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MILITARY

Former US Attorney General Testifies for Plowshares Activists Ramsey Clark supports WA anti-nuke movement Ground Zero Center (Nov 28, 2010)

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Hunger Up 36% in Washington State from Children's Alliance, cartoon by John Ambrosavage (Nov 28, 2010)

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The Progressive Tea Party? Maybe when it comes to surveillance issues Doug Collins, cartoon by Dan McConnell (Nov 28, 2010)
Obama Wooing 'Economic Royalists' FDR was way gutsier Norman Solomon, cartoon by David Logan (Nov 28, 2010)

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The Dirty Secret Behind 'Demon Tobacco' Regulation doesn't cover cigarette additives Doug Collins, cartoons by John Jonik (Nov 28, 2010)

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America’s Education Gender Gap Bill Costello, cartoon by John Ambrosavage (Nov 28, 2010)

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Washington State Votes Against Change Janice Van Cleve, cartoon by Dan McConnell (Nov 28, 2010)

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What Color Is Your Santa? holiday cartoons by John Ambrosavage (Nov 28, 2010)

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WA Doctors Tell McKenna: Put Patients Before Politics Doctors for America (Oct 25, 2010)

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No, Higher Consciousness Won’t Save Us Charles Reich got his second book right Norman Solomon (Oct 23, 2010)

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Modern-Day Debtors’ Prisons in WA ACLU of WA, with cartoon by John Jonik (Oct 23, 2010)

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Report: Racial Profiling Pervasive Across America OneAmerica (Oct 23, 2010)

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Port Townsend Food Co-op Rejects Israel Boycott Jefferson County BDS, cartoon by George Jartos (Oct 23, 2010)

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A Bellhop in the Swingin' Seventies Overly detailed resume plus cartoon by John Ambrosavage (Oct 20, 2010)
Johnny Horizon's Draft Physical Can he avoid Vietnam? John Merriam (Oct 20, 2010)

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Gregoire passes the hatchet; Bears love garbage; Where does the PUD travel to? featuring cartoons by Dan McConnell (Oct 20, 2010)

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Now's the Time to Expand Social Security Good for both Americans and American companies Steven Hill (Sept 9, 2010)

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Obama's Speech for Endless War Normon Solomon, cartoon by Dan McConnell (Sept 9, 2010)

ENERGY

Yellowstone: The #1 National Security Threat Unless we turn Wyoming into a new energy Mecca Martin Nix (Sept 9, 2010)

TECHNOLOGY

Biodefense, Biolabs and Bugs Seattle City Council takes an important first step to safety Labwatch.org (Aug 9, 2010)

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Teenage Microsoft Sweatshop 15-hour shifts under poor conditions at Chinese factory from the National Labor Committee (May 16, 2010)

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Why US Immigration Policy Needs Tweaking Bill Costello, cartoon by David Logan (May 16, 2010)
Arizona Immigration Brouhaha Various opinions from near and far, cartoons by Logan and McConnell (May 2, 2010)

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The Coming Microcar Revolution Martin Nix (May 16, 2010)

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A Poetic Look at Tacoma Glass Art Museum; a limer-ICK Gerald McBreen (Mar 28, 2010)
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Who Rules America? Corporate conglomeration is leading to neofeudalism Don Monkerud, cartoon by John Jonik (Mar 27, 2010)

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Architects and Engineers Ask for New Look at 9/11 Doug Collins (Feb 20, 2010)

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Is Olympic Coverage Sexist? Media coverage rarely gives women equal treatment Univ. of Alberta (Jan 24, 2010)

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Why I Don't Come at Christmas Anymore not-so-jolly Saint Nick (Dec 18, 2009) Santa Gets Political art by Ambrosavage, Lande, and Dees (Dec 17, 2009)

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A People's History of Sports BOOK REVIEW Doreen McGrath (posted July 24, 2009)

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Cashing In On Earth's Cycles: Part 3 Alan Cheetham & Richard Kirby (posted July 24, 2009)
Obama: How Serious About Climate Change? Doug Collins (posted July 24, 2009)


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article below posted September 9, 2010    Bookmark and Share

The Yellowstone Caldera is a volcanic super-crater surrounded by mountains. Sooner or later, it will blow up again.
image from the USGS


Yellowstone: The #1 National Security Threat

Unless we turn Wyoming into a new energy Mecca

by Martin Nix

Yellowstone National Park has literally thousand of square miles of hot magma underneath, which will someday erupt. This isn't just a small volcano! Geologists say it's possible that a major eruption there would be thousands of times greater than that of Mt. St. Helens. It would put the US under several feet of volcanic ash, and likely put the planet into an ice age. (See www.earthmountainview.com/yellowstone/yellowstone_press_release.htm.)

Yellowstone is a far worse threat than any Taliban. But with planning we can prevent this scenario with geothermal development.

The geothermal potential of Yellowstone is huge. It is like a giant nuclear reactor, fired by the natural decay of underground radioactive elements. Developing Yellowstone's geothermal potential would not only displace the need for coal and nuclear power plants, it would also cool the magma down, relieving the pressure than could lead to an eruption.

Right now, natural rainfall cools Yellowstone down. Rain seeps into the ground, cooling the magma, creating the beautiful geysers we see today.


Presently the most common method of geothermal exploitation is a dual-well system, with one well injecting water and the other extracting steam. However, the flow of water through the cracked rocks also extracts sulfur, a pollutant. Dual-well systems are also cumbersome because they require a special exchanger to cool the water.

However, a more elegant method might be to create artificial geysers. Single wells could be drilled into hot areas, then filled with water to create geysers. Steam pushes the water skyward through electrical generators. The steam then becomes clouds, which then propagate more rain. Since single geothermal wells never flow water through cracked rocks, sulfur pollution is not a problem. Artificial geysers may be the way to go, though they do require more water than dual-well systems.

The extent of this huge underground hotspot is shown here in kilometers.
image from the USGS



It would be a sight to see 10,000 wells sending water skyward. Although it would be a huge project, it could eliminate the need for many coal and nuclear power plants. Geothermal development could power the entire Midwest.

It could also electrify our train system. A side-advantage of this is that the train system could be used for building an electrical distribution system, by stringing cable above the railroads or burying it next to them. Similarly, cable could be strung along any water pipes that are used to service the geysers.

Instead of Congress funding new nuclear power plants, these funds should be used to fund geothermal development, a form of natural nuclear energy.


The major hang-up for such a project is the large volume of water necessary. It would require roughly the same water flow as the Mississippi River. A huge project, but probably no huger than the Tennessee Valley Authority projects in the 1930s.

One smart way to create artificial rain would be to pump up underground saltwater to make evaporation ponds to grow algae for biodiesel (algae for biodiesel is already proving much more efficient than other crops; see www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/biofuel/4213775). The sun evaporates water from algae farms, thereby creating artificial rain clouds. Of course, these algae ponds would have to be strategically located to encourage rainfall in the area of the geothermal development.

Water could be piped down the Continental Divide. Since eruption from Yellowstone would adversely impact Canada, our northern neighbor might be willing to help.

Another source of water could be the Great Lakes. Combined with solar and wind energy, geothermal energy could drive the water pumps, pumping water all the way to Wyoming.

The fact is geothermal development of Yellowstone could power the country. If you think this is expensive or harmful to the environment, then try cleaning up after an eruption. A major Yellowstone eruption would be a national—and probably a planetary—disaster, much more harmful to flora and fauna than anything humans could do. Action now could prevent another Ice Age. Do you have a 1,000 year supply of food stored up?


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