What starts with a ‘B’ and is in the news for unleashing unknown toxins into America?

If you said BP or blowout preventer, you’re close.

It’s BPA!  Yay!  You will a lifetime supply of canned Coke and Campbell’s soup.

Just kidding.  You don’t win anything except the chance to be on the jury for chemical court.  BPA is on trial and there’s some simple things even skeptics can do to limit their exposure.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins.  It is a known endocrine disruptor that mimics estrogen.  It is in a variety of products from canned goods, plastic ware and drink containers, cds and dvds, and even many credit card receipts.  Some of the diseases it is linked to include breast and prostrate cancer, obesity, early onset puberty and erectile dysfunction.  Exposure to pregnant women and children is of greater concern than healthy adults because BPA is known to change gene expression.  Tests have found BPA present in the umbilical cord blood and urine of most pregnant women.   We don’t know the effects yet.  Public concern is leading to more testing by the EPA, FDA and CDC, the results of which are expected as early as Fall 2010.  In the meantime, many bottle companies, baby bottles in particular, have advertised BPA-free products. (All the references for this diligent study of mine are contained in my BPA article here.)

Here’s the short list of things that are easy to remember to do to limit BPA exposure, just in case.

1.  Buy bottled – Canned goods like soup and soda contain BPA in their lining.  Limit or wash canned goods or ban the can and buy bottled instead, especially tomato-based things and beer.

2.  Do not put plastics in the dishwasher or microwave.

3.  Throw away scratched food containers – scratching advances leaching into contents.

4.  Use a BPA-free water bottle.  Save the Earth and yourself by avoiding the horrible plastic water bottle, but make sure it’s not a PC or #7.  Kleen Kanteen is my personal favorite.

5.  Receipts. Don’t leave receipts around.  Don’t let them touch your grocery food, wash your hands after handling them and keep the ones you need to keep in a zip-loc in your drawer or purse.   As much as half of all thermal receipts contain BPA that is absorbed through the skin, many times a day.  To what effect if any, no one yet knows, especially since it a non-polymer form of BPA used in them, but skip the receipt when you can and try not to touch, especially before eating.

6.  TP. Sadly, thermal imaging (receipt) paper often gets recycled into toilet paper, ensuring contact with a person every day in an uncomfortable way.  Not to mention it all goes straight to the water supply.  Unfortunately, there is no easy way to avoid this.  Even non-recycled TP is bad for the environment for using tons of trees daily and oil/energy/water to make a disposable product. I think this represents many of the issues we are facing right now – Save the world or save your own ass!  There must be a way to a little of  both.  I have discovered a few: BumBoosa makes TP and wipes from sustainable bamboo.  The Toto Washlet is a bidet toilet seat (with both heated seat and water).  Think about it.  I will, too.

7.  No #7 or PC – Plastics with recycling #7  or the letters may contain polycarbonates.   It is recommended to use #2,4, and 5.  Anything marked “PC” definitely contains polycarbs.  Avoid.

These are the the easiest ways to avoid BPA without demonizing all plastic, whether or not it turns out to be dangerous.  And keep in mind that there is no true “BPA-free” any more than there is “plastic-free” or”chemical-free.”  It’s a chemical world and we’re all chemical boys and girls, but responsible use and limiting large doses of toxins is the best way to keep healthy.

Warning: Inhale with Caution

Last week was pretty busy here in Chico.  The students were graduating, the parents were in town, and the cameras were clicking away.  But that wasn’t the most exciting thing happening on campus.  Last Friday, while speeches honoring the graduates were piped through the air, I was standing in the middle of a crowd that was anxiously waiting to get a glimpse of the blooming of a rare flower with its lovely aroma of……death.

Corpse Flower (Titan Arum)

The Corpse Flower isn’t just a clever name.  The bulbous bloom only opens for a few days.  I had to wait in line for fifteen minutes to get close enough to smell it.  It wasn’t that bad, but I guess “Slight Smell of Rotting Flower” doesn’t have the same ring to it.  “Roadkill Flower”  might have worked, though.

His name is Ted the Titan

It’s a big flower.  If it could act, it would be cast in Little Shop of Horrors.  It stands about four feet tall and unfurls its bloom like a giant purple cabbage.  The plant is native to Sumatran rainforests and blooms every one to three years.  This rare reeking flower residing in the Chico State greenhouse has only resurrected itself to bloom three times:  in 2004, 2007, and  now 2010.  I wonder why a plant would smell like the dead.  Is it trying to attract zombies?  Weird.

Happy World Oceans Day!

Maybe not all of the oceans are happy today, but I bet ocean awareness is at a high, and that’s good news.  People are definitely thinking about the oceans today and ideas to help are on a rising tide.

Photo: Got Sarah

BP has reported on CNN that it has received over 40,000 ideas from the public after opening a hotline and online suggestion box.  They claim to be investigating over 200 of them for use in the Gulf spill, though testing and implementation of new ideas is woefully slow under normal circumstances, let alone when there is no time for long-winded study and construction.  I can understand that it is difficult to think up an answer that will solve a problem this big, and I am even willing to stop stating how obvious it is that they didn’t spend enough time thinking up these answers before the problem occurred (after this one last time), but we as a public need something. Progress.  Answers.  More than a “So sorry” apology.

I’ve heard a lot of good ideas, whether or not they are feasible.  One of my favorites involves making a large, flexible balloon-like covering for the gushing well: an oil-condom.  It might work, and the ocean will avoid getting STDs from the oil.  Perfect.

There seems to be some complaint is not responding to the idea box and in fact may have only set it up to appease an angry public.  No way!!  Now the Coast Guard has set up a rival idea box.  Me thinks that BP isn’t sharing their box with the US government.  I admittedly have submitted an idea, though I don’t think it appeases me to do so on either side.  It actually scares me that they seemingly need our ideas so badly, but I like that it’s engaging people and inspiring creativity.

As of June 2, only four of the BP ideas have made it into testing.  I keep looking for a number at the bottom of the CNN screen where I can vote for my favorite.  James Cameron has made it known that he was rejected by BP.  I guess they didn’t want to become his next documentary.  Kevin Costner’s Ocean Therapy machines, on the other hand, are being tested this week on Gulf waters.  James Cameron has nothing to fear, though.  He recently met with EPA to discuss his two-plus decades of knowledge working at ocean depths greater than the spill.

Last night, JC also went on Larry King Live to explain his stance.  He was actually pretty good at explaining more about what is going on with the drilling of relief wells in five minutes than BP has been able to do in fifty days.  He should totally get an Emmy.  My favorite part was when he reminded us that we are only getting a picture of the spill form the surface.  With the help of his all-star diving team and crazy robot underwater cameras, we could all get a “three-dimensional picture of what’s happening underwater.”  If there’s one thing I trust the man to do, it’s make a 3-D movie.  I doubt he’ll get Costner to star in it though.

I’ve seen many calls for boycotting BP during this disaster, and reports second that stocks in the company are down up to 15%, but confidence is not depleted.  This company is still viable and at worst will become a takeover target, like Exxon before it became half of the most profitable oil company in the world.  On my way home the other night, I stopped at a gas station that was the only one in sight in the middle of my three-hour journey home.  It was an Arco with an am/pm attached, both BP companies.  But what was I to do?  Would Louisiana appreciate it if I broke down on the highway, requiring a Triple-A truck to drive out to me with a tank of gas that may have come straight from that same Arco?  I didn’t think so.  I do believe in the power of voting with a dollar, but I don’t know the weight of my little dollar against Big Oil.

Team Big Oil consists of the 6 Supermajors, the biggest oil companies in the world.

They also go by IOCs (International Oil Companies) in the financial and news world, vs. OPEC NOC’s or national oil companies like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Crashing oil prices in the late 90s led to the merging of large oil companies resulting in the following international list:

In general, oil companies are currently the most profitable, with ExxonMobile leading the profit list at over $45 billion in profits in 2009.  Collectively, 2008 profits of all six were $115,087 billion (Conoco was the only loser at a near $17 billion loss after a $35 billion purchase of Burlington Resources natural gas producer.)

All together, they are Big Oil and control about 5% of the world’s oil and natural gas reserves.  Only 5%?  Well, the other 90-plus% is under the control of state-owned companies mostly in the Middle East.  Saudi company Aramco sits on the world’s largest supply, forcing the Big Oil 6 to scramble for resources to maintain their profits.  This includes milking known reserves, like the Gulf of Mexico, and diversifying their company and their energy to include everything from biofuels to coffee shops.

BP alone is a parent of several companies, including:

• Acro and Aral fuels
• Castrol motor oils
• Am/pm convenience stores
• Wild Bean Café coffee and foods
• BP also has ownership or partial ownership in 16 refineries

The negative connotation of Big Oil is not in how big their oil supplies actually are, but in how big a control they command over prices and politics, as well as the possibility of profiteering during natural disasters and times of political unrest.  Big oil has long had a big presence in politics, remaining one of the largest campaign contributors and lobbying industries.  From 2008-2009, over $300 million was spent on lobbying by the oil and gas industry, during which time Congress lifted the ban on offshore drilling.  In just 2009, the oil and gas industry spent $169 million on lobbying, while the collective environmental movement spent $22 million, about the same as BP alone.  These are some interesting numbers, though not always convincing, as there are many ‘Big’ interests in Washington.  These companies do end up on the ballot in other ways, notably through the Stop Hidden Taxes campaign in California, a ballot measure backed by Big Oil to reduce their responsibility to the environment.

bp Protest in New Orleans, May 2010

Boycotting BP is an instant gratification, but who does it impact?  The death of the ‘top kill’ endeavor cost BP another 15% slip in stock value today, demonstrating that confidence in the company is directly tied to its public performance over this tragedy.  BP has a few disasters under its belt already, notably the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion and the 2006 Prudhoe Bay, Alaska spill and shutdown.  They aren’t alone in this.  Chevron is battling Ecuador over its 16 billion gallon toxic dumping into the Amazon.  Shell has long been at the heart of environmental and social disasters in exploited Nigeria, including settling in a case involving the execution of civilians.

Buying gas at Exxon doesn’t make you Cesar Chavez (grape boycott in the 60s, for those of you outside of the west.)  Buying gas somewhere else doesn’t solve the problem at all, as the oil giants barely rely on their station profits.   BP stations are independently owned, so a boycott hurts small business owners and increases the likelihood of the Supermajor Six becoming the Supermajor Five.   You’re definitely a Big Oil user, no matter where you buy your gas.  The truth is that you’re probably also a B.O. owner.   If you have an IRA, pension plan, 401K or mutual fund, you likely profit from the world of Big Oil.

I’m not convinced a Facebook group is the kind of armchair activism that is going to change the world.  Neither is a blog, for that matter.  (Note:  Check this article out for an analysis of the positive use of online activism.) I still believe direct action is necessary to really demand accountability for these companies.  A more effective tactic is to target the industry as a whole.  The pressure is on the government to clean up the oil industry from regulation down to safety.  It’s our responsibility as a public to maintain our vigilance towards these goals and to start the shift away from oil-based industry.  In other words, boycott all oil.

My consensus?

B.O. Stinks.

Additonal Reading:

Why you Should Worry About Big Oil

Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil

Crude: The Real Price of Oil Documentary about Chevron in Equador

Note: The New York Times published this article June 11:

Punishing BP is Harder Than Boycotting Stations

In trying to find some hope for a Gulf future and to stop trying to figure out just what the hell the Lost island was, I started researching how the Exxon-Valdez oil spill site was doing twenty years later, which resulted in an GreenAnswers post “Exxon Valdez Today” that kept me up all night.

Today tankers are escorted through Prince William Sound.

I wasn’t surprised by the devastation in Alaska that continues today.

I wasn’t surprised that a small subspecies of killer whale is going extinct as a result, unable to bear new calves into its reduced pod.

I wasn’t surprised that original recovery projections of a decade turned into a century after NOAA reports in 2001 demonstrated the oil was only reducing at a rate of 4% annually.

I wasn’t even surprised to hear that several suicides were blamed on the event, all while Exxon Mobile continues to rake in profits.

What shocked me was the quiet connection to our present day economy.  An original ruling that Exxon be forced to pay $5 billion in damages led the company to seek protection from its old pal J.P. Morgan.  J.P. Morgan came up with a plan to protect itself while approving a $4.8 billion credit line for Exxon.  This was the birth of credit default swaps, the bad-debt circus of invisible money that has led to a worldwide economic crisis.  (See Gillian Tett’s book Fools Gold)

Two polar bears protesting Exxon at Strike Out protest, DC, 2008.

So, Exxon-Mobil became the biggest company in the world and leader of the so-called supermajors (which includes BP- I could totally make a cartoon out of this.  It would be called the Supermajor Six and they would all be like talking cars and tankers that fly around teaching kids to dump oil down the drain.)  They plan to spend up to $30 billion in the next few years to ‘develop new supplies’ and yet are still quibbling over the $2.5 billion to be paid to an ecosystem that hasn’t come near to recovering after two decades, not only in terms of wildlife but also commercial fisheries, tourism and native cultural use.

Meanwhile, the world economy took a dump.  Two of our  most diverse and ecologically important areas are scarred for a lifetime and, most importantly, I can’t find a job.  Who’s going to get us out of this oily mess?  Who’s going to clean the tar from our feathers?

BP?  F, no.

Obama?  Yeah, we’ll see.

Kevin Costner.

Who else?

Seriously.  Captain ‘Waterworld’ has spent years and millions developing a centrifuge to clean oil from water.  Not kidding.  It’s called Ocean Therapy and BP is testing it for use in the Gulf.  It was developed with his scientist brother in response to the Exxon-Valdez and if it works, then we should make the song from The Bodyguard our new national anthem.  We should hold mandatory screenings of Dances With Wolves AND Field of Dreams.  And KC should be the only one allowed to call himself “Supermajor.”

The Mariner earns his gills.

If it works.  Lets pray it does.  I can’t wait for Kostnerworld, a place where Hollywood actors  do more to help the world then industry and government combined.  A place where brown pelicans don’t face extinction from oil after a slow recovery from DDT.  A special place where Robin Hood is a real American-accented hero and not some fancy English folktale.  Dare I say, it would be A Perfect World?  Although, “in a perfect world, things like this wouldn’t happen in the first place.”

Remember the tiger from the Exxon Valdez commercials?  Well, I recently had the privilege of meeting the esteemed actress from these commercials in her lovely Northern California home, and it was the most exciting celebrity sighting I’ve seen!  Her name is Nyla and she is a beautiful Sumatran Tigress, one of the many captivating cats living at the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation in Durham, California.

Nyla takes a drink

Nyla is one of only about 400 Sumatran tigers left on the planet, and she is a majestic reminder of why we need to protect this species now.  Like many of the animals living at Kirshner, Nyla cannot return to the wild but now serves to educate about conservation. Sumatran tigers have been poached to near extinction and have little habitat left on their native island of Sumatra in Indonesia.  They are the last of the Indonesian tiger species.  Since the 1940’s, three tiger species including the Bali, Caspian and Javan tigers have been lost to extinction.  This is a heartbreaking loss, especially when coming face to face with this amazing and beautiful creature.

A well-trained dragon!

Kirshner is a non-profit dedicated to education and conservation of wildlife and their habitats.  It was begun by Barry Kirshner along with his mother Roberta in 1994, when they began providing sanctuary to wild animals in need.  Roberta has carried on in the name of her late son after his tragic death and realized his vision of wildlife protection.  On a recent visit, my mom and I could feel the dedication of Roberta and all of the volunteers involved with rescuing, rehabilitating and caring for these animals.  We received a personal tour for over two hours and were able to meet all of the animals, hear their personal stories and even hold a few – my mom loved holding the snakes, really!

let sleeping leopards lie

Chuffy the tigress

About three-quarters of the animals at Kirshner are special needs, such as Sean, a gorgeous white tiger who was born blind and prone to seizures.  Roberta must use innovative means, such as outlining Sean’s habitat with his favorite smells, to give him boundaries that allow him to live safely and happily.  Kirshner has reported success with many of the animals through diet and care, whereas they may have otherwise faced euthanization by their owners or zoos because of the high cost of care.  Some were also rescued because of abuse, neglect, or because people realized that wild animals don’t make good pets.

baby blues on a baby leopard

How can you not love a place with two foxes named Scully and Mulder?  Or a turtle that loves strawberries?  Not to mention birds, snakes, lizards, coatimundi, coyote, and a wallaby named Wentz after the local family that helped her find her home.  The big cats are my personal favorite, and Kirshner houses lions, tigers, tigons, and ligers as well as leopards, including a baby leopard who was recently featured on the Tonight Show and Chelsea Lately.  There are many species, including mountain lion, caracal, serval, ocelot, bobcat and Siberian lynx.

aww, look at the snake give us a hug!

I can’t say enough about how much I support the Kirshner Wildlife Foundation. It is a wonderful cause and place and I was amazed that it was in my own town!  Please support this volunteer-run organization as it transitions to a larger location in order to house more animals and allow more schools and visitors to have this wonderful experience!

Also check out my African cat post on GreenAnswers!

This oil spill is really depressing.  It couldn’t have happened at a worse time then when all the birds and fish are at home, nesting and spawning. The poor Gulf of Mexico is so rich and diverse and economically important that we should protect it in a bubble like the pope.   Like Hurricane Katrina, the only thing worse than it happening at all is slowly watching the disaster unfold on TV, getting closer to the shore every day with the anchors on CNN getting more dramatic by the hour.

As far as I can tell from the research I conducted to write my Cleaning the Gulf Spill article, there’s many people to blame.

BP = Big Problem

Photo: jbcurio

“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you place the blame” Oscar Wilde

• BP is apparently to blame for its lack of a tested disaster plan.  I can’t believe how many times I have heard the phrase “never before attempted at this depth” in the last few days.  They should get that Mariana Trench guy to go down there and turn off the valves.  Of course, the fact that no one has been able to replicate his feat since 1960 should tell us something about how well we do in the ocean.
• Transocean is to blame for making the crappy valves.  No surprise that the Swiss company is trying to stay out of it.
• The US Minerals Management Service is possibly to blame for not inspecting the rig properly and for being kind of shady because they oversee both the leasing and the inspection.
• US lawmakers are to blame for not implementing safety and regulation, for allowing offshore drilling at all, for accepting millions in campaign and lobby money from BP and for loving oil in general, from what I can tell.  There are some exceptions to this.  Senators from NJ and Florida have been actively calling for more oversight of offshore drilling and Governator Arnold did a 180 on his push for drilling off the coast of California yesterday.
• No one may be chanting “Drill, baby drill” any longer, but just for fun I wanted to see who the Tea Partyists were blaming for this.  Obama, environmentalists and commies, of course.  One guy’s sign actually read “Oil Spill Distribution = Communism!”  So, I guess the Obammies are also to blame for apparently setting up this whole disaster to…promote universal healthcare or something.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Glenn Beck also blames the debaucherous actions of the fish for causing the devil to spill oil on them or something.

I was pretty surprised at the numbers I found for oil leaked into the ocean.

Oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez = 8%

Land drainage and waste disposal = more than 50%

Oil spills – 706 million gallons annually

Offshore drilling = 15 million gallons

Everyday oil use = 363 million gallons

Most of the oil comes from motor oil.  Some is improper disposal after an oil change.  Some is from recreational boating, but much of it is water from oil-coated cars, streets and parking lots that ends up washed down the drain and into our waterways.

Cars are wheeled oil spills.  Drive, baby, drive

Oil and water don't mix

Two gallons of used recycled oil can power a house for 24 hours. Find a recycling center here.

Photos: sjorford; cbown

James 'Father of the Constitution' Madison

Image: Library of Congress

Well, National Park Week is over, but I am happy to say that I actually made it out to a park and saved my five-dollar entrance fee!  Woo-hoo!  We headed out to Whiskeytown National Recreation Area this weekend.  What’s that you say?  You’ve never heard of it?  Well, there is a very good explanation for that.

Whiskeytown Lake

First, a word about Redding, CA.  This was my first occasion to visit the old lumber town, which is probably the biggest city north of Sacramento other than Chico.  Redding has the Sundial Bridge, a giant suspension bridge over the Sacramento River designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava in 2004.  It’s the world’s second largest sundial at 217 feet.  The Taipei 101 building has them beat at 1670.6 feet.  But the Sundial Bridge shouldn’t feel bad.  The Taipei knows what it means to be #2 as the second tallest building in the world.

Sundial Bridge, and me being a clock.

Redding is in the vicinity of not one, but four volcanoes in the Cascade Range: Shasta, Lassen, Black Butte and Medicine Lake.  This sounds more dangerous than it is.  Living near volcanoes has its benefits and provides Redding with something pretty to look at, which it needs.  I was curious about the name Redding, however.  Since it is near another town called Red Bluff, it seemed logical that red rocks were to blame, but such is not the case.

Hello Shasta!

A little research and a trip to Shasta ruins showed that one of Redding’s founders was a man named Pierson B. Reading.  He started the lumber industry and planted the first cotton and grapevine plants in Northern California, all of which turned out to be exceptionally lucrative ventures.  He also mapped out the town itself in 1862, so they called it Reading.  Ten years later, the Central Pacific railroad came to the town led by a land agent named Benjamin Redding.  The railroad refused to acknowledge the name Reading and so in 1872 the residents agreed to renamed it Redding after the railroad agent.  I guess that’s how badly they wanted transportation out of town.  Ironically, the city Reading in Pennsylvania, has a famous old railroad named after it (see Monopoly board).  Both also have outlets.  But even though Reading is pronounced more like Redding, I would say that Redding is the Reading of the west.

Whiskeytown's secret falls

Eight miles east of Redding, we drove in along the super-blue Whiskeytown Lake which boasts 36 miles of undeveloped shoreline.  We were on a waterfall hunt and willing to brave the steep but beautiful hike up to Whiskeytown Falls, the premiere waterfall of several found in the park.  Whiskeytown Falls is a 220-foot drop that was reportedly  ‘discovered’ in 2005.  The truth is that the falls were found in the 1967.  James K. Carr, Undersecretary of the Interior under JFK, wanted to make the area a national park.  It was thought that the falls would complicate the process of buying the land from private owners, so the residents and rangers that knew of the falls kept quiet.  The land was successfully protected and though it remained local legend, the falls were unknown for the next 40 years, even by the park rangers working in the park!  In 2004, park biologist Russ Weatherbee saw the falls on aerial photos and hiked into the area on old, overgrown logging roads to rediscovered this well-kept local secret.   That guy must have felt like he solved a Scooby Doo mystery!

I learned that there probably was no good reason to visit here until 2004 and that the falls are a true hidden gem, even if the secret’s out!

Also, If you want to know why Redwoods rock, read this!

There is a park four blocks from my house.  It is the 24th largest city park in the US.  It’s got all the parkly things you’d expect like trails and fields and a river.  It’s has special things as well, like a channelized part of the river that serves as Chico’s public pool.  This may sound strange, but in a place that’s over 100 degrees for at least two months out of the year even pre-global warming, a good pool is not a luxury.  And considering how far we are from the beach (192 miles over mountains, I googled it) it’s nice to have a pool within walking distance.  Anyway, Bidwell Park is a one of the best things about Chico, so I decided to give it a little Earth Week love.

Ah, nature

I was wearing a purple shirt, which really confused this guy

Redwood from the bottom up

Sycamore Pond, a pool with a view