Sowing Seeds of Wisdom, Reaping a Life of Purpose
Oil company BP says it is fixing a leak in a so-called "choke line" leading to one of the shut-off valves of the new cap designed to plug its spilling Gulf of Mexico oil well.Company officials said late Wednesday their engineers had "isolated" the leak and would move ahead with testing of the new containment cap once the repairs were complete. The test involves closing all the valves to determine if the cap can effectively contain the massive leak, or if oil is flowing from another part of the well.
BP began the tests Wednesday, after a day-long delay imposed by the U.S. government who wanted time for further analysis to ensure its safety. U.S. National Incident Commander Thad Allen said officials took about 24 hours to review the plans for the test.Allen has said that if the new cap can maintain high pressure readings over an extended period – six to 48 hours – it could fully contain the leaking oil. If pressure readings are too low, he said it could mean there is damage to the well shaft underneath the sea bed.
The new cap was installed Monday on the damaged well head about 1.6 kilometers below the Gulf’s surface.BP’s Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said earlier that government scientists raised concerns that the tests of the new cap could damage the well shaft.
In an interview with CNN, Suttles said damaged liners within the well shaft could cause oil to leak underground. On Wednesday, BP, as a precaution, suspended work for two days on relief wells intended to permanently seal the damaged oil well underground.
Suttles said that oil production ships on the surface are continuing to collect and burn off oil leaking from the well.
The oil leak began after the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which killed 11 crewmen. The disaster has fouled vast expanses of the U.S. Gulf coast, killed birds and sea life and devastated the region’s fishing and tourism. BP officials said, as of Monday, the leak has already cost the company some $3.5 billion.
Photo provided by BP America under Creative Commons Licence (by-nc-nd 3.0)
Article is from Voice of America News voanews.com and is in the public domain
Links
Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bpamerica/4694347276/
Article Source: http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/BP-Fixing-Isolated-Leak-During-Containment-Cap-Test–98489439.html
A good and healthier way to reduce your carbon footprint is to grow your own organic foods in a garden / orchard. The food you grow yourself will taste better and will not require the fuel to transport it or the fuels used to make the pesticides. Being organic it will not have the poisonous pesticides on and in them and will be higher in nutrition due to the fact of the soil wasn’t depleted of nutrients from over farming. A simple garden requires a bit of work but is quite worth it and
if you can your own vegetables and fruits you can keep from having to buy much produce.
When you are forced to buy produce due to the inability to grow a vegetable or fruit due to climate or other factors then try to buy them as organic and when in season. Buying them in season and from as local as a source as you can will reduce the fuels required to transport them. The organic choice is not only healthier but due to the fact no pesticides are used reduces the fuels used in creating and transporting the pesticides.
Here are a few good articles on Gardening
Vegetables Gardening – Profiles, Growing Tips and Ideas – About.com
How to Prepare an Organic Vegetable Garden – ehow.com
Here are a few good articles on Home Canning/freezing etc.
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2009 revision
All About Home Canning*, Freezing and Making Jams and Jellies
Example Video from YouTube
Check out this article on Seattle Times, it shows how to reduce your carbon footprint.
Excerpt: “ From the street, the house looks like any other in this quiet North Seattle neighborhood. But something different is going on here.The trash container at the curb is not much bigger than a shoebox. And inside the house, at 7:15 on a weekday morning, all the lights are off. It’s not because no one’s home “
Click link below to read full article
Local News | Simple steps reduce carbon footprints | Seattle Times Newspaper
Common Sense tells us our garbage and the burning of any fossil fuel creates a toxic environment for both mankind and our fellow inhabitants of earth. Our wasteful and somewhat lazy lifestyle is effecting not only our environment but also our lifespan. Pharmacology can only slow the decline of our health and the mortality rate. The morbid truth is Mankind’s choices and actions is leading to the extinction of both himself and his fellow creatures. The good news is that though it’s late in the game we can make choices and changes that could slow down if not reverse the damage we cause. Simple things like using a water filter versus buying water in plastic bottles or use plant based plastics like the popular snack Sun Chips has done.
Even something as easy as changing your old standard light bulbs for the newer florescent type can save enough energy to reduce some of the carbon footprint made by power plants. Every single one of us are responsible for the upkeep and wellbeing of this planet we live on. Though a little more expensive glass is a far better container for soft drinks and other beverages, also glass is quite recyclable and isn’t as bad for the environment. Though Styrofoam is far better in its thermal properties versus paper, but Styrofoam is far worse for the environment. Even though paper plates and cups do impact trees if we replant what we cut down and recycle what we use it would have a smaller impact on the environment. Using real dishes is the ideal solution but then who wants to take real dishes to a picnic?
There is so many ways to make changes in our lifestyles to help preserve and repair our home called earth. So I leave it up to you to find the better ways and get the news out there. If you know of any ideas to help others make a positive impact on the environment feel free to leave a comment.
Peace
This modern world we live in is ran by the rich and built by the poor. Low wages paid for the laboring masses across the planet and millions of mind numbing time consuming gadgets to keep us from realizing what’s going on around us. Everything from Chemtrails left by airplanes that happened to coincide with the decline of honey bees to the wars over oil and religion. Don’t get me wrong I love those little gadgets that keep my mind occupied but they do keep me distracted allot from what is going on in the world around me. There is allot going on around us at this time we either are blind to or choose to ignore because we feel we can not do anything about it.
I think the mentality that we can not change things around us is one of the biggest problems we face as a world community besides the I don’t care attitude. We all should care about the world and the other inhabitants of it. We also should realize that even one voice shouting in the dark can reach the ears and minds of Millions. The sooner we realize this is our world to take care of the more we will understand that we must make changes. Mankind has the potential and the means to make changes and the ability to reverse allot of the damage he has caused. The current Oil Disaster in the gulf of the U.S. is a terrible ecological disaster that can impact the whole planet in the long run. Though they are trying to recapture oil that has leaked into the gulf it is a painstaking and slow process. The sooner they can plug the leak and get the relief wells in place the better. Off shore oil drilling is the most dangerous way of drilling for oil yet. Oceans can carry oil for miles and miles if leaked and that puts the life forms in the ocean at great risk. If Aquatic life is diminished and or becomes a tainted food source for humans there will be global famine in our future. Too many developing nations that rely on seafood for there main source of protein / food.
All I know is mankind doesn’t wake up and start changing towards a more earth friendly society we may become a endangered species.
Peace
It is nice to see the other countries out there offering help in the oil cleanup in the gulf but its offered with a price tag. Why is it when America offers help to other nations they do so for free but when its us that needs help we have to pay for it. So should America start charging for their assistance for now on or should these other countries give us help for free? B.P. would be the one paying for the help if accepted so in this case I may side with the countries offering help. This is more of a disaster caused by the lack of safety and a lack of quality control due to the possible greed of company shareholders. I do believe if it was a natural disaster or a catastrophe from uncontrollable circumstances that the nations of the world would be offering free help / aid.
It is very reassuring to see that we as a world can come together to solve problems when they are immediate, now if we could do the same for the problems that are present now and will worsen in the future. We still need to deal with the world economy and the state of the earths environmental changes such as global warming and the melting of ice caps etc. .Hopefully we will learn from the B.P. oil incident and impose more safety regulations and governmental inspections.Even if we clean up the oil there is the methane gas and the possible dead zones that can happen from the gas.So much marine life has been and will be effected by both the oil and methane gas and it will take years if not decades for the marine life to recover.
Well hats off to the global community for offering help. And here is to the hope the global community will come together to figure ways to reduce the impact on the marine life in this disaster.
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