Nuclear Bomb explodes  in Colorado

Technically, it wasn’t a bomb, just a nuclear device.

It wasn’t terrorism or war. In fact, it was a peacetime explosion.

The test was part of “Project Plowshare", an attempt to turn nuclear “swords”  into plows.  Once nuclear bombs were perfected and stockpiled, the realities of economics triggered a hunt for the peacetime use of the power of atoms.  Project Plowshare partnered the US Government with various private industries to use the tremendous power of nuclear explosions in construction and mining operations.

Nuclear is much cheaper and smaller than an equivalent explosive force of dynamite, TNT, or nitroglycerin. Proposals included using nuclear to excavate a harbor in Alaska, carve a sea-level passage across Panama,  build various water canals around the West, and make road-building easier.  Project Rulison was an attempt to break up underground rock to allow movement of natural gas deposits to enter a well.

Yes, you read that right.  Nuclear Fracking. 

A Texas oil company bought up many Colorado mineral rights and set about pumping natural gas. In 1969, they decided to increase their output by finding a better, faster, cheaper way to break up the rocks 1.5 miles below the surface. The test site was above the town of Rulison, on Battlement Mesa. Battlement Creek and the other nearby streams all flow into the Colorado River. 

On September 10, 1969, the consortium detonated a 40-kiloton ton fission bomb. The geologist predicted that the center of the explosion would vaporize and, the surrounding earth would melt. When it re- solidified, all the radiation would be trapped in the new glass at the bottom of a 160’ cavern.  The cavern ceiling would collapse. The rock would fracture in all directions. And all the nearby natural gas would flow to the new well.  Voila – a cheap, safe, easy method to capture American fuel.

Except for one tiny detail:  the radiation was not trapped in the melted rock. It spread out. Into the natural gas itself. Which made it unsuitable for public consumption.

They got their gas. But they couldn’t sell it.

Project Rulicon was actually the second attempt.  The process was field tested in north-west New Mexico in 1967 as Project Gasbuggy.

But two failures weren’t enough.  In 1973, a different gas company tried again northwest of Rifle.  This time, they used three 33-ton nuclear devices.   Because surely, if they more than doubled the explosive force, the radiation would all be trapped. Except, it wasn’t. 

Also, the public was getting more vocal about their distrust of nuclear power.   

The nuclear solution was shelved and gas companies focused on hydraulic fracturing instead, using water, solvents and sand instead of nuclear bombs. 

Bibliography:

https://www.lm.doe.gov/land/sites/co/rulison/rulison.htm

https://www.hcn.org/issues/293/15321

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM9ZRR_Project_Rulison_Parachute_CO

­Owen, David.  Where the Water Goes .  Riverhead Books, New York. 2017

My Actions

This blog is to help me keep track of what I want to protest.  I may as well use it to help me track what actions I took.

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March 5  -  Attended an activist meeting.  I am not alone in my quest for protection of our Earth.

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February 27, 2017

What I learned today:  The House and the Senate office buildings each have their own ZIP code!  The House is 20515.  The Senate is 20510.

2/28/17 Mailing Great Horned Owl postcard to Rep. Lamborn.

The Honorable Doug Lamborn
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington DC 20515

Dear Mr. Lamborn,

Please protect your constituents by protecting the EPA.  We are all dependent on our environment.  Allowing a few industries to profit while damaging our land and poisoning our air and water is corporate welfare.
Please oppose HR 958, 637, and 861.
Protect your people.
Strengthen the EPA.
Thank you.

signed and stickered with a return address label.

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2/27/17 - Called Lamborn's office to Oppose HR 637.  Let the EPA regulate greenhouse gasses.  Even if climate change isn't a real problem, greenhouse gasses aren't any good to breathe anyway.
Actually, I babbled something a lot less coherent than that.  But I did clearly state, Oppose HR 637.

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2/14/17  -  Called Lamborn to oppose HR 958.  "Protect your people by keeping the EPA strong."

2/14/17  -  Called Sen. Gardner to oppose Scott Pruitt for EPA chief.  Please delay the confirmation until the investigations can be completed.  He may not be the right man for the job.
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2/7/17  -  Voice Mail for Sen. Gardner:  Please oppose Betsy DeVos for Sec. of Ed.

2/7/17  -  Called Lamborn to oppose HJ Res. 38 and 46.

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I also made donations to Sierra Club, Greenpeace (Resist!) and PBS (a politically motivated way to access this season of  Poldark.)  I'd already donated to ACLU and the Red Owl Water Protector Legal Collective last fall to oppose DAPL.

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I have no idea if any of my actions will make even the slightest difference.  But I have reached the point where I have to try.

US Capitol Switchboard:  202-224-3121

An Attempt to Deregulate Greenhouse Gasses

H.R. 637:  Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017

An Attempt to Deregulate Greenhouse Gasses

This bill is trying to “stop the EPA from overreaching its congressional mandate”.  The EPA accepted  that greenhouse gasses are pollutants, and should therefore be regulated.  House bill 637 states that the EPA is wrong.  Greenhouse gasses are not pollutants.  Greenhouse gasses should not be regulated. 

“The term air pollutant does not include carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride,” ie: the greenhouse gasses.

Here’s a basic elementary level explanation of greenhouse effects.  Greenhouse gasses act kind of like a window.  You’re sitting in your car in the summer.  The sun beats down, heating the inside of your car.  But the heat can’t escape.  So you get really hot.

With the greenhouse gasses, visible and ultraviolet light pass through the gasses without problem.  The energy hits Earth, and warms it up.  The surface re-emits the energy as infrared.  The longer wavelength infrared can’t pass through the greenhouse gasses.  So the heat bounces off, returns to Earth’s surface and heats it some more.

Energy comes in.  Some of it leaves.  Some stays.   If too much leaves, Earth cools down.  If too much stays, Earth warms up.

This is a VERY GOOD THING at the right levels.  Without greenhouse gasses, we humans wouldn’t exist because Earth would be very, VERY COLD. 

Like Goldilocks, we were at the “just right” stage.  But now we’re not.  Earth is getting warmer.

When the greenhouse gas levels are too high, the energy is trapped and Earth gets too hot.  Our sister planet, Venus, is an uninhabitable wasteland.  Its atmosphere is made up of lots of greenhouse gasses.  The Sun’s energy goes in.  It converts to infrared.  It can’t escape so bounces around between clouds and surface boiling everything. 

The Earth is warming.  Greenhouse gasses do cause warming.  Human activities are releasing greenhouse gasses.  These are facts.  There is no controversy here.  The only controversy is how much of the warming is caused by human activities.  And what can we do about it. 

It’s much easier to say, “not our fault.  Nothing we can do” than it is to spend the money to change the way we do business. 

H.R. 637 is an attempt to excuse industry.  If we’re not releasing enough gas to be the real problem – global climate change is a natural process - then greenhouse gasses are not a pollutant.  And our businesses shouldn’t have to pay money to deal with it.

Unfortunately, the release of greenhouse gasses through industry and lifestyles choices is very real.  The current build-up of greenhouse gasses is human caused.  The speed of climate change is a direct result of our actions. 

Greenhouse gasses are a pollutant.  They must be regulated before we turn Earth into Venus.  Oppose HR 637.  Protect our food supply and our very lives by regulating greenhouse gasses.

Colorado Senators:

Michael Bennett – Dem – 202-224-5852

Cory Gardner  -  Rep  -  202-224-5941

Capitol Switchboard – 303-224-3121.  “Representative( Lamborn from Colorado), please”

The Speed of Legislation

The Speed of Legislation

White House Comment Line:  (202) 456-1111

U.S. Capitol Switchboard:  (202) 224-3121.  Ask for the Senator or Representative from your district. 

  

I always thought politics moved slowly.  Schoolhouse Rock’s “I’m Just a Bill” states, “It’s a long, long wait.”

 On Thursday, 2/16/17, President Trump signed H.J.Res. 38, “Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior known as the Stream Protection Rule. “  Representative Johnson (R-OH) introduced it on January 30.  The House passed it on Feb. 1, and the Senate less than 24 hours later.  I had no idea they could move that fast!  POTUS signed it on 2/16 creating Public Law No: 115-5. 

Mines can once again legally dump their waste into nearby streams.

On the same day, 1/30/17, Rep. Gosar (R-AZ), introduced H.R.Res. 46 “Providing for congressional disapproval of the final rule of the National Park Service relating to “General Provisions and Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights’.”  This one’s even scarier.  This says that Congress approves of mining and drilling in national parks, even against the park’s best interest. 

In this country, you probably do not own the mineral rights under your house.  A bunch of the newer Park Service units do not own their mineral rights.  This bill says that the owner of those rights can barge in and start drilling.  The original “Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights” law allowed parks to demand a comprehensive environmental and public protection plan, and if the plan wasn’t adequate, to deny any industry trying to operate within their borders.

This resolution says:  Nope.  Oil, gas and mineral extraction take precedence over pristine views, clean air, quiet, and public health.

How can they do this?

Well, in 1996, Congress  created the “Congressional Review Act” which allows them to kill a new law if both chambers and the president agree.  It’s only been used once before – Congress and Mr. Bush dismantled one of Mr. Clinton’s final rules.  Any actions performed in the previous president’s final six months can be overturned.  Bills that took years to draft, analyze and approve can be exterminated within days, with no recourse and no way to revive them.  

Contact your Senators and Representatives and encourage them to oppose H.J.Res. 46.  (House Joint Resolution 46).  Let’s protect OUR National Parks!  Defeat H.J.Res 46.

          

Political Protest 101

Political Protest 101

I’ve spent my entire life avoiding politics. It always seemed pointless and hopeless. Political power swings around, but the general trends are consistent. Our American lives gradually improve while our environment gradually withers. Yes, your life is better than your great-grandparents. You get fresh fruit year-round. You don’t have to break the ice on the bucket before you wash your face. And you probably don’t even know anyone with polio, much less cholera or typhus.

But the gradual decay of our environment accelerated abruptly on January 20, 2017. Our new president and both houses seem determined to sacrifice the very land we live on so they can make easy money with their industrial friends.

I am now officially angry.

I am angry enough to write and call both senators and my representative.
I am angry enough to wade through the jargon and tedium of www.congress.gov.
I am angry enough to read some of the proposed legislation.

For the first time in my life, I am angry enough to become Politically Active.

Now, I need a place to store and organize this new information.

I created Aveline’s Odyssey as a practice blog, and a casual attempt at travel writing. It was mostly an experiment. Since it exists, I’m now turning it into my political page. At heart, both topics are about my love for our land and water, our animals, and our skies.

The info I’ve gleaned on protesting:

1) Call your Representative and both of your Senators. That’s 3 phone calls. Here in Colorado, I can trust Senator Bennett to act to protect the land, so it’s not as important for me to call him as often.

2) Keep your call short. The longer you talk, the less time there is for someone else to call in.

3) Give them (the aide, intern or answering machine) your name, your ZIP code, and what you want your representative to support or oppose.

4) According to other sources on the internet, your opinion will be tallied. If there are enough marks, your rep may change his vote. (Yes, "his". I know there 104 women currently serving. But the other 431 members identify as “He”).

5) Call on one issue, state the bill designation, and state your position. Keep it simple and short.

6) When your representatives are home, go to the meetings and speak up. Multiple sources agree that we the people don’t usually bother. Most legislation has so little public input that your voice is clearly heard.

That’s it for Protest 101 – Call. Keep it simple. Give them your ZIP code.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Colorado
Senator Michael Bennett (Democrat) (202) 224-5852

Senator Cory Gardner (Republican) (202) 224-5941

Representative Doug Lamborn (Republican. Colorado Springs-Buena Vista) (202) 225-4422

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument really is made of white sand - a powdery softer sand than the usual beige substance. It's essentially composed of ground gypsum rather than ground glass. In December, there was no snow on the surface, but sand was damp just a few centimeters below the surface.

We spent the afternoon strolling the dune field and watching daughter fill out her Junior Ranger booklet. The area is truly a living laboratory for both biology and geology.

Just don't pick up any oddly shaped metallic objects - the monument is bounded on all sides by the White Sands missile range.

As a finish to our Christmas Eve, we watched the sun set from the dunes, then hubby asked about the really bright "star". I checked the sky and found two. One was Jupiter. The other cruised across the sky with an intensity and speed that can only mean one item - the International Space Station.

Planning for New Mexico

Two years ago, we hiked the Grand Canyon and camp for two nights at Phantom Ranch. Traveling to and from the canyon, we spent some time in New Mexico. We didn't have nearly enough time. So, this winter, we're going to spend ten days just exploring New Mexico.

The first step in planning this adventure was reserving a cave tour at Carlsbad Caverns. Daughter and hubby wanted a wild adventure so they're going through Spider Cave, "a 3-D cave maze." I'll just hang out in the main caverns while they crawl around and get dirt in their ears.

I'm back

Today is October 17. That means my last blog post was 6.5 months ago. My summer job went nuts in April and it's only now settling. My museum work is very part time over the winter so I again get to focus on writing. I will add to this blog regularly (weekly, I hope.) I've also started a blog for the museum at http://bvheritage.wordpress.com. I hope to see you there!

Pikes Peak Writer's Conference

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Conference">

I'm going to the Pikes Peak Writers Conference! I can't wait!

Skiing St. Elmo

Sunday, I invited my daughter to visit St. Elmo. She surprised me by eagerly accepting. We loaded skis, camera, picnic and selves into the car and headed to the 10,000 foot high ghost town.

I glide through town, searching for an image saturated in the WOW factor. The sky isn’t quite blue enough. Cars litter the historic feel. Wooden cabins hunker beneath the snow, hibernating until summer brings begging rodents and the incessant buzz of hummingbirds.

I snap the Home Comfort Hotel. The hotel rooms were heated by a single stovepipe carrying smoke from kitchen to roof. For guests lodged at the front, away from the kitchen, well, tough luck.

Across the street, the rebuilt town hall preens in isolated splendor while the pristine snow cloaks the remnants of disaster. Fire purifies, vitrifies, galvanizes and hardens. It also destroys, amply illustrated by the barren lots.

As I snap photos, daughter searches for balance on the slick street. With a shriek, she splats into the snow pile that barricades the boardwalk. We share laughter as she flails her 40 inch feet in the air.

We slide out of town and practice turns on the hack road. I force unwieldy skis around the corner, panting with effort and exhilaration. Daughter crashes in a geyser of white. Then, her binding released and refused to capture her boot.

After struggling to the point of chilly boredom, I gave her my skis and sat to analyze the situation. Snow diamonds melt into my jeans and leave me cold. The binding is broken. I clip on her good ski and navigate the slope on one foot. My thigh screams with the added effort. I enjoy several unbalanced runs while daughter masters my ultra-long skis.

Worn out and wet, we pass through the guardians of history and return to the car.