«Après les guerres civiles, ce
sont les désastres climatiques qui causeront le plus de dommages dans les
prochaines décennies.» ~ Philippe Gachon, professeur au
département de géographie et membre du Centre pour l’étude et la simulation du
climat à l’échelle régionale
La nouvelle
passée sous silence : une base secrète fond sous les glaces du Groenland
Par Alexis Rapin | Chaire Raoul-Dandurand en études stratégiques et diplomatiques
| UQAM
Construite
au cours des années 1960 puis abandonnée, une base secrète américaine fait les
frais de la fonte des glaces arctiques. Le cas illustre les prochains défis
posés aux grandes armées par les changements climatiques.
De quoi
parle-t-on ?
L’histoire se prêterait à un scénario de James
Bond, si elle n’était pas authentique. En 1959, les États-Unis entament au fin
fond du Groenland la construction d’une base secrète destinée à loger quelque
600 ogives nucléaires. Positionné proche de l’URSS, protégé par l’épaisse
calotte glaciaire du cercle arctique, Camp
Century (c’est son nom) devait alors constituer une véritable forteresse de
la Guerre froide. Suite à plusieurs problèmes techniques, ce projet
rocambolesque est finalement abandonné en 1967. Toutefois, la base n’est pas
véritablement démantelée.
Le hic :
cinquante ans plus tard, Camp Century
est toujours là, mais les glaces du Groenland fondent et menacent de répandre
les polluants demeurés sur place dans la nature environnante. Un risque de
catastrophe écologique que ni les États-Unis (théoriquement toujours
dépositaires de la base), ni le Danemark (auquel le Groenland est rattaché) ne
semblent pour le moment vouloir prendre en considération. Ceci étant, la
situation est emblématique d’un imprévu de planification militaire. Les
ingénieurs de l’époque, dont la priorité était de faire disparaître une
infrastructure sensible, avaient estimé que les mouvements naturels des masses
de glace enseveliraient la base pour toujours. Or, aujourd’hui, le
réchauffement climatique vient leur donner tort.
En quoi
est-ce important ?
Au-delà de son caractère quelque peu romanesque,
le cas de Camp Century vient mettre en évidence un changement de donne notable
: longtemps considéré comme une affaire de diplomates relevant de «low
politics», le réchauffement climatique va de plus en plus concerner les
militaires et s’immiscer dans les débats stratégiques.
[...]
~~~
The Koch Brothers’ Favorite
Congressman Will Be in Charge of the CIA - Mike Pompeo is an extremist who
stokes fears of Muslims and talks of executing Edward Snowden
By John Nichols
In
the “Republican Wave” election of 2010, when brothers Charles and David Koch
emerged as defining figures in American politics, the greatest beneficiary of
Koch Industries largess was the newly elected Congressman Mike Pompeo. Since
his election, Pompeo has been referred to as the “Koch Brothers’ Congressman”
and “the congressman from Koch.” [...]
Pompeo’s open disregard for privacy rights
in particular and civil liberties in general, as well as his penchant for
extreme language and more extreme policies, mark him as a profoundly
troublesome pick to serve as the head of a powerful intelligence agency. But he
is also one of the most remarkably conflicted political figures in the
conflicted city of Washington, thanks to his ties to the privately held and
frequently secretive global business empire that has played a pivotal role in
advancing his political career.
Pompeo came out of the same Wichita, Kansas,
business community where the Koch family’s oil-and-gas conglomerate is
headquartered. Indeed, Pompeo built his own company with seed money from Koch
Venture Capital.
[...]
Koch Brothers’ Congressman Seeks To
Block Efforts to Prevent Chemical Catastrophe
By
David Halperin | Dec 6, 2017
Republican
congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas, who represents Wichita, seems to be doing
the bidding of the Koch Brothers once again: He has introduced legislation to
prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing or enforcing a rule
to improve the safety of America’s most dangerous chemical plants. Wichita is
the home of Koch Industries, which has been the most aggressive opponent of
efforts to make these plants safer.
«L’arme la plus efficace contre les
erreurs de toute nature est la raison.»
~ Thomas Paine
Arnold Schwarzenegger will sue oil
companies for 'first degree murder'
By
Katelyn Caralle | March 12, 2018 08:25 AM
Former
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Sunday he is going to sue big oil
companies for “first degree murder.”
During a live recording of a Politico podcast,
Schwarzenegger said he was talking to several private law firms about taking on
oil companies in court.
The Hollywood actor compared oil to the
tobacco industry, and said both are “knowingly killing people all over the
world.” Schwarzenegger said the tobacco industry had to pay millions of dollars
in court for hiding the fact that tobacco had adverse side effects, and said he
hopes oil companies will have to do the same.
“The oil companies knew from 1959 on, they
did their own study that there would be global warming happening because of
fossil fuels, and on top of it that it would be risky for people’s lives, that
it would kill,” Schwarzenegger said Sunday.
Schwarzenegger
suggested oil companies have warning labels on its products that are “killing people,”
just like tobacco products.
“I don’t think there’s any difference: If you walk into a room and you
know you’re going to kill someone, it’s first degree murder; I think it’s the
same thing with the oil companies,” Schwarzenegger said.
Ndlr : quelle bonne idée!
Ndlr : quelle bonne idée!
Parmi les espèces
menacées sur le parcours du pipeline Keystone XL
Interior cancels decades-old protections for migratory birds
Under the new interpretation, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act forbids only intentional killing – such as hunting or killing birds to get their feathers – without a permit. The administration will no longer apply the act to industries that inadvertently kill a lot of birds through oil drilling, wind power and communications towers. Critics fear that these industries might now end the bird-friendly practices that save large numbers of birds.
Saving Birds From Deadly Industrial Traps Isn’t Hard
There are easy ways to reduce bird deaths from manmade hazards. So why does the Trump administration want to blunt their legal enforcement?
By Hannah Waters
February 23, 2018
An American coot on an oil-covered evaporation pond at
an oilfield wastewater disposal facility. An
estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 migratory birds die each year in oilfield
wastewater pits. Pedro Ramirez, Jr. / USFWS/CC Flickr
[...] Recently, the Trump administration has vouched for a new legal interpretation of the MBTA that would no longer hold companies accountable for bird deaths as a result of their equipment and work—allowing millions of birds to be killed annually with no consequence. It's one part of a larger effort currently underway to weaken protections for birds.
[...]
To show how backward this effort is, here are five industrial traps for birds across the country — and the easy solutions that have been developed because of the MBTA.
Open Waste Pits
Pied-billed Grebe on an oil-covered evaporation pond
at a commercial oilfield wastewater disposal facility in Wyoming. Photo: Pedro
Ramirez Jr./USFWS
The problem: Companies in the business of extracting oil, gas, and minerals from the earth often wind up with toxic or otherwise corrosive waste. Many store their mixtures of oil, water, salts, and other chemicals in on-site ponds or transport them to large, commercial evaporation ponds for disposal. To a bird, these shallow ponds look like wetlands and lakes safe for resting after a long flight. It’s not until birds land that they learn the pond contains poisons and oils that coat their feathers, disrupting their heat insulation and flight, and sometimes drowning them.
[...]
http://www.audubon.org/news/saving-birds-deadly-industrial-traps-isnt-hard
Interior cancels decades-old protections for migratory birds
Under the new interpretation, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act forbids only intentional killing – such as hunting or killing birds to get their feathers – without a permit. The administration will no longer apply the act to industries that inadvertently kill a lot of birds through oil drilling, wind power and communications towers. Critics fear that these industries might now end the bird-friendly practices that save large numbers of birds.
Saving Birds From Deadly Industrial Traps Isn’t Hard
There are easy ways to reduce bird deaths from manmade hazards. So why does the Trump administration want to blunt their legal enforcement?
By Hannah Waters
February 23, 2018
[...] Recently, the Trump administration has vouched for a new legal interpretation of the MBTA that would no longer hold companies accountable for bird deaths as a result of their equipment and work—allowing millions of birds to be killed annually with no consequence. It's one part of a larger effort currently underway to weaken protections for birds.
[...]
To show how backward this effort is, here are five industrial traps for birds across the country — and the easy solutions that have been developed because of the MBTA.
Open Waste Pits
The problem: Companies in the business of extracting oil, gas, and minerals from the earth often wind up with toxic or otherwise corrosive waste. Many store their mixtures of oil, water, salts, and other chemicals in on-site ponds or transport them to large, commercial evaporation ponds for disposal. To a bird, these shallow ponds look like wetlands and lakes safe for resting after a long flight. It’s not until birds land that they learn the pond contains poisons and oils that coat their feathers, disrupting their heat insulation and flight, and sometimes drowning them.
[...]
http://www.audubon.org/news/saving-birds-deadly-industrial-traps-isnt-hard
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