal authority to bar the company from beginning work on Pebble Mine. This action is known as a “preemptive veto”. Many conservationists, Alaskan natives, fishermen, and other interests oppose any such mining activity. It will be interesting to see the extent to which EPA’s preemptive veto may be contested in Congress and in cognizant courts—TGB somehow expects the matter to go to court—or whether the EPA action will stick.

 

Iliamna Lake, Alaska: Major salmon spawning grounds (4)

REFERENCES

1. Union Bank of Switzerland. www.ubs.com/fs.

2. Kaiser, J., Servick, K. “Biomedical initiatives get top billing in budget rollout”. Science, 6 Feb. 2015, 347, p. 601.

3. Warrick, J. “In EPA’s likely mine ‘veto’, foes see a vein of overreach”. The Washington Post, Feb. 16, 2015, p. A1.
4. Natural Resources Defense Council. http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mskoglund/pebble_mine_in_alaska_worst_id.html.

MUENCHHAUSEN, FEB. 8, 2015

MUENCHHAUSEN 

AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT  

ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, RENEWABLE
RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS
By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD 20817
JJGREENBARON(at)VERIZON.NET
===============================================================
Feb. 8, 2015
===============================================================

WELCOME!

The Green Baron (TGB) welcomes one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen. He aims to "tell it like it is" as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and ideological positions. There are enough of those to go around in other publications. The Green Baron also welcomes comments from anyone who may read Muenchhausen. Please send comments to the e-mail address above.

PASSED SENATE, 68 TO 32

The bill to authorize the Keystone XL Pipeline to refineries in US Gulf states has passed the US Senate by a margin of 68 to 32 votes. Apparently, the House of Representatives will go along with the Senate version, reconcile it with whatever may need reconciliation, and send it along to the White House, where a presidential veto appears certain. There may be enough votes in the House to override the veto, but TGB doubts that 67 votes needed to override will be found in the Senate. TGB wonders, however, what might be the political fate of the Democratic Senators who voted for Keystone—“defected”, so to speak. He thinks they will at least receive a strong reprimand from the White House and party leaders.

Even if, by some odd turn of fate, the presidential veto is overridden—a chance, TGB believes, is equal to that of his winning the jackpot on the Powerball Lottery—construction work on the pipeline will almost certainly be tied up, and likely stymied by batteries of lawsuits whose papers, TGB thinks, are at the ready for filing should the nearly unthinkable happen. TGB repeats, however, that the Canadian Oil Sands oil will be produced and shipped, if not to the US Gulf area, then to the People’s Republic of China. A pipeline can be constructed, perhaps not with ease, but constructed nevertheless from Alberta to the Canadian Pacific Coast, perhaps somewhere north of Vancouver.

GEOENGINEERING?

Lately, there has been some discussion about modifying the climate-warming effects of carbon dioxide (CO₂) by injecting measured amounts of sulfur oxide gases (SO_x) into the atmosphere. This practice, if implemented, would be known as geoengineering. TGB has read—this needs further substantiation—that, say, one part per million (ppm) of SO_x could neutralize the effects of 1 million parts of CO₂ by reducing the level of solar radiation that would arrive at the earth’s surface. One would see thin clouds that curtail the amount of sunlight. TGB quails at this idea, as do many scientists critical of this approach. Several other approaches are suggested, each with potential “advantages” and “disadvantages” (1). They all give TGB the “willies”.

TGB strongly recommends a good look at this Web site.

 

 Some possible geoengineering approaches (4)

DOLLARS AGAINST “R”?

By “R”, TGB means microbial resistance against medicinal drugs, which is a long-standing “bugaboo” with him. The administration is seeking funding to the level of $1.2 billion, which would essentially double the current level of funds for anti-“R” research (2). Recently there have been some hints at promising findings in battle against “R”, essential if currently used medicines, particularly antibiotics, are totally resisted by “superbugs”.

Perhaps such government assistance is indeed necessary here. As TGB heard it, perhaps a decade or even more ago, drug discovery involves extensive (and mainly very expensive) research. Imagine that to find one eventually marketable drug, researchers must look at 10,000 candidate substances initially. Of those 10,000, about 9,900 will soon be discarded. The next step is where the real expense comes in. The remaining 100 candidates each must be tested exhaustively. Even then, there can be no assurance that the one will be found. Even a very wealthy pharmaceutical company’s directors, officers, and staff will think long and hard before embarking on such a project. This is one reason why many experts in the field of “R” seem pessimistic about a pharmaceutical company’s motivation to develop new drugs when the marketability and profitability prospects appear to be so “blue sky”.

As one came to the entrance of the second circle of Inferno (3), having been rowed across the River Acheron, he/she saw the ominous sign, “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate!” That is, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter!” The ongoing situation concerning “R” indicated that this sign is to be heeded on earth. But now, possibilities arise that the abandonment of hope might at least be postponed, at least for a while (4).

 

 "R": Have we a reprieve?

REFERENCES

1. Bennett, M. Clean Technica. "Geo-Engineering for a Tailor-Made Planet". http://cleantechnica.com/2008/06/02/geo-engineering-for-a-tailor-made-planet/. June 2, 2008.

2. Dennis, B. “Administration targets antibiotic-resistance drugs”. The Washington Post, Jan. 27, 2015, page A2.

3. Alighieri, D. “Inferno”. La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy), ca. 1320. http://www.centrostudilaruna.it/lesoterismo-di-dante.html

4. Feltman, R. “Playing in the dirt yields an antibiotic”. The Washington Post, Jan. 8, 2015, p. A1.