Clearing the Air (an occasional posting)

The following passage is excerpted from Richard Behan's article, Nancy Pelosi, You Must Impeach! in Information Clearing House

THE WARS ARE NOT ABOUT TERRORISM

The Bush Administration's Curious Behavior

Hours after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush told the world the United States would take the fight directly to the terrorists and the states that harbored them. Thus the Bush Administration's "War on Terror" was born.

Less than a month later, on October 7, Mr. Bush launched a savage aerial bombardment of Afghanistan. He had the support of a shocked American citizenry and a sympathetic world, all of whom expected justice to be delivered soon to the terrorist Osama bin Laden and the harboring state embodied in the Taliban.

The incursion into Afghanistan was sold as the first action in the "War on Terror." It was a brilliantly executed charade.

Flashback to October 12, 2000, a year earlier. The USS Cole, an American Navy destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden, has suffered heavy damage from a terrorist attack, perpetrated by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

Three weeks later officials of the Clinton Administration met with theTaliban in the Sheraton Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. To avoid a violent retaliation of furious bombing, the Taliban offered the unconditional surrender of Osama bin Laden.

Before the details of the transfer were completed, however, a Supreme Court ruling gave George W. Bush the White House, and the message was passed: the actual handover of bin Laden will be deferred until the Bush Administration is sworn in.

Once in office, the new Administration asked the Taliban to delay the handover of Osama bin Laden at least until February. As winter faded into spring, and spring into summer, the Administration demurred twice more.

Then Osama bin Laden struck again, on September 11, 2001.

On September 15, Taliban officials were flown in U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft to the Pakistani city of Quetta, where the deal was sweetened. The standing offer of surrendering Osama bin Laden was renewed, but now the Taliban would also oversee the closure of bin Laden's bases and training camps.

This time the White House simply rejected the offer out of hand. It did so again when the offer was repeated several weeks later, and days after that President Bush ordered the violence to begin.

The invasion of Afghanistan was something vastly different than a quest to apprehend a terrorist..

Sources for this section:

1. "Bush Rejects Taliban Offer to Hand bin Laden Over," Guardian Unlimited (UK), October 14, 2001.

2. "Bush Rejects Taliban Offer to Surrender bin Laden," Andrew Buncombe, The Independent (UK), October 15, 2001.

3. "Dreamers and Idiots: Britain and the US did everything to avoid a peaceful solution in Iraq and Afghanistan," George Monbiot, The Guardian (UK), November 11, 2003.

4. "How Bush Was Offered bin Laden and Blew It," Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch, November 1, 2004.

5. "Did Bush try to stop bin Laden in his first eight months in office?" MSNBC Countdown, September 28, 2006.

Books of Interest

BOOKS

GREEN BUILDING PRODUCTS, by Alex Wilson and Mark Piepcorn. ("Interest in sustainable, green building practices is greater than ever. Whether concerned about allergies, energy costs, old-growth forests, or durability and long-term value, homeowners and builders are looking for ways to ensure that their homes are healthy, safe, beautiful, and efficient. In these pages are descriptions and manufacturer contact information for more than 1,400 environmentally preferable products and materials. All phases of residential construction, from sitework to flooring to renewable energy, are covered. Products are grouped by function, and each chapter begins with a discussion of key environmental considerations, and what to look for in a green product. Over 40% revised, this updated edition includes over 120 new products.")

The New Ecological Home, by Dan Chiras . ("Shelter, like many other elements of human existence, comes at an extraordinary cost to our planet and its inhabitants. In the U.S. alone, construction of 1.2 million new homes a year results in a massive drain on Earth's natural resource base. Today, nearly 60 percent of all timber cut in the U.S. is used in building houses, not to mention construction wastes and the huge amounts of resources used in the day-to-day operation of the "modern" household. In addition to environmental costs, there are the personal economic costs--the thousands of dollars each homeowner spends each year to heat, cool, and power our homes. Today, a new generation of architects and builders is emerging, intent on creating homes that meet human needs for shelter while causing only a fraction of the environmental impact of conventional housing. The New Ecological Home provides an overview of green building techniques, materials, products, and technologies that are either currently available or will be in the near future. Author Daniel Chiras provides a wealth of up-to-date, practical information for home buyers, owner-builders, and anyone interested in building for a sustainable future. Included are chapters on: * The Healthy House; * Green Building Materials; * Wood-Wise Construction; * Energy Efficiency; * Earth-Sheltered Architecture; * Passive Solar Heating and Passive Cooling; * Green Power: Electricity from the Sun and Wind; * Water and Waste: Sustainable Approaches;* Environmental Landscaping.")

GREEN BY DESIGN, by Angela Dean. ("There is no "one-size-fits-all" plan for so-called "green" homes; rather, there are universal principles of design that can be applied to individual tastes and needs. Architect Angela Dean offers a variety of ways to incorporate green building into your home, including using healthy building materials such as straw bales and natural flooring, taking advantage of local materials and resources, reusing gray water for landscaping, and incorporating passive solar design. Her goal is to teach people how to think about building sustainable homes. Green by Design provides a thorough analysis of what it means to build green and offers advice on what to consider when designing a sustainable home. Green by Design features full-color photographs and line drawings of floor plans show different examples of successful sustainable homes. It also includes in-depth case studies of more than a dozen homes so readers planning a green home can see what worked for others. By providing people with knowledge, inspiration, and the ability to ask the right questions (and understand the answers) Green by Design puts home builders and owners on a path to creating beautiful, environmentally responsible homes that they can be proud to live in. Angela Dean, AIA, is principal architect of AMD Architecture in Salt Lake City. She specializes in environmentally responsible designs to create healthy, comfortable buildings that are in harmony with the environment.")

GOOD GREEN HOMES, by Jennifer Roberts. ("Green. It conjures images of a meadow in spring for some, and the color of money for others. What does "green" have to do with our homes? In essence, green building-or sustainable building-means being smart about how we use energy, water, and building materials so that we can live well without needlessly damaging the environment. Creating a good green home isn't just about conservation, about using less or saving more-although that's certainly part of it. It's about creating better homes that are easier on the environment, less expensive over the long term, and more delightful to come home to. That's the message Jennifer Roberts wants to share in Good Green Homes, the ultimate new guide for people who want to live in comfortable, healthy, environmentally conscious homes. With some simple steps outlined in this book, you can save money, and do your part to help save the environment. For instance, using an energy-efficient light bulb saves you money. It also results in less demand for electricity, which in turn results in less pollution from power plants, which may help a child with asthma breathe a little easier. If you associate green-built housing with the unconventional or the quirky-tree houses, geodesic domes, dwellings constructed of tires or soda bottles-think again. Perfect for homeowners, remodelers, renters (who might be surprised by how much is within their power to change), architects, builders, and interior designers, this book lays out seven fundamental principles of green building, illustrated with more than 150 color and 20 black and white photographs of more than twenty-five homes. Jennifer Roberts launched two retail stores in San Francisco specializing in environmentally sensible consumer products, including household goods; and is a freelance writer and editor on topics that include energy-efficient building design and systems.")

HOMES THAT HEAL, by Athena Thompson ("Media reports focus increasingly on the declining health of children in industrialized countries. Asthma, autism, learning and behavior problems, and cancer are all on the rise. At the same time there is consistent news about poor indoor air quality, mold, and how buildings can make people sick. Homes that Heal addresses both of these developments, revealing that our own homes can contribute to many of these health problems. A passionate examination of our built environment and the alarming impact today's chemically polluted world is having on the health of present and future generations, Homes that Heal is easy-to-read, solutions-oriented, and humorous, full of stories and advice that empower families to take back their health on a daily basis.")

GREEN REMODELING, by David Johnston and Kim Master ("Whether because of changing lifestyles or simply because houses are becoming outdated, millions of North Americans are renovating their homes every year, spending more money annually on renovation than on new home construction. But renovations can be fraught with unintended consequences like indoor air pollution. How do you remodel in a healthy, environmentally friendly way?")

PRESCRIPTIONS FOR A HEALTHY HOUSE, by Paula Baker-Laporte , Erica Elliott and John Banta ("For people concerned about exposure to toxins found in conventional building materials and practices, and for the millions of people who are chronically ill from chemical exposures (an estimated 15% of the population), Prescriptions for a Healthy House offers real hope and practical help in building homes in which humans can live without getting sick. This invaluable guide for the homeowner / architect / builder / medical doctor takes the mystery out of healthy house building by walking the reader through the construction process.")

Clean Air Design is now up and running at http://cleanairdesign.com. Google Apps made domain registration and page-building very easy for me, and $10 per year is hard to beat for their service. Moreover, with Google Apps you can edit your pages right on the Internet, rather than paying a consultant or struggling with complex programs like DreamWeaver. On the minus side, GA does not (at least not yet) offer advanced tools like menus or interactive windows; and the process of establishing your domain as a simple URL is rather complicated.

Please visit http://cleanairdesign.com and, if you are a webster, link to it. That will help to establish it on the Internet.

News on the Air

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7882069 Cancer Risk from Polluted Air
DIAMOND BAR, Calif.—A new study on air pollution has found that Southern California remains among the riskiest places in the country to live when it comes to cancer rates.
The study released Friday by the South Coast Air Quality Management District says that between 1999 and 2004, the overall cancer risk from air pollution declined by more than 15 percent but is "still unacceptably high."
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where diesel use is significant, carry the biggest lifetime cancer risk. Other high-risk areas include Burbank, downtown Los Angeles, Fontana, Huntington Park and Wilmington.

News On the Air

AIR QUALITY FORECASTS FROM SPACE

"Weather broadcasts have long been a staple for people planning their day. Now with the help of NASA satellites, researchers are working to broaden daily forecasts to include predictions of air quality, a feat that is becoming reality in some parts of the world."

California's Clean Air Slapdown

"Environmentalists harbor no illusions about the Bush Administration. From a 2001 decision to weaken regulations on arsenic in drinking water to its antagonistic performance at last week's U.N. climate change talks in Bali, the White House has consistently opposed green goals. But Wednesday's move by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denying California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles was an unpleasant surprise, even by Bush standards. The announcement, made by EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, temporarily torpedoes state efforts led by California to drastically reduce CO2 emissions from cars by treating the greenhouse gas as a pollutant that could be regulated like any other."

Schwarzenegger Speaks Out on Federal Pollution Rulings

"TIME'S Kristin Kloberdanz sat down with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mary Nichols, chairperson of the California Air Resources Board, in Fresno, California to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denying the right of California and 16 other states to set their own fuel emission standards. The Governor was clearly frustrated though he remained genial."

EPA Chief Ignored Staff

"The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ignored his staff's written findings in denying California's request for a waiver to implement its landmark law to slash greenhouse gases from vehicles, sources inside and outside the agency told The Times on Thursday.
'California met every criteria . . . on the merits. The same criteria we have used for the last 40 years on all the other waivers," said an EPA staffer. "We told him that. All the briefings we have given him laid out the facts.'"

TRAFFIC POLLUTION AND KIDS

"Children with asthma who are exposed to traffic pollution are at increased risk for respiratory problems and reduced lung volumes, says a study that looked at children in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez, a crossing point into the United States.

"Major cities along the northern and southern U.S. borders often have high levels of vehicular traffic flows, especially at the border crossing points. Vehicular traffic emissions from the high density of border crossing traffic may be negatively affecting the health of populations who live in nearby areas," study lead author Dr. Fernando Holguin, assistant professor of pulmonary medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement."

purpose

The purpose statement for cleanairdesign.com reads as follows:

"Can we design better health? Air quality has emerged as one of the primary geopolitical issues of the 21st century -- impacting the environment, all nations and all economic sectors. The implications of air quality, in terms of medicine and health insurance alone, are staggering enough to call for major changes in federal policies and heroic corporate investments. Specifically, in the vaguely-defined but critically important area called 'wellness', it is time for architects, designers and developers to come to terms with the variety of parameters that affect interior air quality: climate, location, layout, materials, solar exposure, sealing/curing, ventilation, filtration, furnishings, sanitation, expense and sustainability. This page is a preliminary effort to create a forum on the hypoallergenic house: a residence providing high air quality without sacrificing comfort or esthetics. I invite architects, designers, medical doctors and other informed parties to join me in discussing the ways and means of improving air quality in our internal spaces, be they domestic, corporate or public. Insurance companies, who have a significant interest inimproving air quality, are invited to join the forum."

process

I'm in the process of setting up shop at cleanairdesign.com. A division of Google called Google Apps is making things much simpler for me, with the added advantage of my being able to edit my pages right on the web. My urls right now carry the suffix -a.googlepages.com, but will stop doing so after my "CNAMES" are registered.

My goal is to establish a useful knowledge base for individuals, groups and companies concerned with clean air. Have a look at my pages and let me know if you have any suggestions. You may publish a comment or email me at rgrudin@gmail.com. Put "blog" in your subject window.