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HUMAN SHIELDS: ASSEMBLE AT LAKE KAMILUKUAK
It isn’t about oil any more. Oh, no:
Forget about feeling smug just because you drive an electric hybrid car or fill the tank of the family sedan with ethanol.
Scientists say such energy-saving efforts could contribute to an even bigger environmental problem by adding pressure on North American’s dwindling water resources.
The occasional stolen Russkie pond just won’t cut it in the hybrid era:
In turn, this could lead to renewed U.S. demand for Canadian water, one expert warned here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Alternate fuels need more water, and the U.S. is bound to look north.
(Via Black)
UPDATE. DanG: “First they came for Lake Winnipeg and I said nothing …”
The Canadians don’t need all that water. They can get around just fine on dogsleds.
Posted by Mystery Meat on 2008 02 18 at 11:09 AM • permalinkThis call for protecting Canadian water is probably just coincidental <wink wink nudge nudge>, even though the Columbia River Treaty is up for renegotiation in a decade or so, nor that the long standing cooperative framework for common water resources is showing some cracks.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 18 at 11:36 AM • permalinkWe need more water for biofuels, the ice caps are all melting, looks like both problems solve each other.
Next!
Posted by Steve Skubinna on 2008 02 18 at 12:39 PM • permalinkRob Read, I think, after reading at that link that what we need is policy regarding blatant *ssholery. “the challenge of (*ssholery is) so great that action was needed now, even without clear evidence of the best options.”
To Quote Prof. James in the article, ““This is a community epidemic that is actually a response to all the wonderful apparent industrial and economic development changes that we’ve seen.”
“We have to change that, and it will not come unless we have a coherent government-led strategy. The issue is: have we got the political will?”
“This is a form of public education which is being resisted mightily in Brussels with intense lobbying of commissioners who’ve just announced that they won’t go down the British road,” he highlighted.
“So we’re in the process of trying to make it clear that if you’re concerned about the health and economics of a society you should take this seriously.”
Yes, indeedy, the wordy professor is a fine example of the dangers *ssholery poses to us all.
Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2008 02 18 at 02:37 PM • permalinkHere’s another example of the Goracle’s influence on weather: Snow at the Acroplis!
Well, I’ve got a swimming pool; so when water hits $1,000/oz, then we’ll talk. I may even flood the basement on purpose this year.
Posted by andycanuck on 2008 02 18 at 03:52 PM • permalinkProf. James (in article linked by Rob Read):
“We have to change that, and it will not come unless we have a coherent government-led strategy. The issue is: have we got the political will?”
I’m sure that Prof. James would love to see the triumph of that will.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2008 02 18 at 03:53 PM • permalinkHad to travel to Narromine (the town of great thirst) to attend my grandfather’s funeral last week (a pretty sad event).
Anyway, filled up the car on 91 octane 10% ethanol at Warwick. Having just had the car serviced, I was thinking terrible thoughts of the mechanic as I noticed I was using around 14 L/100km at highway driving. Filled up at Coonabarabran on normal unleaded and miraculously, fuel consumption dropped to 9 L/100km (and I was now hitting 130 kmh on back roads). The car seemed much more responsive too.The ethanol blend was a few cents cheaper per litre, but I am sure that the extra fuel consumption more than made up for that saving. And if I had chosen a higher octane ethanol blend, there would have been no price saving, even if I had an improved mileage.
C’mon guys, have you looked at a map of Canada lately? Hudson Bay, James Bay, the Beaufort Sea? They make the Great Lakes look like kiddies’ wading pools. There are countries represented in the UN that have fewer square miles to them.
Go for it, I say. Canadian opinion-makers and academic types will whine and call us names…but they do that anyway, so to hell with them.
Posted by Sonetka's Mom on 2008 02 18 at 06:30 PM • permalink#11 from Rob’s O/T link…
Ten percent of the world’s children are either overweight or obese, twice as many as the malnourished, said Professor James.
“A huge range of analyses show that we have not been looking at the problem of children’s nutrition and well-being properly.
The solution is simple.
Feed the obese ones to the malnourished ones.
Where’s my Nobel Prize?
Hey Canada, all your ponds are belong to US!
Posted by charles austin on 2008 02 18 at 11:39 PM • permalink#11, Rob, They can have my KFC when they pry it from my cold, clammy, badly-hungover hands.
#20, Entropy, Given the current high petrol prices, its actually better value to run your car on the highest octane available (98 here in WOZ but I believe you lot can get 100 from some Shell servo’s). The 9-13 c/l difference is actually a lower percentage than the 91-98 octane gain. At my last calculation it was roughly a 7% price increase for a 9% octane increase. And that was at about $1.30/l, not the $1.40+ we’ve been at for the last few months.
That doesnt make a whole lot of difference if you have one of theose new fangled cars with a computer telling your engine what to do, you need another computer to tell the ECU that you’ve upped the octane so it can advance the spark further.
My VK on the other hand requires about 30 seconds, a screwdriver and a firm grip to optimise for higher octane.
Old School or No School.
#23, Kae, MMMM, long pork…
Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2008 02 19 at 12:00 AM • permalinkHey, for all those eyeing our water, well, well, I’ll .. I’ll ... just you watch… don’t dare me…I’m counting to ten ...
I’ll set Maude Barlow onto you.Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 02 19 at 09:51 PM • permalink... and you can’t have our wood, trees, rocks, minerals, air, 401, hockey players, Stanley Cup, or anything else. So there.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 02 19 at 09:53 PM • permalink
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We’ve found a way to suck Canadian water from our side of the Great Lakes, too.