I have another idea for a cartoon. This one is a split frame.
In the left frame we have a caricature of the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson (D-MN), speaking to the Press, stating “My Farmers Don’t Like That“. He is wearing an ear tag.
Just more ABAUAAAE (Agri-Business As Usual And Above All Else).
In the right frame we have a caricature of Big Farm. From the office window we see a background that contains images of the carbon footprint of agri-business. In the foreground we are confronted by a steely eyed, pin-striped, greedy looking gent, sitting behind an imposing desk, wearing a straw hat, and saying E-I-E-I-O.
As previously noted, it is likely that the GOM (Gulf Of Mexico) Dead Zone will worsen since petroleum is important to the manufacturer of commercial fertilizers and feed lots are a principle source of manure. Ecologists attribute the worsening situation to commercial fertilizer runoff and animal manure discharge, compounded by human waste from urban areas in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi.
“Summertime satellite observations show highly turbid waters in the Gulf of Mexico which may include large blooms of phytoplankton extending from the mouth of the Mississippi River all the way to the Texas coast. When these blooms die and sink to the bottom, bacterial decomposition strips oxygen from the surrounding water, creating an environment very difficult for marine life to survive in. Reds and oranges represent high concentrations of phytoplankton and river sediment.”
The Energy and Global Warming News for June 19th encapsulated for us by Climate Progress includes a forecast that this summer, the ‘dead zone’ could be largest on record.
The Gulf of Mexico’s oxygen-depleted “dead zone” could be one of the largest on record this year, a federal scientific team said today.
Seasonal oxygen levels could drop too low to support aquatic life in an area the size of New Jersey, according to the team supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists forecast the dead zone at between 7,350 and 8,456 square miles, with a strong chance of it growing larger, given the recent flooding of the Mississippi River. The largest dead zone on record was 8,484 square miles in 2002.
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Peterson got every concession he was seeking.
Well, the good news is that so far the forecasted size of the GOM dead zone has yet to materialize.
“The good news is the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone is only about half the size of estimates for this year, though the bad news is that it’s a whole lot worse than expected.”
The bad news? San Francisco Treehugger Jaymi Heimbuch reports that the zone is unusually thick, reaching from the ocean floor nearly to the surface.
Writing for FarmPolicy.com, Keith Good observes, “After the recent collapse of the financial system and historic volatility in the energy markets, Congress is particularly wary of oversight of a commodity expected to affect nearly every sector of the economy.”
“In the wake of Ted Kennedy’s death, there’s been a shuffling of committee positions in the Senate. One notable switch has been the former head of the Agriculture Committee, Tom Harkin (D-IA), has vacated his seat, and it’s being taken up by Blanche Lincoln (D-NE).” Bad news for the Climate Bill, good news for Big Farm.
An astute observation, as far as an alliance between corn zombies and coal zombies will take you, which this blog would argue is not very far at all in terms of continuing with A-BAUAAAE (Agri-Business As Usual And Above All Else), to wit:
Never mind the disasters that we shall continue to cause to all life on the planet, i.e., the commodification of future generations, argues the Evil (Murdoch) Empire, keep thinking commoditization. Meanwhile, we will continue to spread an ideology of hate and destruction. Well, as long as it means more profit, of course!
A report from the Union of Concerned Scientists predicts dire consequences for Illinois result from changes in climate patterns brought about by human-caused global warming. “The Midwest climate is already changing,” Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech University and a co-author of the report, said in a statement.