Multi-billion dollar Chevron’s Gorgon project won a conditional approval from an Australian environmental regular. The flatback turtle ran, whooosh!, for cover.

Australia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Western Australia said it was still opposed to the building of the Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on a nature reserve. But, IF certain conditions could be met, the EPA will go along.

Chevron truck

The recommendations are conditional and a final decision will be made in two weeks. Meanwhile, Tom continues to run.

Chevron of the U.S. is partnering with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp, to increase the size of Gorgon to 15 million tons per annum (mtpa). They already have approval for 10mpta. Run, Thomas, run!

Chevron and the Western Australia government estimate the costs will be about A$50 billion ($35 billion).  LNG cargoes are expected in 2014 than the 2010-2011 target. Tommie, are you getting away?

Chevron owns 50 percent of Gorgon. The gas reserves are estimated to be 40 trillion cubic feet and  “Asia is obviously the most promising market and one that is the most buoyant.”

Flatback Turtle

Environmentalist, however are concerned with potential damage to a protected nature reserve on Barrow Island. The EPA said there will be impact on:

1. flatback turtle nesting on the island
2. introduction of non-indigenous species to the island’s ecosystem
3. potential damage inflicted by seabed dredging.

The flatback turtle versus umpteen multi-billion dollar Chevron and it looks like the turtle will finally lose. Good grief!

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I listened to Jay Richards, PhD, give a Christian Perspective on the Environment.

Besides some interesting questions that he posed such as “Is a warmer Earth bad?” he through out some numbers. Yeah, I know the warming trend is bad for some, now, but when considering the big picture over the course of many years, is a warmer Earth bad? This question is far from answered.

Still, Dr. Richards also threw out some numbers.

If all the countries in the world were to seriously make every attempt to meet the Kyoto Protocol, it could costs $10-50 trillion. That’s a ‘T’ and the range is big because nobody really knows. And even if all the goals were met and the if the climate models are correct, two big IFs, temps MIGHT be lowered by .0.07C overall, an insignificant amount to say the least.

Now…to give the entire world sanitary water, the cost is estimated to be $200 billion – 1/50 the cost of the lower end of the global temperature fighting costs.

How might we spend our money more wisely?

What say you?

Did you know that Giant pandas have fun, too? Just like little childs. But check out this black and white fellow who failed to slide the board in the cutest possible way.

Sliding Giant Panda, Falls Down

[via Ffffound]

Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network and Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy have come up with a list of the World’s Cleanest Countries.

Clean Streets in Geneve, Switzerland

Europe claimed 14 of the top 20 environmental performers largely because the Old Continent has “the infrastructure to provide clean drinking water and treat waste water, lowering the likelihood that Europeans will suffer from waterborne disease.”

Scandinavia performed well in ecosystem vitality – health of fisheries, the amount of greenhouse gases a country pumps into the air and how well it preserves the diversity of its plants and animals. This’ll happen when you have so few people in such wide open spaces.

The United States scored a 63.5 in ecosystem vitality. The average is 74.2. And George W. gets the blame. That poor man will be blamed for everything that is wrong with the world. The U.S. was 39th overall and it was Bush’s fault that we weren’t ranked higher.

Switzerland was ranked number one and Costa Rica was one of a few developing nations to crack the top 10. Columbia also made it. And it’s Bush and his dad’s fault that Columbia and Costa Rica are not part of the United States thus helping us have a higher ranking overall.

So should we move to Europe?

Image by cmicblog

We may be in serious trouble. The rabbit or hare depending on your version might win this one.

One of the world’s rarest species of tortoise is under extreme threat. The rarity is not that this is the one that loses to the hare. The threat to Speedy is from exotic pet smugglers.

Conservationists are fighting with smugglers to keep them from taking the Ploughshare tortoise. This type of tortoise can garner thousands of dollars on the black market. It is only found Madagascar.

Some estimates say there are only between 400 and 1,000 left.

If you ask me, we had better hurry … rabbit like hurry.

At first I saw David Groza playing the guitar from Israel. And I was like “Woooow, that guy is amazing!” But then I saw more and more people doing the same thing from different corners of the world (and yes, I know the world doesn’t have corners)— Congo, South Africa or Ghana. That was when I already had my ears up and my eyes sticking to the screen. Then, I finally understood what was going on.

All these people sing for a cause. They sing for a change. They sing for a world with no problems, with no war. They sing to make people aware that we don’t need first class and second class citizens, that the color of our skin should be just as important as the color of our eyes …

We don’t need, no more trouble. And it looks like music is our best weapon for a change.

I don’t know about you, but Bono and the other featured musicians had a great impact on me.

What’s the one thing we all miss?

The Nature Conservancy gets a portion of the ad revenue generated by the game, (Lil) Green Patch” on Facebook. The more it is played, the more rainforest gets saved. Who would have thunk?

Social media is one of the new fertile grounds for fundraising. It can work, especially if users don’t know they are giving. In other words, advertisers are just sharing a portion.

(Lil) Green Patch : Facebook Application that Tries to Make a Difference

Young people, for whatever reason, have an interest in the environment. Especially college students and the very savvy of media socialites. If they are told they can help save rainforests and fight global warming by playing a game, look out. Especially if the game is fun.

The (Lil) Green Patch game has generated $162,150 in little more than a year, says The Nature Conservancy. It is among the most popular applications that some 6 million active users on Facebook can add to their profiles.

(Lil) Green Patch is one of Facebook’s best earners but still accounts for less than 3 percent of The Nature Conservancy’s online fundraising. But how many seeds has been planted for the users of social media to become more aware? That’s an intangible but valuable contribution overall.

Social-networking sites are becoming more and more necessary for nonprofits to explore.

Direct mail, phone solicitations – success is dwindling. Internet fundraising is on the rise. Hmm…

Play a game, save the world. Sounds fun and fruitful, eh?

I was confused before. I am even more confused now.

Researchers are saying that Antarctic sea ice is growing rather than melting thanks to the hole in the ozone layer. And here we thought the hole was going to let too much heat in.

Ozone Effect: Antarctic Ice is Increasing

The frozen seas surrounding the South Pole have increased at the rate of 100,000 square kilometer a decade over the last 40 years. Scientists think there are stronger surface winds over Antarctica and more frequent storms in the Southern Ocean because of the whole in the ozone hole but resulting in more ice.

Ozone effect: Antarctic sea ice is increasing. Ozone hole— delayed the impact of greenhouse gases there.

Antarctic sea ice is increasing. The Ozone hole delayed the impact of greenhouse gases

just so as we don’t get our hopes up, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and NASA is warning the ozone hole is only delaying the impact of greenhouse gases on the climate of the continent. Give me a break!

If ozone levels recover over the next 100 year, weather patterns will return to normal and Antarctic sea ice will shrink rapidly. Then we’ll cry global warming again! Can’t win for trying here.

Professor John Turner of BAS, said: ‘Its quite ironic that the continent directly beneath the ozone hole is the one seemingly least affected.

‘While there is increasing evidence that the loss of sea ice in the Arctic has occurred due to human activity, in the Antarctic human influence through the ozone hole has had the reverse effect and resulted in more ice.

‘Although the ozone hole is in many ways holding back the effects of greenhouse gas on the Antarctic, this will not last, and we expect ozone levels to recover by the end of the 21st Century.

‘By then there is likely to be around one third less Antarctic sea ice.’

In other words, the scientists don’t know what is going on. Or, can’t realize that this amazing home we call Earth is able to make tremendous adaptations to the many burdens we place upon it.

Professor Turner said, ‘We have finally solved the mystery of why we are not seeing the same degree of warming that we have seen around the rest of the world.

‘Understanding how polar sea ice responds to global change, whether human induced or as part of a natural process, is really important if we are to make accurate predictions about the Earth’s future climate.’

Dr Ted Maksym, who is also involved in the research said it would be wrong to conclude that growing sea ice meant global warming was under control. Yeah! Do NOT, I repeat do NOT do anything to subdue global warming hype!

He said: ‘You have to be quite ambivalent about whether these findings are good news or bad news.

Huh!? (me)

‘What we are trying to do is explain why there has been the pattern of ice growing when everyone was expecting it to have started shrinking by now.

‘Our research answers part of the puzzle as to why the ice has not changed much. It’s worth bearing in mind it’s a relatively small amount of growth.’

Their research does nothing but confuse those who will insist on man-caused global warming and the dire predictions of the end of the world. As for me, I can see a clear balance in how the Earth compensates. After all, that’s how the Earth was designed.

Sky-Terra Towers, the name is somewhat of an oxymoron— sky is sky and terra is ground. So, which is it?

It doesn’t matter. A San Francisco based designer, Joanna Borek-Clement, is seeing cities in the skies. Not in San Francisco, however. The non-firma terra makes it a non consideration. Her inspiration is the shape of neuron cells.

The cities in the skies will be interconnected towers, so instead of skyscrapers blocking out the sun, it’ll be cities keeping the sunlight out. The idea was one of many entries in the 2009 eVolo Skyscraper competition, Borek had Tokyo in mind with her idea. Tokyo could used the space, no doubt.

The Sky-Terra towers offer many options from public parks, to greenbelts, playing fields, jogging paths, amphitheaters, pools or bath houses – all with the aim of providing people with access to open space.

The transportation system consists of interconnected foot paths and also bike paths and electric car paths. Don’t know about you, but I wonder about cars driving around far overheard.  The towers are supposed to  reduce the urban heat island effect. Rainwater will be used for landscaping needs. The towers will be built from modular parts to conserve resources and energy.

Getting to the city will be done by elevator. Offices and even residential areas will be incorporated into the fins that come out of the inner core. Now, if we could just figure out a way to get the sunlight through. And if I didn’t know any better, I’d say they’re likely to charge to use the elevators and bridges. That’s how we pay for things in the San Francisco Bay Area.

While the rest of the world is in an economic slump, Wal-mart keeps chugging along. It makes sense to me. When all else fails, which is the case these days, Wal-mart is still the cheapest place to buy anything … anything that the company sells.

Wal-Mart aims to buy the green power at prices equal to or less than traditional energy.

Wal-mart is about to put some life into the renewable energy market. The company announced on Earth Day that it plans to double the size of its solar power initiative in the next 18 months. Some 10-20 stores in and distribution centers in California will get solar panels on their roof tops. Sam already has solar set ups on 18 stores in CA and HI.

Wal-mart will save the equivalent of enough energy for 2,600 homes or keeping 4,000 cars off the road each year. Until Sam sells those cars, I suppose. And Wal-mart won’t buy the solar setups outright, but will instead pay only for what it uses under a 10-year power purchase agreement. The stores that use solar power get 20-30% of its electricity from above.

“The pilot program led us to the point that we believe in solar,” says Kim Saylors-Laster, Wal-Mart’s vice president of energy.

And, that is good news for the renewable energy market.

I wonder what Wal-mart thinks about nuclear power?