The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District includes parts or the entirety of 27 Ohio counties. All of these counties have seen some impact from oil and gas development. However, the counties of Carroll, Harrison, Belmont, Noble, and Guernsey have been significantly impacted.
Citizens living near oil and gas activities have expressed concerns about drilling operations which include: the chemicals/additives used to drill/frack, the radionuclides brought up to the surface in produced water, increased radon gas levels in homes, drilling in ecologically sensitive areas, contamination from spills, leaks, blowouts, and deliberate releases, and subsurface migration of contaminants among aquifers.
Yet, a recent announcement stated that the MWCD signed a lease agreement with Encino Energy to frack 7,300 acres of property at Tappan Lake in Harrison County. The MWCD has a long history with oil and gas extraction, leasing thousands of acres for Utica shale drilling and selling water from MWCD lakes to be used by drillers for fracking. It was once stated that the MWCD is the “number 1 beneficiary of drilling in Ohio.”
Gordon Maupin, the president of the MWCD board of directors, said this recent lease agreement reflects “our desire to renew and increase our focus on improving the watershed and water quality and protecting our resource by requiring enhanced environmental protections.” Those “enhanced environmental protections” Maupin speaks of are superficial at best and include walls to block noise and visuals, some water testing and erosion protection.
It is impossible to protect land, air and water from the pollution of fracking since this industry is basically exempt from all major federal environmental laws and regulations such as: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to Know Act.
Workers and nearby residents can be exposed to air contaminants like nitrogen oxides, benzene, ozone, toluene, methane, and fine particulate matter during the fracking process. Run-off of toxic compounds from the well pads can enter Tappan Lake, the drinking water source for Cadiz, Ohio. Should the lake become impaired, where will Cadiz get its water supply?
The U.S. EPA and Department of Energy said that an average of seven million gallons of water and over 70,000 gallons of chemicals are used for each well fracked. Over 80% of these compounds have never been reviewed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Many of those reviewed are known carcinogens and hormone blockers.
Accidents happen. The XTO Energy well blowout in Belmont County in February 2018 spewed out 120 tons of methane an hour for twenty days. Methane is 84 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide.
You cannot be a good steward of the land and ignore all the externalities visited on the landscape from fracking. I live on Tappan Lake and have seen the effects of fracking in the county. Pipelines crisscross the forested hills, fracking trucks congest the rural roadways, water is being withdrawn from local creeks, and even the night skies are obliterated by fracking flares.
The recent storms across the country and especially in Ohio are more proof that the climate is changing and severe weather will soon be the new norm. Still, politicians and the oil and gas industry continue to cling to the very fuel that is driving this climate crisis.
How can the MWCD justify financing improvements by allowing the fossil fuel industry to destroy the very landscape they (MWCD) are supposedly conserving? The definition of conservancy is: a body concerned with the preservation of nature, specific species or natural resources. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District is anything but a conservancy.
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Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in Environmental Studies and is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations.
Many thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin for his efforts at bipartisan solutions on climate legislation. Up to this point these efforts have not been successful, yet the importance of addressing climate change is still compelling. The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates considerable urgency for the need to deal with the effects of climate change. Residents of West Virginia are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather and abnormally high rainfall events, given the topography of the state. The expense of dealing with emergencies created by these catastrophic weather events is considerable; after-the-fact resources to deal with extreme destructive events would be better spent on programs and industries to prevent them.
The transition to green energy in West Virginia need not be a sacrifice but can, on the contrary, be constructive to the economy of the state and of the region. New jobs can be created through manufacturing of products for renewable energy like solar panels and wind turbines, plugging orphaned oil and gas wells, solar panel installation, and wind turbine technicians. The latter two occupations are, in fact, among the top five fastest growing jobs according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Creative juices are flowing in Appalachia about how to move the economy in this region from the exploitative, extractive industries around fossil fuels to more sustainable activities and products. There is the idea of “eco brick,” which look like the conventional clay brick but can be complemented with used plastic or with fly ash (the byproduct of the coal industry). There is “mass timber,” a sustainable alternative to concrete and steel, which can be used to construct buildings as tall as 12 floors; mass timber is made from solid wood panels nailed or glued together; they are fire resistant, strong, sustainable, and cost efficient. There is industrial hemp, an alternative to plastic, which can be grown on damaged lands. And there are many options for industry around waste recovery, such as using recycled glass to make insulation. The science of battery technology is growing rapidly, and large batteries are in great demand for the rapidly expanding production of electric vehicles.
All of these ideas can be developed in West Virginia and throughout Appalachia with locally owned businesses and with the help of federal stimulus programs that are currently available.
There are two “i” words that have entered our vocabulary as a result of recent events: invasion and inflation. The unprovoked and devastating invasion of Ukraine by Russia is an important ingredient of the rising prices of oil and gasoline at the pump. Gasoline prices and other energy costs are driving a serious episode of inflation and causing misery and anxiety for many American families.
The volatility of energy prices and the boom-bust cycles that fossil-fuels create for our economy are unsustainable in the long run. A green economy, which relies on American-based sustainable energy is the best long-term solution for the economic health of Appalachia.
As Senator Manchin and other political leaders become re-engaged with the Reconciliation legislation that will come before Congress, we urge them to respond to the urgency that the science of climate change requires and to support creative ideas for economic development and job creation which a greener economy can deliver.
***
George Banziger, Ph..D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a volunteer for the Mid-Ohio Valley Interfaith, and Harvest of Hope. He is a member of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, Citizens Climate Lobby, and of the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team.
May 4, 2022 Call for action. Opportunity to sign petition to President Biden requesting appointing permanent director for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)
May 19, 2022 Business Article by Austyn Gaffney and Dane Rhys Text and 7 minutes audio.
“In coal country, a new chance to clean up a toxic legacy” Waste from abandoned and bankrupt mines has contaminated more than 12,000 miles of waterways. Now states are looking at how to exact critical elements from those waters to try to offset the high cost of cleanup.
May 11, 2022 Article by Nina Kakhani (Colorado) and Oliver Milman (NY)
“US fracking boom could tip world to edge of climate disaster” 140bn metric tons of planet-heating gases could be unleashed if fossil fuel extraction plans get green light, analysis shows.
“These Data Nerds Think They’ve Found the Climate Silver Bullet: Nonvoting Environmentalists” The Environmental Voter Project wants to turn infrequent voters who care about the environment into a force that can swing elections.
“International Commission Votes to Allow Use of More Climate-Friendly Refrigerants in AC and Heat Pumps”
The new guidelines could save the equivalent of billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, but the U.S. could prove slow to adopt them.
Scientists understood the physics of climate change in the 1800s — thanks to a woman named Eunice Newton Foote. Foote (1819-1888), an American scientist (and distant relative of Sir Isaac Newton), was the first person to conduct and publish an experiment on how carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbs solar heat. In other words, it was in the mid-1800s that she pinpointed the driving force behind climate change.
Foote was an American scientist, inventor, women’s rights campaigner, and a mother. She was a rare breed; a female scientist working in the U.S. in the mid-19th Century. She was known for her theory of the effect of carbon dioxide gas on atmospheric temperature.
In 1856, at the age of 37, Eunice documented the underlying cause of today’s climate change crisis. She prepared a brief scientific paper which was the first on record worldwide to describe the power of carbon dioxide gas to absorb heat — the driving force of global warming. Her article, “Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays” (1856), appeared in the American Journal of Science and Arts.
Foote’s experiment was not complex. She placed a thermometer in each of two glass cylinders, pumped carbon dioxide gas into one and air into the other. She set the cylinders in the sun. Reading the thermometers, Foote saw that the cylinder containing carbon dioxide got much hotter than the one with air. Her observations revealed to Foote that carbon dioxide would strongly absorb heat in the atmosphere.
Now that she had her simulated environments, she had to manipulate them. She placed both thermometers in the sun, then she observed and documented changes. The cylinder with a high-density environment became hotter than the low-density environment.
She decided to repeat the experiment with “moist” air and “dry” air by adding water to one cylinder. This allowed her to see that damp air would become significantly hotter than dry air. Finally, she also experimented with adding different gases to the cylinders to measure their effects as well.
After changing the conditions and variables, she reviewed all of her documentation to draw her conclusions. Upon comparing the different conditions, she noted that carbon dioxide would absorb and retain the sun’s rays much longer than other gases.
Foote then understood that changing the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would change its temperature. Her discovery of the high heat absorption of carbon dioxide gas led Foote to conclude that “…if the air (contained) a higher proportion of carbon dioxide than at present, an increased temperature” would result.
Foote was the first scientist to define what we now call the greenhouse gas effect. She was the first to demonstrate how different proportions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would change its temperature. She drew the conclusion that excess carbon in our atmosphere would lead to an increase in global temperature. And so, Eunice Newton Foote was the first person to determine and predict the cause of climate change — over 165 years ago.
As a woman, Foote was prohibited from presenting her findings to the other members of the 1856 American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Albany, N.Y. However, Foote’s work was published in a 1857 volume of The Annual of Scientific Discovery.
Since her early experiments, we’ve learned a lot more about the intricacies of climate change. While Foote was unable to determine why carbon absorbed more heat, she was still able to understand why it was significant and how it could impact humanity.
By the mid-1800s, human activities were already dramatically increasing the CO2 in the atmosphere. Burning more and more fossil fuels — coal, and eventually oil and gas — added an ever-increasing amount of carbon dioxide into the air. All of this was understood well over a century ago.
It turns out that the world has known about the warming risk posed by excessive levels of CO2 for many decades, even before the invention of cars or coal-fired power stations. Foote had explicitly warned about the basic science 165 years ago. Perhaps we should have listened to this woman more closely.
Until next time, be kind to your Mother Earth.
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Linda Eve Seth, SLP, M.Ed., is a mother, grandmother, concerned citizen and member of MOVCA.
The old cliche goes that, when you’re in a hole and trying to get out, you first stop digging. That is the opposite of what we’re doing when it comes to fossil fuels and derivative industries like plastics and petrochemicals amidst global climate, biodiversity loss, pollution, and contamination crises.
A study published last Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters lead by researchers at Oil Change International estimates that “40% of fossil fuel reserves at currently operational development sites across the globe must be left in the ground if the world is to have a 50-50 chance of adequately slashing carbon emissions and limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius [above a preindustrial baseline] or below,” as referenced in an article for the media outlet Common Dreams. This is in addition to the finding by the International Energy Agency in 2021 that no new oil and gas exploitation and development and no new coal-fired power plants must come about in order to stay on a safe climate path and meet the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
These sound scientific findings are being ignored. According to reporting in The Guardian, the 28 largest producers of oil and gas made close to $100 billion in combined profits in just the first three months of 2022. A study soon-to-be published in the journal Energy Policy has found that fracking projects across U.S. lands and waters will release 140 billion metric tons of planet-heating gases if fully realized. The study found that the emissions from these oil and gas “carbon bomb” projects would be four times larger than all of the planet-heating gases expelled globally each year, according to Guardian reporting. Fracking, by the way, is extremely dangerous for numerous reasons. For an incredible summation of those dangers, I refer you to the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure, Eighth Edition. You can find the report at https://concernedhealthny.org/compendium/.
Even the “solutions” being proposed by the fossil fuels and related industries are mostly bunk. We’re hearing a lot about blue hydrogen (hydrogen derived from fossil fuels with carbon emissions captured). While hydrogen shows promise for decarbonization of hard-to-decarbonize sectors like aviation, shipping, and the production of steel and cement, blue hydrogen or other hydrogen color codes derived from fossil fuels will release massive amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 86-times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat over a 20-year period and continue other massive pollution and contamination problems. And Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is prohibitively expensive, not proven at anywhere near scale, and dangerous in its own right. For more information on all of the problems with CCUS, please see carboncapturefacts.org. The only truly promising hydrogen is green hydrogen–hydrogen derived from water molecules being split by an electrolysis process powered by renewable energy.
West Virginia’s senior U.S. Senator, Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., is in an extremely powerful position right now as the key vote in the evenly divided senate and as Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Instead of voting in favor of the largest and most crucial energy and environmental legislation in modern times, he decided to reject the legislation and leave his party scrambling to piece together replacement legislation he’ll support. Why? It might have something to do with the fact that, according to his 2021 financials, he made $536,869 last year from his coal brokerage Enersystems selling waste or “gob” coal to the Grant Town power station–an 80Mw totally unnecessary coal-fired station that cost MonPower ratepayers like me a total $117 million extra to keep operating between 2016-2021 alone.
Fossil fuels for energy and production of things like plastics and petrochemicals have got to become a thing of the past as quickly, efficiently, equitably, and justly as humanly possible. There is no substitute for this transition. There are no shortcuts or gimmicks to avoiding climate catastrophe. Atmospheric physics does not care about your politics or feelings. The massive and voluminous amount of science clarifying this reality and the path forward is undeniable. The best time to act was 30 to 40 years ago; the second best time is right now.
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Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
One of the first pictures taken of the Earth from the Moon was snapped by astronaut William Anders on Christmas Eve 1968. Anders, as well as astronauts James Lovell and Frank Borman, were aboard the Apollo 8 spacecraft, the first manned mission to orbit the moon. The photo was taken in the pre-digital age and not seen until the film was returned to Earth. “Earthrise” shows a beautiful blue planet in sharp contrast to the barren lunar landscape. This iconic image had a profound impact on humanity and helped prompt the environmental movement of the 1970s. “Apollo 8 will probably be remembered as much for Bill’s picture as anything because it shows the fragility of our Earth, the beauty of the Earth, and just how so insignificantly small we are in the Universe,” said Borman in Travel-Leisure magazine. “It was the beginning of the realization that we need to take care of it.”
The first national Earth Day, celebrated April 22, 1970, played a significant role in generating support for environmental legislation. Prior to 1970, there were few legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect the environment. It was legal for factories to spew toxic smoke into the air or toxic waste into a nearby stream. Across the country bacteria levels in rivers were high, pesticides were being used indiscriminately, millions of gallons of spilled oil was fouling beaches, city air was deteriorating and oil slicks on a river were catching fire. In July 1970, President Richard Nixon sent a plan to Congress to consolidate environmental responsibilities under one federal agency, a new Environmental Protection Agency. In December of that year, the EPA was officially established by Congress. Congress also passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, amended a federal water protection law that became the Clean Water Act in 1972 and passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson first announced the concept of an Earth Day in the fall of 1969. A former governor of the Badger State, Nelson had a long history of promoting conservation efforts. Nelson and his Senate staff recognized the energy of grass roots student-led activism and wanted that same energy to help promote environmental priorities in national politics. The date for Earth Day was selected, not only because it was national Arbor Day, a long standing conservation effort, but also because on college campuses it fell between spring break and final exams. According to EPA’s website more than 20 million people in the U.S. participated in the first Earth Day. Protecting our planet has always been a theme of Earth Day but environmental problems have become so widespread that scientists say addressing climate change is more urgent than ever. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change reports make it clear human-induced climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying.
According to a U.N. press release, on April 4, 2022, Antonio Gutterres, U.N. Secretary General, stated, “We are on a fast track to climate disaster … This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies … This is a climate emergency.”
During the month of May, MOVCA is promoting the important message that every day, not just April 22, should be Earth Day. Digital billboards, which feature the iconic Earthrise photo, are located at 1044 Emerson Ave. in Parkersburg and 324 Pike St. in Marietta. Billboards are a highly visible tool for messaging but it would be ideal if the billboards were powered by renewable energy resources. In June 2006, the world’s first solar powered billboard was installed in Johannesburg, South Africa. This billboard also supplies power to a local school. Pacific Gas and Electric unveiled the first solar powered billboard in the U.S. in December 2007. Installed in foggy San Francisco, it creates more energy than needed to light up the billboard at night and delivers up to 3.4 kilowatts of solar energy to PG&E customers. Coca Cola made the switch to wind power to generate the energy needed for its giant iconic billboard in Times Square in 2008. And in June 2010 the first 100% solar powered billboard in Times Square was installed. Please notice the MOVCA billboards as you travel through the area. More importantly, please help slow climate change. Take MOVCA’s message to heart and respect our planet every day of every year in every way you can.
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Giulia Mannarino, of Belleville, is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Twenty years ago, I lost my mother to cancer. She died two months before her 70th birthday. Her cancer had already progressed to stage 3 by the time of her diagnosis.
At first it was hard to believe she was sick. She looked perfectly healthy but her oncologist informed us cancer cells had been slowly growing inside her body for many years.
Our family wanted to know what caused my mom’s cancer. Her lifestyle wasn’t one that might have led to the development of cancer. Her oncologist told us that “unfortunately these tumors do not come with labels,” however, he pointed out that my mom, like many of his other patients, was born and raised in the heavily industrialized Ohio River Valley. There were few regulations in place in the 1930s and 1940s to protect human health and the environment.
The National Institute of Health Sciences reports more than two-thirds of cancer is from environmental exposures to substances including pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, benzene, dioxins, and vinyl chlorides.
My folks moved from Steubenville, Ohio, (a city once noted as having the dirtiest air in the nation) to Toronto, Ohio, in 1962. In 1970, Weirton Steel began construction of its coke ovens on Brown’s Island just outside Toronto’s city limits. Coke ovens heat coal to high temperatures to remove sticky coal tars. These tarry substances are collected and used to make various aromatic solvents like benzene, which are carcinogenic.
The coke plant drew national attention in late 1972 when 21 workers were killed in an explosion at the construction site. Our home, which was less than a mile away, was rocked by the explosion. By 1982, the plant was shut down. However, the pollution in the form of coal tars and benzene containing compounds remained.
Like many people who are diagnosed with terminal cancer, my mom was willing to try anything to gain a few more months. But once the cancer spread, she had to admit she wasn’t going to beat it. She would not see her grandkids grow up or see another birthday, she wouldn’t celebrate another Mother’s Day with us. She lost her hair, her life savings, her dignity and eventually her life.
We will never know for sure if living in the Ohio Valley contributed to my mom’s cancer, but our next-door neighbor died at the age of 14 from leukemia and another friend died at the age of 11 from stomach cancer.
For years the petrochemical industry has discounted the connection of environmental toxins to cancer and they continue to deny the major role they play in the climate crisis. Many consumers are unaware of the risks associated with these toxic products, which include many personal care products, cleaning products, and lawn and garden chemicals.
Countless studies show forever chemicals known as polyfluoroalkyl substances, “PFAS,” are now basically found everywhere on the planet. These compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and numerous other diseases.
Environmental Lawyer, Rob Bilott said in a recent interview, “one of the things we found in the internal files of the main manufacturer of the chemical PFOS was that this company was well aware by the 1970s that PFOS was being found in the general U.S. population’s blood and was being found at fairly significant levels.” Yet the manufacturers failed to share this information with citizens.
In July 2021, a report by Physicians for Social Responsibility presented evidence that oil and gas companies have been using PFAS, or substances that can degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing. Ignoring the toxicity associated with fracking fluids and claiming a need for “energy independence,” local, state and federal politicians are calling for more fracking.
Corporate CEOs and cancer cells have this in common; their main goal is growth. The collateral damage is of no concern to them so long as their stock values climb. Scientists frantically warn us we are devastating fragile ecosystems and warming the planet to dangerous temperatures. Still CEOs, media, and politicians ignore the warnings.
Many people, including scientists, have become as desperate as cancer patients; searching for an answer, a cure, some way to stop the death of our planet. It was devastating to watch my mother slip away bit by bit until she was barely recognizable. It’s also devastating to watch the only habitable planet in our solar system, the one that harbors so many marvelous creatures and ecosystems, being killed by corporate greed and a dysfunctional economic system that requires the consumption of Mother Earth to make a buck.
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Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in Environmental Studies and is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations.
Thursday, April 21,2022 7-8:30PM Online EVENT – Virtual Public Information Session
“Ohio River Valley Hydrogen and Carbon Capture Hub” see recording link below:
Recording titled “Western PA Leaders Host Hydrogen Hub Information Session” posted to YouTube April 22, 2022
April 21, 2022 Blog article by Eric de Place
“Why Worry About the Future of the Plastics Industry? Public Opinion.” The second of three reasons why petrochemical-to-plastic schemes are in jeopardy.
April 23, 2022 Politics & Policy article by James Bruggers, Reporter, SE, National Environmental Reporting Network
“Two US Electrical Grid Operators Claim That New Rules For Coal Ash Could Make Electricity Supplies Less Reliable” The companies’ comments may factor into a lawsuit filed this month by a utilities group that objects to EPA’s enforcement of coal ash rules.
Available from Concerned Health Professionals on NY:
April 28, 2022 Announcement of Compendium released and link to download
Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure, Eighth Edition, April 28, 2022
I’d like to take a moment to honor the sacrifice of the late Wynn Alan Bruce, who departed this life following an act of self-immolation outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building this Earth Day. Bruce, a Shambhala Buddhist and photojournalist, is described by friends and family as having been a kind and compassionate man, as well as deeply concerned about the environment and the ecological breakdown of Earth’s biosphere.
“This guy was my friend,” wrote Zen priest and climate scientist Kritee Kanko. “He meditated with our sangha. This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis.”
Unsurprisingly, Bruce’s final actions have been met with criticism from some, mockery from others, as well as questions regarding the legitimacy of self-immolation as a form of demonstration. I neither endorse nor condemn the act of self-immolation, but I would strongly argue the attempt to delegitimize it as a form of demonstration is, itself, illegitimate.
Bruce’s actions appear to have been inspired in part by the demonstrations of Vietnamese monks throughout the 1960s and 70s. Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, of whom Bruce was an admirer, once wrote to Dr. Martin Luther King of such individuals:
“The self-burning of Vietnamese Buddhist monks in 1963 is somehow difficult for the Western Christian conscience to understand. The Press spoke then of suicide, but in the essence, it is not. It is not even a protest. What the monks said in the letters they left before burning themselves aimed only at alarming, at moving the hearts of the oppressors and at calling the attention of the world to the suffering endured then by the Vietnamese. To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful than burning oneself. To say something while experiencing this kind of pain is to say it with the utmost of courage, frankness, determination and sincerity. During the ceremony of ordination, as practiced in the Mahayana tradition, the monk-candidate is required to burn one, or more, small spots on his body in taking the vow to observe the 250 rules of a bhikshu, to live the life of a monk, to attain enlightenment and to devote his life to the salvation of all beings. One can, of course, say these things while sitting in a comfortable armchair; but when the words are uttered while kneeling before the community of sangha and experiencing this kind of pain, they will express all the seriousness of one’s heart and mind, and carry much greater weight.”
What Wynn Alan Bruce had to say with his final act in this life was indeed of the utmost importance, expressed in as stark and compassionate a way as possible. Aside from nuclear war, there is no greater threat faced by civilization today than runaway, irreversible climate change
Day by day, the prospect of an unlivable planet for future, and in many places present generations, becomes more a reality. On the same day Wynn Alan Bruce’s life came to an end, U.N. Secretary General Anonio Guterres made it clear the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters must begin drastically reducing emissions within the next 36 weeks, in order to have a hope of averting climate catastrophe.
This comes as the U.S. Supreme Court, the apparent intended recipient of Bruce’s message, considers the case of West Virginia v. EPA, a suit pertaining to the Clean Air Act, with the court’s right wing extremist judges appearing poised to slash the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
As the crisis of climate change grows more and more alarming, and as the stakes become higher and higher, the industrialized world proves itself not only incapable of adapting to difficult circumstances, but indeed, bound and determined to exacerbate and accelerate its destruction every step of the way.
It is my sincerest hope the actions of Wynn Alan Bruce are not relegated to the misguided efforts of an insane man, but are instead accurately seen as the deeply compassionate actions of a kind and clear-eyed individual, as we, the living, continue with the true insanity of setting the world aflame, relentlessly fanning the fires as we watch our only home burn to the ground around us.
Thank you, Mr. Bruce, for your sacrifice. May you rest in peace, and may we keep your message forever at heart as we consider what manner of world we wish to create for ourselves, and for the children of future generations.
***
Aaron Dunbar is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
After the 52nd annual Earth Day we should celebrate by striving to get more people engaged in action to address climate change. A majority of Americans accept the fact that global warming is happening (72%) and that it is caused by humans (57%); furthermore, a majority (65%) also believes that corporations should pay a carbon tax (Yale Program on Climate Change Education, 2019).
But these survey responses do not translate into concerted action in the population and resultant legislative action by our lawmakers. Perhaps we should be mobilizing people with more facts about the impacts of climate change. Such incontrovertible facts include: the oceans are rising, becoming warmer, and more acidic; glaciers are disappearing at alarming rates (especially in the northern hemisphere), extreme weather is becoming more frequent, costly, and disastrous.
In response to these facts and to other influences, Americans are divided into six groups: alarmists (33%), concerned (26%), cautious (17%), disengaged ( 5%), doubtful (11%) and dismissive (9%) (Global Warming’s Six Americas, Leiserowitz & Maibach). Alarmists, the fastest growing group, are the most engaged in climate action; concerned are keenly aware of the dangers of climate change but are not yet fully mobilized; the cautious are persuadable but not yet fully convinced about climate; change; the disengaged are not attentive to the issue, and the dismissive are the active deniers of climate change.
Our political world has become highly polarized, and climate change is fully enveloped in this polarization. Facts are important, but they are not enough. The problem with facts is that in our highly divisive political context of “them versus us,” facts about climate change are, on the one hand, readily accepted or, on the other hand, resisted, denied, refuted or reinterpreted.
In her book, Saving Us, Katherine Hayhoe writes that opinions on climate change are driven less by facts and more by values, ideologies, world views and political orientation. Dr Hayhoe, an evangelical environmental scientist, urges those in the alarmist group, when speaking to someone from one of the non-alarmist groups, to find out what that person might be interested in and build on that personal interest. For example, a hunter might be touched by facts about the decline in habitat of wild animals; a scuba diver might be attentive to the depletion of coral reefs and its effect on marine life; and a beer lover might be interested in the fact that beer companies are taking action on climate change because of threats of climate change to barley and malt harvests.
As a devoted Christian, Hayhoe is sensitive to the importance of seeking some common ground with other Christians on climate change, White evangelicals are among the least concerned with climate change. She points out that the word “dominion” in the Book of Genesis does not refer to domination but to stewardship. Nothing is more Christian than to be good stewards of the planet and to love the global neighbor as oneself.
Human agency is an important part of many faith traditions including Christianity. An individual can make a difference, especially when working in concert with others and as a model to others who are in the cautious and concerned categories. An individual can adjust his/her thermostat (reducing a couple of degrees in the winter and raising a couple of degrees in the summer), can use renewable energy when possible, can car pool or take pubic transit, recycle, cut back on plane trips, reduce consumption of red meat.
It is important for the climate activist, i.e., alarmist, not to be obsessed with the dismissive category but to deal constructively with the other 91% who are persuadable to taking action on climate change. Besides the climate groups I am affiliated with, I am also a member of Braver Angels (braverangels.org) , a group dedicated to bridging the political divide. In their workshops Braver Angels encourages those of opposing viewpoints to actively listen to each other, to reflect what the other is trying to say, to avoid direct refutation, to find common ground, and to seek a sustainable personal relationship with the political other. These principles of bridging the divide also apply aptly to coming together on climate change. If we don’t convince the political other to take action on climate change, we can at least reach a better understanding between opposing groups.
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George Banziger, Ph..D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a volunteer for the Mid-Ohio Valley Interfaith, and Harvest of Hope. He is a member of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, Citizens Climate Lobby, Braver Angels, and of the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team.
Find Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action on the following social media:
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District anything but a conservancy
Jun 25, 2022
Randi Pokladnik
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District includes parts or the entirety of 27 Ohio counties. All of these counties have seen some impact from oil and gas development. However, the counties of Carroll, Harrison, Belmont, Noble, and Guernsey have been significantly impacted.
Citizens living near oil and gas activities have expressed concerns about drilling operations which include: the chemicals/additives used to drill/frack, the radionuclides brought up to the surface in produced water, increased radon gas levels in homes, drilling in ecologically sensitive areas, contamination from spills, leaks, blowouts, and deliberate releases, and subsurface migration of contaminants among aquifers.
Yet, a recent announcement stated that the MWCD signed a lease agreement with Encino Energy to frack 7,300 acres of property at Tappan Lake in Harrison County. The MWCD has a long history with oil and gas extraction, leasing thousands of acres for Utica shale drilling and selling water from MWCD lakes to be used by drillers for fracking. It was once stated that the MWCD is the “number 1 beneficiary of drilling in Ohio.”
Gordon Maupin, the president of the MWCD board of directors, said this recent lease agreement reflects “our desire to renew and increase our focus on improving the watershed and water quality and protecting our resource by requiring enhanced environmental protections.” Those “enhanced environmental protections” Maupin speaks of are superficial at best and include walls to block noise and visuals, some water testing and erosion protection.
It is impossible to protect land, air and water from the pollution of fracking since this industry is basically exempt from all major federal environmental laws and regulations such as: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to Know Act.
Workers and nearby residents can be exposed to air contaminants like nitrogen oxides, benzene, ozone, toluene, methane, and fine particulate matter during the fracking process. Run-off of toxic compounds from the well pads can enter Tappan Lake, the drinking water source for Cadiz, Ohio. Should the lake become impaired, where will Cadiz get its water supply?
The U.S. EPA and Department of Energy said that an average of seven million gallons of water and over 70,000 gallons of chemicals are used for each well fracked. Over 80% of these compounds have never been reviewed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Many of those reviewed are known carcinogens and hormone blockers.
Accidents happen. The XTO Energy well blowout in Belmont County in February 2018 spewed out 120 tons of methane an hour for twenty days. Methane is 84 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide.
You cannot be a good steward of the land and ignore all the externalities visited on the landscape from fracking. I live on Tappan Lake and have seen the effects of fracking in the county. Pipelines crisscross the forested hills, fracking trucks congest the rural roadways, water is being withdrawn from local creeks, and even the night skies are obliterated by fracking flares.
The recent storms across the country and especially in Ohio are more proof that the climate is changing and severe weather will soon be the new norm. Still, politicians and the oil and gas industry continue to cling to the very fuel that is driving this climate crisis.
How can the MWCD justify financing improvements by allowing the fossil fuel industry to destroy the very landscape they (MWCD) are supposedly conserving? The definition of conservancy is: a body concerned with the preservation of nature, specific species or natural resources. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District is anything but a conservancy.
***
Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in Environmental Studies and is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Climate change urgency that creates jobs
Jun 11, 2022
George Banziger
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Many thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin for his efforts at bipartisan solutions on climate legislation. Up to this point these efforts have not been successful, yet the importance of addressing climate change is still compelling. The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates considerable urgency for the need to deal with the effects of climate change. Residents of West Virginia are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather and abnormally high rainfall events, given the topography of the state. The expense of dealing with emergencies created by these catastrophic weather events is considerable; after-the-fact resources to deal with extreme destructive events would be better spent on programs and industries to prevent them.
The transition to green energy in West Virginia need not be a sacrifice but can, on the contrary, be constructive to the economy of the state and of the region. New jobs can be created through manufacturing of products for renewable energy like solar panels and wind turbines, plugging orphaned oil and gas wells, solar panel installation, and wind turbine technicians. The latter two occupations are, in fact, among the top five fastest growing jobs according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Creative juices are flowing in Appalachia about how to move the economy in this region from the exploitative, extractive industries around fossil fuels to more sustainable activities and products. There is the idea of “eco brick,” which look like the conventional clay brick but can be complemented with used plastic or with fly ash (the byproduct of the coal industry). There is “mass timber,” a sustainable alternative to concrete and steel, which can be used to construct buildings as tall as 12 floors; mass timber is made from solid wood panels nailed or glued together; they are fire resistant, strong, sustainable, and cost efficient. There is industrial hemp, an alternative to plastic, which can be grown on damaged lands. And there are many options for industry around waste recovery, such as using recycled glass to make insulation. The science of battery technology is growing rapidly, and large batteries are in great demand for the rapidly expanding production of electric vehicles.
All of these ideas can be developed in West Virginia and throughout Appalachia with locally owned businesses and with the help of federal stimulus programs that are currently available.
There are two “i” words that have entered our vocabulary as a result of recent events: invasion and inflation. The unprovoked and devastating invasion of Ukraine by Russia is an important ingredient of the rising prices of oil and gasoline at the pump. Gasoline prices and other energy costs are driving a serious episode of inflation and causing misery and anxiety for many American families.
The volatility of energy prices and the boom-bust cycles that fossil-fuels create for our economy are unsustainable in the long run. A green economy, which relies on American-based sustainable energy is the best long-term solution for the economic health of Appalachia.
As Senator Manchin and other political leaders become re-engaged with the Reconciliation legislation that will come before Congress, we urge them to respond to the urgency that the science of climate change requires and to support creative ideas for economic development and job creation which a greener economy can deliver.
***
George Banziger, Ph..D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a volunteer for the Mid-Ohio Valley Interfaith, and Harvest of Hope. He is a member of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, Citizens Climate Lobby, and of the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Suggested Readings For June 2022
MOVCA May 2022 Selected Media Postings
Compiled by Cindy Taylor
Appearing in The Marietta Times:
May 15, 2022 Local Column by George Banziger
“Attendance important at meeting on injection well application”
https://www.mariettatimes.com/opinion/local-columns/2022/05/attendance-important-at-meeting-on-injection-well-application/
Appearing online in The Parkersburg News and Sentinel:
May 26, 2022 Community News/Staff Report
“Out MOV readying Pride in the Park” (MOVCA is exhibiting at the event)
https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/community-news/2022/05/out-mov-readying-pride-in-the-park/
May 25, 2022 Local news
“Annual electronics recycling event returns” (held by Pleasants County Solid Waste Authority)
https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-news/2022/05/annual-electronics-recycling-event-returns/
Appearing on-line in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
May 27, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“WV Coal Association urges Public Energy Authority to take part ownership of Pleasants Power Station, examine partial utility ownership”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/wv-coal-association-urges-public-energy-authority-to-take-part-ownership-of-pleasants-power-station/article_dc285d02-4697-5266-92a1-ec6dd7459d9e.html
May 11, 2022 Letter to the Editor by Dean Banziger, Williamstown
“LETTER: Manchin should be praised for climate efforts”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/letter-manchin-should-be-praised-for-climate-efforts/article_133445cd-3266-5e47-a10b-fe11fdf55b48.html
May 10, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“Appalachian activists renew calls for federal climate action as time ticks away on current Congress”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/appalachian-activists-renew-calls-for-federal-climate-action-as-time-ticks-away-on-current-congress/article_626ef89e-ffa2-540f-8cb9-7748e3aa6021.html
May 4 , 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“West Virginia state legislature leaders all in on federally funded hydrogen hub that critics call a costly gamble”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/west-virginia-legislative-leaders-all-in-on-federally-funded-hydrogen-hub-that-critics-call-a/article_16a53e4a-0b26-5ef4-a8da-cb12f227a307.html
May 3, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“Mountain Valley Pipeline targeted in-service date pushed back again as projected cost soars to $6.6 billion”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/mountain-valley-pipeline-targeted-in-service-date-pushed-back-again-as-projected-cost-soars-to/article_16454900-3655-5e32-8bd4-a73eab4b0c77.html
Appearing in The Herald-Star:
May 13, 2022 Guest Column by Randi Pokladnik
“Guest column/It’s time for Ohio to embrace solar energy”
https://www.heraldstaronline.com/opinion/local-columns/2022/05/guest-column-its-time-for-ohio-to-embrace-solar-energy/
Appearing on-line on WV Public Broadcasting or WOUB (PBS) or NPR:
May 25, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Curtis Tate
“PSC Approves Mon Power’s Rate Request, Average Bill Will Go Up $9”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-05-25/psc-approves-mon-powers-rate-request-average-bill-will-go-up-9
May 19, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Curtis Tate
“More Electricity Will Come From Wind and Solar This Summer”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-05-19/more-electricity-will-come-from-wind-and-solar-this-summer?
May 16, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Curtis Tate
“State To Receive Nearly $4 Million from EPA To Clean Up Brownfields”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-05-16/state-to-receive-nearly-4-million-from-epa-to-clean-up-brownfields
April 30, 2022 Article by Brittany Cronin text and 3 min audio. (missing from April media report)
“How the U.S. wants to make charging electric cars (almost) as painless as pumping gas”
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/30/1095280362/electric-cars-charging-stations-range-anxiety
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org :
May 10 2022 Article by Ben Hunkler, ORVI
“Charting a Course for Appalachia’s Economic Transition: A Blueprint for Job Growth and Decarbonization”
https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/charting-a-course-for-appalachias-economic-transition/
Available on ReImagine Appalachia:
May 24, 2022 Press statement
“Press Statement: Advocates praise federal guidance for abandoned mine land funding”
Available on-line on The West Virginia Center for Climate Change (WV3C):
Monday, May 16, 2022 Hybrid webinar program hosted by WV3C
“Utility-Scale Solar – A Revolution in Progress” See links below for description, registration and link to recordings
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7A0Icrf2BMVdBq4qbiot_A/videos
Appearing on 12 WBOY:
May 17, 2022 News Article by Shayla Klein
“WV Center on Climate Change: The latest on solar”
https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/wv-center-on-climate-change-the-latest-on-solar/
Available on WV Metro News:
May 29, 2022 News article by Mike Nolting
“Mon Power, Potomac Edison customers can start purchasing solar energy credits”
Available on Appalachian Voices: https://appvoices.org
May 12, 2022 Article by Ben Boling in The Appalachian Voice
“A Community of Resistance” Three women reflect on eight years of fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline
May 4, 2022 Article by Dan Radmacher
“Current mine clean-up laws aren’t meeting the challenge of the situation”
May 4, 2022 Call for action. Opportunity to sign petition to President Biden requesting appointing permanent director for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)
“Tell President Biden: Appoint an OSMRE Director”
NATIONAL ATTENTION & Relevant to our region:
Available on Fractracker Alliance:
May 13, 2022
“Ohio and Gas Brine in Ohio” by Bill Lyons
Available on The Washington Post:
May 19, 2022 Business Article by Austyn Gaffney and Dane Rhys Text and 7 minutes audio.
“In coal country, a new chance to clean up a toxic legacy” Waste from abandoned and bankrupt mines has contaminated more than 12,000 miles of waterways. Now states are looking at how to exact critical elements from those waters to try to offset the high cost of cleanup.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/05/19/coal-mining-waste-recycling/
WVU, OU, and ORVI research is mentioned; and True Pigments project with OU (Artist John Sabraw) is featured (https://www.truepigments.com/get-to-know-us/about)
Available on The Guardian.com:
May 11, 2022 Article by Nina Kakhani (Colorado) and Oliver Milman (NY)
“US fracking boom could tip world to edge of climate disaster” 140bn metric tons of planet-heating gases could be unleashed if fossil fuel extraction plans get green light, analysis shows.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/11/us-fracking-climate-fossil-fuel-gases
On HBO:
May 16, 2022 Posted to YouTube Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver
“Utilities: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)” video 25:00
Ohio’s HB 6 and FirstEnergy scandal mentioned
RESOURCES, RESEARCH, and SOLUTIONS:
Available on Oil & Gas Threat Map2.0: https://oilandgasthreatmap.com
Created by Earthworks; Clean Air Task Force & FracTracker Alliance
Available from Beyond Plastics:
May 4, 2022 News release about new REPORT The Real Truth About the U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate (w. link to download)
“New Report Reveals that U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate Has Fallen to 5% – 6%
https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/the-real-truth-about-plastics-recycling
RESOURCE link provided by Beyond Plastics:
“Find An Action That works for You”
https://www.beyondplastics.org/actions-for-any-amount-of-time
10-min. actions; one-hour actions; Deep Dive Actions
Available on Common Dreams:
May 17, 2022 article by Jake Johnson about new study published in the journal, Environmental Research Letters
“Study Finds Many Existing Oil and Gas Sites Must Be Shut Down to Avert Climate Disaster”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/17/study-finds-many-existing-oil-and-gas-sites-must-be-shut-down-avert-climate-disaster?
Available on Environmental Health Project.Org:
Health Impacts & Reporting: https://www.environmentalhealthproject.org/health-impacts
Resources for Parents: https://www.environmentalhealthproject.org/parents
Available on Americans for Financial Reform (AFR):
May 19, 2022 Article about REPORT by Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF)
“Report: Private Equity Ownership of U.S. Power Plants: A Hidden Climate Threat”
Good report summary and download full report at link below
Click to access Private-Equity-Hidden-Power-Plants-Threaten-Climate-5.16.22-official-1.pdf
Available on NewRepublic.com:
May 25, 2022 Article by Liza Featherstone
“These Data Nerds Think They’ve Found the Climate Silver Bullet: Nonvoting Environmentalists” The Environmental Voter Project wants to turn infrequent voters who care about the environment into a force that can swing elections.
https://newrepublic.com/article/166589/environmental-voter-project-midterms?
Available on Inside Climate News:
May 22, 2022 Clean Energy article by Phil McKenna
“International Commission Votes to Allow Use of More Climate-Friendly Refrigerants in AC and Heat Pumps”
The new guidelines could save the equivalent of billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, but the U.S. could prove slow to adopt them.
Available on YaleEnvironment360: published by the Yale School of the Environment
May 19, 2022 Article by Vaclav Smil, professor emeritus at the U of Manitoba, author of 40+books
“Beyond Magical Thinking: Time to Get Real on Climate Change”
https://e360.yale.edu/features/beyond-magical-thinking-time-to-get-real-about-climate-change
May 18, 2022 Article of Interview with Peter Calthorpe, urban designer
“How Ailing Strip Malls Could Be A Green Fix for U.S. Housing Crisis”
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-ailing-strip-malls-could-be-a-green-fix-for-u.s.-housing-crisis
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Foote predicted climate change 165 years ago
May 28, 2022
Linda Eve Seth
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Scientists understood the physics of climate change in the 1800s — thanks to a woman named Eunice Newton Foote. Foote (1819-1888), an American scientist (and distant relative of Sir Isaac Newton), was the first person to conduct and publish an experiment on how carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbs solar heat. In other words, it was in the mid-1800s that she pinpointed the driving force behind climate change.
Foote was an American scientist, inventor, women’s rights campaigner, and a mother. She was a rare breed; a female scientist working in the U.S. in the mid-19th Century. She was known for her theory of the effect of carbon dioxide gas on atmospheric temperature.
In 1856, at the age of 37, Eunice documented the underlying cause of today’s climate change crisis. She prepared a brief scientific paper which was the first on record worldwide to describe the power of carbon dioxide gas to absorb heat — the driving force of global warming. Her article, “Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays” (1856), appeared in the American Journal of Science and Arts.
Foote’s experiment was not complex. She placed a thermometer in each of two glass cylinders, pumped carbon dioxide gas into one and air into the other. She set the cylinders in the sun. Reading the thermometers, Foote saw that the cylinder containing carbon dioxide got much hotter than the one with air. Her observations revealed to Foote that carbon dioxide would strongly absorb heat in the atmosphere.
Now that she had her simulated environments, she had to manipulate them. She placed both thermometers in the sun, then she observed and documented changes. The cylinder with a high-density environment became hotter than the low-density environment.
She decided to repeat the experiment with “moist” air and “dry” air by adding water to one cylinder. This allowed her to see that damp air would become significantly hotter than dry air. Finally, she also experimented with adding different gases to the cylinders to measure their effects as well.
After changing the conditions and variables, she reviewed all of her documentation to draw her conclusions. Upon comparing the different conditions, she noted that carbon dioxide would absorb and retain the sun’s rays much longer than other gases.
Foote then understood that changing the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would change its temperature. Her discovery of the high heat absorption of carbon dioxide gas led Foote to conclude that “…if the air (contained) a higher proportion of carbon dioxide than at present, an increased temperature” would result.
Foote was the first scientist to define what we now call the greenhouse gas effect. She was the first to demonstrate how different proportions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would change its temperature. She drew the conclusion that excess carbon in our atmosphere would lead to an increase in global temperature. And so, Eunice Newton Foote was the first person to determine and predict the cause of climate change — over 165 years ago.
As a woman, Foote was prohibited from presenting her findings to the other members of the 1856 American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Albany, N.Y. However, Foote’s work was published in a 1857 volume of The Annual of Scientific Discovery.
Since her early experiments, we’ve learned a lot more about the intricacies of climate change. While Foote was unable to determine why carbon absorbed more heat, she was still able to understand why it was significant and how it could impact humanity.
By the mid-1800s, human activities were already dramatically increasing the CO2 in the atmosphere. Burning more and more fossil fuels — coal, and eventually oil and gas — added an ever-increasing amount of carbon dioxide into the air. All of this was understood well over a century ago.
It turns out that the world has known about the warming risk posed by excessive levels of CO2 for many decades, even before the invention of cars or coal-fired power stations. Foote had explicitly warned about the basic science 165 years ago. Perhaps we should have listened to this woman more closely.
Until next time, be kind to your Mother Earth.
***
Linda Eve Seth, SLP, M.Ed., is a mother, grandmother, concerned citizen and member of MOVCA.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: No time to waste
May 21, 2022
Eric Engle
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
The old cliche goes that, when you’re in a hole and trying to get out, you first stop digging. That is the opposite of what we’re doing when it comes to fossil fuels and derivative industries like plastics and petrochemicals amidst global climate, biodiversity loss, pollution, and contamination crises.
A study published last Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters lead by researchers at Oil Change International estimates that “40% of fossil fuel reserves at currently operational development sites across the globe must be left in the ground if the world is to have a 50-50 chance of adequately slashing carbon emissions and limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius [above a preindustrial baseline] or below,” as referenced in an article for the media outlet Common Dreams. This is in addition to the finding by the International Energy Agency in 2021 that no new oil and gas exploitation and development and no new coal-fired power plants must come about in order to stay on a safe climate path and meet the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
These sound scientific findings are being ignored. According to reporting in The Guardian, the 28 largest producers of oil and gas made close to $100 billion in combined profits in just the first three months of 2022. A study soon-to-be published in the journal Energy Policy has found that fracking projects across U.S. lands and waters will release 140 billion metric tons of planet-heating gases if fully realized. The study found that the emissions from these oil and gas “carbon bomb” projects would be four times larger than all of the planet-heating gases expelled globally each year, according to Guardian reporting. Fracking, by the way, is extremely dangerous for numerous reasons. For an incredible summation of those dangers, I refer you to the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure, Eighth Edition. You can find the report at https://concernedhealthny.org/compendium/.
Even the “solutions” being proposed by the fossil fuels and related industries are mostly bunk. We’re hearing a lot about blue hydrogen (hydrogen derived from fossil fuels with carbon emissions captured). While hydrogen shows promise for decarbonization of hard-to-decarbonize sectors like aviation, shipping, and the production of steel and cement, blue hydrogen or other hydrogen color codes derived from fossil fuels will release massive amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 86-times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat over a 20-year period and continue other massive pollution and contamination problems. And Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is prohibitively expensive, not proven at anywhere near scale, and dangerous in its own right. For more information on all of the problems with CCUS, please see carboncapturefacts.org. The only truly promising hydrogen is green hydrogen–hydrogen derived from water molecules being split by an electrolysis process powered by renewable energy.
West Virginia’s senior U.S. Senator, Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., is in an extremely powerful position right now as the key vote in the evenly divided senate and as Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Instead of voting in favor of the largest and most crucial energy and environmental legislation in modern times, he decided to reject the legislation and leave his party scrambling to piece together replacement legislation he’ll support. Why? It might have something to do with the fact that, according to his 2021 financials, he made $536,869 last year from his coal brokerage Enersystems selling waste or “gob” coal to the Grant Town power station–an 80Mw totally unnecessary coal-fired station that cost MonPower ratepayers like me a total $117 million extra to keep operating between 2016-2021 alone.
Fossil fuels for energy and production of things like plastics and petrochemicals have got to become a thing of the past as quickly, efficiently, equitably, and justly as humanly possible. There is no substitute for this transition. There are no shortcuts or gimmicks to avoiding climate catastrophe. Atmospheric physics does not care about your politics or feelings. The massive and voluminous amount of science clarifying this reality and the path forward is undeniable. The best time to act was 30 to 40 years ago; the second best time is right now.
***
Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Earth Day should be every day
May 14, 2022
Giulia Mannarino
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
One of the first pictures taken of the Earth from the Moon was snapped by astronaut William Anders on Christmas Eve 1968. Anders, as well as astronauts James Lovell and Frank Borman, were aboard the Apollo 8 spacecraft, the first manned mission to orbit the moon. The photo was taken in the pre-digital age and not seen until the film was returned to Earth. “Earthrise” shows a beautiful blue planet in sharp contrast to the barren lunar landscape. This iconic image had a profound impact on humanity and helped prompt the environmental movement of the 1970s. “Apollo 8 will probably be remembered as much for Bill’s picture as anything because it shows the fragility of our Earth, the beauty of the Earth, and just how so insignificantly small we are in the Universe,” said Borman in Travel-Leisure magazine. “It was the beginning of the realization that we need to take care of it.”
The first national Earth Day, celebrated April 22, 1970, played a significant role in generating support for environmental legislation. Prior to 1970, there were few legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect the environment. It was legal for factories to spew toxic smoke into the air or toxic waste into a nearby stream. Across the country bacteria levels in rivers were high, pesticides were being used indiscriminately, millions of gallons of spilled oil was fouling beaches, city air was deteriorating and oil slicks on a river were catching fire. In July 1970, President Richard Nixon sent a plan to Congress to consolidate environmental responsibilities under one federal agency, a new Environmental Protection Agency. In December of that year, the EPA was officially established by Congress. Congress also passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, amended a federal water protection law that became the Clean Water Act in 1972 and passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson first announced the concept of an Earth Day in the fall of 1969. A former governor of the Badger State, Nelson had a long history of promoting conservation efforts. Nelson and his Senate staff recognized the energy of grass roots student-led activism and wanted that same energy to help promote environmental priorities in national politics. The date for Earth Day was selected, not only because it was national Arbor Day, a long standing conservation effort, but also because on college campuses it fell between spring break and final exams. According to EPA’s website more than 20 million people in the U.S. participated in the first Earth Day. Protecting our planet has always been a theme of Earth Day but environmental problems have become so widespread that scientists say addressing climate change is more urgent than ever. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change reports make it clear human-induced climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying.
According to a U.N. press release, on April 4, 2022, Antonio Gutterres, U.N. Secretary General, stated, “We are on a fast track to climate disaster … This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies … This is a climate emergency.”
During the month of May, MOVCA is promoting the important message that every day, not just April 22, should be Earth Day. Digital billboards, which feature the iconic Earthrise photo, are located at 1044 Emerson Ave. in Parkersburg and 324 Pike St. in Marietta. Billboards are a highly visible tool for messaging but it would be ideal if the billboards were powered by renewable energy resources. In June 2006, the world’s first solar powered billboard was installed in Johannesburg, South Africa. This billboard also supplies power to a local school. Pacific Gas and Electric unveiled the first solar powered billboard in the U.S. in December 2007. Installed in foggy San Francisco, it creates more energy than needed to light up the billboard at night and delivers up to 3.4 kilowatts of solar energy to PG&E customers. Coca Cola made the switch to wind power to generate the energy needed for its giant iconic billboard in Times Square in 2008. And in June 2010 the first 100% solar powered billboard in Times Square was installed. Please notice the MOVCA billboards as you travel through the area. More importantly, please help slow climate change. Take MOVCA’s message to heart and respect our planet every day of every year in every way you can.
***
Giulia Mannarino, of Belleville, is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Capitalism and cancer
May 7, 2022
Randi Pokladnik
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Twenty years ago, I lost my mother to cancer. She died two months before her 70th birthday. Her cancer had already progressed to stage 3 by the time of her diagnosis.
At first it was hard to believe she was sick. She looked perfectly healthy but her oncologist informed us cancer cells had been slowly growing inside her body for many years.
Our family wanted to know what caused my mom’s cancer. Her lifestyle wasn’t one that might have led to the development of cancer. Her oncologist told us that “unfortunately these tumors do not come with labels,” however, he pointed out that my mom, like many of his other patients, was born and raised in the heavily industrialized Ohio River Valley. There were few regulations in place in the 1930s and 1940s to protect human health and the environment.
The National Institute of Health Sciences reports more than two-thirds of cancer is from environmental exposures to substances including pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, benzene, dioxins, and vinyl chlorides.
My folks moved from Steubenville, Ohio, (a city once noted as having the dirtiest air in the nation) to Toronto, Ohio, in 1962. In 1970, Weirton Steel began construction of its coke ovens on Brown’s Island just outside Toronto’s city limits. Coke ovens heat coal to high temperatures to remove sticky coal tars. These tarry substances are collected and used to make various aromatic solvents like benzene, which are carcinogenic.
The coke plant drew national attention in late 1972 when 21 workers were killed in an explosion at the construction site. Our home, which was less than a mile away, was rocked by the explosion. By 1982, the plant was shut down. However, the pollution in the form of coal tars and benzene containing compounds remained.
Like many people who are diagnosed with terminal cancer, my mom was willing to try anything to gain a few more months. But once the cancer spread, she had to admit she wasn’t going to beat it. She would not see her grandkids grow up or see another birthday, she wouldn’t celebrate another Mother’s Day with us. She lost her hair, her life savings, her dignity and eventually her life.
We will never know for sure if living in the Ohio Valley contributed to my mom’s cancer, but our next-door neighbor died at the age of 14 from leukemia and another friend died at the age of 11 from stomach cancer.
For years the petrochemical industry has discounted the connection of environmental toxins to cancer and they continue to deny the major role they play in the climate crisis. Many consumers are unaware of the risks associated with these toxic products, which include many personal care products, cleaning products, and lawn and garden chemicals.
Countless studies show forever chemicals known as polyfluoroalkyl substances, “PFAS,” are now basically found everywhere on the planet. These compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and numerous other diseases.
Environmental Lawyer, Rob Bilott said in a recent interview, “one of the things we found in the internal files of the main manufacturer of the chemical PFOS was that this company was well aware by the 1970s that PFOS was being found in the general U.S. population’s blood and was being found at fairly significant levels.” Yet the manufacturers failed to share this information with citizens.
In July 2021, a report by Physicians for Social Responsibility presented evidence that oil and gas companies have been using PFAS, or substances that can degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing. Ignoring the toxicity associated with fracking fluids and claiming a need for “energy independence,” local, state and federal politicians are calling for more fracking.
Corporate CEOs and cancer cells have this in common; their main goal is growth. The collateral damage is of no concern to them so long as their stock values climb. Scientists frantically warn us we are devastating fragile ecosystems and warming the planet to dangerous temperatures. Still CEOs, media, and politicians ignore the warnings.
Many people, including scientists, have become as desperate as cancer patients; searching for an answer, a cure, some way to stop the death of our planet. It was devastating to watch my mother slip away bit by bit until she was barely recognizable. It’s also devastating to watch the only habitable planet in our solar system, the one that harbors so many marvelous creatures and ecosystems, being killed by corporate greed and a dysfunctional economic system that requires the consumption of Mother Earth to make a buck.
***
Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in Environmental Studies and is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Suggested Readings for May 2022
MOVCA April 2022 Selected Media Postings
Appearing on-line in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
April 30, 2022 Energy and Environment article by Mike Tony
“Researchers, industry experts say numbers don’t add up for Appalachia’s largest gas and oil well owner of WV’s well inspectors”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/researchers-industry-experts-say-numbers-dont-add-up-for-appalachias-largest-gas-and-oil-well/article_43dfce05-0167-5b53-a4f3-8b6dd48c65ff.html
April 25, 2022 Op-Ed by Dan Taylor, Appalachian regional field organizer for the BlueGreen Alliance
“Dan Taylor” WV, with help, is posed to lead in clean energy”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/dan-taylor-wv-with-help-is-poised-to-lead-in-clean-energy-opinion/article_910121de-5565-5a12-b24b-73490aca94c7.html
April 22, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“PSC approves FirstEnergy’s utility-scale solar projects, but with new requirements before construction can begin”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/psc-approves-firstenergys-utility-scale-solar-projects-but-with-new-requirements-before-construction-can-begin/article_94a42451-44e8-56f0-9344-5ef950f0c68d.html
April 21., 2022 Editorial
“Gazette-Mail editorial: Coal won’t keep lights on, if rate hikes persist”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/editorial/gazette-mail-editorial-coal-wont-keep-lights-on-if-rate-hikes-persist/article_fc4af7a4-0ee8-532c-86d1-380c0ab49891.html
April 19, 2022 Op-Ed by Evan Hansen, Morgantown, WV House of Delegates 51st District
“Evan Hansen: How a federal carbon tax would benefit WV”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/evan-hansen-how-a-federal-carbon-tax-would-benefit-wv-opinion/article_0300edcb-7fe1-5ec5-b210-9ccb54ab57e6.html
April 7, 2022 Column by James Van Nostrand
“Van Nostrand: Bailing our coal on the backs of ratepayers”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/van-nostrand-bailing-out-coal-on-the-backs-of-ratepayers-opinion/article_881010fd-e3c0-5676-b09d-cc946dea85b5.html
Available from Ohio Capital Journal:
April 29, 2022 Article by Jake Zuckerman
“Clean energy future? Fossil fuel boondoggle? Chamber pushes for hydrogen hub in Ohio”
April 26, 2022 Article by Jacob Fischler
“On Earth Day, Biden signs order to catalog and conserve old-growth forests”
April 11, 2022 Article by Jacob Fischler
“Biden goal for U.S. transition to electric vehicles cast into doubt at U.S. Senate hearing”
Appearing on-line on WV Public Broadcasting or WOUB (PBS) or NPR:
April 28, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Shepherd Snyder (text and 1:00 audio)
“Canaan Valley Institute Kicking Off Green Infrastructure Program In Berkeley County”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-04-28/canaan-valley-institute-kicking-off-green-infrastructure-program-in-berkeley-county
April 19, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Curtis Tate
“Law Will Allow State To Boycott Banks That Shun Fossil Fuels”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-04-19/law-will-allow-state-to-boycott-banks-that-shun-fossil-fuels
April 13, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Curtis Tate
“Mason County Lands Coal Processing Plant, 500 Jobs”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-04-13/mason-county-lands-coal-processing-plant-500-jobs
April 12, 2022 Energy and Environment by Chris Schultz Text and Audio (3:28)
“A Weekend Of Protest Ends On A Spiritual Note”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-04-12/a-weekend-of-protest-ends-on-a-spiritual-note
April 11, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Curtis Tate
“Mountain Valley Pipeline Wins Key Federal Approval”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-04-11/mountain-valley-pipeline-wins-key-federal-approval
April 7, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Curtis Tate
“Coal Plants Customers Will Pay To Upgrade Sat Idle For Parts of 2021”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-04-07/coal-plants-customers-will-pay-to-upgrade-sat-idle-for-parts-of-2021
April 7, 2022 Science article by Rina Torchinsky
“Solar panels that can generate electricity at night have been developed at Stanford”
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/07/1091320428/solar-panels-that-can-generate-electricity-at-night-have-been-developed-at-stanf
April 4, 2022 Climate Article by Lauren Sommer Text and 4-min Audio heard on All Things Considered
“It’s not too late to stave off the climate crisis, U.N. report finds. Here’s how”
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/04/1090577162/climate-change-un-ipcc-report
Available on WTAP:
Sunday April 10, 2022 WTAP’s News at Six
Video coverage of Manchin Protest at Grant Town Power Plant.
https://www.vuit.com/publishers/352/wtap#vod:20393484 (Amelia Walker interviewed)
Available from WTFR.COM:
April 4, 2022 Article by John Lynch
“West Virginia to have state’s largest solar farm on former mine site”
https://www.wtrf.com/west-virginia/west-virginia-to-have-states-largest-solar-farm-on-former-mine-site/
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org :
Thursday, April 21,2022 7-8:30PM Online EVENT – Virtual Public Information Session
“Ohio River Valley Hydrogen and Carbon Capture Hub” see recording link below:
Recording titled “Western PA Leaders Host Hydrogen Hub Information Session” posted to YouTube April 22, 2022
April 21, 2022 Blog article by Eric de Place
“Why Worry About the Future of the Plastics Industry? Public Opinion.” The second of three reasons why petrochemical-to-plastic schemes are in jeopardy.
https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/why-worry-about-the-future-of-the-plastics-industry-public-opinion/
April 15, 2022 YouTube VIDEO (3:05) posted by ORVI Video about Why petrochemicals are failing Appalachia
“Petrochemical dreams are collapsing in Appalachia”
April 12, 2022 Report by Ted Boettner, Kathy Hipple, and Antony Ingraffea
“Diversified Energy: A Business Model Built to Fail Appalachia”
https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/diversified-energy-a-business-model-built-to-fail-appalachia/
April 4, 2022 Blog Article by Eric de Place
“Why Worry About the Future of the Plastics Industry? Bans.” The first of the three reasons why petrochemical-to-plastic schemes are in jeopardy.
https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/why-worry-about-the-future-of-the-plastics-industry-bans/
April 4, 2022 YouTube VIDEO (2:01) posted by ORVI
“Are hydrogen and carbon capture worth the hype?”
Available from West Virginia Rivers:
April 18, 2022 Article by Morgan King, climate campaign coordinator
“Committing to Our Future- The West Virginia Climate Pledge”
See also “Take the West Virginia Climate Pledge”
Available on ReImagine Appalachia:
April 18, 2022 Press Release
“Press Statement: Appalachian groups urge Biden, Congress to ensure climate action helps energy transition communities”
MOVCA is a one of the groups included in the sign-on letter.
Available on West Virginia Climate Alliance:
April 4, 2022 Press Release
“World’s Climate Scientists Lay Out a Path to Mitigate Climate Change”
https://www.wvclimatealliance.org/blog/2022/4/worlds-climate-scientists-lay-out-a-path-to-mitigate-the-climate-change
Available on The Appalachian Chronicle:
April 14, 2022 Article by Michael M. Barrick and YouTube link to view Documentary (45:45) Mountain Media Productions
“Maury Johnson: Fierce Friend of Mother Earth” A Citizen Activist Explains His Determined Efforts to Stop The Mountain Valley Pipeline
NATIONAL ATTENTION & Relevant to our region:
Available on Politico:
April 11, 2022 Article by Adam Cancryn and Eugene Daniels
“The new White House rule: Do not talk about Joe Manchin”
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/11/white-house-joe-manchin-biden-00024340
Available on Inside Climate News:
April 23, 2022 Politics & Policy article by James Bruggers, Reporter, SE, National Environmental Reporting Network
“Two US Electrical Grid Operators Claim That New Rules For Coal Ash Could Make Electricity Supplies Less Reliable” The companies’ comments may factor into a lawsuit filed this month by a utilities group that objects to EPA’s enforcement of coal ash rules.
Available on YaleEnvironment360:
April 13, 2022 Industry article by Beth Gardiner
“Amid Hopes and Fears, A Plastics Boom in Appalachia Is On Hold”
https://e360.yale.edu/features/plans-to-make-appalachia-a-plastics-hub-face-growing-hurdles
Available on Energy Storage News:
March 23, 2022 News article by Andy Colthorpe (This article was omitted from the March listing)
“Co-balt-free lithium battery gigafactory to help transition West Virginia away from coal economy”
Available on truthout.org:
April 8, 2022 Article by Candice Bernd, senior editor/staff reporter at Truthout
“West Virginians Gear Up for “Coal Baron Blockade” at Joe Manchin’s Coal Plant”
https://truthout.org/articles/west-virginians-gear-up-for-coal-baron-blockade-at-joe-manchins-coal-plant/
Available on E & E News:
April 26, 2022 ClimateWire article by Scott Waldman
“Manchin energy mantra collides with reality in W.Va.”
RESOURCES, RESEARCH, and SOLUTIONS:
Available from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) :
April 4, 2022 REPORT released by IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Working Group III Contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
Available from National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
April 7, 2022 Research News
“Increase in atmospheric methane set another record during 2021” Carbon dioxide levels also record a big jump
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/increase-in-atmospheric-methane-set-another-record-during-2021
Available from University of Rochester Medical Center:
April 11, 2022 RESEARCH by Elaine L Hill & Lala Ma published in Journal of Health Economics
“Study Links Fracking, Drinking Water Pollution, and Infant Health”
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/study-links-fracking-drinking-water-pollution-and-infant-heath
Available on the Science & Environmental Health Network SEHN.org:
April 11, 2022 Factual RESEACH by Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science Director SEHN
“Carbon Dioxide Fact Sheet” (including link to download)
https://www.sehn.org/sehn/2022/4/11/carbon-dioxide-fact-sheet
Available from Physicians for Social Responsibility/The Science and Environmental Health Network:
April 8, 2022 11:30 am Recording of Online webinar about Carbon Capture and links for other Resources
“Examining Carbon Capture Through Public Health and Environmental Justice Lenses”
Available on Carbon Capture and Storage Facts.org (sponsored by the Science & Environmental Health Network):
“What is Carbon Capture and Storage”
https://www.carboncapturefacts.org
“Carbon capture and storage is dangerous, expensive, wasteful, and unnecessary.” Overview and Facts
https://www.carboncapturefacts.org/capture-overview
Available from Concerned Health Professionals on NY:
April 28, 2022 Announcement of Compendium released and link to download
Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure, Eighth Edition, April 28, 2022
https://concernedhealthny.org/compendium/
Available from Phys.org:
April 28, 2022 Article by Georgetown University Medical Center
“New study finds climate change could spark the next pandemic”
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-climate-pandemic.html
April 27, 2022 Chemistry article authored by University of Texas at Austin
“Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste”
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-plastic-eating-enzyme-billions-tons-landfill.html or directly from UT at this link:
https://news.utexas.edu/2022/04/27/plastic-eating-enzyme-could-eliminate-billions-of-tons-of-landfill-waste/
Available from Electrek:
April 28m 2022 Article by Michelle Lewis
“The US generated a record 18% of its electricity from wind and solar in March”
Available on RollingStone:
April 20, 2022 Article by Jeff Goodell
“The Climate Fight Isn’t Lost. Here Are 10 Ways to Win”
The clock is running on the climate crisis, but we have the tools and knowledge- and the crickets- that we need.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Thank you, Mr. Bruce
Apr 30, 2022
Aaron Dunbar
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
I’d like to take a moment to honor the sacrifice of the late Wynn Alan Bruce, who departed this life following an act of self-immolation outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building this Earth Day. Bruce, a Shambhala Buddhist and photojournalist, is described by friends and family as having been a kind and compassionate man, as well as deeply concerned about the environment and the ecological breakdown of Earth’s biosphere.
“This guy was my friend,” wrote Zen priest and climate scientist Kritee Kanko. “He meditated with our sangha. This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis.”
Unsurprisingly, Bruce’s final actions have been met with criticism from some, mockery from others, as well as questions regarding the legitimacy of self-immolation as a form of demonstration. I neither endorse nor condemn the act of self-immolation, but I would strongly argue the attempt to delegitimize it as a form of demonstration is, itself, illegitimate.
Bruce’s actions appear to have been inspired in part by the demonstrations of Vietnamese monks throughout the 1960s and 70s. Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, of whom Bruce was an admirer, once wrote to Dr. Martin Luther King of such individuals:
“The self-burning of Vietnamese Buddhist monks in 1963 is somehow difficult for the Western Christian conscience to understand. The Press spoke then of suicide, but in the essence, it is not. It is not even a protest. What the monks said in the letters they left before burning themselves aimed only at alarming, at moving the hearts of the oppressors and at calling the attention of the world to the suffering endured then by the Vietnamese. To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful than burning oneself. To say something while experiencing this kind of pain is to say it with the utmost of courage, frankness, determination and sincerity. During the ceremony of ordination, as practiced in the Mahayana tradition, the monk-candidate is required to burn one, or more, small spots on his body in taking the vow to observe the 250 rules of a bhikshu, to live the life of a monk, to attain enlightenment and to devote his life to the salvation of all beings. One can, of course, say these things while sitting in a comfortable armchair; but when the words are uttered while kneeling before the community of sangha and experiencing this kind of pain, they will express all the seriousness of one’s heart and mind, and carry much greater weight.”
What Wynn Alan Bruce had to say with his final act in this life was indeed of the utmost importance, expressed in as stark and compassionate a way as possible. Aside from nuclear war, there is no greater threat faced by civilization today than runaway, irreversible climate change
Day by day, the prospect of an unlivable planet for future, and in many places present generations, becomes more a reality. On the same day Wynn Alan Bruce’s life came to an end, U.N. Secretary General Anonio Guterres made it clear the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters must begin drastically reducing emissions within the next 36 weeks, in order to have a hope of averting climate catastrophe.
This comes as the U.S. Supreme Court, the apparent intended recipient of Bruce’s message, considers the case of West Virginia v. EPA, a suit pertaining to the Clean Air Act, with the court’s right wing extremist judges appearing poised to slash the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
As the crisis of climate change grows more and more alarming, and as the stakes become higher and higher, the industrialized world proves itself not only incapable of adapting to difficult circumstances, but indeed, bound and determined to exacerbate and accelerate its destruction every step of the way.
It is my sincerest hope the actions of Wynn Alan Bruce are not relegated to the misguided efforts of an insane man, but are instead accurately seen as the deeply compassionate actions of a kind and clear-eyed individual, as we, the living, continue with the true insanity of setting the world aflame, relentlessly fanning the fires as we watch our only home burn to the ground around us.
Thank you, Mr. Bruce, for your sacrifice. May you rest in peace, and may we keep your message forever at heart as we consider what manner of world we wish to create for ourselves, and for the children of future generations.
***
Aaron Dunbar is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: May 4, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Engage, inform on climate change
Apr 23, 2022
George Banziger
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
After the 52nd annual Earth Day we should celebrate by striving to get more people engaged in action to address climate change. A majority of Americans accept the fact that global warming is happening (72%) and that it is caused by humans (57%); furthermore, a majority (65%) also believes that corporations should pay a carbon tax (Yale Program on Climate Change Education, 2019).
But these survey responses do not translate into concerted action in the population and resultant legislative action by our lawmakers. Perhaps we should be mobilizing people with more facts about the impacts of climate change. Such incontrovertible facts include: the oceans are rising, becoming warmer, and more acidic; glaciers are disappearing at alarming rates (especially in the northern hemisphere), extreme weather is becoming more frequent, costly, and disastrous.
In response to these facts and to other influences, Americans are divided into six groups: alarmists (33%), concerned (26%), cautious (17%), disengaged ( 5%), doubtful (11%) and dismissive (9%) (Global Warming’s Six Americas, Leiserowitz & Maibach). Alarmists, the fastest growing group, are the most engaged in climate action; concerned are keenly aware of the dangers of climate change but are not yet fully mobilized; the cautious are persuadable but not yet fully convinced about climate; change; the disengaged are not attentive to the issue, and the dismissive are the active deniers of climate change.
Our political world has become highly polarized, and climate change is fully enveloped in this polarization. Facts are important, but they are not enough. The problem with facts is that in our highly divisive political context of “them versus us,” facts about climate change are, on the one hand, readily accepted or, on the other hand, resisted, denied, refuted or reinterpreted.
In her book, Saving Us, Katherine Hayhoe writes that opinions on climate change are driven less by facts and more by values, ideologies, world views and political orientation. Dr Hayhoe, an evangelical environmental scientist, urges those in the alarmist group, when speaking to someone from one of the non-alarmist groups, to find out what that person might be interested in and build on that personal interest. For example, a hunter might be touched by facts about the decline in habitat of wild animals; a scuba diver might be attentive to the depletion of coral reefs and its effect on marine life; and a beer lover might be interested in the fact that beer companies are taking action on climate change because of threats of climate change to barley and malt harvests.
As a devoted Christian, Hayhoe is sensitive to the importance of seeking some common ground with other Christians on climate change, White evangelicals are among the least concerned with climate change. She points out that the word “dominion” in the Book of Genesis does not refer to domination but to stewardship. Nothing is more Christian than to be good stewards of the planet and to love the global neighbor as oneself.
Human agency is an important part of many faith traditions including Christianity. An individual can make a difference, especially when working in concert with others and as a model to others who are in the cautious and concerned categories. An individual can adjust his/her thermostat (reducing a couple of degrees in the winter and raising a couple of degrees in the summer), can use renewable energy when possible, can car pool or take pubic transit, recycle, cut back on plane trips, reduce consumption of red meat.
It is important for the climate activist, i.e., alarmist, not to be obsessed with the dismissive category but to deal constructively with the other 91% who are persuadable to taking action on climate change. Besides the climate groups I am affiliated with, I am also a member of Braver Angels (braverangels.org) , a group dedicated to bridging the political divide. In their workshops Braver Angels encourages those of opposing viewpoints to actively listen to each other, to reflect what the other is trying to say, to avoid direct refutation, to find common ground, and to seek a sustainable personal relationship with the political other. These principles of bridging the divide also apply aptly to coming together on climate change. If we don’t convince the political other to take action on climate change, we can at least reach a better understanding between opposing groups.
***
George Banziger, Ph..D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a volunteer for the Mid-Ohio Valley Interfaith, and Harvest of Hope. He is a member of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, Citizens Climate Lobby, Braver Angels, and of the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team.
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