Nearly a year after a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and created one of the largest environmental catastrophes of all time, federal lawmakers are considering encouraging drilling off the West Coast, including the rich oil beds off Southern California.
Lawmakers say allowing the drilling would ease the burden of high oil prices and provide an alternative to foreign oil. More
Photo via tsuda/Flickr
UCLA undergrads were not far off in their prediction of where Osama bin Laden was hiding out.
Two years ago, a class of UCLA undergrads pretty accurately predicted the the location where Osama Bin Laden was hiding out. The students, working under UCLA geography professors Thomas Gillespie and John Agnew, used geographical theories and GIS software to home in on the world’s most wanted fugitive.
Science Insider explains:
According to a probabilistic model they created, there was an 89.9% chance that bin Laden was hiding out in a city less than 300 km from his last known location in Tora Bora: a region that included Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he was killed last night.
On top of this, they identified 26 “city islands” that they considered to be the highest probability hideouts. To be clear: the class identified the nearby city of Parachinar as being the most likely hideout.
(via Ecosystem Geographers Predict Bin Laden’s Hideout - Politics - GOOD)
Compared to the rest of the world, the amount the U.S. is paying for gas is still relatively low.
Growing pot is not as green as you might think.
A new study suggests California grow rooms burn about 8 percent of the power used by homes in the state. A single joint represents 2 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, an amount equal to running a 100-watt light bulb for 17 hours, according to the report. (via Pot growers burn through energy | California Watch)
Private lands are new frontier in California’s pot wars
A little-spoken-of war is taking place behind California’s fences and property lines – trespassing marijuana growers are setting booby traps, resorting to violence and vandalism, and spoiling the land by stealing water and spraying dangerous chemicals that leach into streams.
As the federal government focuses on stopping illegal marijuana crops in public parklands and U.S. forests, local sheriffs and state drug enforcement officials face the persistent and potentially dangerous problem of pot growers commandeering private land for their crops.
(via Private lands are new frontier in California’s pot wars | California Watch)
C
oca-Cola shareholders are demanding the company disclose how it is addressing consumer concerns over a controversial chemical used in the epoxy linings of its beverage cans.
But the company is refusing to provide that information.
More than a quarter of the shareholders voted for the disclosure, as well as an outline for a plan to phase out the chemical, bisphenol A, from its products. Coke’s annual meeting was held Wednesday in Atlanta.
(via Coca-Cola shareholders demand resolution on chemical | California Watch)
Photo via jeff_golden/Flickr
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