So Many Bad Things . . .

March 12th, 2007 by Vihar Sheth
Posted in Corporations, Environment, Sustainability, Water

Oh man, Mondays are hard enough to deal with. But throw in daylight savings time (so stupid), an incessantly meowing cat and stupid people at the helm of very powerful countries and companies and the shock to the system is that much harder to swallow. At least the weather is nice . . . this post is sustain-a-link in nature but with much more commentary.

First, in what is probably the biggest corporate slap in the face to America in recent times, Halliburton, the teacher’s pet of war-torn-region contracting is moving its corporate headquarters to Dubai. Many American companies are transferring jobs overseas for various reasons: Sarbanes-Oxley is a pain in the ass and the Chinese can make all the crap we buy cheaper, faster and better. I’m okay with these things. Adapt or die. It’s survival of the fittest - that’s an evolutionary concept for all the ignoramuses out there. But when was the last time a company, aside from a result an acquisition or merger, moved their operations to a completely different region of the world? A couple points from the article:

“This is an insult to the US soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years,” said Patrick Leahy, Democratic senator and chairman of the judiciary commitee [sic].
Halliburton is also in the process of splitting off its engineering and military services contracts unit, KBR, which is the Pantagon’s [sic] largest contractor in Iraq. KBR already has more than $20 billion in revenues from its Iraq contracts and has been the target of several investigations into its billing practices and complaints from some US politicians about its close ties to the Bush administration.

Whadaya gonna do?

I’ve talked about the oceans on this site before. In a nutshell, we treat them like shit and need to change course. But, in sticking with whole “slap in the face” theme I’ve got going on here I’d like to mention an article I read today about deep-ocean fish farming. The problem: “The Bush administration wants to allow ocean farming for shellfish, salmon and saltwater species in federal waters for the first time, hoping to grab a greater share of the $70 billion aquaculture market.” Aquaculture would make a terrific band name, but it’s all down hill from there. Some notes from said article:

A plan to be announced today by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez would let companies operate fish farms three miles to 200 miles offshore, but without some of the rules regarding size, season and harvest methods that apply to other commercial fishermen.
Environmental concerns have arisen about wastewater generated by such operations. Gutierrez, however, said the administration’s proposal had safeguards and would permit states to ban fish farming up to 12 miles off their coasts. “We believe we can do it in a way that is environmentally sound, that makes sense for our economy. And, given that we are importing so much farm-raised fish, we might as well do it ourselves,” Gutierrez said.

Granted, Guiterrez makes a good economic point. But why remove the regulatory oversight that exists with traditional fishing? Even with the rules that exist now we’re depleting the oceans. I can’t imagine what will happen with less rules.

Fish-farming companies also must consult with the Food and Drug Administration, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Agriculture Department, and other federal and state environmental agencies. But the United States lacks regulations for aquaculture in federal marine waters that extend three miles to 200 miles offshore, where U.S. jurisdiction ends. That’s why 12 miles off shore is perfect!!!
Some marine experts, however, say fish farming adds to overfishing because most farms involve carnivorous fish that are fed more fish protein than the farms produce. They say the farms release pesticides, antibiotics and other chemicals, and cause genetic contamination of wild fish. “The growth of aquaculture is questionable, as we are using the wild fish to grind up to feed the farmed fish,” said Charles Clover, author of The End of the Line, a book on overfishing. “It promotes overfishing for forage fish, and it’s putting the farmed fish out with the wild fish - you don’t really want the diseases to get into the wild population,” he said.
The National Aquaculture Association says on its Web site that “legitimate concerns about aquaculture’s environmental impact are sometimes raised” but that fish farming has boomed because it is “environmentally compatible” and U.S. consumers like eating farmed seafood.

Since there’s no stopping it I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, like with every other stupid decision we make.

President Bush should parachute onto a trawler and declare the oceans saves!

I was going to discuss a third article but I’m spent. A discussion on hiding behind the sovereignty defense would drive me crazy right now. How much idiocy can one man take?

green | rising