Gov. Jindal Follow-up: What Is 'Volcano Monitoring'?

[Wetzelbill]

Oh this all keeps getting better. :) -WB

Gov. Jindal Follow-up: What Is 'Volcano Monitoring'?

After President Obama's speech on the economy last night, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal criticized government spending in the stimulus bill, citing examples including "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.'"


The $140 million to which Jindal referred is actually for a number of projects conducted by the United States Geological Survey, including volcano monitoring. This monitoring is conducted largely by the United States Geological Survey, and is aimed at helping geologists understand the inner workings of volcanoes as well as providing warnings of impending eruptions, in the United States and in active areas around the world where U.S. military bases are located, such as the Philippines.


Among the scenarios in which the USGS's monitoring can assist - the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, which killed 57 people and was the deadliest and costliest volcanic eruption in U.S. history ($2.74 billion in 2007 dollars). This event was preceded by thousands of earthquakes in the two months before the volcano blew its top.


About 50 volcanic eruptions occur around the world every year, according to the USGS. The United States ranks third, behind Indonesia and Japan, in its number of historically active volcanoes (those for which written accounts exist). Most U.S. volcanoes are located in the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, with the rest distributed around the West.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/govjindalfollowupwhatisvolcanomonitoring

[TwilightGardener]

1. Bobby Brady is right--we don't need no stinking monitoring. Let's go back

to Pompeii-era methods of dealing with volcanoes: Appeasing the gods.

[T Wolf]

6. If it involves throwing repukes into active volcanos - I'm all for it.

[TwilightGardener]

7. That is one group I am willing to offer as a sacrifice, certainly.

[gmoney]

21. Plenty of virgins on FR... (eom)

[Wetzelbill]

8. Yeah Krakatoa didn't need no monitoring neither.

Get gubmint off our backs!

[mockmonkey]

11. He should have

learned something from his brother Peter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4KMk6T5mQU

[roguevalley]

33. I monitor volcanoes every day. I have two I can see from my window, including

the beautiful and soon to be erupting maybe Redoubt and two others just a little farther, Augustine and Iliamna.

[davepc]

2. Maybe he should ask Governor Palin if that's a worthwhile expenditure by the federal government

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2009-02-05-volcano_N.htm

[Renew Deal]

3. And Yellowstone

:nuke:

[Wetzelbill]

15. that would not be pretty

[Submariner]

4. "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.'"

This is the GOP's major problem. They are incredibly ignorant of the world around them. What an imbecile to make a statement like that. I hope someone clues in Bobby dipstick the value of science. I doubt it though.

[Wetzelbill]

10. the guy has a biology degree!

How amazing is that? How can somebody be that ignorant, and even if he doesn't really believe that stuff, how could he be shortsighted enough to say it in an address like that in front of the country? Politically, that dumbed down red meat stuff is good in front of GOP crowds, but not in front of the whole country. Foolish.

[Danascot]

26. Stunned

:wow:

This is the party that wants to use the Bible as the classroom science textbook.

[stevedeshazer]

5. I live about 40 miles from Mt. St. Helens

Almost 30 years later, the destruction is still evident.

We knew then, thanks to the USGS center in Vancouver, WA that something big was happening. Fifty-seven people lost their lives, but it could have been a lot more without their having raised awareness of the situation.

$140 million out of $800 billion is less than .0002% of the money in the stimulus package.

Republicans sure are poor at math.

Jindal is an idiot.

[Wetzelbill]

12. I was in the hospital as a child

when it erupted, in Kalispell, MT. I had just had a surgery. I remember a few days later my parent's driving me home and there was so much ash around it look like it snowed. A volcano eruption is no joke, as you said. Massive amount of power and destruction.

[TwilightGardener]

14. I'm personally skeered by the Yellowstone caldera. Nebraska was

smothered with 10 ft. of ash the last time it blew. We're toast, even on the eastern side of Nebraska.

[Wetzelbill]

16. I'll be moving back to MT too

Mother Nature can kick some serious ass.

[stevedeshazer]

19. When it erupted, I lived in St. Helens, OR

The town is named after the volcano because of the view across the Columbia about 30 miles away.

It was a bit hazy that morning, but it soon cleared a bit and it was revealed that 1300 feet had been blown off the summit. Little chunks of ash and pumice were falling out of the sky.

What a day! Lahars and mudflows nearly blocked the Columbia via the Toutle and Cowlitz rivers. It took the Corps of Engineers months to dredge out the ship channel.

We were west of the volcano, so we didn't get the heavy ashfall that eastern Washington, the Idaho panhandle, and western Montana got.

I worked in an auto parts store then, the next day we sold out all our air filters.

[CAcyclist]

28. I was in California and I remember how the skies were darkened nt

[classof56]

18. Ah, yes, I remember that well!

Lived in Salem, actually got more ash locally from the eruption a week after the Big One, but was awfully glad USGS was paying attention. Clearly recall how the folks w/vacation homes in the area did not want to leave, but Gov. Dixie insisted. Never have heard if any of those folks ever bothered to thank her.

Now I live in the shadow of South Sister, which is being monitored for potential volcanic activity. Have my "get ready to run" kit locked and loaded, but glad USGS is paying attention and we have a shot at early warning.

Jindal is an idiot. His numbers are legion!

[roguevalley]

34. sisters is gorgeous. hate to see it blow up.

[damntexdem]

9. And if Mt. Ranier goes, there goes western Washington.

See ya Seattle, ta ta Tacoma, adieu Olympia, bye bye Bellingham. Those massive glaciers would wash away everything except the Olympic Peninsula mountains.

Of course, a nutcase who thought that the feds COULD have done nothing for NO during and after Katrina (when it was Bushista incompetence that could do nothing) probably figures that the feds could do nothing to save millions of Americans in the path of volcanic destruction.

[Wetzelbill]

13. the disconnect is stunning

I don't even know how to explain it.

[Retrograde]

20. All of the Cascades are potentially active

Mt. Lassen blew c. 1920, and there are still signs of activity in the area. Mt. Hood could take out a lot of Oregon. Mt. Shasta, conveniently placed along the main N-S highway in the West, was showing signs of activity a few years ago.

And we're not even talking about other hot spots like Mammoth Lakes - or Hawai'i, which has an erupting volcano right now.

Maybe we should cut river monitoring as well, right, Mr. Jindal?

[Wetzelbill]

22. lol

Yeah I bet he'd be all for that. It's just big gubmint.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. Bellingham would be fine.

Seattle unless the winds were particularly bad, would be spared, except for maybe the Kent and Auburn area. It'd get a lot of ash, otherwise.

A chunk of the industrial portion of Tacoma would be taken out by lahars. As would lower Puyallup.

[sarge43]

17. Pssst Gov, volcanic eruptions close down Air Force bases and even

wipe them out, McChord AFB WA (St Helens) and Clark AB Philippines (Mt Pinatubo). Might be a good idea to have some warning, if possible. Ya know, military prep. I always heard that was a BFD with Repubs.

[Junkdrawer]

23. Hey Bobby, let's stop Hurricane Monitoring too...

That ought to go over REAL big in Louisiana... :eyes:

[Wetzelbill]

24. I can't even begin to understand what he was thinking

Or whomever wrote that for him to say.

[progressoid]

25. No kidding.

What a dipshit.

[starroute]

30. It's a Reagan-y sort of thing

They comb through government programs looking for stuff that sounds frivolous or wonk-y that they can then make fun of as a misuse of government funds.

Remember all the fuss last year over grizzly bear DNA? That turned out to be essential to estimating remaining grizzly populations and thus to trying to save an endangered species.

There's just some sort of disconnect from understanding that scientific research could have anything to do with general safety, quality of life, or even commercial interests.

[SidDithers]

27. The $140 million is for more than just volcano monitoring...

it's for a whole series of USGS projects

http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2009/02/fact_checking_the_republican_r.php

US Geological Survey

For an additional amount for ''Surveys, Investigations, and Research'', $140,000,000, for repair, construction and restoration of facilities; equipment replacement and upgrades including stream gages, and seismic and volcano monitoring systems; national map activities; and other critical deferred maintenance and improvement projects.

Sid

[hobbit709]

31. Is he against hurricane monitoring too?

[mwei924]

32. Wow, he's already giving up on ever winning the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.

[JTFrog]

35. Save the money. Jesus will ride out on his dinosaur and save us from the Volcanos.

Except for all those sinners that have earned their fiery hell.

:eyes:

[thoughtcrime1984]

36. Super, another chimpy that ignores the science. He'll win in '12 only on ignorance. nt

[and-justice-for-all]

37. "...for something called 'volcano monitoring." that is beyond bad..

that is absolutely fucking ridiculous..

That is it..ALL POLITICIANS MUST TAKE AN IQ TEST BEFORE THEY ARE ABLE TO RUN FOR ANY OFFICE. 120 or better.

[jumptheshadow]

38. What are levees? nt