Adding to the list of irreparable damages left for a legacy, President Bush and his cronies are now set to open 10,000 acres of public land in eastern Utah, to allow for drilling of natural gas and oil.  The Bureau of Land Management plans to auction off the tracts of land, which border three national parks, conveniently one month before Bush leaves office, making it difficult for the next administration to reverse the plan.  According to the New York Times:

National Park Service officials say that the decision to open lands close to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument and within eyeshot of Canyonlands National Park was made without the kind of consultation that had previously been routine.

This is a lasting impression we can’t afford to let Bush leave behind.

takepart by supporting the National Parks Conservation Association and help protect these natural treasures.

Related:  Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Photo: Arches National Park, NYTimes

Two Thirds of the Triumvirate Share a Handshake and a Smile

Russia, Iran and Qatar today announced they were forming a “big gas troika” for natural gas production similar to OPEC for oil. Just when it looked like falling oil prices might slow the roll toward alternative energy, another pressing reason pops up like a whack-a-mole game.

Natural gas is already a huge source of energy around the globe, with widespread usage of the greenhouse gas emitting fuel for home heating and electrical power generation. Recently it has even been seriously proposed by T. Boone Pickens for his own Pickens Plan as an alternative fuel source to power automobiles in the United States. However, as this recent announcement coming specifically from Iran and Russia (I don’t want to pick on little Qatar) clearly illustrates, increasing the usage of Natural Gas around the globe in place of oil will put us in the familiar and unenviable position of being beholden to some of the more troubling governments on Earth to satisfy our energy demands.

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The recent “Iran” TV spot from Billionaire T. Boone Pickens that had been rejected by NBC was approved by the network yesterday after T. Boone complained. The commercial, part of Pickens Plan for American energy independence, had been canned by the network for being “unproven”.  The advertisement states that Iran is converting its cars to natural gas in an effort to fully capitalize on high oil prices by not needing to keep oil for their domestic market.   It goes on to say “and we’re doing nothing here” which is apparently the part NBC had taken issue with, asking for proof that nothing indeed was being done in the US to convert cars to run on natural gas.   None of the other major networks had any problems with the spot (seen below).

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Sudan Leader Charged with Genocide: What Are the Reactions? by Wendy Cohen

Inconvenient Truth of the Day: Al Gore Speaks on Climate Change by Joshua Tremblay

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Nicole Hughes:

“Farms in the Sky” a Solution to Global Food Crisis?

Wal-Mart Launches Eco-Bling Project

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Andy Kondrat:

NYC To Bring in 300 Hybrid Taxis Per Month

Coolio To Educate Students On Climate Change

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Jon Popham:

Pickens’ Plan for Energy Independence

On “Rent” Closing, the East Village, and Gentrification

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Gina Telaroli:

Batman Morals: Top 5 Lessons from the Capped Crusader’s Films

Emmy Nominations Kick “The Wire” to the Curb

T. Boone Pickens has a plan for energy independence in the United States and he’s putting his money where his mouth is to promote it.   The Billionaire Texas Oil Man and investor has been one of the loudest voices warning of peak oil for years now, but now he’s taking his push for alternative sources of energy for the USA a step further with Pickens Plan.  

Pickens’ numbers cannot be disputed (And why would we?  We’re arguing for the same thing on here every day.).   The United States now imports 70% of its oil - up from a mere 24% in 1970.  At today’s prices we are currently sending $700 Billion dollars overseas for the oil we need to run our economy, which is four times the annual cost of the Iraq War.   Over the next ten years the projected cost for the oil we will import at present levels will be $10 Trillion, which will be the largest transfer of wealth in human history.  

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie Halper:

Brigitte Bardot Fine: Top 5 Bardotisms That Got Hot Sex Symbol In Hot Water

Obama Pound: In Historic Moment, White People Exposed To Fist Bump For First Time

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Nicole Hughes:

Get a Job: Top 10 Guides to Finding the Perfect Eco Career

Schwarzenegger Declares Drought in California

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Andy Kondrat:

Barcelona Fines Citizens for Using Drinking Water in Pools and Gardens

Coal Power Plants Waste Two-Thirds of Energy Input

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Jon Popham:

Megabus Expanding to the East Coast

Egyptian Blogger Freed from Prison

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Giulia Rozzi:

Diamonds In The Rough: A Ugandan Hip Hop Revolution

Cluster Bomb Ban

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Gina Telaroli:

Interview with Nina Davenport, Director of Operation Filmmaker

KidZui : Internet for Kids (and Those Young at Heart)

The laws of thermodynamics tell us that everything we do expends energy. Conversion efficiency, as it’s called, can never be 100 percent, which is why there’s no such thing as a perpetual motion machine. However, nowhere in those laws does it say that conversion efficiency must be as low as 36 percent. Which is the efficiency rate of power plants.

At present time, two-thirds of all energy that enters a power plant is lost before it creates the electricity we use.

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