In Tasmania, where only 2.3% of the population of Australia are living, they receive 12% of the national annual rainfall. There are those that think it would make sense to move some of that rainfall to where it is really needed.
On the surface it makes sense to collect the abundant rain water and move it to regions where fresh drinking water is in ever shortening supplies. But, these days every story of quick fixes, work-around, and bright ideas for the future is usually followed by several cautionary tales of how or why these ideas turned out to be bad ideas.
Hopefully this won’t turn out to be the case for Tasmania where by all accounts it looks like they are taking a green proactive approach to global warming and climate change. Tasmania even has a Climate Change Team located in their Strategic Policy Division. Their prediction is that rainfall my likely increase on the western and droughts will continue to worsen on the eastern side.
A large portion of Tasmania’s energy comes from renewable sources, and nearly 40% of Tasmania has been set aside as ‘conservation’ reserves. 90% of their electricity is from hydro-electricity and wind. Tasmania seems to be on the right track, trying to anticipate and lessen the impact of global warming on their region.
There has been a proposal made to use supertankers for water, and ferry the water to the eastern side of the Country. Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland.
The majority of rainfall on the western side of Tasmania runs into swollen rivers and is pushed into the sea essentially wasting the fresh water. Of course we may find out 50 years down the road that all the fresh water that empties into the sea in fact was serving some sort of vital purpose. For now though how this water may be transported is the really interesting thing about this proposal.
A company called Solar Sailor has made one of the proposals the government is considering. Solar Sailor proposes the water be transported using their solar sail and hybrid marine power vessels suited for the task. These vessels have higher fuel savings, unlimited range and can have zero emissions.
Solar Sailor has received a 2007 Laureate Intel Environment Environment Award as part of the Annual Tech Museum Awards, Technology Benefiting Humanity.
Without a crystal ball it is difficult to predict our future as it relates to innovation being good for the environment in the long term. We’ve certainly done a tremendous amount of damage before anyone even started asking, “is this a good move for the future of the planet?” Now that these questions have started to be asked in earnest the answer is the same, at this point it is difficult to predict.
Now to the credit of mankind, we are at least asking.
The AP is reporting that a Gray Whale had been shot by a machine gun near the western tip of Washington State.
The Coast Guard believes members of the Makah tribe shot and harpooned the Gray Whale on Saturday morning. The Whale after having been attacked did not die and is now limping its wounded way back out to sea.
As the Makah’s are happy to tell you at their own website “Whaling has been one of our traditions for over 1,500 years and is a right secured to us by treaty…”
The Makah’s also believe that many of their health problems come from the lack of Sea Mammal Meat in their diet. Give the Makah the genetic link to ‘needing blubber’ in their diet, but take the right to their 50-caliber machine guns away from them if this story turns out to be true.
The Makah are allowed to take 5 Gray Whales per year as part of their ‘cultural and subsistence rights’. I’m no expert on Makah Culture, but I’ll guarantee 1.500 years ago the brave hunters of the Makah Tribe were NOT using machine guns to bring in their hunt.
It seems to me the term ‘culture’ needs to be revisited and revisited in a HUGE way!
The Makah website is also happy to point out in their FAQ section “We will conduct it (the hunt) in a way that is as consistent as possible with our traditional manner of whale hunting, but also with the requirement of the International Whaling Commission and the Marine Mammal Protection Act that the killing of the whale be done in as humane a manner as possible, and at the same time with as much safety as possible for our hunters.”
Sadly many people have been trying to turn up the ‘RACE CARD’ when it comes to the Makah and whaling. The problem with stirring a pot of waste until it comes to a boil is that more often than not, that waste will splatter back upon the one that is stirring the pot. Cruelty is not owned by any particular Race and should be chided when and where ever it is found.
We can only hope that the initial reports of this incident are in error.
Just as shooting fish in a barrel is part of no ones culture, machine gunning down and wounding an animal without killing it is one of the cruelest acts imaginable and hopefully not a part of any ones culture. We hope this act was committed by ’street gangs running rampant’ in the waters off the coast of Washington State.
Video shot from helicopter as Kirki burned. Be sure to stay for the entire clip.
Millions of gallons of oil have been spilled into our oceans in accidents just like these. Tankers simply falling apart at the seams, rusting away in their bowels, and running each other over in collisions.
Many oil spills are never owned-up to like this mystery spill in the Firth of Forth Estuary in Scotland. Scotland has had a tough week overall.
Monday’s entry was going to be more on the Poison products pouring out of China, but something else has caught my attention. How eco-friendly is your 401K or other retirement investments? Is your stock portfolio packed with companies that are polluting our oceans? Isn’t it time you took an honest look?
