[ Invitation to World Literature ] via Annenberg Media

I love this series.

It reveals the humanity that is at risk in our debates on education. In East Chicago the “bean counters”, the “economic development gurus”, the “industry” continually invoke the utility of an education but never its Humanity. As a result they have created toxic assets of our commons. The land we use, the air we breathe, and the water we drink are the among the most contaminated investments this world has ever attracted.

Perhaps our ”bean counters”, our “economic development gurus”, and our “industrialist” need an education. This series has a great reading list for them (and for me as well).

1. The Epic of Gilgamesh
2. My Name is Red
3. The Odyssey
4. The Bacchae
5. The Bhagavad Gita
6. The Tale of Genji
7. Journey to the West
8. Popol Vuh
9. Candide
10. Things Fall Apart
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude
12. The God of Small Things
13. The Thousand and One Nights

Thomas Reading List, What I am Looking at

Left / Right or Other

Thomas Visual Culture

Please take a moment and listen to Henry. He is a gentle man of the Dene Nation in the Northwest Territories. I recently met him in Edmonton when I was there for the “Everyone’s Downstream” Conference at the University of Alberta. This documentary was products by Felix Gonzales.

His life is directly linked to ours in East Chicago and Whiting.

BP is mining the surface of his land - The Tar Sands - and piping it to BP’s Whiting Refinery. Please remember the gas you are burning is the land on which he lives - The Tar Sands.

more on [ Tar Sands ] by Felix Gonzales

Thomas Energy, Tar Sands

Anthropologist Wade Davis, author of “The Wayfinders,” makes the case that the traditional cultures which are being crushed and annihilated by modernity are in fact repositories of human knowledge that we’re fools to discard.

Thomas Ways of Seeing

When something goes horribly wrong, what is a broker to do?

Barack Obama > John Podesta > Podesta Group > BP > Earth Day Disaster

Thomas National

An impossible story in the telling.

Thomas Misc

Always looking for Case Studies for the future options for BP.

via [ Post Trib ] “Westville Oil Refinery Will Be Cleaned” By Gitte Laasby

WESTVILLE — After more than two decades, one of the nation’s most polluted sites — the former Cam-Or waste oil refinery in Westville — will finally be completely cleaned up around 2013.

It will also mean fewer public health risks from exposure to lead and other dangerous pollutants, and improve the environment, officials said.

The companies were Cam-Or customers and helped generate the waste oil at the now-vacant 15-acre site north of Indiana 2 near U.S. 421.

The site is bordered by private homes to the east and located within the West-Tech Redevelopment Area.

Originally owned by Westville Oil, the facility operated as a refinery for reprocessing waste oil starting in 1934.

From the 1950s to 1978, waste oil discarded at the facility was stored in 11 unlined lagoons, which allowed contaminants to leach into soil, groundwater and Crumpacker Ditch.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a cleanup in 1987, treating 9.5 million gallons of contaminated water and removing about 112 drums. The agency later determined more remediation was necessary.

“The pollution at this industrial site occurred over several decades and the clean-up of contaminated soil and groundwater is expected to take years, so it was a complicated process to hammer out a legal agreement to fully fund the remediation of the site,” said Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller in a statement.

“This agreement helps resolve a lingering environmental impediment to future economic development and hopefully jobs for the LaPorte and Porter county areas.”

Groundwater along a one-mile plume extending from the site is contaminated with a solvent, benzene and other pollutants. Soil at the site is contaminated with the carcinogen benzene and heavy metals, such as lead. In June 2008, EPA decided lead-contaminated soil will be excavated and safely consolidated on-site, and contaminated groundwater will be extracted and treated.

According to the EPA, low levels of contamination have been detected in several of the private wells downgradient of the site. Read more…

Thomas Case Studies, Environment

via [ movements.org ] “How To Be an Effective Dissident”

Hillary Clinton and the U.S. State Department mainstreaming youth dissident culture -

[ Promo ]

I wonder if we could use this network for a campaign against the Tar Sands?

Thomas Information Graphics, Misc, Politics

Thomas East Chicago, Environment

[ Justice in the Air ] tracks toxic data from America’s Industries and Companies to Our States, Cities, and Neighborhoods.

And examines who breaths a disproportionate share of toxic air and who is releasing them.

Thomas The Air I Breath

[ EPA ] Sets CO2 Standards for Power Plants and Oil Refineries

Power plants account for more than 2.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, more than any other industry.  Oil refineries clock in as the second largest source, with emissions equivalent to more than 200 million tons of carbon dioxide (mainly a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane).

via NRDC Switchboard [ David Doniger's Blog ]

List of Coal Plants in the US via [ Wikipedia ]

List of Oil refineries in the US via [ Wikipedia ]
Alabama

• Tuscaloosa Refinery (Hunt Refining Company), Tuscaloosa 52,000 bbl/d (8,300 m³/d)
• Saraland Refinery (Shell Oil Company), Saraland 80,000 bbl/d (13,000 m³/d)
• Mobile Refinery (Gulf Atlantic Refining & Marketing), Mobile 16,700 bbl/d (2,660 m³/d)^[6]

Alaska

• Kenai Refinery (Tesoro), Kenai 72,000 bbl/d (11,400 m³/d)
• Valdez Refinery (Petro Star), Valdez 50,000 bbl/d (7,900 m³/d)
• North Pole Refinery (Petro Star), North Pole 17,000 bbl/d (2,700 m³/d)
• Kuparuk Refinery (ConocoPhillips), Kuparuk 14,400 bbl/d (2,290 m³/d)
• North Pole Refinery (Flint Hills Resources), North Pole 210,000 bbl/d (33,000 m³/d)
• Prudhoe Bay Refinery (BP), Prudhoe Bay 12,500 bbl/d (1,990 m³/d)

Arkansas

• El Dorado Refinery (Lion Oil), El Dorado 70,000 bbl/d (11,000 m³/d)
• Smackover Refinery (Cross Oil), Smackover 6,800 bbl/d (1,080 m³/d)

California

• Bakersfield Refinery (Big West), Bakersfield, 66,000 bbl/d (10,500 m³/d)
• Bakersfield Refinery (Kern Oil), Bakersfield, 25,000 bbl/d (4,000 m³/d)
• Bakersfield Refinery (San Joaquin Refining Company), Bakersfield, 24,300 bbl/d (3,860 m³/d)
• Benicia Refinery (Valero), Benicia, 144,000 bbl/d (22,900 m³/d)
• Carson Refinery (BP), Carson, 265,000 bbl/d (42,100 m³/d)^[7]
• El Segundo Refinery (Chevron), El Segundo, 265,500 bbl/d (42,210 m³/d)^[7]
• Golden Eagle Refinery (Tesoro), near Martinez, 166,000 bbl/d (26,400 m³/d)
• Long Beach Refinery (Edgington Oil Company), Long Beach, 26,000 bbl/d (4,100 m³/d)
• Martinez Refinery (Shell Oil Company), Martinez, 154,900 bbl/d (24,630 m³/d)
• Oxnard Refinery (Tenby Inc), Oxnard, 2,800 bbl/d (450 m³/d)
• Paramount Refinery (Paramount Petroleum), Paramount, 50,000 bbl/d (7,900 m³/d)
• Richmond Refinery (Chevron), Richmond, 242,901 bbl/d (38,618.2 m³/d)
• Rodeo San Francisco Refinery (ConocoPhillips), Rodeo, 100,000 bbl/d (16,000 m³/d)
• Santa Maria Refinery (ConocoPhillips), Santa Maria, 41,800 bbl/d (6,650 m³/d)
• Santa Maria Refinery (Greka Energy), Santa Maria, 9,500 bbl/d (1,510 m³/d)
• South Gate Refinery (Lunday Thagard), South Gate, 8,500 bbl/d (1,350 m³/d)
• Torrance Refinery (ExxonMobil), Torrance, 149,000 bbl/d (23,700 m³/d)
• Wilmington Asphalt Refinery (Valero), Wilmington, 5,900 bbl/d (940 m³/d)
• Wilmington Refinery (Tesoro), Wilmington, 133,100 bbl/d (21,160 m³/d)
• Wilmington Refinery (Shell Oil Company), Wilmington, 98,500 bbl/d (15,660 m³/d)
• Wilmington Refinery (Valero), Wilmington, 149,000 bbl/d (23,700 m³/d)

Delaware

• Delaware City Refinery (idle in 2010; purchased by PBF Energy Partners from Valero in April 2010)^[8]

Georgia

• Savannah Refinery (NuStar), Savannah (Asphalt Refinery) 28,000 bpd
• Douglasville Refinery (Young Refining), Douglasville – shutdown 07/04

Hawaii

• Kapolei Refinery (Tesoro), Kapolei 93,500 bbl/d (14,870 m³/d)
• Hawaii Refinery (Chevron), Kapolei 54,000 bbl/d (8,600 m³/d)

Illinois

• Lemont Refinery (Citgo), Romeoville 160,000 bbl/d (25,000 m³/d)
• Joliet Refinery (ExxonMobil), Joliet 238,000 bbl/d (37,800 m³/d)
• Robinson Refinery (Marathon Petroleum Company), Robinson 215,000 bbl/d (34,200 m³/d)
• Wood River Refinery (ConocoPhillips), Wood River 306,000 bbl/d (48,700 m³/d)

Indiana

• Whiting Refinery (BP), Whiting 405,000 bbl/d (64,400 m³/d)
• Mount Vernon Refinery (Countrymark Co-op), Mount Vernon 23,000 bbl/d (3,700 m³/d)

Read more…

Thomas Energy, Environment

[ Studio Gang ]

Recent Work:

• Aqua Tower in Chicago
• Lincoln Park South Pond
• Ford Calumet Environmental Center
• Northerly Island

Studio Gang from GOOD: Edge of Progress on Vimeo.

Thomas Architecture

via [ GOOD ]

Thomas Information Graphics

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Bush’s Tax Breaks negotiated by Obama

Thomas Economics, National

via [ Democracy Now ] COP16 in Cancun, December 9, 2010

Thomas Climate Change, International

via [ ABC Science ] “Crude - The Incredibly Journey of Oil” (2007) By Richard Smith

This 2007 documentary is the best overview of the history of oil I have seen. It is a great introduction to the issues of hydrocarbons, peak oil, and global warming.

Thomas Climate Change, Energy

via [ Guardian ] “WikiLeaks cables: Shell’s grip on Nigerian state revealed” By David Smith

The oil giant Shell claimed it had inserted staff into all the main ministries of the Nigerian government, giving it access to politicians’ every move in the oil-rich Niger Delta, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable.

The company’s top executive in Nigeria told US diplomats that Shell had seconded employees to every relevant department and so knew “everything that was being done in those ministries”. She boasted that the Nigerian government had “forgotten” about the extent of Shell’s infiltration and was unaware of how much the company knew about its deliberations.

The cache of secret dispatches from Washington’s embassies in Africa also revealed that the Anglo-Dutch oil firm swapped intelligence with the US, in one case providing US diplomats with the names of Nigerian politicians it suspected of supporting militant activity, and requesting information from the US on whether the militants had acquired anti-aircraft missiles.

Campaigners tonight said the revelation about Shell in Nigeria demonstrated the tangled links between the oil firm and politicians in the country where, despite billions of dollars in oil revenue, 70% of people live below the poverty line. Read more…

Thomas Energy

Sweet Crude deposits of ancient sunlight are among the most energy rich substances on earth and has been primary to feeding the appetite of 20th century economic development, progress and geopolitical conflicts.

Thomas Energy

Via [ Mike Konczal ] Pointer [ Matt Yglesias ]

1. Public investments that increase tax revenues by more than enough to pay back the principle plus interest reduce long-run deficits.

2. It is better to tax bad things (like pollution) than good things (like work).

3. Economic sustainability requires environmental sustainability. The polluter pay principle—making polluters pay for the costs they impose on others—is good both for efficiency and for equity.

4. Eliminating corporate welfare is good both for efficiency and for equity.

5. Given the increases in inequality and poverty and given the inequitable nature of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, the incidence of any tax increases should be progressive, and there should be no increases in the tax burden on the poorest Americans.

6. Eliminating give-aways of public-owned assets is an efficient and fair way of reducing deficits.

7. Eliminating distortions in tax and expenditure policies —with appropriate compensatory policies for lower and middle income Americans—can be an efficient way of reducing the deficits. Even if overall such tax expenditures are regressive, given the dire straits that so many poor and middle class Americans are in, eliminating those tax expenditures without appropriate compensation (e.g. in the reduction in tax rates on lower and middle income Americans) would be wrong.

These are REAL principles not just ideals. When you live in a community like East Chicago you come to understand how serious an issue ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE can be. The people of East Chicago consistently fall victim to mega-industries that accumulate wealth and benefits in other wealthier locations while clustering the risks and negative externalities in our community.

Thomas Economics

Working out the negative impacts of Globalization -

via [ Upside Down World ] BP Sued in Ecuador For Violating the Rights of Nature

“The Rights of Nature” being tested through the assertion of Universal jurisdiction as an offense to humanity´s conscience.

via [ Oxfam ] Climate change tribunals

Thomas Climate Change, Economics