Time to Change "Climate Change"
Thursday 12 March 2009
by: George Monbiot | Visit article original @ The Guardian UK
What's clear from Copenhagen is that policymakers have fallen behind the scientists: global warming is already catastrophic.
The more we know, the grimmer it gets.
Presentations by climate scientists at this week's conference in Copenhagen show that we might have underplayed the impacts of global warming in three important respects:
• Partly because the estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) took no account of meltwater from Greenland's glaciers, the rise in sea levels this century could be twice or three times as great as it forecast, with grave implications for coastal cities, farmland and freshwater reserves.
• Two degrees of warming in the Arctic (which is heating up much more quickly than the rest of the planet) could trigger a massive bacterial response in the soils there. As the permafrost melts, bacteria are able to start breaking down organic material that was previously locked up in ice, producing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane. This could catalyse one of the world's most powerful positive feedback loops: warming causing more warming.
• Four degrees of warming could almost eliminate the Amazon rainforests, with appalling implications for biodiversity and regional weather patterns, and with the result that a massive new pulse of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Trees are basically sticks of wet carbon. As they rot or burn, the carbon oxidises. This is another way in which climate feedbacks appear to have been underestimated in the last IPCC report.
Apart from the sheer animal panic I felt on reading these reports, two things jumped out at me. The first is that governments are relying on IPCC assessments that are years out of date even before they are published, as a result of the IPCC's extremely careful and laborious review and consensus process. This lends its reports great scientific weight, but it also means that the politicians using them as a guide to the cuts in greenhouse gases required are always well behind the curve. There is surely a strong case for the IPCC to publish interim reports every year, consisting of a summary of the latest science and its implications for global policy.
The second is that we have to stop calling it climate change. Using "climate change" to describe events like this, with their devastating implications for global food security, water supplies and human settlements, is like describing a foreign invasion as an unexpected visit, or bombs as unwanted deliveries. It's a ridiculously neutral term for the biggest potential catastrophe humankind has ever encountered.
I think we should call it "climate breakdown." Does anyone out there have a better idea?
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Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Stand against coal
From: Bill McKibben, 350.org
Dear Friends,
There are moments in a nation's--and a planet's--history when it may be necessary for some to break the law in order to bear witness to an evil, bring it to wider attention, and push for its correction.
Today is one of those days.
In a few hours, the first big protest of the Obama era -- and the largest-ever civil disobedience against global warming in this country -- will take place against the not-very-scenic backdrop of the coal-fired Capitol Hill Power Plant in Washington DC.
Myself and people of every stripe will be risking arrest today, and I'm asking you to stand with me as it unfolds.
Please stand with the thousands gathering today in DC, and show the world that people everywhere are uniting behind a future free of coal--a future safe from the ravages of climate change.
Click here to stand in solidarity with this action: http://www.350.org/Coal-Free/
Here's the statement you'll be signing onto:
I share your vision of a coal-free future and a safe climate, not only in Washington DC--but all over the world. I stand in solidarity with the coalition of citizens working for a clean energy future for the entire planet.
You also have the option to add your personal statements of solidarity with the activists on the ground. We're trying to show as much support as possible in the next few hours--can you sign on now? http://www.350.org/Coal-Free/
With President Obama and a new US Congress, there is more possibility for climate action than ever before. It really feels like the U.S. is close to a breakthrough--and this protest can help create the political space a breakthrough requires.
Here's the backstory: Washington DC has seen its share of big protests over the years, and most of them center on the White House, the Mall or the Capitol.
But today's event is just a few blocks a way from the White House at the the Capitol Power Plant--a dirty symbol of the dirtiest business on Earth, the combustion of coal.
In that one plant -- owned and operated by our senators and representatives -- you can see all the filth that comes with coal. There are the particulates it spews into the air and hence the lungs of those Washington residents who enjoy breathing. There are the profits it hands to the coal industry, which is literally willing to level mountains across West Virginia and Kentucky to increase its fat margins. And most of all there is the invisible carbon dioxide it spews each day into the atmosphere, drying our forests, melting our glaciers and acidifying our oceans.
The power plant is only a symbol, of course -- a lunch counter or a bus station in the fight for environmental justice. We'll sit down at its gates for a single afternoon, but the message is much larger: it's time to start figuring out how to shut down every coal-fired plant on the planet. Success won't come right away because we're up against some of the world's richest corporations, but we have to start turning this tanker around someday, and tomorrow is that day.
Again, our efforts will be greatly helped if you stand in solidarity with this action: http://www.350.org/Coal-Free/
This may seem like an odd time to take to the streets -- after all, the new administration has done more in a month to fight global warming than all the presidents of the past 20 years. But in fact, it's the perfect moment. For one thing, our leaders may actually listen -- in the anti-science years of the Bush administration, global warming activists concentrated their work on state capitols, knowing that the federal government would never budge. Now, if we demonstrate that there's real public pressure, we may give the Democratic Congress and the White House some room to act.
More to the point, the time not to act is running out. Climate science has grown steadily darker in the past 18 months, ever since the rapid melt of Arctic sea ice in the summer of 2007 showed scientists that change was coming faster than they'd reckoned.
That message was underlined recently at the Washington meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, when Stanford researcher Christopher Field said: "We are basically looking now at a future climate that's beyond anything we've considered seriously in climate model simulations." Our foremost climatologist, NASA's James Hansen, has given that future a number -- any level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere beyond 350 parts per million, his team has demonstrated, is "incompatible with the planet on which civilization developed."
Since we're already past that number -- the carbon dioxide level is at 387 parts per million -- the fight is on. Indeed, by Hansen's calculation, the world will need to be out of the coal-burning business by 2030, and the West much sooner than that, if we're ever going to get back to 350. It's no accident that NASA's James Hansen announced he'll be on hand to get arrested. So will Gus Speth, who ran the United Nations Development Programme, and the farmer and author Wendell Berry who has seen the devastation of his native Kentucky.
And maybe most heartening, I'll be joined by over a thousand college students who will have just come from lobbying in the halls of Congress for clean energy. They'll have just wrapped up PowerShift '09--an climate convergence organized by a separate coaltion that promises to be a historic catalyst in this movement. These two complimentary tactics are a very good sign: a healthy movement is like a healthy ecosystem--marked by spectacular diversity. There are many ways to be a climate activist--lobbying, rallying, educating, and on and on and on. For me--today at least--being a climate activist means risking arrest with civil disobedience.
Getting the planet off coal -- getting the planet back to 350 -- will be the main political and economic challenge for the lifetimes of those college students. Those of us who are older won't live long enough to see the final victory, but we can help get it started, by lobbying, by writing e-mails -- and by sitting down in the street on an afternoon in March.
Please join me,
Bill McKibben
P.S. Please forward this message far and wide. If your friends and family share a vision for coal-free, clean energy future safe from climate change--and I'm quite sure at least some of them do--ask them to sign our solidarity statement by clicking here: http://www.350.org/coal-free/
----------------------------------------
350.org is an international grassroots campaign that aims to mobilize a global climate movement united by a common call to action. By spreading an understanding of the science and a shared vision for a fair policy, we will ensure that the world creates bold and equitable solutions to the climate crisis. 350.org is an independent and not-for-profit project.
350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online at http://www.350.org/donate
To subscribe, visit http://www.350.org/signup.
Join us on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/350org/12185972707
Gladys Tiffany
Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology
Fayetteville, Arkansas USA
479-973-9049 -- gladystiffany@yahoo.com
Dear Friends,
There are moments in a nation's--and a planet's--history when it may be necessary for some to break the law in order to bear witness to an evil, bring it to wider attention, and push for its correction.
Today is one of those days.
In a few hours, the first big protest of the Obama era -- and the largest-ever civil disobedience against global warming in this country -- will take place against the not-very-scenic backdrop of the coal-fired Capitol Hill Power Plant in Washington DC.
Myself and people of every stripe will be risking arrest today, and I'm asking you to stand with me as it unfolds.
Please stand with the thousands gathering today in DC, and show the world that people everywhere are uniting behind a future free of coal--a future safe from the ravages of climate change.
Click here to stand in solidarity with this action: http://www.350.org/Coal-Free/
Here's the statement you'll be signing onto:
I share your vision of a coal-free future and a safe climate, not only in Washington DC--but all over the world. I stand in solidarity with the coalition of citizens working for a clean energy future for the entire planet.
You also have the option to add your personal statements of solidarity with the activists on the ground. We're trying to show as much support as possible in the next few hours--can you sign on now? http://www.350.org/Coal-Free/
With President Obama and a new US Congress, there is more possibility for climate action than ever before. It really feels like the U.S. is close to a breakthrough--and this protest can help create the political space a breakthrough requires.
Here's the backstory: Washington DC has seen its share of big protests over the years, and most of them center on the White House, the Mall or the Capitol.
But today's event is just a few blocks a way from the White House at the the Capitol Power Plant--a dirty symbol of the dirtiest business on Earth, the combustion of coal.
In that one plant -- owned and operated by our senators and representatives -- you can see all the filth that comes with coal. There are the particulates it spews into the air and hence the lungs of those Washington residents who enjoy breathing. There are the profits it hands to the coal industry, which is literally willing to level mountains across West Virginia and Kentucky to increase its fat margins. And most of all there is the invisible carbon dioxide it spews each day into the atmosphere, drying our forests, melting our glaciers and acidifying our oceans.
The power plant is only a symbol, of course -- a lunch counter or a bus station in the fight for environmental justice. We'll sit down at its gates for a single afternoon, but the message is much larger: it's time to start figuring out how to shut down every coal-fired plant on the planet. Success won't come right away because we're up against some of the world's richest corporations, but we have to start turning this tanker around someday, and tomorrow is that day.
Again, our efforts will be greatly helped if you stand in solidarity with this action: http://www.350.org/Coal-Free/
This may seem like an odd time to take to the streets -- after all, the new administration has done more in a month to fight global warming than all the presidents of the past 20 years. But in fact, it's the perfect moment. For one thing, our leaders may actually listen -- in the anti-science years of the Bush administration, global warming activists concentrated their work on state capitols, knowing that the federal government would never budge. Now, if we demonstrate that there's real public pressure, we may give the Democratic Congress and the White House some room to act.
More to the point, the time not to act is running out. Climate science has grown steadily darker in the past 18 months, ever since the rapid melt of Arctic sea ice in the summer of 2007 showed scientists that change was coming faster than they'd reckoned.
That message was underlined recently at the Washington meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, when Stanford researcher Christopher Field said: "We are basically looking now at a future climate that's beyond anything we've considered seriously in climate model simulations." Our foremost climatologist, NASA's James Hansen, has given that future a number -- any level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere beyond 350 parts per million, his team has demonstrated, is "incompatible with the planet on which civilization developed."
Since we're already past that number -- the carbon dioxide level is at 387 parts per million -- the fight is on. Indeed, by Hansen's calculation, the world will need to be out of the coal-burning business by 2030, and the West much sooner than that, if we're ever going to get back to 350. It's no accident that NASA's James Hansen announced he'll be on hand to get arrested. So will Gus Speth, who ran the United Nations Development Programme, and the farmer and author Wendell Berry who has seen the devastation of his native Kentucky.
And maybe most heartening, I'll be joined by over a thousand college students who will have just come from lobbying in the halls of Congress for clean energy. They'll have just wrapped up PowerShift '09--an climate convergence organized by a separate coaltion that promises to be a historic catalyst in this movement. These two complimentary tactics are a very good sign: a healthy movement is like a healthy ecosystem--marked by spectacular diversity. There are many ways to be a climate activist--lobbying, rallying, educating, and on and on and on. For me--today at least--being a climate activist means risking arrest with civil disobedience.
Getting the planet off coal -- getting the planet back to 350 -- will be the main political and economic challenge for the lifetimes of those college students. Those of us who are older won't live long enough to see the final victory, but we can help get it started, by lobbying, by writing e-mails -- and by sitting down in the street on an afternoon in March.
Please join me,
Bill McKibben
P.S. Please forward this message far and wide. If your friends and family share a vision for coal-free, clean energy future safe from climate change--and I'm quite sure at least some of them do--ask them to sign our solidarity statement by clicking here: http://www.350.org/coal-free/
----------------------------------------
350.org is an international grassroots campaign that aims to mobilize a global climate movement united by a common call to action. By spreading an understanding of the science and a shared vision for a fair policy, we will ensure that the world creates bold and equitable solutions to the climate crisis. 350.org is an independent and not-for-profit project.
350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online at http://www.350.org/donate
To subscribe, visit http://www.350.org/signup.
Join us on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/350org/12185972707
Gladys Tiffany
Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology
Fayetteville, Arkansas USA
479-973-9049 -- gladystiffany@yahoo.com
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Coal just ain't a good energy source
Racism is a serious problem in our country, and hate groups are exploiting a poor economy and the election of a black president to grow and thrive.
Is there a hate group near you?
You can make a difference.
Take a Stand Against Hate.
WASHINGTON WATCH REPORT
* GWB personal memoir will confess alcohol relapses, marital woes, says national weekly. Read.
* President’s Therapist revelations of secret intervention to treat George W. Bush a bestseller. Read.
* President’s Therapist surely not fiction, says NY lit prof to special TV inquiry. See video/ Read
Read More
Reserve the Silver Ad Spot
Advertisement
We are citizens, parents, commuters, union members, small business owners, and environmentalists.
Coal Action Heats Up Capitol Hill
By Harry Hanbury, American News Project. Posted February 27, 2009.
This weekend thousands of students will come to D.C. to rally, lobby, and get arrested for a clean energy economy. Tools
Global warming is lighting a fire on today's campuses, and this weekend thousands of students will come to D.C. to rally, lobby, and get arrested for a clean energy economy. ANP talks with young activists about why this issue inspires their generation, and we hear from Congressman Jim Moran about why the time is right for civil disobedience.
STOP THE BOMBING IN APPALACHIA.
[
We can't stand anymore of THE CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY, Appalachia has been bombed, blasted and bulldozed right into 3rd world America !!! www.wisecountyissues.com
Practically ALL solutions to our sorry enviornmental state involve finding something new to BURN, cleaning (or petending to) clean existing fuel like coal, or scams like synfuels and biofuels. Burning stuff is what got us into the mess we're in, now. The same old crap isn't going to work; it's time to begin the research into energy production which doesn't add to the CO2 in the air, or more HEAT, either.
Is there a hate group near you?
You can make a difference.
Take a Stand Against Hate.
WASHINGTON WATCH REPORT
* GWB personal memoir will confess alcohol relapses, marital woes, says national weekly. Read.
* President’s Therapist revelations of secret intervention to treat George W. Bush a bestseller. Read.
* President’s Therapist surely not fiction, says NY lit prof to special TV inquiry. See video/ Read
Read More
Reserve the Silver Ad Spot
Advertisement
We are citizens, parents, commuters, union members, small business owners, and environmentalists.
Coal Action Heats Up Capitol Hill
By Harry Hanbury, American News Project. Posted February 27, 2009.
This weekend thousands of students will come to D.C. to rally, lobby, and get arrested for a clean energy economy. Tools
Global warming is lighting a fire on today's campuses, and this weekend thousands of students will come to D.C. to rally, lobby, and get arrested for a clean energy economy. ANP talks with young activists about why this issue inspires their generation, and we hear from Congressman Jim Moran about why the time is right for civil disobedience.
STOP THE BOMBING IN APPALACHIA.
[
We can't stand anymore of THE CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY, Appalachia has been bombed, blasted and bulldozed right into 3rd world America !!! www.wisecountyissues.com
Practically ALL solutions to our sorry enviornmental state involve finding something new to BURN, cleaning (or petending to) clean existing fuel like coal, or scams like synfuels and biofuels. Burning stuff is what got us into the mess we're in, now. The same old crap isn't going to work; it's time to begin the research into energy production which doesn't add to the CO2 in the air, or more HEAT, either.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Don't let the contractors take all your brushpiles; the birds won't forgive you
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of mockingbird on brushpile at World Peace Wetland Prairie on February 25, 2009,
The more buds you spot on the ends of small limbs the more likely these limbs are the ones to keep on your property if you want plenty of song birds to be in your neighborhood when spring comes. You might also try to convince your neighbors to preserve some similar brushpiles on their property. And urging neighbors to preserve ice-damaged trees on their property also will help.
Many won't understand. But every property owner who keeps a brush pile or resists pressure to cut down a damaged tree can make a difference in the reproductive success of song birds in the coming spring.
The more buds you spot on the ends of small limbs the more likely these limbs are the ones to keep on your property if you want plenty of song birds to be in your neighborhood when spring comes. You might also try to convince your neighbors to preserve some similar brushpiles on their property. And urging neighbors to preserve ice-damaged trees on their property also will help.
Many won't understand. But every property owner who keeps a brush pile or resists pressure to cut down a damaged tree can make a difference in the reproductive success of song birds in the coming spring.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Climate Fears Are Driving 'Ecomigration' Across Globe
Adam Fier, wife Misbah Sadat and daughters Maya and Maha moved to New Zealand partly out of climate concerns. (By Leah L. Jones For The Washington Post)
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 23, 2009; Page A01
Adam Fier recently sold his home, got rid of his car and pulled his twin 6-year-old girls out of elementary school in Montgomery County. He and his wife packed the family's belongings and moved to New Zealand -- a place they had never visited or seen before, and where they have no family or professional connections. Among the top reasons: global warming.
THIS STORY
Climate Fears Are Driving 'Ecomigration' Across Globe
Weather Gang: MIT Group Increases Global Warming Projections
Full Coverage: Environmental News
Halfway around the world, the president of Kiribati, a Pacific nation of low-lying islands, said last week that his country is exploring ways to move all its 100,000 citizens to a new homeland because of fears that a steadily rising ocean will make the islands uninhabitable.
The two men are at contrasting poles of a phenomenon that threatens to reshape economies, politics and cultures across the planet. By choice or necessity, millions of "ecomigrants" -- most of them poor and desperate -- are on the move in search of more habitable living space.
There were about 25 million ecomigrants in the world a little more than a decade ago, said Norman Myers, a respected British environmental researcher at Oxford University. That number is now "a good deal higher," he added. "It's plain that sea-level rise in the wake of climate change will inundate the homelands of huge numbers of people."
In Bangladesh, about 12 million to 17 million people have fled their homes in recent decades because of environmental disasters -- and the low-lying country is likely to experience more intense flooding in the future. In several countries in Africa's Sahel region, bordering the Sahara, about 10 million people have been driven to move by droughts and famines.
In the Philippines, upwards of 4 million people have moved from lowlands to highlands as a result of deforestation. And in an earlier era, about 2.5 million Americans became ecomigrants after droughts and land degradation during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.
President Anote Tong of Kiribati asked the international community this month to start thinking of ways to help entire nations relocate to higher ground. He called for an international fund to buy land for such mass migrations and said his nation's citizens are prepared to pay for a new homeland. Many citizens of Kiribati are attempting to migrate to New Zealand, and Tong said he is arming his people with skills in vocations such as plumbing that would be valuable in other countries.
A variety of forecasts suggest that environmental disasters are likely to grow in number and intensity in coming decades. Conflicts and war often follow migrations of large numbers of people across international borders. But as the Fier family shows, ecomigration is not just the province of the desperate -- or a phenomenon that involves only people in faraway lands.
"The guy who moves from here to New Zealand is no different than the guy who moves from the lowland in the Philippines to the highland, or from El Salvador to Honduras," said Rafael Reuveny, a political economist who studies ecomigration at Indiana University at Bloomington. "Down the road, probably sooner than we think, we are facing major environmental changes. These changes have started to occur and are moving relatively slowly, but the pace of change will accelerate in our lifetime."
Fier, 38, a computer security professional who used to work at NASA, said he thought hard about the risks of global climate change. He knew moving to a new country would be difficult but thought that the dangers of staying in the United States were worse. Several years ago, he drew up a list of countries and studied how they might fare over the next century. He examined their environmental policies, access to natural resources and whether they would be safe from conflict. He decided that New Zealand would offer a comparable quality of life, has an excellent environmental record and is isolated from global conflicts by large tracts of the Pacific Ocean. Its tropical, subtropical, temperate and arctic zones also offer a variety of "bioenvironments" as a hedge against the vagaries of climate change.
New Zealand's environmental credentials are no secret: Nearly half of all skilled migrants to the country cite its "climate or the clean, green environment to be a main reason" for moving there, according to a survey conducted by the nation's Department of Labor.
Although the nation of 4.3 million produces only one-fifth of 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, it is ramping up production of energy from renewable sources, said Roy Ferguson, New Zealand's ambassador to the United States.
Adam Fier, wife Misbah Sadat and daughters Maya and Maha moved to New Zealand partly out of climate concerns. (By Leah L. Jones For The Washington Post)
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 23, 2009; Page A01
Adam Fier recently sold his home, got rid of his car and pulled his twin 6-year-old girls out of elementary school in Montgomery County. He and his wife packed the family's belongings and moved to New Zealand -- a place they had never visited or seen before, and where they have no family or professional connections. Among the top reasons: global warming.
THIS STORY
Climate Fears Are Driving 'Ecomigration' Across Globe
Weather Gang: MIT Group Increases Global Warming Projections
Full Coverage: Environmental News
Halfway around the world, the president of Kiribati, a Pacific nation of low-lying islands, said last week that his country is exploring ways to move all its 100,000 citizens to a new homeland because of fears that a steadily rising ocean will make the islands uninhabitable.
The two men are at contrasting poles of a phenomenon that threatens to reshape economies, politics and cultures across the planet. By choice or necessity, millions of "ecomigrants" -- most of them poor and desperate -- are on the move in search of more habitable living space.
There were about 25 million ecomigrants in the world a little more than a decade ago, said Norman Myers, a respected British environmental researcher at Oxford University. That number is now "a good deal higher," he added. "It's plain that sea-level rise in the wake of climate change will inundate the homelands of huge numbers of people."
In Bangladesh, about 12 million to 17 million people have fled their homes in recent decades because of environmental disasters -- and the low-lying country is likely to experience more intense flooding in the future. In several countries in Africa's Sahel region, bordering the Sahara, about 10 million people have been driven to move by droughts and famines.
In the Philippines, upwards of 4 million people have moved from lowlands to highlands as a result of deforestation. And in an earlier era, about 2.5 million Americans became ecomigrants after droughts and land degradation during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.
President Anote Tong of Kiribati asked the international community this month to start thinking of ways to help entire nations relocate to higher ground. He called for an international fund to buy land for such mass migrations and said his nation's citizens are prepared to pay for a new homeland. Many citizens of Kiribati are attempting to migrate to New Zealand, and Tong said he is arming his people with skills in vocations such as plumbing that would be valuable in other countries.
A variety of forecasts suggest that environmental disasters are likely to grow in number and intensity in coming decades. Conflicts and war often follow migrations of large numbers of people across international borders. But as the Fier family shows, ecomigration is not just the province of the desperate -- or a phenomenon that involves only people in faraway lands.
"The guy who moves from here to New Zealand is no different than the guy who moves from the lowland in the Philippines to the highland, or from El Salvador to Honduras," said Rafael Reuveny, a political economist who studies ecomigration at Indiana University at Bloomington. "Down the road, probably sooner than we think, we are facing major environmental changes. These changes have started to occur and are moving relatively slowly, but the pace of change will accelerate in our lifetime."
Fier, 38, a computer security professional who used to work at NASA, said he thought hard about the risks of global climate change. He knew moving to a new country would be difficult but thought that the dangers of staying in the United States were worse. Several years ago, he drew up a list of countries and studied how they might fare over the next century. He examined their environmental policies, access to natural resources and whether they would be safe from conflict. He decided that New Zealand would offer a comparable quality of life, has an excellent environmental record and is isolated from global conflicts by large tracts of the Pacific Ocean. Its tropical, subtropical, temperate and arctic zones also offer a variety of "bioenvironments" as a hedge against the vagaries of climate change.
New Zealand's environmental credentials are no secret: Nearly half of all skilled migrants to the country cite its "climate or the clean, green environment to be a main reason" for moving there, according to a survey conducted by the nation's Department of Labor.
Although the nation of 4.3 million produces only one-fifth of 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, it is ramping up production of energy from renewable sources, said Roy Ferguson, New Zealand's ambassador to the United States.
Sierra Club to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009, for presentation on environmental bills in legislature
The Ozark Headwaters Group of the Sierra Club will be meeting
tomorrow, Tuesday Feb. 24th, at 7 pm at U.S. Pizza Company on Dixon
Street in Fayetteville. The Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks has a fun
and informative presentation planned. Also Bill Kopsky of the Arkansas
Public Policy Panel will be discussing the environmental bills that
will be coming before the Arkansas Legislature this year and the
upcoming rally day at the Capitol building. You do not have to be a
member to attend!
For more information contact Molly at mollyrawn@gmail.com or at 479 527 9499
tomorrow, Tuesday Feb. 24th, at 7 pm at U.S. Pizza Company on Dixon
Street in Fayetteville. The Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks has a fun
and informative presentation planned. Also Bill Kopsky of the Arkansas
Public Policy Panel will be discussing the environmental bills that
will be coming before the Arkansas Legislature this year and the
upcoming rally day at the Capitol building. You do not have to be a
member to attend!
For more information contact Molly at mollyrawn@gmail.com or at 479 527 9499
Friday, February 20, 2009
Cost
Study: New Regulations Could Cost Turk Coal Plant $2.8 Billion
By The Associated Press - 2/19/2009 5:08:01 PM
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A proposed coal-fired power plant being built in southwestern Arkansas could end up paying $2.8 billion over 40 years because of new federal carbon penalties, a study by opponents released Thursday claims.
New figures from the Southwestern Electric Power Co. put the cost of building the plant at about $2 billion, counting the costs of upgrading power lines and substations and obtaining an air permit. But opponents say a tougher stance by the Environmental Protection Agency on greenhouse gases will drive costs even higher for the project - which will be funded by ratepayers.
"The main thing that the utility was not willing to admit ... was that the future costs of containing or controlling the (carbon dioxide) from this plant will be vastly greater than they ever anticipated or were willing to admit at the time," said Jim Metzger, the study's author, told reporters Thursday.Metzger estimated the John W. Turk Jr. plant being built in Hempstead County would likely have to spend more than $163 million annually - or $2.8 billion over 40 years - just to contain or abate carbon dioxide emissions.The 60-page study, done on behalf of the Sierra Club and Audubon Arkansas, comes after the EPA announced it was reviewing a Bush policy on new coal-fired power plants. The old policy prohibits using the federal permit process to require new coal-fired power plants to install equipment to reduce carbon dioxide.Because of moves like that, at least 59 proposed coal-fired projects nationwide have been canceled or delayed, according to anti-coal groups.SWEPCO officials dismissed the study as speculative."It's another delay tactic," SWEPCO spokesman Scott McCloud said. "All their purpose is, is to derail the Turk project."Opponents are challenging an air permit for the plant granted by the state environmental regulators. Meanwhile, the utility asked the state for a $53.9 million rate increase Thursday, in part to cover financing costs for the power plant.\SWEPCO, based in Shreveport, La., is a subsidiary of Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power, among the largest electric utilities in the country.(Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A proposed coal-fired power plant being built in southwestern Arkansas could end up paying $2.8 billion over 40 years because of new federal carbon penalties, a study by opponents released Thursday claims.
New figures from the Southwestern Electric Power Co. put the cost of building the plant at about $2 billion, counting the costs of upgrading power lines and substations and obtaining an air permit. But opponents say a tougher stance by the Environmental Protection Agency on greenhouse gases will drive costs even higher for the project - which will be funded by ratepayers.
"The main thing that the utility was not willing to admit ... was that the future costs of containing or controlling the (carbon dioxide) from this plant will be vastly greater than they ever anticipated or were willing to admit at the time," said Jim Metzger, the study's author, told reporters Thursday.Metzger estimated the John W. Turk Jr. plant being built in Hempstead County would likely have to spend more than $163 million annually - or $2.8 billion over 40 years - just to contain or abate carbon dioxide emissions.The 60-page study, done on behalf of the Sierra Club and Audubon Arkansas, comes after the EPA announced it was reviewing a Bush policy on new coal-fired power plants. The old policy prohibits using the federal permit process to require new coal-fired power plants to install equipment to reduce carbon dioxide.Because of moves like that, at least 59 proposed coal-fired projects nationwide have been canceled or delayed, according to anti-coal groups.SWEPCO officials dismissed the study as speculative."It's another delay tactic," SWEPCO spokesman Scott McCloud said. "All their purpose is, is to derail the Turk project."Opponents are challenging an air permit for the plant granted by the state environmental regulators. Meanwhile, the utility asked the state for a $53.9 million rate increase Thursday, in part to cover financing costs for the power plant.\SWEPCO, based in Shreveport, La., is a subsidiary of Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power, among the largest electric utilities in the country.(Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Loss of Louise Russert Kraemer will be felt by many environmental and social-justice organizations
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Louise Kraemer on June 30, 2009, after a Ward 4 meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/obits/74105
Louise "Weez" Rothmund Russert-Kraemer, 85, professor emeritus of zoology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, died Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, at Hillcrest Hospital in Cleveland.
She was born Dec. 17, 1923, to John W. and Wilhelmina Rothmund Russert in Milwaukee.
Weezie, as she was known to her friends, attended the Milwaukee University School and began her college education at Wellesley College, finishing a B.S. in biology at Marquette University. She went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for her graduate studies. On completing her M.S. and graduate course work, she accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of zoology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1948, where she met William S. Kraemer, professor of philosophy. They married in the spring of 1949. Due to a nepotism rule preventing married couples from teaching in the same college, Louise lost her academic position.
While being the devoted mother to her four children, Weez returned to adjunct teaching in the department of zoology at the University of Arkansas in the mid-1950s. With her four, young children in tow, she revived her graduate studies and completed her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1966 with a specialization in malacology, the study of mollusks (clams and snails). She regained a full-time position in the U of A zoology department where, as a dynamic teacher and innovative researcher, she quickly rose to the rank of full professor. Nationally and internationally recognized for pioneering research combining malacology and animal behavior, she was elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and served as president of the American Malacological Union and of the American Microscopical Society. She was a cofounder of the Society for the History and Philosophy of Biology. In the school year 1987-1988, she was a visiting fellow at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge University. Retiring in 1993, she founded Bionomia, a U of A biology department newsletter that highlights activities of faculty and graduates. By the time of her death, she had produced 13 issues.
In her community and on the U of A campus, Weez was a tireless force for social change. As a young mother, she worked through the League of Women Voters for the desegregation of Fayetteville's public schools. At the U of A she was involved in many important causes, but her most lasting contribution was her work to improve the situation for women, fighting sexist regulations, mentoring young faculty and students, and helping to raise the consciousness of the campus on many important issues. In her retirement she still worked on campus to redefine the role of emeritus faculty. She was actively involved in the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, organizing lay services, serving as chairwoman of the Aesthetics Committee for many years and working in numerous ways to improve the organization. Late in life she still energetically engaged in local environmental and political matters, serving as League of Women Voters local chapter president and as chairwoman of the Washington County Democratic Women.
Preceded in death by her beloved husband, William; sisters, Audrey Lowe and Joan Russert-Haber; and brother, Roger Russert-Malakoff, she is survived by her four children, Eric Russert Kraemer and his wife Francine Klein, Robert Russert Kraemer and his wife Ginger, Lisa Russert Kraemer and her husband Richard Lang and Soren Russert Kraemer and his wife Karen; Weez's 12 grandchildren, Jonathan Lang and his wife Deborah, Ryan Kraemer and his wife Marion, Alexander Kraemer and his wife Jennifer, Katherine Lang, Sarah Kraemer, Bradley Kraemer, William Lang, Michael Kraemer, Daniel Lang, Kevin Kraemer, Kyle Kraemer and Anna Kraemer; and a greatgranddaughter, Madeleine Kraemer.
A service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 901 W. Cleveland St., Fayetteville, which will be followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Louise Russert-Kraemer memorial fund, University of Arkansas Foundation Inc., University House, Fayetteville, AR 72701.
http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/obits/74105
Louise "Weez" Rothmund Russert-Kraemer, 85, professor emeritus of zoology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, died Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, at Hillcrest Hospital in Cleveland.
She was born Dec. 17, 1923, to John W. and Wilhelmina Rothmund Russert in Milwaukee.
Weezie, as she was known to her friends, attended the Milwaukee University School and began her college education at Wellesley College, finishing a B.S. in biology at Marquette University. She went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for her graduate studies. On completing her M.S. and graduate course work, she accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of zoology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1948, where she met William S. Kraemer, professor of philosophy. They married in the spring of 1949. Due to a nepotism rule preventing married couples from teaching in the same college, Louise lost her academic position.
While being the devoted mother to her four children, Weez returned to adjunct teaching in the department of zoology at the University of Arkansas in the mid-1950s. With her four, young children in tow, she revived her graduate studies and completed her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1966 with a specialization in malacology, the study of mollusks (clams and snails). She regained a full-time position in the U of A zoology department where, as a dynamic teacher and innovative researcher, she quickly rose to the rank of full professor. Nationally and internationally recognized for pioneering research combining malacology and animal behavior, she was elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and served as president of the American Malacological Union and of the American Microscopical Society. She was a cofounder of the Society for the History and Philosophy of Biology. In the school year 1987-1988, she was a visiting fellow at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge University. Retiring in 1993, she founded Bionomia, a U of A biology department newsletter that highlights activities of faculty and graduates. By the time of her death, she had produced 13 issues.
In her community and on the U of A campus, Weez was a tireless force for social change. As a young mother, she worked through the League of Women Voters for the desegregation of Fayetteville's public schools. At the U of A she was involved in many important causes, but her most lasting contribution was her work to improve the situation for women, fighting sexist regulations, mentoring young faculty and students, and helping to raise the consciousness of the campus on many important issues. In her retirement she still worked on campus to redefine the role of emeritus faculty. She was actively involved in the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, organizing lay services, serving as chairwoman of the Aesthetics Committee for many years and working in numerous ways to improve the organization. Late in life she still energetically engaged in local environmental and political matters, serving as League of Women Voters local chapter president and as chairwoman of the Washington County Democratic Women.
Preceded in death by her beloved husband, William; sisters, Audrey Lowe and Joan Russert-Haber; and brother, Roger Russert-Malakoff, she is survived by her four children, Eric Russert Kraemer and his wife Francine Klein, Robert Russert Kraemer and his wife Ginger, Lisa Russert Kraemer and her husband Richard Lang and Soren Russert Kraemer and his wife Karen; Weez's 12 grandchildren, Jonathan Lang and his wife Deborah, Ryan Kraemer and his wife Marion, Alexander Kraemer and his wife Jennifer, Katherine Lang, Sarah Kraemer, Bradley Kraemer, William Lang, Michael Kraemer, Daniel Lang, Kevin Kraemer, Kyle Kraemer and Anna Kraemer; and a greatgranddaughter, Madeleine Kraemer.
A service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 901 W. Cleveland St., Fayetteville, which will be followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Louise Russert-Kraemer memorial fund, University of Arkansas Foundation Inc., University House, Fayetteville, AR 72701.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Coal-powered power plants take a hit
February 17, 2009
Contact: Harlan Hentges, 1-405-808-7669 or Robert Huston, 1-479-629-1073
Today’s decision by AES to cancel plans to build a second coal-fired generating plant in Panama is proof the handwriting is on the wall for burning coal to produce electricity.
Robert Huston of the Center for Energy Matters, the citizen-based group fighting the proposed expansion, says public outcry for newer, cleaner technologies is forcing companies to take a second look at how they generate electricity.
Combined with today’s Obama Administration action to begin regulating carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, according to Huston, “It’s no wonder AES pulled their application.”
“With today’s EPA ruling, the cost to AES to clean up carbon emissions from their existing Panama plant, much less a new plant twice the size, would make any company’s shareholders think twice about using coal to generate electricity, especially when cleaner technologies exist.” Huston said.
The Center for Energy Matters contends the six coal-fired generating plants in eastern Oklahoma creates smog, contaminates rivers, steams and water supplies with mercury and arsenic and creates a loss of economic viability to the region.
“This also proves that the people of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas don’t just accept things at face value. The people from Leflore and Sequoyah Counties who voiced their concerns about the health and economic ramifications prove they aren’t going believe everything a large, multi-national corporation tells them.” Huston said
“Adding another dirty coal-fired generating plant to our area could potentially force Tulsa, Fort Smith, Fayetteville and Bentonville out of attainment for air quality standards under the Clean Air Act. That could limit the entire region in attracting new industries to the area.” Huston said.
The Environmental Protection Agency, under the new leadership of Administrator Lisa Jackson, granted a petition from the Sierra Club and other groups calling for reconsideration of an unlawful, midnight memo issued by former EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson which sought to prohibit controls on global warming pollution from coal plants.
Today's decision is consistent with a previous ruling by the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) in the Utah Bonanza case, which found that there was no valid reason for the Bush administration's refusal to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new coal-fired power plants. The so-called Johnson Memo sought to unlawfully overturn that decision.
-30-
Gladys Tiffany
Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology
Fayetteville, Arkansas USA
479-973-9049 -- gladystiffany@yahoo.com
Contact: Harlan Hentges, 1-405-808-7669 or Robert Huston, 1-479-629-1073
Today’s decision by AES to cancel plans to build a second coal-fired generating plant in Panama is proof the handwriting is on the wall for burning coal to produce electricity.
Robert Huston of the Center for Energy Matters, the citizen-based group fighting the proposed expansion, says public outcry for newer, cleaner technologies is forcing companies to take a second look at how they generate electricity.
Combined with today’s Obama Administration action to begin regulating carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, according to Huston, “It’s no wonder AES pulled their application.”
“With today’s EPA ruling, the cost to AES to clean up carbon emissions from their existing Panama plant, much less a new plant twice the size, would make any company’s shareholders think twice about using coal to generate electricity, especially when cleaner technologies exist.” Huston said.
The Center for Energy Matters contends the six coal-fired generating plants in eastern Oklahoma creates smog, contaminates rivers, steams and water supplies with mercury and arsenic and creates a loss of economic viability to the region.
“This also proves that the people of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas don’t just accept things at face value. The people from Leflore and Sequoyah Counties who voiced their concerns about the health and economic ramifications prove they aren’t going believe everything a large, multi-national corporation tells them.” Huston said
“Adding another dirty coal-fired generating plant to our area could potentially force Tulsa, Fort Smith, Fayetteville and Bentonville out of attainment for air quality standards under the Clean Air Act. That could limit the entire region in attracting new industries to the area.” Huston said.
The Environmental Protection Agency, under the new leadership of Administrator Lisa Jackson, granted a petition from the Sierra Club and other groups calling for reconsideration of an unlawful, midnight memo issued by former EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson which sought to prohibit controls on global warming pollution from coal plants.
Today's decision is consistent with a previous ruling by the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) in the Utah Bonanza case, which found that there was no valid reason for the Bush administration's refusal to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new coal-fired power plants. The so-called Johnson Memo sought to unlawfully overturn that decision.
-30-
Gladys Tiffany
Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology
Fayetteville, Arkansas USA
479-973-9049 -- gladystiffany@yahoo.com
Friday, February 13, 2009
Endless battle against coal-mining pollution
Appeals Court Overturns New Mountaintop Mine Rules
Friday 13 February 2009
by: Tim Huber, The Associated Press
Charleston, West Virginia - A federal appeals court Friday overturned a ruling requiring more extensive environmental reviews of mountaintop removal, a form of coal mining in Appalachia that blasts away whole peaks.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to issue Clean Water Act permits for mountaintop removal coal mines without more extensive reviews.
The ruling is a blow to environmentalists and coalfield neighbors who oppose the highly efficient but destructive practice that exposes thin, shallow coal seams. Rocks, dirt and other debris typically are dumped into valleys containing intermittent streams, which is how clean water rules become involved.
The decision is a big win for mine operators. The coal industry says most of the nearly 130 million tons of coal produced at mountaintop mines in Appalachia goes to generate electricity for 24.7 million U.S. customers. Moreover, mountaintop mines employ some 14,000 people across West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Mountaintop permits have slowed to a trickle since March 2007, when the Corps was ordered by U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers to rescind several permits. It was Chambers' ruling that the appeals court overturned.
"It's Friday the 13th, what do you expect?" said Janet Keating, executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
"We are deeply disappointed," Keating said. Her coalition plans to get together with two other environmental groups involved in the case to determine their next step.
The Corps is reviewing the decision to determine how it affects the agency's process, spokeswoman Peggy Noel said.
"We'll follow the guidance that the court tells us to do," Noel said. "Public health and safety is a top priority of the Corps."
West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney praised the decision, saying it brings stability to the industry at a time when it faces sluggish demand due to the weak economy.
"It's so reassuring to have the stability of the appeals court that recognizes the professionalism of the Corps of Engineers," Raney said. "They really protected the jobs of the miners."
Appalachian mining giant Massey Energy Co. also praised the ruling, which directly involved several permits issued for the Richmond, Va.-based company's mines.
"Even though we have not had an opportunity to fully review the 4th Circuit's decision, we are pleased with the fact it has rejected Judge Chambers' previous ruling," Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said in an e-mail. "This should put an end to much of the uncertainty regarding the issuance of surface mine permits."
Massey, the nation's fourth-largest coal producer, and other mine operators have been bracing for the better part of two years for potential production cuts stemming from an inability to get permits.
"Naturally people will be looking at what it says for environmental policy going forward. I think it's also potentially very significant economic news and very good news for the region," National Mining Association spokesman Luke Popovich said.
Coal companies have been cutting production, closing mines and laying off workers across the country amid anemic demand, particularly for utility coal overseas and coking coal used to fire steel mill blast furnaces. At least 1,310 jobs have been trimmed at various Appalachian mines in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, American consumers are facing higher electric rates as 2009 coal delivery contracts take effect that were signed last year, at a time when prices had risen as much as double from the year before.
"We think this could easily free up more supply," Popovich said. That could help bring down fuel costs for electricity.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THIS MATERIAL IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. TRUTHOUT HAS NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER WITH THE ORIGINATOR OF THIS ARTICLE NOR IS TRUTHOUT ENDORSED OR SPONSORED BY THE ORIGINATOR.
"VIEW SOURCE ARTICLE" LINKS ARE PROVIDED AS A CONVENIENCE TO OUR READERS AND ALLOW FOR VERIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY. HOWEVER, AS ORIGINATING PAGES ARE OFTEN UPDATED BY THEIR ORIGINATING HOST SITES, THE VERSIONS POSTED ON TO MAY NOT MATCH THE VERSIONS OUR READERS VIEW WHEN CLICKING THE "VIEW SOURCE ARTICLE" LINKS.
Friday 13 February 2009
by: Tim Huber, The Associated Press
Charleston, West Virginia - A federal appeals court Friday overturned a ruling requiring more extensive environmental reviews of mountaintop removal, a form of coal mining in Appalachia that blasts away whole peaks.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to issue Clean Water Act permits for mountaintop removal coal mines without more extensive reviews.
The ruling is a blow to environmentalists and coalfield neighbors who oppose the highly efficient but destructive practice that exposes thin, shallow coal seams. Rocks, dirt and other debris typically are dumped into valleys containing intermittent streams, which is how clean water rules become involved.
The decision is a big win for mine operators. The coal industry says most of the nearly 130 million tons of coal produced at mountaintop mines in Appalachia goes to generate electricity for 24.7 million U.S. customers. Moreover, mountaintop mines employ some 14,000 people across West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Mountaintop permits have slowed to a trickle since March 2007, when the Corps was ordered by U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers to rescind several permits. It was Chambers' ruling that the appeals court overturned.
"It's Friday the 13th, what do you expect?" said Janet Keating, executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
"We are deeply disappointed," Keating said. Her coalition plans to get together with two other environmental groups involved in the case to determine their next step.
The Corps is reviewing the decision to determine how it affects the agency's process, spokeswoman Peggy Noel said.
"We'll follow the guidance that the court tells us to do," Noel said. "Public health and safety is a top priority of the Corps."
West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney praised the decision, saying it brings stability to the industry at a time when it faces sluggish demand due to the weak economy.
"It's so reassuring to have the stability of the appeals court that recognizes the professionalism of the Corps of Engineers," Raney said. "They really protected the jobs of the miners."
Appalachian mining giant Massey Energy Co. also praised the ruling, which directly involved several permits issued for the Richmond, Va.-based company's mines.
"Even though we have not had an opportunity to fully review the 4th Circuit's decision, we are pleased with the fact it has rejected Judge Chambers' previous ruling," Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said in an e-mail. "This should put an end to much of the uncertainty regarding the issuance of surface mine permits."
Massey, the nation's fourth-largest coal producer, and other mine operators have been bracing for the better part of two years for potential production cuts stemming from an inability to get permits.
"Naturally people will be looking at what it says for environmental policy going forward. I think it's also potentially very significant economic news and very good news for the region," National Mining Association spokesman Luke Popovich said.
Coal companies have been cutting production, closing mines and laying off workers across the country amid anemic demand, particularly for utility coal overseas and coking coal used to fire steel mill blast furnaces. At least 1,310 jobs have been trimmed at various Appalachian mines in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, American consumers are facing higher electric rates as 2009 coal delivery contracts take effect that were signed last year, at a time when prices had risen as much as double from the year before.
"We think this could easily free up more supply," Popovich said. That could help bring down fuel costs for electricity.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THIS MATERIAL IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. TRUTHOUT HAS NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER WITH THE ORIGINATOR OF THIS ARTICLE NOR IS TRUTHOUT ENDORSED OR SPONSORED BY THE ORIGINATOR.
"VIEW SOURCE ARTICLE" LINKS ARE PROVIDED AS A CONVENIENCE TO OUR READERS AND ALLOW FOR VERIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY. HOWEVER, AS ORIGINATING PAGES ARE OFTEN UPDATED BY THEIR ORIGINATING HOST SITES, THE VERSIONS POSTED ON TO MAY NOT MATCH THE VERSIONS OUR READERS VIEW WHEN CLICKING THE "VIEW SOURCE ARTICLE" LINKS.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wind power industry growing and employs more people than coal industry
Wind Now Employs More Than Coal In U.S.
The wind industry now employs more people than coal mining in the United States. Wind industry jobs jumped 70 percent in 2008 from the previous year, according to a new report by theAmerican Wind Energy Association.
The wind energy sector now employs 85,000 people in the country, up from 50,000 one year ago. Wind sector jobs are varied and include turbine component manufacturing, construction and installation of wind turbines, wind turbine operations and maintenance, legal and marketing services, and more.
In contrast, coal mining employs about 81,000 workers, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Energy report.
The new wind projects completed in 2008 account for 42 percent of new power-producing capacity added nationally last year, and will avoid nearly 44 million tons of carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking over 7 million cars off of the road.
February 3, 2009 | Permalink
(National Wildlife Federation)
Posted by Global Warming Staff in Energy and Economics
The wind industry now employs more people than coal mining in the United States. Wind industry jobs jumped 70 percent in 2008 from the previous year, according to a new report by theAmerican Wind Energy Association.
The wind energy sector now employs 85,000 people in the country, up from 50,000 one year ago. Wind sector jobs are varied and include turbine component manufacturing, construction and installation of wind turbines, wind turbine operations and maintenance, legal and marketing services, and more.
In contrast, coal mining employs about 81,000 workers, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Energy report.
The new wind projects completed in 2008 account for 42 percent of new power-producing capacity added nationally last year, and will avoid nearly 44 million tons of carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking over 7 million cars off of the road.
February 3, 2009 | Permalink
(National Wildlife Federation)
Posted by Global Warming Staff in Energy and Economics
Friday, February 6, 2009
Climate history helps conservation groups set goals
Climate history 'helps conserve'
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
Understanding a region's climatic history can help locate areas rich in species, scientists say.
A research group from North and South America used the climatic history of Brazil's Atlantic Forest to pinpoint likely hotspots of genetic diversity.
With frogs, at least, the idea worked, pinpointing places with a rich lineage.
Writing in the journal Science, they say this could set "new priorities" for conservation in regions likely to harbour interesting plants and animals.
"With this method, we can identify areas that have been working as refugia for biodiversity," said research leader Ana Carolina Carnaval from the University of California at Berkeley.
"These are areas that have remained climatically stable through time, where local communities have been able to persist.
"Despite the fact that we haven't sampled them exhaustively yet, we think there is a lot of undocumented, hidden diversity there, the potential for a lot of species still unknown to science."
The Atlantic Forest once stretched for thousands of kilometres down the Brazilian coast, and extended inland through Paraguay into northern Argentina.
Less than 10% of its original area remains - largely fragmented into hilltop groves - and is categorised as a World Biosphere Reserve because of the ecological riches dwelling within.
On target
Dr Carnaval's team used climate models to show that the central part of the forest had seen less climatic variation over the last 20,000 years than the more explored southern region.
This ought to mean, they hypothesised, that species might have survived there undisturbed by climatic fluctuations, whereas in other parts of the forest their existence would have been more transitory.
To confirm the idea, they took DNA from three frog species occurring across the region and found that those in the central part of the forest were more genetically diverse, indicating that populations there had been more stable over the millennia.
If the idea holds true generally, they say, this could help pinpoint areas that researchers could usefully target.
"We think this technique could be applied in other countries and other hotspot areas to identify regions that haven't been well sampled yet, regions that could possibly harbour as yet undiscovered unique diversity," said Dr Carnaval.
"This is a general method for identifying and prioritising hotspots within hotspots, for finding highly diverse areas that have not been fully explored."
The concept of "biodiversity hotspots" was developed by the UK scientist Norman Myers 20 years ago, and is something that conservationists routinely use.
Even so, hotspots can be really big - the Atlantic Forest is an example - so, practically, targeting areas within them as priorities for research or for protection ought to be worthwhile.
"It's really interesting and a good piece of science," said Jonathan Baillie from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
"There are all sorts of limitations, but this is definitely a positive thing that gives you one extra view of the situation, and it's a tool that conservation organisations may incorporate into their decision-making."
Some of the limitations probably include the region of the world concerned. Within 20,000 years, for example, many northern lands have experienced widespread glaciation, which wrought much rougher changes on ecosystems.
Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7870717.stm
Published: 2009/02/06 18:21:24 GMT
© BBC MMIX
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
Understanding a region's climatic history can help locate areas rich in species, scientists say.
A research group from North and South America used the climatic history of Brazil's Atlantic Forest to pinpoint likely hotspots of genetic diversity.
With frogs, at least, the idea worked, pinpointing places with a rich lineage.
Writing in the journal Science, they say this could set "new priorities" for conservation in regions likely to harbour interesting plants and animals.
"With this method, we can identify areas that have been working as refugia for biodiversity," said research leader Ana Carolina Carnaval from the University of California at Berkeley.
"These are areas that have remained climatically stable through time, where local communities have been able to persist.
"Despite the fact that we haven't sampled them exhaustively yet, we think there is a lot of undocumented, hidden diversity there, the potential for a lot of species still unknown to science."
The Atlantic Forest once stretched for thousands of kilometres down the Brazilian coast, and extended inland through Paraguay into northern Argentina.
Less than 10% of its original area remains - largely fragmented into hilltop groves - and is categorised as a World Biosphere Reserve because of the ecological riches dwelling within.
On target
Dr Carnaval's team used climate models to show that the central part of the forest had seen less climatic variation over the last 20,000 years than the more explored southern region.
This ought to mean, they hypothesised, that species might have survived there undisturbed by climatic fluctuations, whereas in other parts of the forest their existence would have been more transitory.
To confirm the idea, they took DNA from three frog species occurring across the region and found that those in the central part of the forest were more genetically diverse, indicating that populations there had been more stable over the millennia.
If the idea holds true generally, they say, this could help pinpoint areas that researchers could usefully target.
"We think this technique could be applied in other countries and other hotspot areas to identify regions that haven't been well sampled yet, regions that could possibly harbour as yet undiscovered unique diversity," said Dr Carnaval.
"This is a general method for identifying and prioritising hotspots within hotspots, for finding highly diverse areas that have not been fully explored."
The concept of "biodiversity hotspots" was developed by the UK scientist Norman Myers 20 years ago, and is something that conservationists routinely use.
Even so, hotspots can be really big - the Atlantic Forest is an example - so, practically, targeting areas within them as priorities for research or for protection ought to be worthwhile.
"It's really interesting and a good piece of science," said Jonathan Baillie from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
"There are all sorts of limitations, but this is definitely a positive thing that gives you one extra view of the situation, and it's a tool that conservation organisations may incorporate into their decision-making."
Some of the limitations probably include the region of the world concerned. Within 20,000 years, for example, many northern lands have experienced widespread glaciation, which wrought much rougher changes on ecosystems.
Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7870717.stm
Published: 2009/02/06 18:21:24 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross rolls over for SWEPCO power plant, needs to join GOP now
The Associated Press story below suggests that Mike Ross of Prescott, who represents Arkansas' Fourth Congressional District in the U.S. House and who previously has run as a Democrat, is about ready to pull a Tommy Robinson and join the GOP!
That trick didn't keep Robinson in Congress and it won't work for Ross. But it may be his only option. His support for a coal-fired power plant in south Arkansas flies in the face of thousands of his former supporters.
Ross Visits Power Plant, Reaffirms Support
LAST UPDATED TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009 7:27 PM CST IN NEWS
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
EMAIL THIS STORY PRINT THIS STORY COMMENT ON THIS STORY
FULTON -- Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross has gotten his first look at the $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant that is being built in Hempstead County by Southwestern Electric Power.
The Prescott Democrat, whose congressional district includes the construction site, supports the project that landowners, hunters and environmentalists oppose because of concerns that plant emissions will degrade the air quality and harm wildlife. Coal-fired power plants also are a main source of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
During a Monday tour, Ross downplayed the environmental concerns. He said that because of new technology, Arkansans can be assured that the environment will be protected.
"I'm an environmentalist," Ross said. "The way coal power plants operated then is different than the way they do now. Using new technologies, we'll continue to find ways to continue to clean coal up. We can get electricity we need with the plant here and still be good stewards of the environment."
Ross reaffirmed his support for the project and said the power station was already providing an economic boost to the area.
The Arkansas Public Service Commission has approved the project but Swepco faces a March 9 administrative trial over a challenge to an air permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
Ross predicted an electricity shortage in the decades ahead, and said the plant would be a necessary source of power.
"An electricity crisis will hit in 20 or 30 years. The electric crisis will hit harder than the gas crunch we've already been through. We have to become less dependent on oil and use what's here. Coal is the most abundant fuel to use for an energy source -- we've got to do it all," he said.
Accompanying Ross were officials from Swepco and parent-company Arkansas Electric Power, as well as people affiliated with the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope and the Shaw Group, which is building the John W. Turk Jr. plant. Jennifer Methvin, vice chancellor of the community college, said the school was training students to work at the site.
"There have been 100 students enrolling at UACCH so far to learn these jobs. We want to help the economy and we're thrilled and flattered at AEP's confidence in us to create the curriculum for the program," Methvin said.
Officials said about half of the 500 people working construction at the site are from the area. A warehouse is under construction, and steel for the power plant is to be erected in May. Swepco has been granted permission to build even though appeals of its permits are pending.
That trick didn't keep Robinson in Congress and it won't work for Ross. But it may be his only option. His support for a coal-fired power plant in south Arkansas flies in the face of thousands of his former supporters.
Ross Visits Power Plant, Reaffirms Support
LAST UPDATED TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009 7:27 PM CST IN NEWS
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
EMAIL THIS STORY PRINT THIS STORY COMMENT ON THIS STORY
FULTON -- Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross has gotten his first look at the $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant that is being built in Hempstead County by Southwestern Electric Power.
The Prescott Democrat, whose congressional district includes the construction site, supports the project that landowners, hunters and environmentalists oppose because of concerns that plant emissions will degrade the air quality and harm wildlife. Coal-fired power plants also are a main source of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
During a Monday tour, Ross downplayed the environmental concerns. He said that because of new technology, Arkansans can be assured that the environment will be protected.
"I'm an environmentalist," Ross said. "The way coal power plants operated then is different than the way they do now. Using new technologies, we'll continue to find ways to continue to clean coal up. We can get electricity we need with the plant here and still be good stewards of the environment."
Ross reaffirmed his support for the project and said the power station was already providing an economic boost to the area.
The Arkansas Public Service Commission has approved the project but Swepco faces a March 9 administrative trial over a challenge to an air permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
Ross predicted an electricity shortage in the decades ahead, and said the plant would be a necessary source of power.
"An electricity crisis will hit in 20 or 30 years. The electric crisis will hit harder than the gas crunch we've already been through. We have to become less dependent on oil and use what's here. Coal is the most abundant fuel to use for an energy source -- we've got to do it all," he said.
Accompanying Ross were officials from Swepco and parent-company Arkansas Electric Power, as well as people affiliated with the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope and the Shaw Group, which is building the John W. Turk Jr. plant. Jennifer Methvin, vice chancellor of the community college, said the school was training students to work at the site.
"There have been 100 students enrolling at UACCH so far to learn these jobs. We want to help the economy and we're thrilled and flattered at AEP's confidence in us to create the curriculum for the program," Methvin said.
Officials said about half of the 500 people working construction at the site are from the area. A warehouse is under construction, and steel for the power plant is to be erected in May. Swepco has been granted permission to build even though appeals of its permits are pending.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
January 25, 2009, annual meeting of FNHA features water-quality presentations
"Troubled Water: Preserving and Restoring Arkansas' Most Valuable Resource"
will be the program theme for FNHA’s annual meeting at 2:00 pm on January 25, 2009,
in the Walker meeting room of the Fayetteville Public Library.
Two leading experts on water issues in Arkansas, Martin Maner and Marty Matlock, will discuss Arkansas’ persistent water concerns and will talk with us about what they are doing and what we, as citizens, can do to protect the quality of our water and to help restore water quality where it has deteriorated.
Martin Maner is Director of Watershed Management with Central Arkansas Water, a metropolitan system which traces its history to the springs and wells of the early 1800s and which currently provides water to nearly 400,000 users. Central Arkansas Water, which is publicly owned, emphasizes a regional approach to water needs and has won numerous EPA awards for its commitment to water quality. Before becoming Director of Watershed Management for the utility, Maner was chief of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Division.
Marty Matlock is Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Arkansas and has conducted research on a variety of ecological issues. One groundbreaking project which has drawn national attention combines urban stream ecological services restoration with outdoor classrooms, greenway trails and park development. Matlock's ecological engineering group collaborates closely with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, in the School of Architecture, as well as with city and state officials to demonstrate more natural designs for stormwater systems. Among other activities, he will be working with the Springdale water utility in 2009 on the Clear Creek stream restoration project.
Please plan to join us the afternoon of January 25, and encourage your friends and neighbors to come along. Refreshments will be served. The annual business meeting will be brief, and there will be opportunities to learn more about an essential resource on which we and all living things depend.
Barbara Elaine Boland
Green Infrastructure Planning, Project Coordinator
Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
148 E Spring Street
Fayetteville, AR 72701
(479) 521-2801 home
(479) 387-6724 cell
barbaraboland@hotmail.com
"Green Infrastructure is our nation's life support system - an interconnected network of waterways, wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitats, and other natural areas; greenways, parks and other conservation lands; working farms, ranches and forests; and wilderness and other open spaces that support native species, maintain natural ecological processes, sustain air and water resources and contribute to the health and quality of life for America's communities and people." USDA Forest Service, Green Infrastructure Working Group's definition of Green Infrastructure.
will be the program theme for FNHA’s annual meeting at 2:00 pm on January 25, 2009,
in the Walker meeting room of the Fayetteville Public Library.
Two leading experts on water issues in Arkansas, Martin Maner and Marty Matlock, will discuss Arkansas’ persistent water concerns and will talk with us about what they are doing and what we, as citizens, can do to protect the quality of our water and to help restore water quality where it has deteriorated.
Martin Maner is Director of Watershed Management with Central Arkansas Water, a metropolitan system which traces its history to the springs and wells of the early 1800s and which currently provides water to nearly 400,000 users. Central Arkansas Water, which is publicly owned, emphasizes a regional approach to water needs and has won numerous EPA awards for its commitment to water quality. Before becoming Director of Watershed Management for the utility, Maner was chief of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Division.
Marty Matlock is Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Arkansas and has conducted research on a variety of ecological issues. One groundbreaking project which has drawn national attention combines urban stream ecological services restoration with outdoor classrooms, greenway trails and park development. Matlock's ecological engineering group collaborates closely with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, in the School of Architecture, as well as with city and state officials to demonstrate more natural designs for stormwater systems. Among other activities, he will be working with the Springdale water utility in 2009 on the Clear Creek stream restoration project.
Please plan to join us the afternoon of January 25, and encourage your friends and neighbors to come along. Refreshments will be served. The annual business meeting will be brief, and there will be opportunities to learn more about an essential resource on which we and all living things depend.
Barbara Elaine Boland
Green Infrastructure Planning, Project Coordinator
Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
148 E Spring Street
Fayetteville, AR 72701
(479) 521-2801 home
(479) 387-6724 cell
barbaraboland@hotmail.com
"Green Infrastructure is our nation's life support system - an interconnected network of waterways, wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitats, and other natural areas; greenways, parks and other conservation lands; working farms, ranches and forests; and wilderness and other open spaces that support native species, maintain natural ecological processes, sustain air and water resources and contribute to the health and quality of life for America's communities and people." USDA Forest Service, Green Infrastructure Working Group's definition of Green Infrastructure.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Mayor Lioneld Jordan's 2009 state-of-the-city address to the city council
http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/mayor/documents/sotc/State_of_the_City_2009.pdf
Partners in Progress
Mayor Lioneld Jordan
State of the City
January 20, 2009
I am privileged to serve as Mayor of our wonderful city, and I am humbled by the
responsibility that the people have entrusted to me. I am honored to be your servant, and I
will work every day to make our community better for every citizen. That is my solemn
pledge to you.
Thanks to the vision of Mayor Dan Coody, the dedicated effort of our fine Aldermen, the
hard work of our outstanding city employees, and the contributions of many individual
residents who share our civic concerns, I am pleased to report to the City Council and to
my fellow citizens that the State of our City is sound.
We begin the year with a balanced city budget, solid progress on improving our
infrastructure, dedicated police officers and fire fighters who assure our safety, and a
commitment to institutional and individual partnerships to nurture and sustain the things
we love about this great community.
We also begin the year facing many new challenges and we must be prepared to face
those together with resolve. We are not immune from the problems of a faltering national
economy, and we must anticipate and be prepared for the consequences of any revenue
shortfall. We must be responsible stewards of our tax dollars, and we must maintain
essential city services for our citizens. Toward that end, I have already begun to identify
potential cost savings and have implemented a more effective management structure to
improve efficiency and control costs. Our staff already has offered many good solutions,
and we will institute an ongoing, frequent, consistent review of cost/benefit analysis of
operations and projects to assure the services and quality of life that our citizens expect
and deserve.
I believe in leadership by example, and I have proposed to cut the mayor’s salary and roll
it back to last year’s level. I have signed an affidavit that I will not avail myself of the
special lifetime retirement plan funded from general revenues. I have asked to return the
2
$5,000 annual car allowance formerly paid to the mayor and instead, to use a vehicle
from the city fleet when necessary to travel on city business. We have already achieved
some savings in the salaries of top staff, and I will continue to look for savings in all
areas of city operations. My staff and I are partners in this effort.
Even in uncertain economic times, we must be bold in our efforts to develop and
implement a strategic economic development plan for our city. Not only can this lead to
increased revenues without a tax increase, but more importantly, it can help assure green
jobs, good jobs that pay a living wage, allowing individuals and working families to have
the basic necessities and a better life. We already know that we need greater efficiency in
the development approval process, a workforce trained for the jobs of the future, and
better methods to accurately measure the results of our efforts. We can draw on the
suggestions of recent studies and the work of my outstanding Transition Team to craft a
plan that is consistent with Governor Mike Beebe’s long-term strategic plan to help
achieve economic improvement for our state through collaboration and cooperation.
To that end, know that I am serious, and within six weeks I will host a Community
Summit on the Future of Fayetteville that will be open to every citizen and I will consider
all views in forging our own economic and community development strategy. We must
have the participation of the business community and advocates for working families,
students and retirees, public institutions and private citizens, as partners in our shared
progress. We will have, within 90 days, an economic and community development
strategy that considers support for existing small businesses as well as nurturing new
opportunities, and together we will work to make it a reality. A slow national economy is
no excuse for inaction but an opportunity for us to move quickly and prepare now for our
shared future.
My first and immediate goal will be to do everything possible to secure and support the
establishment of a Satellite Campus of the University of Arkansas Medical School and a
Regional Trauma Center in Fayetteville. In the longer view, we should also develop a
close relationship with Arkansas Children’s Hospital and seek a regional presence for that
institution. This commitment clearly illustrates the close connection between economic
development and our quality of life.
The University of Arkansas is a priceless resource, and it is one that helps define
Fayetteville. We must be active partners in progress with the University, drawing on the
vast local resources of knowledge and expertise as we grow together and achieve our
mutual goals. From the development of knowledge-based industry, to community design
plans, to solving social service needs, to collaborating on support for a vibrant arts
culture, the possibilities are limitless. I will actively reach out and pursue this partnership.
The economic, environmental, and cultural aspects of Fayetteville’s advancement are
deeply interconnected. For example, any consideration of transportation policy must
consider getting to work, moving goods, access to cultural resources, and environmental
impact, requiring an integrated and connected system of streets, mass transit, multi-use
trails, bike lanes, sidewalks, and parking, along with a revised transportation impact fee
3
to help growth pay for itself. We will pursue the development of each of these elements,
and we will urge the Regional Mobility Authority to support a feasibility study and
planning for a future light rail system.
As we consider infrastructure development, we must seize the same opportunities. My
administration will go beyond the current recycling program to implementation of a
comprehensive waste minimization program for our entire community. We are pursuing
the idea of solar greenhouses to kill pathogens and reduce the volume of bio-solids now
going to landfills. We are investigating an effective Hillside Development Ordinance and
a storm water utility to better control the primary transmitter of pollutants into our water
supply, and we will implement and enforce a better plan for the protection of riparian
zones. We will be active partners with the “Green Infrastructure” project being developed
with the help of the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, Arkansas Forestry
Commission, the city’s Urban Forestry program, the Tree and Landscape Committee, and
citizen volunteers. Our ongoing city sustainability efforts can also be expanded and
shared to benefit the entire community, evidenced by our new initiative to provide and
exchange CFL light bulbs in the apartments at Hillcrest Towers. In each instance, we will
be partners in progress.
One major change that will be implemented is a reorganization of our Parks and
Recreation Department. While much attention in the past has been focused on sports
playing fields, we know that our outdoor public spaces can serve other essential
functions. I will propose a new division, to be implemented without additional costs, that
emphasizes our community heritage and citizen participation. Examples to be considered
will be increasing the number of way-finding signs and local historical markers, planting
of native trees and grasses in portions of the parks, establishing a community garden
program in appropriate neighborhood parks, opening a convenient dog park, and
partnering with the University, the County, the Fayetteville School District, the
Washington County Historical Society, and private citizens to identify, preserve, and
promote our historic buildings and other cultural resources. In conjunction with these
changes, I will appoint a volunteer citizen task force on Festivals and Community Events
to seek a closer partnership with the Convention and Visitors Bureau to identify needs
and opportunities, and we will promote the “creative economy” in Fayetteville by
developing a comprehensive Cultural Plan, in partnership with the Fayetteville Arts
Council, the University, local artists, entertainment businesses, and concerned local
citizens.
Finally, I want to reiterate and make clear my unwavering commitment to Open
Government. This administration is dedicated to access, transparency, inclusion, timely
responses, personal recognition, and exceptional customer service for our citizens, and
we will be held accountable to those we serve. From Town Hall Meetings to an improved
interactive city website to information on civic literacy to empowered Neighborhood
Associations, we are preparing to implement real changes to better provide information to
our citizens and, more importantly, to seek and consider ways for citizens to
communicate their ideas, arguments, suggestions, and problems to their city government.
My Transition Team has listened to your ideas and has made a series of steps we will be
4
implementing to assure an effective community conversation. We must be partners in the
progress of our community, and every citizen must have a voice and be treated with the
respect and dignity that they deserve. You have heard my ideas, I now ask our City
Council to help me work toward these goals and I look forward to hearing their input and
the input of citizens, especially how I can be a better mayor and do a better job for our
city.
Thank you for your patience in listening as I share my plans and thank you for the
opportunity to serve you and our city.
Partners in Progress
Mayor Lioneld Jordan
State of the City
January 20, 2009
I am privileged to serve as Mayor of our wonderful city, and I am humbled by the
responsibility that the people have entrusted to me. I am honored to be your servant, and I
will work every day to make our community better for every citizen. That is my solemn
pledge to you.
Thanks to the vision of Mayor Dan Coody, the dedicated effort of our fine Aldermen, the
hard work of our outstanding city employees, and the contributions of many individual
residents who share our civic concerns, I am pleased to report to the City Council and to
my fellow citizens that the State of our City is sound.
We begin the year with a balanced city budget, solid progress on improving our
infrastructure, dedicated police officers and fire fighters who assure our safety, and a
commitment to institutional and individual partnerships to nurture and sustain the things
we love about this great community.
We also begin the year facing many new challenges and we must be prepared to face
those together with resolve. We are not immune from the problems of a faltering national
economy, and we must anticipate and be prepared for the consequences of any revenue
shortfall. We must be responsible stewards of our tax dollars, and we must maintain
essential city services for our citizens. Toward that end, I have already begun to identify
potential cost savings and have implemented a more effective management structure to
improve efficiency and control costs. Our staff already has offered many good solutions,
and we will institute an ongoing, frequent, consistent review of cost/benefit analysis of
operations and projects to assure the services and quality of life that our citizens expect
and deserve.
I believe in leadership by example, and I have proposed to cut the mayor’s salary and roll
it back to last year’s level. I have signed an affidavit that I will not avail myself of the
special lifetime retirement plan funded from general revenues. I have asked to return the
2
$5,000 annual car allowance formerly paid to the mayor and instead, to use a vehicle
from the city fleet when necessary to travel on city business. We have already achieved
some savings in the salaries of top staff, and I will continue to look for savings in all
areas of city operations. My staff and I are partners in this effort.
Even in uncertain economic times, we must be bold in our efforts to develop and
implement a strategic economic development plan for our city. Not only can this lead to
increased revenues without a tax increase, but more importantly, it can help assure green
jobs, good jobs that pay a living wage, allowing individuals and working families to have
the basic necessities and a better life. We already know that we need greater efficiency in
the development approval process, a workforce trained for the jobs of the future, and
better methods to accurately measure the results of our efforts. We can draw on the
suggestions of recent studies and the work of my outstanding Transition Team to craft a
plan that is consistent with Governor Mike Beebe’s long-term strategic plan to help
achieve economic improvement for our state through collaboration and cooperation.
To that end, know that I am serious, and within six weeks I will host a Community
Summit on the Future of Fayetteville that will be open to every citizen and I will consider
all views in forging our own economic and community development strategy. We must
have the participation of the business community and advocates for working families,
students and retirees, public institutions and private citizens, as partners in our shared
progress. We will have, within 90 days, an economic and community development
strategy that considers support for existing small businesses as well as nurturing new
opportunities, and together we will work to make it a reality. A slow national economy is
no excuse for inaction but an opportunity for us to move quickly and prepare now for our
shared future.
My first and immediate goal will be to do everything possible to secure and support the
establishment of a Satellite Campus of the University of Arkansas Medical School and a
Regional Trauma Center in Fayetteville. In the longer view, we should also develop a
close relationship with Arkansas Children’s Hospital and seek a regional presence for that
institution. This commitment clearly illustrates the close connection between economic
development and our quality of life.
The University of Arkansas is a priceless resource, and it is one that helps define
Fayetteville. We must be active partners in progress with the University, drawing on the
vast local resources of knowledge and expertise as we grow together and achieve our
mutual goals. From the development of knowledge-based industry, to community design
plans, to solving social service needs, to collaborating on support for a vibrant arts
culture, the possibilities are limitless. I will actively reach out and pursue this partnership.
The economic, environmental, and cultural aspects of Fayetteville’s advancement are
deeply interconnected. For example, any consideration of transportation policy must
consider getting to work, moving goods, access to cultural resources, and environmental
impact, requiring an integrated and connected system of streets, mass transit, multi-use
trails, bike lanes, sidewalks, and parking, along with a revised transportation impact fee
3
to help growth pay for itself. We will pursue the development of each of these elements,
and we will urge the Regional Mobility Authority to support a feasibility study and
planning for a future light rail system.
As we consider infrastructure development, we must seize the same opportunities. My
administration will go beyond the current recycling program to implementation of a
comprehensive waste minimization program for our entire community. We are pursuing
the idea of solar greenhouses to kill pathogens and reduce the volume of bio-solids now
going to landfills. We are investigating an effective Hillside Development Ordinance and
a storm water utility to better control the primary transmitter of pollutants into our water
supply, and we will implement and enforce a better plan for the protection of riparian
zones. We will be active partners with the “Green Infrastructure” project being developed
with the help of the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, Arkansas Forestry
Commission, the city’s Urban Forestry program, the Tree and Landscape Committee, and
citizen volunteers. Our ongoing city sustainability efforts can also be expanded and
shared to benefit the entire community, evidenced by our new initiative to provide and
exchange CFL light bulbs in the apartments at Hillcrest Towers. In each instance, we will
be partners in progress.
One major change that will be implemented is a reorganization of our Parks and
Recreation Department. While much attention in the past has been focused on sports
playing fields, we know that our outdoor public spaces can serve other essential
functions. I will propose a new division, to be implemented without additional costs, that
emphasizes our community heritage and citizen participation. Examples to be considered
will be increasing the number of way-finding signs and local historical markers, planting
of native trees and grasses in portions of the parks, establishing a community garden
program in appropriate neighborhood parks, opening a convenient dog park, and
partnering with the University, the County, the Fayetteville School District, the
Washington County Historical Society, and private citizens to identify, preserve, and
promote our historic buildings and other cultural resources. In conjunction with these
changes, I will appoint a volunteer citizen task force on Festivals and Community Events
to seek a closer partnership with the Convention and Visitors Bureau to identify needs
and opportunities, and we will promote the “creative economy” in Fayetteville by
developing a comprehensive Cultural Plan, in partnership with the Fayetteville Arts
Council, the University, local artists, entertainment businesses, and concerned local
citizens.
Finally, I want to reiterate and make clear my unwavering commitment to Open
Government. This administration is dedicated to access, transparency, inclusion, timely
responses, personal recognition, and exceptional customer service for our citizens, and
we will be held accountable to those we serve. From Town Hall Meetings to an improved
interactive city website to information on civic literacy to empowered Neighborhood
Associations, we are preparing to implement real changes to better provide information to
our citizens and, more importantly, to seek and consider ways for citizens to
communicate their ideas, arguments, suggestions, and problems to their city government.
My Transition Team has listened to your ideas and has made a series of steps we will be
4
implementing to assure an effective community conversation. We must be partners in the
progress of our community, and every citizen must have a voice and be treated with the
respect and dignity that they deserve. You have heard my ideas, I now ask our City
Council to help me work toward these goals and I look forward to hearing their input and
the input of citizens, especially how I can be a better mayor and do a better job for our
city.
Thank you for your patience in listening as I share my plans and thank you for the
opportunity to serve you and our city.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Associated Press reports that motives of state commissioner questioned by opponents of coal-fired power plant
Critics Question Vote on Arkansas Coal-fired Plant
By The Associated Press - 1/16/2009 11:40:01 AM
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Opponents of a $1.5 billion project to build a coal-fired power plant in southwest Arkansas say a state commissioner who pushed a vote for construction to resume last month heads a company that is doing business with the plant's contractors.
In filings with the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, opponents say Lexicon Inc. or one of its arms has at least six projects with Shaw Group LLC and at least two with ABB Alstom Power. Shaw Group is the main contractor for Southwestern Electric Power Co.'s plant project near Fulton. Alstom is producing and installing the plant's generator turbines.
The filings Monday noted that Lexicon chairman Thomas Schueck is also a PC&E commissioner. Lexicon has several steel construction and fabrication subsidiaries.
Last month, Schueck proposed - and the commission approved - allowing plant construction to resume after an appeal by environmental opponents of the plant's air permit halted the work. Hundreds were put back to work while the appeal is pending before an administrative judge with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
"Schueck's participation and vote at the Dec. 5 hearing may not have been totally motivated by current and potential business opportunities available to the Lexicon family of companies," said Rick Addison, a Dallas lawyer for the opponents. "The fact remains, however, that (the decision) was exceedingly favorable to, and financially lucrative for, Shaw Group and Alstom. That Commissioner Schueck could in turn benefit (even if only indirectly) from Shaw's and Alstom's prosperity also cannot be doubted."
Opponents asked that the financial ties of each commissioner be reviewed.
Administrative judge Michael O'Malley said he would treat the filings as he would any others in the appeal.
"And at some point I'll issue some type of order," he said.
Schueck did not immediately return a call for comment Friday.
(Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Copyright © 2009, Arkansas Business Limited Partnership. All Rights Reserved.
UPDATED: Arkansas House Members Delay Global Warming Hearing By The Associated Press - 1/13/2009 2:17:01 PM
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Leaders of a joint energy panel agreed to delay until next week a hearing featuring critics of the governor's Commission on Global Warming after House members initially planned on skipping the Wednesday meeting.
The Joint Energy Committee rescheduled a hearing for next week featuring a member of the Governor's Commission on Global Warming along with other critics of the commission's recommendations. Richard Ford, an economics professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said Tuesday that he doesn't believe the group properly studied whether global warming is a threat.
Ford and other critics of the commission had planned on presenting a "minority report" challenging the group's recommendations on ways to reduce global warming in the state.
Rep. Lance Reynolds and Sen. Kim Hendren told reporters Tuesday they agreed to hold the hearing next week, hours after Reynolds announced that House members wouldn't attend the meeting originally scheduled for Wednesday. Reynolds, who said he consulted with House Speaker Robbie Wills, said he didn't see the point of the hearing since no legislation has been filed on the global warming panel.
Hendren backtracked from comments he made earlier Tuesday accusing Wills of abusing his authority and said the spat over whether to hold the hearing was a miscommunication between both chambers.
"We should have communicated before we canceled meetings like that," said Hendren, R-Gravette.
The commission released a set of 54 recommendations last year, and Commission Co-chair Kathy Webb said she plans on introducing several bills based on the commission's report.
Ford said he doesn't believe the panel properly studied whether global warming is a threat.
"I do not believe the commission followed the law and reviewed the scientific literature as the law told us we had to to do our job," Ford said.
The decision means the energy panel will hear from the commission's critics before hearing from the commission itself. Reynolds, D-Quitman, said he would welcome a meeting with the commission.
Webb, D-Little Rock, said she disagreed with Ford's argument that the commission didn't follow the law.
"I think there are some folks who don't want to see us accomplish anything, but I think those folks are in the minority," Webb said.
Webb has said the legislation will include "lead by example" measures that will promote energy-efficient state government buildings and more hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in the state fleet.
(Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Copyright © 2009, Arkansas Business Limited Partnership. All Rights Reserved.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Opponents of a $1.5 billion project to build a coal-fired power plant in southwest Arkansas say a state commissioner who pushed a vote for construction to resume last month heads a company that is doing business with the plant's contractors.
In filings with the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, opponents say Lexicon Inc. or one of its arms has at least six projects with Shaw Group LLC and at least two with ABB Alstom Power. Shaw Group is the main contractor for Southwestern Electric Power Co.'s plant project near Fulton. Alstom is producing and installing the plant's generator turbines.
The filings Monday noted that Lexicon chairman Thomas Schueck is also a PC&E commissioner. Lexicon has several steel construction and fabrication subsidiaries.
Last month, Schueck proposed - and the commission approved - allowing plant construction to resume after an appeal by environmental opponents of the plant's air permit halted the work. Hundreds were put back to work while the appeal is pending before an administrative judge with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
"Schueck's participation and vote at the Dec. 5 hearing may not have been totally motivated by current and potential business opportunities available to the Lexicon family of companies," said Rick Addison, a Dallas lawyer for the opponents. "The fact remains, however, that (the decision) was exceedingly favorable to, and financially lucrative for, Shaw Group and Alstom. That Commissioner Schueck could in turn benefit (even if only indirectly) from Shaw's and Alstom's prosperity also cannot be doubted."
Opponents asked that the financial ties of each commissioner be reviewed.
Administrative judge Michael O'Malley said he would treat the filings as he would any others in the appeal.
"And at some point I'll issue some type of order," he said.
Schueck did not immediately return a call for comment Friday.
(Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Copyright © 2009, Arkansas Business Limited Partnership. All Rights Reserved.
UPDATED: Arkansas House Members Delay Global Warming Hearing By The Associated Press - 1/13/2009 2:17:01 PM
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Leaders of a joint energy panel agreed to delay until next week a hearing featuring critics of the governor's Commission on Global Warming after House members initially planned on skipping the Wednesday meeting.
The Joint Energy Committee rescheduled a hearing for next week featuring a member of the Governor's Commission on Global Warming along with other critics of the commission's recommendations. Richard Ford, an economics professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said Tuesday that he doesn't believe the group properly studied whether global warming is a threat.
Ford and other critics of the commission had planned on presenting a "minority report" challenging the group's recommendations on ways to reduce global warming in the state.
Rep. Lance Reynolds and Sen. Kim Hendren told reporters Tuesday they agreed to hold the hearing next week, hours after Reynolds announced that House members wouldn't attend the meeting originally scheduled for Wednesday. Reynolds, who said he consulted with House Speaker Robbie Wills, said he didn't see the point of the hearing since no legislation has been filed on the global warming panel.
Hendren backtracked from comments he made earlier Tuesday accusing Wills of abusing his authority and said the spat over whether to hold the hearing was a miscommunication between both chambers.
"We should have communicated before we canceled meetings like that," said Hendren, R-Gravette.
The commission released a set of 54 recommendations last year, and Commission Co-chair Kathy Webb said she plans on introducing several bills based on the commission's report.
Ford said he doesn't believe the panel properly studied whether global warming is a threat.
"I do not believe the commission followed the law and reviewed the scientific literature as the law told us we had to to do our job," Ford said.
The decision means the energy panel will hear from the commission's critics before hearing from the commission itself. Reynolds, D-Quitman, said he would welcome a meeting with the commission.
Webb, D-Little Rock, said she disagreed with Ford's argument that the commission didn't follow the law.
"I think there are some folks who don't want to see us accomplish anything, but I think those folks are in the minority," Webb said.
Webb has said the legislation will include "lead by example" measures that will promote energy-efficient state government buildings and more hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in the state fleet.
(Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Copyright © 2009, Arkansas Business Limited Partnership. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Skeptical member of commission attacks global-warming commission's report in meeting with legislators
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Member Criticizes Global Warming Commission
By John Lyon
THE MORNING NEWS
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/01/14/legislature/011509lrlegglblwrm.prt
LITTLE ROCK -- A member of the state Governor's Commission on Global Warming told lawmakers Wednesday they should be skeptical of the panel's recommendations for combating climate change.
Richard Ford, a professor of economics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, spoke at an informal meeting requested by Sen. Percy Malone, D-Arkadelphia, former Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Energy.
"I don't think we followed the law as given," Ford said.
Ford said the 2007 law that created the commission directed the body to "study the scientific data, literature and research on global warming to determine whether global warming is an immediate threat to the citizens in the state of Arkansas." He said that never happened.
"It was implicitly assumed that global warming is a pending catastrophe, that it had to be addressed, basically by limiting (carbon) emissions," he said.
The commission presented to the governor late last year a report containing 54 recommendations for reducing the state's contributions to climate change, including a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants until pollution-control technology improves.
"I would ask you to be skeptical of many of the recommendations -- most of them," Ford said. "Be skeptical of the cost numbers. I several times pointed out that they were estimates on the low side because they just flat did not include everything."
The commission's report includes analysis of the costs to implement 29 of its recommendations. It estimates the net cost at $3.7 billion between 2009 and 2025.
Lawmakers also heard presentations by others with skeptical views of global warming.
Art Hobson, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and also a commission member, said in an interview Wednesday he believed the commission did follow the law.
Hobson noted the title of the legislation creating the commission states in part that its purpose is "to establish a global warming pollution reduction goal and comprehensive strategic plan."
"It didn't seem to me that we were really directed to study the underlying science," Hobson said, though he said as a scientist he would have been happy to discuss the scientific evidence of global warming.
Hobson also said he disagreed with Ford's assertion that the commission's cost estimates were inadequate.
"A lot of these policy options that we recommended would save money for Arkansas, and some would cost money. Those were very carefully worked out by CCS (the Center for Climate Strategies)," he said.
CCS, a nonprofit group based in Harrisburg, Pa., provided consulting services to the commission while it was preparing its report. Hobson said he has heard complaints that the group "roped Arkansas into doing this and into hiring CCS," but he said in fact it was the other way around.
"The commission was appointed, and then we looked around at each other and said, 'Well, what do we do now? How are we going to develop these ideas?' Then some of the people who were supporting the idea of the commission looked around and found CCS," he said.
Malone said he had hoped Ford and the other speakers could address an official meeting of the Joint Committee on Energy, but the scheduling of Wednesday's meeting conflicted with committee rules, so an informal meeting was held instead.
Malone encouraged people with other points of view to contact the committee's new Senate chairman, Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, and ask to make a presentation.
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Member Criticizes Global Warming Commission
By John Lyon
THE MORNING NEWS
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/01/14/legislature/011509lrlegglblwrm.prt
LITTLE ROCK -- A member of the state Governor's Commission on Global Warming told lawmakers Wednesday they should be skeptical of the panel's recommendations for combating climate change.
Richard Ford, a professor of economics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, spoke at an informal meeting requested by Sen. Percy Malone, D-Arkadelphia, former Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Energy.
"I don't think we followed the law as given," Ford said.
Ford said the 2007 law that created the commission directed the body to "study the scientific data, literature and research on global warming to determine whether global warming is an immediate threat to the citizens in the state of Arkansas." He said that never happened.
"It was implicitly assumed that global warming is a pending catastrophe, that it had to be addressed, basically by limiting (carbon) emissions," he said.
The commission presented to the governor late last year a report containing 54 recommendations for reducing the state's contributions to climate change, including a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants until pollution-control technology improves.
"I would ask you to be skeptical of many of the recommendations -- most of them," Ford said. "Be skeptical of the cost numbers. I several times pointed out that they were estimates on the low side because they just flat did not include everything."
The commission's report includes analysis of the costs to implement 29 of its recommendations. It estimates the net cost at $3.7 billion between 2009 and 2025.
Lawmakers also heard presentations by others with skeptical views of global warming.
Art Hobson, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and also a commission member, said in an interview Wednesday he believed the commission did follow the law.
Hobson noted the title of the legislation creating the commission states in part that its purpose is "to establish a global warming pollution reduction goal and comprehensive strategic plan."
"It didn't seem to me that we were really directed to study the underlying science," Hobson said, though he said as a scientist he would have been happy to discuss the scientific evidence of global warming.
Hobson also said he disagreed with Ford's assertion that the commission's cost estimates were inadequate.
"A lot of these policy options that we recommended would save money for Arkansas, and some would cost money. Those were very carefully worked out by CCS (the Center for Climate Strategies)," he said.
CCS, a nonprofit group based in Harrisburg, Pa., provided consulting services to the commission while it was preparing its report. Hobson said he has heard complaints that the group "roped Arkansas into doing this and into hiring CCS," but he said in fact it was the other way around.
"The commission was appointed, and then we looked around at each other and said, 'Well, what do we do now? How are we going to develop these ideas?' Then some of the people who were supporting the idea of the commission looked around and found CCS," he said.
Malone said he had hoped Ford and the other speakers could address an official meeting of the Joint Committee on Energy, but the scheduling of Wednesday's meeting conflicted with committee rules, so an informal meeting was held instead.
Malone encouraged people with other points of view to contact the committee's new Senate chairman, Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, and ask to make a presentation.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Antrim Caskey reports on coal-ash spill in Tennessee on the AlterNet
Can America Clean Up from Its Worst Environmental Disaster? [Contains Photo Slideshow]
By Antrim Caskey, AlterNet. Posted January 5, 2009.
With the breaking of a coal waste dam in Tennessee, environmental and human health is threatened by millions of pounds of toxic chemicals. Tools
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Water: Ethanol's Achilles Heel
Robert Glennon
Global Warming's US Impacts and "Permanent Drying" in the Southwest
Joseph Romm
New Report: Clean Water Protections Are Failing
Bush Administration Covered Up 500+ Blocked Water Pollution Cases
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Editor's Note: You can watch an incredible photo slideshow of the effects of the coal ash sludge spill at the bottom of this story.
Harriman, TN - On December 26, 2008, the Roane County Codes Enforcement Office condemned three homes along Swan Pond Circle Road in Harriman, Tennessee, four days after 5.4 million cubic yards, more than 1 billion gallons, of coal combustion waste (CCW) slurry surged, "like a tsunami" according to residents, into the confluence of the Emory and Clinch Rivers after breaking a 40-acre holding pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Kingston coal-fired power plant.
The Schean family lake house, which they had spent that last 3.5 years restoring from a beaten up lakeside shack, was thrown off its foundation across the road thirty feet. Fifty-three-year-old James Schean was asleep in bed when the earthen retaining wall broke, sending a wave of coal sludge through his home; Schean escaped by kicking out the bedroom window and clamoring out of the house, just as emergency personnel arrived at the scene. Neither his wife nor his daughter were in the house at the time.
DeAnna Copeland, a neighbor of the Scheans, expressed her dismay at the destruction of the Schean lake-house, "every waking moment they were working on that house." The Schean house, the bass boat and James' red pick up truck all lay under a dark grey sludge, which was punctuated with household items, toys, and clothing that had been expelled from the house.
Many of the residents of Harriman and the surrounding river-front properties and forested peninsulas say they moved here to live out the latter part of their lives in a beautiful river setting -- many "cashed in everything" to buy river-front homes, like the Copeland family. As one of the police officers at a checkpoint along Swan Pond Circle Road said, "Sunday night, people went to bed with lake-side property; when they woke up Monday morning, it was gone."
Chris Copeland was startled awake at 12:40 am Monday morning, December 22. Copeland got dressed and drove his car down to the shore and put his high beams on to see what was going on. "I could hear things breaking and popping -- at first I thought it was a storm...I could see what looked like ocean waves going over our cove, then trees and debris," Copeland recalled. "I thought that the Melton Hill Dam had collapsed." Copeland, a fire fighter at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories, immediately called 911.
Copeland was up all night and "hasn't slept very well since," he admitted. Subsequently, his wife DeAnna and two young daughters, have gone to Florida to stay with relatives. Copeland said that he wanted to get his children away from the mess and he was not sure when they would come back.
This is not the first time that the coal ash containment ponds have breached at the Kingston Fossil plant. There have been two in recent years, one in 2003 and in 2006. Danny Collins, the manager of the Rockwood Municipal Airport, said that he'd noticed a green ooze coming from the retention wall of the waste pond for the last year and a half.
But this environmental disaster may be the worst in the country's history and the threats to health and the environment are severe, as the residents are beginning to learn. Clean up crews expressed their shock at the size and scope of the accident. "I ain't seen anything like this ever before," said one worker, who asked not to be identified by name because "TVA told us not to say anything. Fifteen years ago there was a tornado here -- it was nothing compared to this," he explained.
Residents in the affected area expressed frustration at TVA's response to citizens. DeAnna Copeland likened it to going to the emergency room for care and being put in a waiting room. "First they send the receptionist to check on you; next they send the candy striper. We need the doctor!"
In the wake of the spill, Kingston City Councilman Brant Williams called an emergency community meeting to be held at the Kingston Community Center, on Sunday, December 28. Five of the seven council members attended along with the Mayor Troy Beets, who also heads the City council, Ron Kilgore, CEO of TVA and Ron Hall, the Kingston plant manager.
According to Kilgore, 3 homes have been condemned, 42 homes were damaged in some way; at least 63 pieces of equipment are currently engaged in clean up efforts, "24-7." One by one, citizens raised their hands to make comments and ask questions. Mayor Beets handed each person a microphone, which usually ended up back in the hands of TVA CEO Ron Kilgore, who answered questions for hours.
Considering the magnitude of the spill, citizens were almost eerily polite; there was much talk of "not wanting to bash TVA." Some residents affected by the coal sludge spill expressed concern that if they spoke out against TVA that family members who did business with the company could lose their jobs.
Citizens listened to Kilgore enumerate the TVA plan of action: first to ensure public safety, second, to contain the spill, and third, the recovery stage. Kilgore repeatedly described planned efforts to monitor the water, air and soil around the spill but never explained to the approximately 300 people why these precautions were being taken.
He addressed the safety of clean up crews and admitted that he pulled them off task when rains came over the weekend after the spill, "you can imagine that it is kind of dangerous working with this stuff," he said. However, when a citizen later quoted back his statement and questioned health and safety issues, Kilgore said that he was describing the slickness endangering the workers, not the actual content of the spilled waste.
But there may be good reason for alarm. Activists representing United Mountain Defense, River Keepers and Citizen Coal Council distributed information about coal ash and its dangers at the meeting. Stephen Smith of CleanEnergy.org demanded that Kilgore tell the crowd what is in the coal ash. Kilgore refused to answer saying only that, "we are concentrating our efforts on clean up."
Chris Irwin, with United Mountain Defense, spoke to the crowd warning them that this community meeting was "nothing more than a public relations snow job." As reported in the New York Times, December 30, TVA finally revealed an inventory of the Kingston Fossil Plant waste generation in detail : "In just one year, the plant's byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems. And the holding pond ... contained many decades' worth of these deposits."
Subsequently, independent tests of the water quality at the spill site and downstream, in coordination with Appalachian Voices and the Waterkeeper Alliance's Upper Watauga Riverkeeper Program, were conducted and analyzed this week. The results are frightening. Tests were conducted at the Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry labs at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. At the Kingston plant's canal intake, the tests revealed arsenic levels 300 times what federal laws allow; all samples contained "elevated levels of arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury , nickel and thallium," according to Appalachian Voices' website.
Dr. Shea Tuberty, Associate Professor of Biology, one of the scientists conducting the tests concluded, "The ecosystems around Kingston and Harriman are going to be in trouble, the aquatic ones for some time, until nature is able to bury these compounds in the environment," said Tuberty. "I don't know how long that will take, maybe generations."
The coal disaster at Kingston has clued Americans in to the real consequences of coal. We use coal-fired power for almost half of our daily electricity use; when you turn on your lights, your plasma TV or laptop computer, you are probably using coal. The coal industry, which has come under sustained attack, especially in the wake of global climate change, is spending tens of millions of dollars on a public relations war to convince Americans that coal is good and clean.
But many residents of Appalachia who live with the daily effects are strenuously opposed. Long before this latest disaster, citizens in the Coal River valley in southern West Virginia have pointed to the threats of massive sludge ponds in their neighborhood: Brushy Fork, which contains 9 billion gallons of sludge and the 2.8 billion gallons that sit above Marsh Fork Elementary School, which according to reports written between 1998 and 2005 by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, is at risk for failure which could fatally impact 1,000 people downstream. From the Coal River Valley -- and across the nation -- the people cry for Marsh Fork Elementary to be moved away from the toxic waste dump which has accrued hundreds of repeated violations. But West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, III has refused this community's requests. Massey Energy, which runs the operation, assures West Virginians that their dam is safe and inspected regularly. But that is also what TVA assured the people of Kingston.
Clearly corporate responsibility is an issue when it comes to the threats posed by coal. In the case of Kingston, environmental organizations like Greenpeace are calling for criminal charges against TVA. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is planning to sue TVA under the Federal Clean Water Act. Additionally, Roane County land developers are suing TVA for $165 million. And many are hoping that the Kingston spill will be the impetus to help Americans commit to the immediate transition away from coal to clean, renewable energy.
See more stories tagged with: global warming, climate change, coal, tennessee, clean coal, mountaintop removing, mining, spill, tva
Antrim Caskey is a Brooklyn-based independent photojournalist whose work focuses on community and social justice issues. Caskey has been reporting on the human and environmental costs of Mountaintop Removal/Valley Fill coal mining since May, 2005.
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Appalachia is not "newsworthy" to the MSN
[Report this comment] Posted by: SeattlePackedSnowandCollidedCars on Jan 5, 2009 1:34 AM
Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
as much as you want too this will get little to no traction becuase its in Appalachia thank to a TVA F up (a Federal agency)
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What is dirty, and what is organic
[Report this comment] Posted by: bonzi on Jan 5, 2009 1:40 AM
Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
No, I am not claiming that coal ash sludge is not harmful. The problem is that it is sludge (as opposed to dry ash) that has had years to leach all kinds of ash constituents into water part of it. The main danger from sludge retentions like this is "mechanical" - the sheer force of huge mass of mud suddenly released. Pile of dry ash covered with thin layer of soil and planted with grass would be much safer.
But remember when you are reading in some "sustainable/organic living" blog or magazine about making your own soap the way the pioneers did that the fireplace ash used in the process (or used as fertilizer) is the same as that from the power plant retaining pond. The fact is was not touched by "big corporations" does not make it any safer.
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» lol Posted by: EinMD
comrade
[Report this comment] Posted by: kinderdominion on Jan 5, 2009 4:07 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This catastrophe makes me sad and angry. What can we do, those who are not from the area?
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» RE: comrade Posted by: EinMD
Accidents happen. It will get cleaned up.
[Report this comment] Posted by: AJR Journal on Jan 5, 2009 4:40 AM
Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Could it have been prevented? Probably.
Should the TVA be held accountable? Sure.
Is it the end of the World? Absolutely not.
The dike broke, it flooded, nobody was killed, and now it is getting cleaned up. Nobody is at risk of poisoning.
Everything will be all right.
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» Self-deluded bastardized "conservative". Posted by: maxpayne
» We can PREVENT these disasters, starting NOW Posted by: antrim
» RE: Accidents happen... Rumsfeld Redux Posted by: greenman
» RE: Accidents happen. It will get cleaned up. Posted by: bassey
Just like Hurricane Katrina but this time even more man made than the last.
[Report this comment] Posted by: maxpayne on Jan 5, 2009 5:58 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Glad I don't live there is all I can say. This is what happens when phoney economic "libertarian" policies are given higher priority over sane economic policies and the environment. And thanks to privatization, there'll be no real cleanup.
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Nope
[Report this comment] Posted by: RTTEch82 on Jan 5, 2009 6:01 AM
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I really dont think we can. I think we have gone way beyond the point of no return. Sadly.
jess
Privacy Center
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woodsmoke19
[Report this comment] Posted by: woodsmoke19 on Jan 5, 2009 5:59 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Both Bonzi and AJR Journal appear to be poorly informed.I would assert that the main problem with these impoundments is not the "mechanical"problem when the dam breaks,which can be substantial no doubt,but the contents,the coal combustion waste,that is highly toxic and full of heavy metals,just like the waste that goes up and out the powerplant's smokestack,and the coal itself from which the waste products come.Because the retention ponds are not lined to prevent seepage,the liquid ash sludge seeps into the ground water without any dam breaking.I'm guessing that the ash is stored in the form of sludge so that it doesn't become airborne from the wind,which would be a daily PR problem.Covering dry coal ash with a thin layer of soil would only give the impression of"problem solved"when in fact the ash would then leach into the groundwater.Read the article to see the vast toxins released by this facility,and then multiply the numbers by the hundreds of coal-fired powerplants in this country and around the world. Wood ash and coal ash are completely different sustances and I can't understand why he/she would make this mistaken comparison. As for the comments from AJR Journal,no one is likely to drop dead on the spot from poisoning but the toxins have entered the river system,(read the article,)meaning that cities downstream that get their drinking water from the river will be adding coal waste to the toxins already present in the river water.When it rains,the ash sludge they can't scoop up with backhoes(look at the photos) will continue to wash into the river system;when the ash sludge dries out,it will become airborne and residents will be breathing it(along with the smokestack emissions.) Everything about coal is dirty and poisonous.I live in Appalachia and speak from experience.
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This is Not Good at All...
[Report this comment] Posted by: hooklinesinker on Jan 5, 2009 9:06 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have a new golf course in my hometown of Chesapeake, VA that was under construction for years. The reason it took so long was the builders were receiving money from a coal plant electrical generator (Dominion Virginia Power) for developing a subgrade of excess flash dust as an underlayment of the course. Then it all hit the fan when the toxic dangers of coal dust (fly ash) came out immediately after the course opened and a statute of limitations for claims expired.
Now, every homeowner whose property surrounds this course is finding out their groundwater (wells) is contaminated with heavy metals. The course owner and the electrical utility reports a chemical was sprayed onto the million cubic tons of fly ash to keep it from "leeching" into groundwater. Now it's been determined that didn't work. The electrical company has offered 8 million to help run city water/sewer to the affected homeowners, and yet the course owner is not offering a thing, so the subgrade of flay ash remains. This is a known hazard but everybody took someone else's word that it was safe without ensuring the accuracy of the statements of those in collusion. Sue the hell out of them!
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» RE: This is Not Good at All... Posted by: maxpayne
Toxic spill? What toxic spill? Now, back to celebrity rehab news!
[Report this comment] Posted by: monkeywrench on Jan 5, 2009 10:17 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
From the article:
"The coal disaster at Kingston has clued Americans in to the real consequences of coal."
The lack of reporting on this disaster should also clue all who eventually find out about it in on how it is being covered up by what we not-so-laughingly call "the mainstream media."
After reports on the day of the original break, there has been little or no reporting since on the aftermath of this massive toxic spill, even though this one is many times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill, which was reported on for weeks after it happened.
Is this conspicuous lack of reporting because Coal Country, unlike Alaska, has little tourism and so has been written off as not worth considering, or is it because entrenched dirty energy industries are trying to hold onto their business and profits and have the cooperation of the media to do it?
My money's on the latter; but, either way, it is obvious that the news has been cancelled, and all we get now from the infotainment industry is propaganda and pop culture garbage. It is also obvious that the lack of warning from the media about environmental tragedies such as this could potentially result in the deaths of people, so our MSM shares responsibility with the modern Robber Barons who create these disasters. It is outrageous that they will never be held accountable.
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Nuclear generated electricity can replace coal
[Report this comment] Posted by: jsong123 on Jan 5, 2009 10:34 AM
Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
in case anyone is interested.
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» RE: Nuclear generated electricity can replace coal Posted by: halg
Age of self responsibility
[Report this comment] Posted by: JFlagg on Jan 5, 2009 10:56 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Do you live downstream from a coal fired power plant? If so you are most likely living in a State that has been the focus of many financially well-heeled organizations. They have a variety of names, many have "America" "Freedom" "Environmental" or many other words that would lead you to believe they were formed with the interest of Citizens in mind.
It may be time to take a fresh look at what you are being spoon-fed by energy companies and their many cover organizations.
There are some facts that even those opposed to science and place all their faith in God/Christ and Republicans must come to understand.
Coal is toxic. Mining for coal, burning coal, coal by-product storage all destroy the environment and the health of those that come into contact with it.
If you can see smoke from a coal plant, Move. If you can see or hear a coal mining operation, Move. It is important to note that if either of the two situations exist for you, you are probably living in a State that votes Republican and a majority of the people think that the EPA is a left-wing nutcase organization and should not have any control over business. BTW- Titanium does not vaporize
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Reproduction of material from any AlterNet pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.
© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
By Antrim Caskey, AlterNet. Posted January 5, 2009.
With the breaking of a coal waste dam in Tennessee, environmental and human health is threatened by millions of pounds of toxic chemicals. Tools
Also in Water
How the West's Energy Boom Could Threaten Drinking Water for 1 in 12 Americans
Abrahm Lustgarten
Water: Ethanol's Achilles Heel
Robert Glennon
Global Warming's US Impacts and "Permanent Drying" in the Southwest
Joseph Romm
New Report: Clean Water Protections Are Failing
Bush Administration Covered Up 500+ Blocked Water Pollution Cases
NYC: Gas Drilling Will Raise the Cost of Water by 30 Percent
Abrahm Lustgarten
More stories by Antrim Caskey
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Editor's Note: You can watch an incredible photo slideshow of the effects of the coal ash sludge spill at the bottom of this story.
Harriman, TN - On December 26, 2008, the Roane County Codes Enforcement Office condemned three homes along Swan Pond Circle Road in Harriman, Tennessee, four days after 5.4 million cubic yards, more than 1 billion gallons, of coal combustion waste (CCW) slurry surged, "like a tsunami" according to residents, into the confluence of the Emory and Clinch Rivers after breaking a 40-acre holding pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Kingston coal-fired power plant.
The Schean family lake house, which they had spent that last 3.5 years restoring from a beaten up lakeside shack, was thrown off its foundation across the road thirty feet. Fifty-three-year-old James Schean was asleep in bed when the earthen retaining wall broke, sending a wave of coal sludge through his home; Schean escaped by kicking out the bedroom window and clamoring out of the house, just as emergency personnel arrived at the scene. Neither his wife nor his daughter were in the house at the time.
DeAnna Copeland, a neighbor of the Scheans, expressed her dismay at the destruction of the Schean lake-house, "every waking moment they were working on that house." The Schean house, the bass boat and James' red pick up truck all lay under a dark grey sludge, which was punctuated with household items, toys, and clothing that had been expelled from the house.
Many of the residents of Harriman and the surrounding river-front properties and forested peninsulas say they moved here to live out the latter part of their lives in a beautiful river setting -- many "cashed in everything" to buy river-front homes, like the Copeland family. As one of the police officers at a checkpoint along Swan Pond Circle Road said, "Sunday night, people went to bed with lake-side property; when they woke up Monday morning, it was gone."
Chris Copeland was startled awake at 12:40 am Monday morning, December 22. Copeland got dressed and drove his car down to the shore and put his high beams on to see what was going on. "I could hear things breaking and popping -- at first I thought it was a storm...I could see what looked like ocean waves going over our cove, then trees and debris," Copeland recalled. "I thought that the Melton Hill Dam had collapsed." Copeland, a fire fighter at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories, immediately called 911.
Copeland was up all night and "hasn't slept very well since," he admitted. Subsequently, his wife DeAnna and two young daughters, have gone to Florida to stay with relatives. Copeland said that he wanted to get his children away from the mess and he was not sure when they would come back.
This is not the first time that the coal ash containment ponds have breached at the Kingston Fossil plant. There have been two in recent years, one in 2003 and in 2006. Danny Collins, the manager of the Rockwood Municipal Airport, said that he'd noticed a green ooze coming from the retention wall of the waste pond for the last year and a half.
But this environmental disaster may be the worst in the country's history and the threats to health and the environment are severe, as the residents are beginning to learn. Clean up crews expressed their shock at the size and scope of the accident. "I ain't seen anything like this ever before," said one worker, who asked not to be identified by name because "TVA told us not to say anything. Fifteen years ago there was a tornado here -- it was nothing compared to this," he explained.
Residents in the affected area expressed frustration at TVA's response to citizens. DeAnna Copeland likened it to going to the emergency room for care and being put in a waiting room. "First they send the receptionist to check on you; next they send the candy striper. We need the doctor!"
In the wake of the spill, Kingston City Councilman Brant Williams called an emergency community meeting to be held at the Kingston Community Center, on Sunday, December 28. Five of the seven council members attended along with the Mayor Troy Beets, who also heads the City council, Ron Kilgore, CEO of TVA and Ron Hall, the Kingston plant manager.
According to Kilgore, 3 homes have been condemned, 42 homes were damaged in some way; at least 63 pieces of equipment are currently engaged in clean up efforts, "24-7." One by one, citizens raised their hands to make comments and ask questions. Mayor Beets handed each person a microphone, which usually ended up back in the hands of TVA CEO Ron Kilgore, who answered questions for hours.
Considering the magnitude of the spill, citizens were almost eerily polite; there was much talk of "not wanting to bash TVA." Some residents affected by the coal sludge spill expressed concern that if they spoke out against TVA that family members who did business with the company could lose their jobs.
Citizens listened to Kilgore enumerate the TVA plan of action: first to ensure public safety, second, to contain the spill, and third, the recovery stage. Kilgore repeatedly described planned efforts to monitor the water, air and soil around the spill but never explained to the approximately 300 people why these precautions were being taken.
He addressed the safety of clean up crews and admitted that he pulled them off task when rains came over the weekend after the spill, "you can imagine that it is kind of dangerous working with this stuff," he said. However, when a citizen later quoted back his statement and questioned health and safety issues, Kilgore said that he was describing the slickness endangering the workers, not the actual content of the spilled waste.
But there may be good reason for alarm. Activists representing United Mountain Defense, River Keepers and Citizen Coal Council distributed information about coal ash and its dangers at the meeting. Stephen Smith of CleanEnergy.org demanded that Kilgore tell the crowd what is in the coal ash. Kilgore refused to answer saying only that, "we are concentrating our efforts on clean up."
Chris Irwin, with United Mountain Defense, spoke to the crowd warning them that this community meeting was "nothing more than a public relations snow job." As reported in the New York Times, December 30, TVA finally revealed an inventory of the Kingston Fossil Plant waste generation in detail : "In just one year, the plant's byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems. And the holding pond ... contained many decades' worth of these deposits."
Subsequently, independent tests of the water quality at the spill site and downstream, in coordination with Appalachian Voices and the Waterkeeper Alliance's Upper Watauga Riverkeeper Program, were conducted and analyzed this week. The results are frightening. Tests were conducted at the Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry labs at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. At the Kingston plant's canal intake, the tests revealed arsenic levels 300 times what federal laws allow; all samples contained "elevated levels of arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury , nickel and thallium," according to Appalachian Voices' website.
Dr. Shea Tuberty, Associate Professor of Biology, one of the scientists conducting the tests concluded, "The ecosystems around Kingston and Harriman are going to be in trouble, the aquatic ones for some time, until nature is able to bury these compounds in the environment," said Tuberty. "I don't know how long that will take, maybe generations."
The coal disaster at Kingston has clued Americans in to the real consequences of coal. We use coal-fired power for almost half of our daily electricity use; when you turn on your lights, your plasma TV or laptop computer, you are probably using coal. The coal industry, which has come under sustained attack, especially in the wake of global climate change, is spending tens of millions of dollars on a public relations war to convince Americans that coal is good and clean.
But many residents of Appalachia who live with the daily effects are strenuously opposed. Long before this latest disaster, citizens in the Coal River valley in southern West Virginia have pointed to the threats of massive sludge ponds in their neighborhood: Brushy Fork, which contains 9 billion gallons of sludge and the 2.8 billion gallons that sit above Marsh Fork Elementary School, which according to reports written between 1998 and 2005 by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, is at risk for failure which could fatally impact 1,000 people downstream. From the Coal River Valley -- and across the nation -- the people cry for Marsh Fork Elementary to be moved away from the toxic waste dump which has accrued hundreds of repeated violations. But West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, III has refused this community's requests. Massey Energy, which runs the operation, assures West Virginians that their dam is safe and inspected regularly. But that is also what TVA assured the people of Kingston.
Clearly corporate responsibility is an issue when it comes to the threats posed by coal. In the case of Kingston, environmental organizations like Greenpeace are calling for criminal charges against TVA. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is planning to sue TVA under the Federal Clean Water Act. Additionally, Roane County land developers are suing TVA for $165 million. And many are hoping that the Kingston spill will be the impetus to help Americans commit to the immediate transition away from coal to clean, renewable energy.
See more stories tagged with: global warming, climate change, coal, tennessee, clean coal, mountaintop removing, mining, spill, tva
Antrim Caskey is a Brooklyn-based independent photojournalist whose work focuses on community and social justice issues. Caskey has been reporting on the human and environmental costs of Mountaintop Removal/Valley Fill coal mining since May, 2005.
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Appalachia is not "newsworthy" to the MSN
[Report this comment] Posted by: SeattlePackedSnowandCollidedCars on Jan 5, 2009 1:34 AM
Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
as much as you want too this will get little to no traction becuase its in Appalachia thank to a TVA F up (a Federal agency)
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What is dirty, and what is organic
[Report this comment] Posted by: bonzi on Jan 5, 2009 1:40 AM
Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
No, I am not claiming that coal ash sludge is not harmful. The problem is that it is sludge (as opposed to dry ash) that has had years to leach all kinds of ash constituents into water part of it. The main danger from sludge retentions like this is "mechanical" - the sheer force of huge mass of mud suddenly released. Pile of dry ash covered with thin layer of soil and planted with grass would be much safer.
But remember when you are reading in some "sustainable/organic living" blog or magazine about making your own soap the way the pioneers did that the fireplace ash used in the process (or used as fertilizer) is the same as that from the power plant retaining pond. The fact is was not touched by "big corporations" does not make it any safer.
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» lol Posted by: EinMD
comrade
[Report this comment] Posted by: kinderdominion on Jan 5, 2009 4:07 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This catastrophe makes me sad and angry. What can we do, those who are not from the area?
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» RE: comrade Posted by: EinMD
Accidents happen. It will get cleaned up.
[Report this comment] Posted by: AJR Journal on Jan 5, 2009 4:40 AM
Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Could it have been prevented? Probably.
Should the TVA be held accountable? Sure.
Is it the end of the World? Absolutely not.
The dike broke, it flooded, nobody was killed, and now it is getting cleaned up. Nobody is at risk of poisoning.
Everything will be all right.
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» Self-deluded bastardized "conservative". Posted by: maxpayne
» We can PREVENT these disasters, starting NOW Posted by: antrim
» RE: Accidents happen... Rumsfeld Redux Posted by: greenman
» RE: Accidents happen. It will get cleaned up. Posted by: bassey
Just like Hurricane Katrina but this time even more man made than the last.
[Report this comment] Posted by: maxpayne on Jan 5, 2009 5:58 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Glad I don't live there is all I can say. This is what happens when phoney economic "libertarian" policies are given higher priority over sane economic policies and the environment. And thanks to privatization, there'll be no real cleanup.
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Nope
[Report this comment] Posted by: RTTEch82 on Jan 5, 2009 6:01 AM
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I really dont think we can. I think we have gone way beyond the point of no return. Sadly.
jess
Privacy Center
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woodsmoke19
[Report this comment] Posted by: woodsmoke19 on Jan 5, 2009 5:59 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Both Bonzi and AJR Journal appear to be poorly informed.I would assert that the main problem with these impoundments is not the "mechanical"problem when the dam breaks,which can be substantial no doubt,but the contents,the coal combustion waste,that is highly toxic and full of heavy metals,just like the waste that goes up and out the powerplant's smokestack,and the coal itself from which the waste products come.Because the retention ponds are not lined to prevent seepage,the liquid ash sludge seeps into the ground water without any dam breaking.I'm guessing that the ash is stored in the form of sludge so that it doesn't become airborne from the wind,which would be a daily PR problem.Covering dry coal ash with a thin layer of soil would only give the impression of"problem solved"when in fact the ash would then leach into the groundwater.Read the article to see the vast toxins released by this facility,and then multiply the numbers by the hundreds of coal-fired powerplants in this country and around the world. Wood ash and coal ash are completely different sustances and I can't understand why he/she would make this mistaken comparison. As for the comments from AJR Journal,no one is likely to drop dead on the spot from poisoning but the toxins have entered the river system,(read the article,)meaning that cities downstream that get their drinking water from the river will be adding coal waste to the toxins already present in the river water.When it rains,the ash sludge they can't scoop up with backhoes(look at the photos) will continue to wash into the river system;when the ash sludge dries out,it will become airborne and residents will be breathing it(along with the smokestack emissions.) Everything about coal is dirty and poisonous.I live in Appalachia and speak from experience.
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This is Not Good at All...
[Report this comment] Posted by: hooklinesinker on Jan 5, 2009 9:06 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have a new golf course in my hometown of Chesapeake, VA that was under construction for years. The reason it took so long was the builders were receiving money from a coal plant electrical generator (Dominion Virginia Power) for developing a subgrade of excess flash dust as an underlayment of the course. Then it all hit the fan when the toxic dangers of coal dust (fly ash) came out immediately after the course opened and a statute of limitations for claims expired.
Now, every homeowner whose property surrounds this course is finding out their groundwater (wells) is contaminated with heavy metals. The course owner and the electrical utility reports a chemical was sprayed onto the million cubic tons of fly ash to keep it from "leeching" into groundwater. Now it's been determined that didn't work. The electrical company has offered 8 million to help run city water/sewer to the affected homeowners, and yet the course owner is not offering a thing, so the subgrade of flay ash remains. This is a known hazard but everybody took someone else's word that it was safe without ensuring the accuracy of the statements of those in collusion. Sue the hell out of them!
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» RE: This is Not Good at All... Posted by: maxpayne
Toxic spill? What toxic spill? Now, back to celebrity rehab news!
[Report this comment] Posted by: monkeywrench on Jan 5, 2009 10:17 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
From the article:
"The coal disaster at Kingston has clued Americans in to the real consequences of coal."
The lack of reporting on this disaster should also clue all who eventually find out about it in on how it is being covered up by what we not-so-laughingly call "the mainstream media."
After reports on the day of the original break, there has been little or no reporting since on the aftermath of this massive toxic spill, even though this one is many times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill, which was reported on for weeks after it happened.
Is this conspicuous lack of reporting because Coal Country, unlike Alaska, has little tourism and so has been written off as not worth considering, or is it because entrenched dirty energy industries are trying to hold onto their business and profits and have the cooperation of the media to do it?
My money's on the latter; but, either way, it is obvious that the news has been cancelled, and all we get now from the infotainment industry is propaganda and pop culture garbage. It is also obvious that the lack of warning from the media about environmental tragedies such as this could potentially result in the deaths of people, so our MSM shares responsibility with the modern Robber Barons who create these disasters. It is outrageous that they will never be held accountable.
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Nuclear generated electricity can replace coal
[Report this comment] Posted by: jsong123 on Jan 5, 2009 10:34 AM
Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
in case anyone is interested.
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» RE: Nuclear generated electricity can replace coal Posted by: halg
Age of self responsibility
[Report this comment] Posted by: JFlagg on Jan 5, 2009 10:56 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Do you live downstream from a coal fired power plant? If so you are most likely living in a State that has been the focus of many financially well-heeled organizations. They have a variety of names, many have "America" "Freedom" "Environmental" or many other words that would lead you to believe they were formed with the interest of Citizens in mind.
It may be time to take a fresh look at what you are being spoon-fed by energy companies and their many cover organizations.
There are some facts that even those opposed to science and place all their faith in God/Christ and Republicans must come to understand.
Coal is toxic. Mining for coal, burning coal, coal by-product storage all destroy the environment and the health of those that come into contact with it.
If you can see smoke from a coal plant, Move. If you can see or hear a coal mining operation, Move. It is important to note that if either of the two situations exist for you, you are probably living in a State that votes Republican and a majority of the people think that the EPA is a left-wing nutcase organization and should not have any control over business. BTW- Titanium does not vaporize
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Friday, January 2, 2009
The Morning News reports that Beebe acknowledges reality of global warming
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/01/02/news/010309lrbeeberadio.txt
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Why is muddy water flowing in a normally clear Ozark Mountain stream on a sunny New Year's Day?
Please click on images to ENLARGE view of muddy water flowing on New Year's Day into the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
For a closer view of the pipe spewing water from Hill Place work site, please click on image to ENLARGE. Use cursor to move about and see the contrast between the flow from the pipe and the stream's normal clear water at right.
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
For a closer view of the pipe spewing water from Hill Place work site, please click on image to ENLARGE. Use cursor to move about and see the contrast between the flow from the pipe and the stream's normal clear water at right.
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Associated Press reports that the EPA wants Missouri parts of Mississippi River made safe for swimming
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
EPA Urges Missouri To Make The Mississippi Swimmable
By The Associated Press
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Life on Missouri’s eastern border is defined by the Mississippi River, and people fish in it, boat on it, sometimes wade in it with scant concern about pollution. But would they swim in it?
The Environmental Protection Agency thinks it’s time the state started moving to make long stretches of the Mississippi sufficiently free of bacteria so that swimming would be safe.
In a recent letter to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Benjamin Grumbles, the EPA’s assistant administrator for the Clean Water Program, told the department to take another look at its recreation-use designation for the Mississippi River from the Meramec River to the Ohio River.
Grumbles noted that the federal Clean Water Act presumes that rivers, streams and lakes should be clean enough for swimming. If the water is not safe, the law allows the state agency to show why it is not possible to make the water clean.
According to the Southeast Missourian newspaper, the Department of Natural Resources staff will recommend Jan. 7 that the state Clean Water Commission change the Mississippi’s designation from “secondary contact recreation” — a standard that covers boating, fishing and wading — to whole body contact.
The result could mean new requirements for expensive upgrades at sewage treatment plants along the river, including the Cape Girardeau plant.
The Missouri Department of Conservation already monitors the Mississippi for several qualities, including indicators of fertilizer pollution, the acidity of the water and levels of dirt and sand.
But the key measure for human contact with the water is the level of E. coli, a bacteria present in human and animal waste that reaches the river in the discharge from sewage treatment plants and in the runoff from open land where livestock and wildlife graze.
“When you are swimming, you are probably never going to swallow enough water” to have health problems caused by fertilizer or chemical pollutants, said John Ford, an environmental specialist with the state’s Water Pollution Program. “The only risk you have from swallowing a small amount of water is bacteria and protozoans.”
EPA officials want the Mississippi designated for “whole body contact” on a 1.3-mile stretch just north of St. Louis and a 164.7-mile one from where it meets the Meramec River to where it meets the Ohio River.
The remaining approximately 30 miles of river, mainly along the St. Louis riverfront, will retain a designation that swimming is not recommended.
“The Clean Water Act sets out that recreation shall be available in and on the waters of the United States,” said John DeLashmit of the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City.
“The rebuttable presumption is that unless we are shown otherwise that United States waters are safe for swimming and other aquatic recreation,” he said. “The DNR did not submit anything showing that is not attainable on the Mississippi River.”
Data collected at Thebes, Ill., by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency shows that the E. coli levels in the river fluctuate widely, sometimes spiking after heavy rains.
Designating the river for “whole body contact” means sewage treatment plants along the river will have to make improvements. Because the river is not designated for full contact now, said John Hoke, an environmental specialist and use attainability coordinator for the DNR, no plant discharging into the river is required to disinfect its effluent.
“What it means practically in terms of wastewater treatment plants is that they would be required to disinfect,” Hoke said. The disinfection requirement would be put in place when a plant’s permit is renewed.
Dennis Hale, manager of Cape Girardeau’s wastewater treatment plant, said the plant discharges an average of 5.5 million gallons of treated sewage daily into the Mississippi. The city does not disinfect the wastewater.
The two common disinfecting methods are chlorination and ultraviolet light, Hale said. Installing disinfecting equipment would be the first major upgrade to the plant since it was constructed in the 1970s, Hale said.
“As far as what it would cost, I would hate to guess,” Hale said. “Either one would be pretty expensive.”
The whole body contact designation would be an invitation to the public to take a new look at the river. Many people have a mistaken impression that the river is far too polluted for swimming, several sources said.
“There is a big plus to getting people back on the Mississippi River,” Ford said. “The resource is there to be used, and there are some really interesting places on the river.”
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
EPA Urges Missouri To Make The Mississippi Swimmable
By The Associated Press
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Life on Missouri’s eastern border is defined by the Mississippi River, and people fish in it, boat on it, sometimes wade in it with scant concern about pollution. But would they swim in it?
The Environmental Protection Agency thinks it’s time the state started moving to make long stretches of the Mississippi sufficiently free of bacteria so that swimming would be safe.
In a recent letter to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Benjamin Grumbles, the EPA’s assistant administrator for the Clean Water Program, told the department to take another look at its recreation-use designation for the Mississippi River from the Meramec River to the Ohio River.
Grumbles noted that the federal Clean Water Act presumes that rivers, streams and lakes should be clean enough for swimming. If the water is not safe, the law allows the state agency to show why it is not possible to make the water clean.
According to the Southeast Missourian newspaper, the Department of Natural Resources staff will recommend Jan. 7 that the state Clean Water Commission change the Mississippi’s designation from “secondary contact recreation” — a standard that covers boating, fishing and wading — to whole body contact.
The result could mean new requirements for expensive upgrades at sewage treatment plants along the river, including the Cape Girardeau plant.
The Missouri Department of Conservation already monitors the Mississippi for several qualities, including indicators of fertilizer pollution, the acidity of the water and levels of dirt and sand.
But the key measure for human contact with the water is the level of E. coli, a bacteria present in human and animal waste that reaches the river in the discharge from sewage treatment plants and in the runoff from open land where livestock and wildlife graze.
“When you are swimming, you are probably never going to swallow enough water” to have health problems caused by fertilizer or chemical pollutants, said John Ford, an environmental specialist with the state’s Water Pollution Program. “The only risk you have from swallowing a small amount of water is bacteria and protozoans.”
EPA officials want the Mississippi designated for “whole body contact” on a 1.3-mile stretch just north of St. Louis and a 164.7-mile one from where it meets the Meramec River to where it meets the Ohio River.
The remaining approximately 30 miles of river, mainly along the St. Louis riverfront, will retain a designation that swimming is not recommended.
“The Clean Water Act sets out that recreation shall be available in and on the waters of the United States,” said John DeLashmit of the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City.
“The rebuttable presumption is that unless we are shown otherwise that United States waters are safe for swimming and other aquatic recreation,” he said. “The DNR did not submit anything showing that is not attainable on the Mississippi River.”
Data collected at Thebes, Ill., by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency shows that the E. coli levels in the river fluctuate widely, sometimes spiking after heavy rains.
Designating the river for “whole body contact” means sewage treatment plants along the river will have to make improvements. Because the river is not designated for full contact now, said John Hoke, an environmental specialist and use attainability coordinator for the DNR, no plant discharging into the river is required to disinfect its effluent.
“What it means practically in terms of wastewater treatment plants is that they would be required to disinfect,” Hoke said. The disinfection requirement would be put in place when a plant’s permit is renewed.
Dennis Hale, manager of Cape Girardeau’s wastewater treatment plant, said the plant discharges an average of 5.5 million gallons of treated sewage daily into the Mississippi. The city does not disinfect the wastewater.
The two common disinfecting methods are chlorination and ultraviolet light, Hale said. Installing disinfecting equipment would be the first major upgrade to the plant since it was constructed in the 1970s, Hale said.
“As far as what it would cost, I would hate to guess,” Hale said. “Either one would be pretty expensive.”
The whole body contact designation would be an invitation to the public to take a new look at the river. Many people have a mistaken impression that the river is far too polluted for swimming, several sources said.
“There is a big plus to getting people back on the Mississippi River,” Ford said. “The resource is there to be used, and there are some really interesting places on the river.”
January 25, 2009, annual meeting of FNHA features water-quality presentations
"Troubled Water: Preserving and Restoring Arkansas' Most Valuable Resource"
will be the program theme for FNHA’s annual meeting at 2:00 pm on January 25, 2009,
in the Walker meeting room of the Fayetteville Public Library.
Two leading experts on water issues in Arkansas, Martin Maner and Marty Matlock, will discuss Arkansas’ persistent water concerns and will talk with us about what they are doing and what we, as citizens, can do to protect the quality of our water and to help restore water quality where it has deteriorated.
Martin Maner is Director of Watershed Management with Central Arkansas Water, a metropolitan system which traces its history to the springs and wells of the early 1800s and which currently provides water to nearly 400,000 users. Central Arkansas Water, which is publicly owned, emphasizes a regional approach to water needs and has won numerous EPA awards for its commitment to water quality. Before becoming Director of Watershed Management for the utility, Maner was chief of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Division.
Marty Matlock is Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Arkansas and has conducted research on a variety of ecological issues. One groundbreaking project which has drawn national attention combines urban stream ecological services restoration with outdoor classrooms, greenway trails and park development. Matlock's ecological engineering group collaborates closely with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, in the School of Architecture, as well as with city and state officials to demonstrate more natural designs for stormwater systems. Among other activities, he will be working with the Springdale water utility in 2009 on the Clear Creek stream restoration project.
Please plan to join us the afternoon of January 25, and encourage your friends and neighbors to come along. Refreshments will be served. The annual business meeting will be brief, and there will be opportunities to learn more about an essential resource on which we and all living things depend.
Barbara Elaine Boland
Green Infrastructure Planning, Project Coordinator
Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
148 E Spring Street
Fayetteville, AR 72701
(479) 521-2801 home
(479) 387-6724 cell
barbaraboland@hotmail.com
"Green Infrastructure is our nation's life support system - an interconnected network of waterways, wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitats, and other natural areas; greenways, parks and other conservation lands; working farms, ranches and forests; and wilderness and other open spaces that support native species, maintain natural ecological processes, sustain air and water resources and contribute to the health and quality of life for America's communities and people." USDA Forest Service, Green Infrastructure Working Group's definition of Green Infrastructure.
will be the program theme for FNHA’s annual meeting at 2:00 pm on January 25, 2009,
in the Walker meeting room of the Fayetteville Public Library.
Two leading experts on water issues in Arkansas, Martin Maner and Marty Matlock, will discuss Arkansas’ persistent water concerns and will talk with us about what they are doing and what we, as citizens, can do to protect the quality of our water and to help restore water quality where it has deteriorated.
Martin Maner is Director of Watershed Management with Central Arkansas Water, a metropolitan system which traces its history to the springs and wells of the early 1800s and which currently provides water to nearly 400,000 users. Central Arkansas Water, which is publicly owned, emphasizes a regional approach to water needs and has won numerous EPA awards for its commitment to water quality. Before becoming Director of Watershed Management for the utility, Maner was chief of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Division.
Marty Matlock is Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Arkansas and has conducted research on a variety of ecological issues. One groundbreaking project which has drawn national attention combines urban stream ecological services restoration with outdoor classrooms, greenway trails and park development. Matlock's ecological engineering group collaborates closely with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, in the School of Architecture, as well as with city and state officials to demonstrate more natural designs for stormwater systems. Among other activities, he will be working with the Springdale water utility in 2009 on the Clear Creek stream restoration project.
Please plan to join us the afternoon of January 25, and encourage your friends and neighbors to come along. Refreshments will be served. The annual business meeting will be brief, and there will be opportunities to learn more about an essential resource on which we and all living things depend.
Barbara Elaine Boland
Green Infrastructure Planning, Project Coordinator
Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
148 E Spring Street
Fayetteville, AR 72701
(479) 521-2801 home
(479) 387-6724 cell
barbaraboland@hotmail.com
"Green Infrastructure is our nation's life support system - an interconnected network of waterways, wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitats, and other natural areas; greenways, parks and other conservation lands; working farms, ranches and forests; and wilderness and other open spaces that support native species, maintain natural ecological processes, sustain air and water resources and contribute to the health and quality of life for America's communities and people." USDA Forest Service, Green Infrastructure Working Group's definition of Green Infrastructure.
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