James Hansen slams Keystone XL Canada-U.S. Pipeline: “Exploitation of tar sands would make it implausible to stabilize climate and avoid disastrous global climate impacts” | ThinkProgress

James Hansen slams Keystone XL Canada-U.S. Pipeline: “Exploitation of tar sands would make it implausible to stabilize climate and avoid disastrous global climate impacts” | ThinkProgress: "The Canadian tar sands are substantially dirtier than conventional oil as the chart above shows (longer analysis here).  They may contain enough carbon-intensive fuel to make stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide at non-catastrophic levels all but impossible.
And that is the point of Dr. James Hansen in a must-read essay on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline to bring that dirty fuel into this country, “Silence Is Deadly: I’m Speaking Out Against Canada-U.S. Tar Sands Pipeline.”"

New Transit Planning Tool - Mapnificent!

I just heard (on Twitter) about a great new tool - Mapnificent - for transit users like me. Type in an address, pick a time estimate, and you'll see how far you can go in that time on your local transit system.

So, just to compare, here's what I can get to from Bow Cliff Seniors in 15 minutes:

And here's what I can get to from my neighbourhood in 15 minutes:

Of course, this is an estimate and doesn't take delays/etc. into account. Still, I can see it being a useful tool for trip planning when thinking about changing work/home locations, for nonprofits thinking about where to locate in relation to clients, etc. 

(Cross posted at Witch-Ways, where I've been crafting magic on the internet since 1994.)