"Winter Lemon"
One of four sculptures in the Seeds of War Series by TJ Mabrey
Winter Lemon, Yellow Sienna Marble, 8.25 x 6.25 x 10.25 inches.
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A Continuing Discussion about the Seeds and Pods
of Sculptor TJ Mabrey
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DOES WINTER LEMON MEET THE ACID TEST?**
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If you've ever bitten into a lemon, or that slice of a lemon stuck on the side of your ice tea glass, you've experienced citric acid - a naturally occurring, weak acid, found in citrus fruit. Citric acid is used in a variety of products from household cleaners to disinfectants. It is used in personal care products, yet it can safely remove toxins from polluted soil and yes, even clean up nuclear waste. Best of all, is its miraculous use in the kitchen to enhance food and enliven beverages from the bar. Citric acid is generally deemed safe; however, when I cut into a lemon, I think of something else. |
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Humans are burning about 40 gigatons (one billion tons) of fossil carbon per year. Scientists have calculated that we can burn about 500 more gigatons of fossil carbon before we push the average global temperature over 2 degrees Celsius higher than before the industrial revolution began. This is as high as we can push it before really dangerous effects will follow for most of Earth's bioregions, with an inexorable rise in average temperatures effecting food production for all people.
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Los Angeles, you might be surprised to learn, sits on top of the largest urban oil field in the country and has been the site of oil extraction for almost 150 years. Today, nearly 5,000 oil wells remain active in Lost Angeles County alone, many operating in communities of color, often very close to homes, schools and hospitals. Global warming is inevitable, but there is no reason to add to that warming. There are laws and expertise to guide producers of gas and oil in the eventual elimination of fossil fuel use. |
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DO THEY MEET THE ACID TEST?**
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Not in my book! Against all precautions and guidelines, oil companies continue to expand areas for drilling and innovating methods for extracting more oil from the earth. Hydraulic fracking has been prevalent for decades, but newer insidious methods such as acid stimulation inject strong acid solutions down wells to further open rock formations making it easier for oil and gas to flow. These methods have far-reaching consequences including compromise to groundwater, air and soil contamination, with most serious risks to human health.
The continued use of acid stimulation, and other hideous methods, to extract oil from the earth, at known cost to human life and the environment, exacerbates global warming and is triggering a time bomb!
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**Not only is an Acid Test an actual test, for example, a test used to determine whether gold is real or not; it is a figurative term as well. An ACID TEST is a term used to determine if someone or something meets the strength and endurance to do what is claimed.
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Abbreviations explained in the Winter Lemon Crossword Poem:
BP is British Petroleum, RI is Relevant Information, (T)ERROR, you choose!
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"Your Reading Art is so timely. What a thoughtful and welcomed reading. Thank you for sharing with us." - Linda Hickman
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