Try a New Way to Eat Kale!
Monday is the perfect time to plan the week's meals and resolve to make this week a week of healthy eating.
To help you, we have 17 ways to use kale -- one of the healthiest foods you can eat. This diverse leafy green isn't just for salads (although we do know some delicious kale salads!). You can also make "chips" from kale or make kale enchiladas!
For today's Daily Action, learn how to choose, store and -- most importantly EAT -- kale!
Well, I don't know about anybody who reads this blog, but I for one need to lose weight. I had this weight gain about the time that I turned 50. I have been exercising as often as possible, but without much results, which is rather discouraging, but I am not giving up.
Speaking of not giving up, If the Keystone Pipeline Builders are not going to give up, then we the people who care about the future and believe in taking responsibility for leaving an inheritance for future generations can not afford to give up.
"Keystone,,Real Facts,,,Please Read"
Key Facts on Keystone XL
Energy Security: Tar Sand will not Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil
Keystone XL will not lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil, but transport Canadian oil to American refineries for export to overseas markets.
•Keystone XL is an export pipeline. According to presentations to investors, Gulf Coast refiners plan to refine the cheap Canadian crude supplied by the pipeline into diesel and other products for export to Europe and Latin America. Proceeds from these exports are earned tax-free. Much of the fuel refined from the pipeline’s heavy crude oil will never reach U.S. drivers’ tanks.
•Reducing demand for oil is the best way to improve our energy security. U.S. demand for oil has been declining since 2007. New fuel-efficiency standards mean that this trend will continue once the economy gets back on track. In fact, the Energy Deptartment report on KeystoneXL found that decreasing demand through fuel efficiency is the only way to reduce mid-east oil imports with or without the pipeline.
More info:
•“Exporting Energy Security: Keystone XL Exposed”, Oil Change InternationalGas prices: Keystone XL will increase gas prices for Americans—Especially Farmers
•By draining Midwestern refineries of cheap Canadian crude into export-oriented refineries in the Gulf Coast, Keystone XL will increase the cost of gas for Americans.
•TransCanada’s 2008 Permit Application states “Existing markets for Canadian heavy crude, principally PADD II [U.S. Midwest], are currently oversupplied, resulting in price discounting for Canadian heavy crude oil. Access to the USGC [U.S. Gulf Coast] via the Keystone XL Pipeline is expected to strengthen Canadian crude oil pricing in [the Midwest] by removing this oversupply. This is expected to increase the price of heavy crude to the equivalent cost of imported crude. The resultant increase in the price of heavy crude is estimated to provide an increase in annual revenue to the Canadian producing industry in 2013 of US $2 billion to US $3.9 billion.”
•Independent analysis of these figures found this would increase per-gallon prices by 20 cents/gallon in the Midwest.
•According to an independent analysis U.S. farmers, who spent $12.4 billion on fuel in 2009 could see expenses rise to $15 billion or higher in 2012 or 2013 if the pipeline goes through. At least $500 million of the added expense would come from the Canadian market manipulation.
More information:
•“Tar Sands Oil Means High Gas Prices” Corporate Ethics International
•“Pipeline Profiteering” National Wildlife Federation
Jobs: TransCanada’s jobs projections are vastly inflated.
•In 2008, TransCanada’s Presidential Permit application for Keystone XL to the State Department indicated “a peak workforce of approximately 3,500 to 4,200 construction personnel” to build the pipeline.
•Jobs estimates above those listed in its application draw from a 2011 report commissioned by TransCanada that estimates 20,000 “person-years” of employment based on a non-public forecast model using undisclosed inputs provided by TransCanada.
•According to TransCanada’s own data, just 11% of the construction jobs on the Keystone I pipeline in South Dakota were filled by South Dakotans–most of them for temporary, low-paying manual labor.
•Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) both oppose the pipeline. Their August 2011 statement: “We need jobs, but not ones based on increasing our reliance on Tar Sands oil. There is no shortage of water and sewage pipelines that need to be fixed or replaced, bridges and tunnels that are in need of emergency repair, transportation infrastructure that needs to be renewed and developed. Many jobs could also be created in energy conservation, upgrading the grid, maintaining and expanding public transportation—jobs that can help us reduce air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and improve energy efficiency.”More Information:
•“Transcanada’s Exaggerated Jobs Claims for KeystoneXL” National Wildlife Federation
Safety: A rupture in the Keystone XL pipeline could cause a BP style oil spill in America’s heartland, over the source of fresh drinking water for 2 million people. NASA’s top climate scientist says that fully developing the tar sands in Canada would mean “essentially game over” for the climate.
•The U.S. Pipeline Safety Administration has not yet conducted an in depth analysis of the safety of diluted bitumen (raw tar sands) pipeline, despite unique safety concerns posed by its more corrosive properties.
•TransCanada predicted that the Keystone I pipeline would see one spill in 7 years. In fact, there have been 12 spills in 1 year. The company was ordered to dig up 10 sections of pipe after government-ordered tests indicated that defective steel may have been used. KeystoneXL will use steel from the same Indian manufacturer.
•Keystone XL will cross through America’s agricultural heartland, the Missouri and Niobrara Rivers, the Ogallala aquifer, sage grouse habitat, walleye fisheries and more.
•The agency was not adequately accounting for threats to wildlife, increased pollution in distressed communities where the crude may be refined, or increases in carbon emissions that would exacerbate climate change, and a variety of other issues.
More Information
•“Tar Sands Pipeline Safety Risks”, National Wildlife Federation, NRDC, Others.
•“On Shore Oil Disasters”, National Wildlife Federation
•“Analysis of Frequency, Magnitude and Consequence of Worst-Case Spills From the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline” John Stansbury, Ph.D., P.E.
•“Pipeline “Safety Conditions” are Smoke and Mirrors”, NRDC
Climate Change: Keystone XL is the fuse to North America’s biggest carbon bomb.
•In a study funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, a group of retired four-star generals and admirals concluded that climate change, if not addressed, will be the greatest threat to national security.
•The State Department Environmental Impact Statement fails to adequately analyze lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by the pipeline. Extraction and refinement of oil sands are more GHG-intensive compared to conventional oil. The EIS estimates that the additional annual GHG emissions from the proposed pipeline could range from an additional “12-23 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent… (roughly the equivalent of annual emissions from 2 to 4 coal-fired power plants)” over conventional crude oil from the Middle East. [8] The EPA believes that the methodology used by the State Department is inaccurate and could underestimate GHG emissions by as much as 20 percent.[9] Given that the expected lifetime of the Keystone XL pipeline is fifty years, the EPA notes that the project could yield an extra 1.15 billion tons of GHGs using the quantitative estimates in the EIS.
Tell Governor Kasich the time for clean energy is nowOr in my case, I blog it, which I hope and pray works also. Come on, Ohio, we can and will clean up our act. After all, there was an article about how GREEN Cincinnati (the Queen City) has become. If 'Cinci' can do it, then ALL of Ohio can too, especially Cleveland, which is still 'the best location in the nation!!!'
The Beyond Coal campaign is on the brink of another major victory with FirstEnergy's news to retire a whopping 3,290 MW of coal in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.
All this news means cleaner air for thousands of Americans, and it's a result of years of tireless advocacy by people like you: hard-working local residents and volunteers across Ohio. Thank you all for your dedication and support.
But there's some unfinished business. The transition from coal to clean energy needs to happen in a way that protects workers and communities, and create more opportunities in Ohio for home-grown renewable energy.
Tell Governor Kasich to support Ohio's established clean energy economy!
Ohio's renewable energy sources and jobs are here and now. Already 7,500 Ohioans are employed by the wind industry1 and 1,500 in solar manufacturing. We have already gotten started and the right policies in place will expedite our transition from coal to clean energy.
In other places across the country where we've begun the transition beyond coal to clean energy, it has been done in a way that protects jobs and local communities and is even supported by local unions.2 This was done in cooperation with local leaders, which is why we need leadership, not hand-wringing, from people like Governor Kasich.
Let Governor Kasich know that you want him to support policies that advance clean energy in Ohio.
It is passion and hard work that has halted new plants from coming online in Ohio and led to the retirement of these aging, polluting plants. It will be the same dedication from communities and elected officials that provide a positive transition to clean energy.
Thanks for all you do to protect the environment,
Rashay Layman
Sierra Club
P.S. After you take action, be sure to forward this alert to your friends and colleagues!
References:
1 http://elpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/OhioWindSupplyFinal_HQ.pdf
2 http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/2012/02/clean-air-and-public-health-wins-now-will-energy-company-stand-up-for-its-workers.html
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