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Reprinted without Permission

OAK HARBOR, WA—Executives from the Shell Oil Company blasted a floundering, oil-covered sea otter Monday, accusing the small aquatic mammal of grossly exaggerating the effects of last week's hazardous petroleum spill.

According to Shell president Marvin Odum, the otter has been putting on "quite a show" in front of rescue workers and clean-up crews, and is making the 860,000-gallon, three-mile-wide toxic slick seem like a much bigger deal than it actually is.

"He's fine," said Odum, referring to the 40-pound sea creature, who was found washed ashore and appeared to be suffering from anaphylactic shock. "Trust me, before all of the cameras and reporters showed up, our little buddy here was having no problem at all cleaning himself off. Now, all of a sudden, it's severe spastic convulsions this and complete kidney failure that."

"Seriously, come on," the Shell executive continued. "Talk about laying it on thick."

Odum, who was alerted to the massive petroleum spill early Monday morning, claimed that the attention-seeking otter was not only overdoing it with his frantic and anguished squealing, but that his habit of gasping desperately for oxygen was "melodramatic."

In addition, Odum claimed that the otter's rapidly fluctuating body temperature and growing heart palpitations were nothing more than a sad attempt to curry favor with Coast Guard officials, Greenpeace volunteers, and anybody else not smart enough to see right through his "little ploy."

American Business Now Supports Climate Change Legislation

Major investment groups around the country now support serious and swift action in addressing climate change:

“Unmitigated climate change poses a threat to the global economy, said Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics and Special Advisor to the Group Chairman of HSBC on Economic Development and Climate Change. “But building a low carbon economy creates opportunities for investment in new technologies that promise to transform our society in the same way as the introduction of electricity or railways did in the past...." (CERES)

There is also increasing resistence within the American business community against the extreme opposition to climate change legislation by the US Chamber of Commerce. PG&E is the latest large American corporation to withdraw from the Chamber because of its oppostion to climate change legislation in Congress.

VW L1 Hybrid

"Angel" by Sarah McLachlan

Just a reminder that disasters don't disappear simply because our attention wanders.

U.S. EPA reaches major settlement for cleanup of San Gabriel Valley Superfund site

LOS ANGELES – "The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corporation ("Northrop Grumman"), two related entities, and 43 cash-out parties that requires Northrop Grumman to cleanup groundwater contamination at the Puente Valley Operable Unit of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site, Area 4, in Southern California.

Northrop Grumman, representing all of the settling defendants, will spend an estimated $21 million to build a groundwater cleanup system that uses wells to pump out contaminated groundwater, preventing it from further migration. Northrop Grumman will also install water conveyance pipelines and construct a treatment plant to remove Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) contaminants from the groundwater. The treated water will be used for drinking water supply, water reclamation projects, or discharged to surface water..."

Note: I grew up and live in the San Gabriel Valley