When I was younger, my grandpa related the “Parable of the Drowning Man.” It’s the one about the guy who is caught in a catastrophic storm, but as the floodwaters rise, he refuses to accept help. “No, I believe the Lord will save me,” he proclaims as one boat, then another, and finally a helicopter attempt to rescue him from the rising waters. When the man ultimately drowns and later enters the pearly gates, he asks God why he, a man of such faith, was not saved by the divine hand. God replies, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter! What more did you want from me?”
When my grandpa, a remarkably faithful man, shared this parable with me nearly four decades ago, he undoubtedly was not thinking about climate change, which was not even a blip on the average person’s radar then. As a six-year-old in that era, I certainly wasn’t thinking about it. However, in my current role of Outreach Coordinator with West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, a state affiliate of the national Interfaith Power and Light network, which promotes climate action from a faith-based perspective, it’s hard to hear or retell the story without making the connection.
Today, the overwhelming scientific consensus is that our climate crisis demands a similar urgency as that which brought two boats and a helicopter to our drowning man. In fact, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released a stunning report that clearly states the global community is on the verge of “miss[ing] a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all” if we do not take bold climate action now. After decades of warnings by scientists, it seems we’ve already waved away the first and second boats; we’re at the helicopter rescue stage of this impending disaster.
While the IPCC tells us action must be taken on the global stage to affect large-scale change, at WVIPL, we encourage faith communities to be examples of the change and take local action. A growing number are doing so, including two West Virginian congregations that have won national awards in recent years from the IPL network for their energy efficiency projects. We have also seen environmental committees established in faith settings, discussion forums about climate hosted by faith communities, and over 150 registrants signed up for our online discussion series last year. And while there is inevitably some resistance to the idea that climate action and faith should coexist, with a sometimes-vocal preference for the human-hands-off approach, it does not deter us.
At WVIPL we know from firsthand experience with communities and individuals from across the state and varied faith traditions that bold climate action and faith not only can coexist, but for many of the faithful, MUST coexist, as the latter demands the former.
Climate action, after all, is a demonstration of gratitude (for the beauty of the earth), compassion (for those most vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of climate change), justice (as marginalized populations bear the brunt of the polluting practices that contribute to climate change), and community-mindedness (in seeking not to squander for personal gain what others will one day need). While these values are of course not exclusive to the faithful, they tend to be at the core of the faith traditions in our midst, making climate action a logical fast friend.
If you and/or your faith community would like to get involved in this work, we invite you to contact us — whether you are a faith leader who has an entire community behind you, an individual lay person with just your personal convictions, or something in between. IPL’s Faith Climate Action Week taking place later this month in conjunction with Earth Day and the year-round Cool Congregations energy efficiency program are great starting points.
In the meantime, let’s do what we can to avoid becoming a new punchline to The Parable of the Drowning Man, as the experts predict will happen if we do not heed their warnings with the urgency they deserve. “I sent you a panel of climate scientists and some renewable energy!” God might quip in the updated version. “What more did you want from me?”
Before the creation of plastics the world was totally dependent on nature for the materials needed to produce everyday items. Because these other materials; such as metals, stones, bones, horns, fangs and tusks, were not easy to obtain or process, scientists and chemists looked for alternatives. The search began for a material that was not entirely dependent on natural resources and that was strong, durable, lightweight and could be mass produced. Through the mid-1800s and early 1900s various types of synthetic polymers, later known as plastics, were developed. This was the beginning of the plastic revolution in the industrial world. As a senior citizen, I have watched this plastic revolution increase tremendously just in my own lifetime. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, two million tons of plastic were created in 1950 and by 2015, this amount had increased 200 fold.
No one can deny the fact that plastic has proven to be useful in modern lives. In the field of health care, for example, medical instruments have been improved and various medical conditions can be helped because of plastic. But two other facts no sensible person can deny is that the most heinous plastic products overwhelming the globe today are “single use” plastics and that too many of these single use plastic products have been produced too fast! Single use plastics are goods made primarily from petrochemicals which are fossil fuel based chemicals. These goods are meant to be disposed of right after use, sometimes within minutes. These petroleum based single use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and service ware. These items are things like plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging. And the United States is one of the top contributors of this type of plastic waste globally.
The nature of petroleum based disposable plastic makes it difficult to recycle. Petroleum based plastic usually goes into a landfill where it is buried or incinerated. It is not biodegradable and will not decompose into natural substance like soil. Instead petroleum based plastic will degrade (break down) over years into tiny particles and in the process release toxic chemicals which make their way into our food and water supply. These toxic chemicals are now being found in our bloodstream and the latest research has found them to disrupt the endocrine system which can cause cancer, infertility, birth defects, impaired immunity and many other ailments. It has been well established by many studies that the entire life cycle of plastic, from production to disposal, contributes to ocean and community pollution, health issues and climate change. At this point in time, plastic pollution is everywhere from ocean floors to mountain tops and even, as noted above, inside our bodies. A “bioplastic” that is easier to degrade has been developed and is being promoted as a safer alternative. However, bioplastics are in fact just as toxic as other plastics. According to an article published in late October 2020, in the journal Environment International, “Bio-based and biodegradable plastic are not any safer than other plastics,” said the lead author, Lisa Zimmermann from Goethe University in Frankfurt.
Last year, 170 nations pledged to “significantly reduce” use of plastic by 2030. Many countries have already taken nation wide action on plastic pollution including Canada, United Kingdom, European Union, China, Kenya and Zimbabwe. And earlier this month, the U.N. Environment Assembly unanimously voted to develop a treaty to end plastic pollution. This treaty mirrors the Montreal Protocol, which gradually removed ozone-depleting substances from use, and is an important first step toward reducing plastic waste. The Center for International Environmental Law, based in Washington D.C., is very involved in helping develop this new global agreement on plastics. This organization has 3 focus areas: Climate and Energy; Environmental Health; and People, Land and Resources. CIEL has funds available to provide monetary support to help front line groups stop plastics and petrochemical build out across the United States. MOVCA recently received a grant from CIEL and is looking forward to conducting our local campaign.
In the United States there is no federal legislation for limiting single-use plastics. A bill called the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act was introduced in 2020. As of March 2021, the bill was still with the Senate Finance Committee for review. It can take years for a bill like this to pass at the federal level. Until then, the responsibility for the restriction of single-use plastics falls to states, cities and counties. There are eight states that have completely banned certain forms of single-use plastics, mainly plastic bags. These include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. There’s also a long list of other states that have plastic bag bans in process. If the state chooses not to regulate single-use plastics, the decisions fall to the cities and counties. This is where you find most of the plastic straw bans; cities like New York and Miami Beach have enacted their own bans on plastic straws and stirrers. There are countless cities in Florida and California with straw bans, as well as hundreds more scattered across the country including D.C.
In our local area, trying to live without single use plastic products is challenging. However, there are many resources available, including books, websites and videos, that give tips for living with less plastic and help your household minimize single use plastic in as many areas as possible. It’s important for everyone to be a conscious consumer and do our part for the good of the planet. Although it does take a little foresight and planning any one can choose to refuse single use plastic. It’s easy to decline a straw for your drink, take your own cloth reusable bags to the stores for shopping, bring containers for leftovers at restaurants and carry a small set of reusable cutlery instead of accepting plastic utensils at fast food establishments. The world can, and in fact has to, eradicate single use plastics and learn, once again, to live without them. Abandoning single use plastics and the fossil fuels necessary for their production should certainly not be considered irrational by anyone, conservative or liberal. Our transition to no single use plastics is an important solution, along with other solutions, that will help provide a livable future on our planet for both marine life and our grandchildren.
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Giulia Mannarino, of Belleville, is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Vladimir Putin is a petrostate autocrat, meaning Russia is a nation heavily dependent on oil and gas revenue and Putin, as an authoritarian who has made a mockery of any semblance of Russian democracy, is reliant on this revenue to achieve his aims. This includes his current aim of the violent takeover of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
With Russia being a major player in global oil markets and the continent of Europe getting approximately 40% of its fossil gas (aka “natural gas,” the word “natural” being an industry-created term to make fossil methane sound friendlier), a heated discussion (pardon the pun) is underway on how best to deprive this petrostate autocrat of his most important source of wealth and power.
Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as well as the rest of West Virginia’s congressional delegation, are insisting that we deprive Putin of petro largesse and power by massively driving up production of oil and gas in the U.S. Manchin wants to see the Mountain Valley Pipeline completed and Rep. David McKinley wants to see the Keystone XL pipeline reinitiated and completed. Gov. Jim Justice says that renewable and non-carbon sources of energy are just parsley around the plate and that our oil, coal and gas resources are the meat and potatoes. I find this line of “reasoning” interesting, to put it nicely.
The argument here is that we will deprive a petrostate autocrat of his greatest asset and the core source of his power by feeding the petroleum and methane beast. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. To quote Upton Sinclair, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” Our entire congressional delegation, as well as our governor, know where their bread is buttered.
Thankfully, European Union leaders are living in reality. They understand that, while diversifying their sources for gas in the short-term can help boost reserves, they cannot replace Russian gas entirely and are therefore better-suited to abandon it as quickly as possible, along with all fossil fuels. To quote Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, “It is time we tackle our vulnerabilities and rapidly become more independent in our energy choices. Let’s dash into renewable energy at lightning speed. Renewables are a cheap, clean, and potentially endless source of energy and instead of funding the fossil fuel industry elsewhere, they create jobs here. Putin’s war in Ukraine demonstrates the urgency of accelerating our clean energy transition.”
The Keystone XL Pipeline was a planned extension and replacement of the Keystone Pipeline that was intended to pipe Canadian tar sands oil (the dirtiest oil resource in the world) from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast, almost entirely for shipment overseas. Alberta tar sands oil is extremely difficult to refine into gasoline and therefore more expensive, so it wouldn’t really help domestic gas prices anyway. The pipeline was only 8% complete after longer than a decade when President Biden had his State Department deny it a key permit on his first day in office. It would not lower gas prices here or assist our European allies.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline has been fined millions of dollars by both West Virginia and Virginia regulators for failing to control soil erosion and prevent water contamination. Not only that, but the argument for it from its inception was to boost domestic gas supplies. Now Manchin wants to discuss it as an answer for Europe. Which is it, Senator? Europe’s liquified natural gas facilities can’t handle additional imports right now and importing LNG across the Atlantic is not going to offset the loss of Russian gas.
By the way, all of this exporting of oil and gas since the ban on doing so was lifted under the Obama administration is part of the reason for increased prices at home. But the oil and gas industry isn’t interested in meeting demand with supply here at home anyway. Their profit margins are so high that it’s more convenient to blame “inflation” and keep consumers paying more. Now they have a new price boogeyman with Putin.
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action joined with 200 organizations in a letter to President Biden recently asking that the president use the Defense Production Act to ramp up the deployment of renewable energy to transition the world off fossil fuels and generate millions of good-quality, union jobs. Specifically, the letter asks the President to:
* Rapidly scale up production, manufacturing, and deployment of renewable energy technologies, heat pumps, storage, and weatherization technologies here and abroad
* Create millions of long-term, high-paying domestic jobs while doing so, and
* Accelerate the transition to zero-emission public transportation, alternatives to car based transportation and related infrastructure domestically, and deploy it nationwide, especially to the most vulnerable communities.
The answer to Putin’s madness and to the climate crisis that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II recently continued to detail in a 3,675-page report is not “drill, baby, drill!” The answer is a transition to renewable energies, maximization of energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture and development, and massive decarbonization.
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Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
When COVID-19 closed down restaurants and affected food distribution, we were reminded of how important food sources were and how quickly those sources could be jeopardized. One of the greatest threats to food security today is climate change. Amanda Little’s 2019 book “The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World,” “explores what it will take to continue feeding 7.5 billion people in a world where farming practices are becoming dangerously compromised due to the effects of a climate crisis that includes catastrophic droughts, record-breaking heatwaves, and wildly swinging weather systems.”
There are ways we as consumers can adjust our diets to be less carbon intensive, and rather than exacerbating climate change, we can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to a 2018 study in Science, what we eat might be the most significant personal choice we can make to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Over the past 50 years, foods and fossil fuels have become united in a toxic marriage where modern technology bends nature at its will. Small family farms have been erased. Industrialized farming (Big Ag) now controls the majority of our foods from planting to harvesting. Genetically modified seeds, pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic chemical fertilizers, and monocultured fields of corn, soybeans, and cotton are now the norm in the Midwestern farming regions.
While proponents of industrialized farming claim this is the only way to feed the world, the techniques used have many drawbacks including a lack of biodiversity in our diets and a large carbon footprint. A 2018 study in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems states “75% of the world’s food comes from just 12 plant species and five animal species.”
A 2017 USDA report titled “The Role of Fossil Fuels in the U.S. Food System and the American Diet” said “in 2007, fossil fuels linked to U.S. food consumption produced 13.6% of all fossil fuel emissions in the U.S.” Farming activities, agrochemical production, and large-scale food production facilities all require large amounts of energy. Fuels are needed to power the heavy farm machinery, to process foods, to transport the food in refrigerated vehicles across the country, and to make the plastic packaging. Petrochemicals are also needed to make the fertilizers and pesticides used on crops. Indeed, foods today have a large carbon footprint.
According to Ms. Little’s book, it will take a blend of many approaches to create a sustainable food system by 2050. Some questions that need to be addressed include: What do we eat? How do we grow it? Where do we grow it?
The production of meat and dairy is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gases. According to a study in March 2021 Nutrition Journal, “the livestock industry accounts for about 14.5% of total global manmade greenhouse gases.” Red meat is the biggest culprit emitting up to 66 pounds of carbon dioxide per one pound of meat produced. Even the U.S. dietary recommendations are not eco-friendly as they are higher in carbon emissions that those of the six other countries used in the study (India, Germany, Oman, Netherlands, Thailand and Uruguay).
Beef and lamb top the charts for greenhouse gas emissions. One reason is these animals have multiple stomachs made to digest very fibrous materials. In the process they expel methane gas, a very potent greenhouse gas.
Additionally, large amounts of land are needed to raise beef cows. Tropical forests that once sequestered carbon have been cut and burned in order to create grasslands to raise cattle. Studies show that “beef and soy production are driving two-thirds of habitat loss in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado regions, and Argentina and Paraguay’s Gran Chaco region.” The majority of soy produced is used for feeding chickens, pigs, farmed fish, and cows.
Pastures for grazing often rely on nitrogen-based fertilizer and water. Water is needed for the animals themselves, for processing the meat, for cleaning, for irrigating crops used to feed the animals, and for agrochemical production. If you add in all sources of water, including rainwater falling on pasture land, beef requires approximately 2,400 gallons of water per pound of beef.
Another factor to consider is transportation. We certainly want to avoid shipping products across the country if a local source is available. However, while many people argue in favor of local meat production, studies show carbon emissions from transporting food tends to be relatively small when compared to other inputs for meat production.
What about those new meat substitutes? On average, “emissions from plant-based foods are 10-50 times smaller than those from animal products.” The carbon footprints for the Beyond Burger made from pea protein and the Impossible Burger made from soy and potato protein are about 20 times smaller than the same amount of beef. Dairy milk emissions are almost double those of plant-based milks with almond milk being the lowest for emissions. However, the high amounts of water and pesticides used for almonds makes the next best milk substitute, oat milk, a better choice.
How will we grow our food? One idea is to use practices that incorporate indigenous knowledge. The University of Arizona is researching ways to grow foods in a warming climate. Their research facility, dubbed Biosphere 2, is looking at methods that will produce foods in areas of droughts and intense heat. Some methods include: growing crops under the shade of solar panels, using heat-resistant varieties of heirloom seeds, and passive use of rainwater and storm water to irrigate crops.
The final question that must be addressed is where will we grow our foods? We know that the western portions of the USA are seeing significant dry spells, the most recent being referred to as the worst since medieval times. Forty-two percent of the soil moisture loss in the past twenty years is directly attributed to man-made climate change according to a recent study in Nature Climate Change. Some of the crops affected include: mint, safflower, peas, oats, rice, melons, sunflowers, millet, onions, beans, sugar beets, sorghum, cotton, onions, potatoes, legumes, barley, corn and hay.
Growing regions may shift due to increases in precipitation and temperature extremes. Instead of plowing up grasslands and clear-cutting forests, farmers could be incentivized to limit the destruction of these carbon rich ecosystems and adopt techniques like agroforestry. Keeping forests and grasslands areas in-tact is important as these are places where carbon is sequestered.
One area that we all can improve on is the amount of food wasted. “The U.S. alone wastes 133 billion pounds of food every year.” The 2017 book, “Drawdown,” ranks the top 80 ways to address the climate crisis. Reducing food wastes is number three, and adopting a plant rich diet is number four. Over 40% of all foods produced in the USA never make it to the table. Foods can be lost during production, harvesting, and shipping, and when they do arrive at our homes, they are often thrown away. “Wasted food is a major contributor to climate change, producing more GHG emissions than 37 million cars.”
The next time you walk into your kitchen or open your refrigerator think of this, “what effect does this food, its packaging, its production, its shipping have on our planet?” Are there options I can adopt? In the end, what we eat affects us as well as the planet. Those effects can be positive it we consider them one forkful at a time
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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.
In a recent opinion piece, the writer asserted the fossil fuel industry has a positive impact on job creation and the economy. This assertion was made without any evidence to support it. Nothing could be further from the truth in the Mid-Ohio Valley. As a capital-intensive industry, the oil and gas business is inherently poor at job creation and contributing to economic growth.
Hydraulic fracturing of natural gas has established well pads, pipelines, processing facilities, and other infrastructure. The shale gas region comprises about 22 counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia; these counties produce about 90% of the gas of the region yet the region trails the nation on key measures of economic prosperity. For example, jobs increased by just 1.6% in the region compared to 8% nationally; the region lost approximately 37,000 residents, while the U.S population grew by 18% in the past decade. Little of the profit from oil and gas has entered the local area; trained workers and service providers are generally from outside the area. The revenue from local natural resources is not returning to Mid-Ohio Valley.
Many of the jobs in oil and gas, particularly in the shale-gas industry are held by outsiders, which has been confirmed with the reports of workers at these sites driving cars with out-of-state license plates. Oil and gas companies should at least be contributing to the local economy through severance taxes, impact fees, and other revenue-generating opportunities that will stay here, benefiting our region and offsetting the health and environmental costs these industries exact upon our population and land.
The recent crisis created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought the question of energy sources and energy costs to the forefront. Russia provides 40% of Europe’s natural gas, and according to a recent report (National Memo, Feb. 28, 2022), the threat of a decline in Russian gas has led many Europeans to accelerate their adoption of solar and wind sources of energy–for example, by placing solar panels on the roofs of their houses. If the Europeans accelerate their investment in renewable sources of energy and enhanced power grids, it will eliminate Putin’s strongest non-nuclear weapon.
Solar and wind sources of energy have been described as “intermittent” sources of energy. Recent advances in smart power grids and in battery technology have rendered this criticism moot. If the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining where you are, it is somewhere else and enhanced power grid transmission can get that power to you.
Many of those who advocate for renewable energy acknowledge that there will be an inevitable transition period from fossil fuels (preferably natural gas) to renewable sources. But shale-gas advocates who describe this transition in terms of 30 or 50 years are asking for a sacrifice of significant degradation of human health and environmental degradation.
Last weekend the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released Part II of its Sixth Assessment. Among some of their conclusions is the following:
The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future.
There is a case study of economic transformation for the 21st Century from the small city of Centralia, Wash. (in Lewis County–about the same size as Parkersburg and Wood County, respectively). This case study has been documented by two researchers from the Ohio River Valley Institute (Hunkler & O’Leary, https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/2021) with the expectation of applicability to Appalachia. There were two major employers in the city, each owned by the same company: a strip mine and a coal-fired power plant, which employed 600 and 300 workers, respectively. Both of these employers shut down their operations about ten years ago. The community obtained some significant investment funds and embarked on a program to transform their economy by establishing three funds: a community development fund, an energy technology fund, and a weatherization fund. Through these funds, which totaled $55 million, provided by the previous owner of the company that had shuttered its two facilities, the community developed several labor-intensive projects including: new sources of energy (mainly renewable), renovation of residences and businesses for energy efficiency, education and training. These investments led to enrichment of local suppliers, growth in businesses such as HVAC and lighting.
The results of this broad-based and local investment were: a rise in GDP (twice the U.S. rate), increase in the number of jobs (to 2,800, which was an increase of 12% in the total number of jobs in the Centralia area), wage growth, increase in population (in the city and the county), improvement of community health, energy efficiency, and a reduction in the poverty rate in the community.
The need to address climate change is urgent and cannot wait until the fossil-fuel industry declares their readiness to move to renewable sources of energy. What the Mid-Ohio Valley can gain from an accelerated adoption of renewable energy is indeed a stronger, sustainable, locally based economy and job creation for its residents.
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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 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 the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team.
Organizations urge President Biden to use executive authority to speed the end of the fossil fuel era, protect communities from climate emergency and address the severe harms caused by fossil fuels.
Available from Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA.org):
February 22, 2020 Article by Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA’s director of financial analysis
“ IEEFA U.S.: Ohio regulators have opportunity to do PTTGC a favor by nixing permit”
Summary given and links provided to Reports & Fact Sheets in thirteen different areas: carbon capture materials, electric grid including high voltage direct current (HVDC); energy storage; fuel cells and electrolyzers; Hydropower including pumped storage hydropower (PSH); neodymium magnets; nuclear energy; platinum group metals & other catalysts; semiconductors; Solar photovoltaics; wind; commercialization and competitiveness; cybersecurity and digital components
February 15, 2022 Department of Energy News Release
“DOE Establishes Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $9.5 Billion Clean Hydrogen Initiatives” – DOE Seeks Public Input on New Hydrogen Hubs, Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing Programs to Decarbonize Industry, Transportation Sectors and Provide Healthier Air for All
February 11, 2022 Department of Energy News Release
“Biden Administration, DOE to Invest $3 Billion to Strengthen U.W. Supply Chain for Advanced Batteries for Vehicles and Energy Storage”- Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Fund Projects That Bolster Domestic Battery Manufacturing and Recycling to Support Growing Electric Vehicles and Storage Demand
February 11, 2022 Department of Energy News Release
“DOE Establishes $6 Billion Program to Preserve American’s Clean Nuclear Energy Infrastructure” – DOE Seeks Public Input on Executing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program to Ensure Continued Operation of Clean, Reliable Nuclear Energy
Companies supporting this are listed. Eric Engle noted on Facebook- This is uneconomical and dangerous as shown by the Ohio River Valley Institute and The Science and Environmental Health Network
RESOURCES, RESEARCH, and SOLUTIONS :
Available from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) :
February 28, 2022 Statement by Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair
“Remarks by the IPPC Chair during the press conference to present the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report”
I usually ignore ridiculous and nonsensical diatribes like a letter to the editor in the Feb. 20 edition of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel titled “Trust God on climate,” but since the author mentioned Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action by name, I feel compelled to respond. I have been in the leadership of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action from its inception six-and-a-half years ago, and I will always defend the wonderful people in this organization against attack.
First of all, I know literally hundreds of people who work tirelessly to address anthropogenic (from the Greek “anthropogenes, meaning “born of man“) global climate change from a faith-based perspective. These people, both as individuals and in collective groups and organizations, have become members of and donated to Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action over the years and have worked as part of other organizations in multiple states as Christians, Jews, Muslims and members of numerous other faith traditions and belief systems to engage in what many of them refer to as “creation care.” They believe the deity or deities they worship call on them to care for this earth and they act upon that belief.
As I have affirmed in these pages many times, I myself am an atheist Humanist. The writer of this letter can threaten me and others like me all he wants with the eternal damnation he believes we’re in for, but these are empty, idle threats of no consequence and are quite juvenile. Anthropogenic global climate change is not waiting for any deity to address it meaningfully. A rapidly warming Arctic and Antarctic, rising seas, record-setting droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, precipitation events, floods, and storms like hurricanes, rapidly acidifying and deoxygenating oceans, habitat losses, species extinctions, crop failures, loss of potable water, the massive spread of vector-borne diseases, desertification and so much more are leading to humanitarian crises, migration events, stress on health care systems and widespread death right now, today. These have been definitively linked to human-caused changes in climate and will indisputably worsen with each fraction of a degree more of warming.
The author repeats long-refuted and discarded talking points like “the climate has always changed” and that we as humans cannot affect the status and trajectory of a global climate system. This is bunk. The greenhouse effect has been well understood since at least the 18th century and is occurring at a rate unprecedented since the dawn of the geological epoch known as the Holocene, during which we evolved, leading many geologists to label our current geological age the Anthropocene — translated from the Greek as anthropo for “man” and cene for “new.” The author subscribes to a creationist notion of the earth being only 6,000 years old, so I guess it’s not surprising that he’d fail to understand this.
The author also seems to lack any understanding of energy use or energy policy. He talks about the foolishness of closing coal-fired power plants and asks why the President of the United States doesn’t just load the White House property down with renewable energy. He also suggests that we members of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action are likely hypocrites who fail to use renewable energy and engage in other sustainable living practices. While it would be nice if the President followed in Jimmy Carter’s footsteps and put a solar array on the White House roof, the President does not have the unilateral ability to site and build any energy installment he likes on White House property. There are laws, rules and regulations for siting and constructing power-producing facilities. There are costs involved (albeit falling costs that are already far cheaper than energy production using coal). As for our members, all of us either have solar arrays and/or have maximized energy efficiency in our dwellings and on our properties, drive hybrids and EVs or don’t have cars at all, are organic gardeners, have eliminated single-use plastics in our consumption patterns, recycle, compost, utilize wind or geothermal or hydro energy or some mix, eat vegan or vegetarian diets, are conservationists and much more. We walk the talk in countless ways.
Rather than writing hateful and willfully ignorant screeds, I’d suggest the author engage in this Information Age and learn more about human-caused climate change, energy generation and energy policy, geologic history, atmospheric physics and so much more. Before impugning others, maybe read more than one book.
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Eric Engle is Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action board president.
Shel Silverstein wrote a book called “The Giving Tree” that I would read to my son when he was a wee child. The basic premise of the book is how trees are our friend. For many, trees have provided so much joy for climbing, or a swing or even a treehouse. When I was a child, I remember a particular maple tree in my grandmother’s yard that I considered my summer friend. On lazy summer afternoons it provided a place of solitude and shelter from the hot sun. I loved to lay under the tree and watch the dappled sunlight filter through the leaves. This tree gave me so much pleasure. Trees have always been a part of my life. My mother taught me to appreciate trees for their beauty.
As we continue to fell these beautiful creations, we are adversely affecting our climate. We have spent a great deal of effort in using trees for everything from a source of heat to furniture to housing while not considering the impact of the barren land left behind. This deforestation has had devastating impacts on the wildlife as well as climate. Deforestation can be a planned occurrence like harvesting of timber or felling trees because of insect/disease infestations or from a natural catastrophe such as a wildfire. Quickly responding to such occurrences can help with increased redevelopment of local flora as well as fauna.
Reforestation, or the natural or intentional replacement of the flora of the woodlands and forests is part of the response to these changes that cause climate change.
The Paris Agreement is asking governments around the world to commit to low-carbon emissions. One method is to mitigate carbon emission by reforestation. You may wonder how this will help with climate change. As I have shared before one of the biggest culprits to climate change is carbon emissions. Therefore, if we have remedies to help us with air quality, we may be able to help ourselves remedy climate change.
Around 2000 The Jane Goodall institute started what they titled the Million Tree Project in the Inner Mongolia region of China. China was able to use about 24 million hectares of forest to “offset 20% of Chinese fossil fuel emissions in 2000 and by 2012 had offset the carbon emissions by 33%.” (NASA). The trees become a carbon sink, an area where the carbon from our atmosphere is used and stored by the trees. With the recent fire in the Amazon, the reforestation of these forests would lead to even more absorption of carbon.
The concept of managing forests is not new, but could be a great help in our fight against carbon emissions. The target of the United Nations Strategic Plan for forests is “to increase forest area by 3% by 2030.” Even though reforestation efforts have been established, the goal set is pretty rigorous and most likely will not be achieved in the timeline planned. One of the keys to the reforestation process of forest management is not to only replace the trees, but to provide the same biodiversity that existed before deforestation. Thus, forest management needs to include not only the trees but other flora indigenous to the area.
In 2020 the World Economic Forum, created a Trillion Tree Campaign to plant 1 trillion trees across the globe. These trees would be tailored to the location and the environment. We still have a lot to do.
So, I ask myself what does this mean to me? Well, I can plant trees, most certainly not a forest. But we all can plant trees. Consider planting a tree this Arbor Day, April, 8 or Earth Day, April 22. Consider planting a tree to commemorate your birthday or anniversary. Even consider planting a tree when your child is born, you can watch it grow together. Another way to help conserve wood products and even help with recycling would be to use planks made of recycled plastics to replace your decking or other wooden repairs.
As for the tree in my grandmother’s backyard — When I grew up and visited it later, it seemed smaller than I had remembered it, but it did still provide the same joy it had given me as a child. Eventually it was taken down because the shade, which I had loved as a child, was detrimental to the roof of the house. My tree had met the same end as “The Giving Tree.”
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Nenna Davis has a bachelor’s degree in zoology/botany, and a master’s degree in organizational communication.
As the snow melts and we draw closer to the brighter days of Spring, I’ve begun to feel some relief. Relief not in the sense of wishing the winter away, but from the opportunity and inspiration Spring can often provide. I’ve learned that winter is an ideal time to plan for the wonders that spring can bring. With firm ground, longer days, and new perspective I’m looking forward to us all joining together outdoors in the coming months.
Last time I wrote, I emphasized the importance of focusing on our local environment and illustrated the impact that volunteerism can have on our community. I extended an offer to the community to organize a neighborhood cleanup in an effort to make a tangible difference in the world around us. Considering we were headed into what has been a snow- and ice-filled winter at the time of publication, it was no surprise that I haven’t been contacted by any readers yet. Thankfully, we are at a time where clearer weather is in sight and the holidays are behind us.
I’d like to thank the group of volunteers that generously gave their time to assist Parkersburg City Councilwoman Wendy Tuck and me with a small neighborhood cleanup in District 4. With everyone’s help we were able to remove well over 10 bags of trash from areas of 14th Street, Lynn Street, and St. Marys Avenue. It was very encouraging to witness the transformation a neighborhood can make in just a few hours with a small group of people. It was also very sobering to observe the amount of trash in the areas we were unable to reach. It will take a sustained effort over time to beautify Parkersburg and I am confident that our community will continue to step up and take action to make the Mid-Ohio Valley a more desirable place to live.
If you’ve seen trash in your neighborhood or surrounding areas, how does that make you feel? Do you contemplate your duty to do something about it? Or does it shift your attitude toward one of lost hope for our neighbors? Would you like to be part of the solution but don’t know where to start? I implore you to consider how big an effect a small piece of waste can have on our neighborhood, emotions, perceptions, behavior, and life in general. The ability to overlook a problem and the tendency become complacent in our actions leads to problems that we cannot estimate or measure.
Beginning Feb. 20, each Sunday at 1 p.m. feel free to join us at 13th and Avery streets to take some small steps towards leading by action and treating our community in a way that models stewardship and responsibility to all.
Hopefully, through concerted positive efforts like these, we create an atmosphere of unity — a communal force of individuals that isn’t concerned about differences or disagreements, only creating solutions, together.
It is my vision and belief that by starting on common ground, we open the door toward solutions for the greater problems we are facing in our society and the world.
Be sure to follow Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action on Facebook and join our group to stay up to date on climate related issues.
Please RSVP for our cleanup at 304-812-2884 or reedbyers18@gmail.com. If you have ideas for ways to improve our community through action, please reach out. I am happy to help in any way I can.
More than 2,700 years ago, in Olympia, Greece, the words “Let the games begin” were spoken to start what has become a global sports and cultural event known as the Olympic Games. This past summer the postponed (due to Covid) 2020 Tokyo Olympics were held, and the 2022 Beijing Olympics will be under way Feb. 4-20. The group that is responsible for supervising, supporting and monitoring the organization of the Olympic Games is the International Olympic Committee.
The not-for-profit, independent, volunteer IOC was established in June 1894. Today, it is a “carbon-neutral” (net zero carbon dioxide emissions) organization that has a strong commitment to not only “building a better world through sport” but also helping the world address the climate crisis. Their headquarters, Olympic House, in Lausanne, Switzerland, is one of the most sustainable buildings in the world. The IOC also has a fleet of 8 hydrogen cars as well as one of the first hydrogen stations in Lausanne, which supplies them with hydrogen sourced from renewable energy. It’s ambition is to become a “climate-positive” organization, meaning that the carbon savings they create will exceed the potential negative impacts of their operations. On March 4, 2020, the IOC’s Executive Board met and announced two important decisions that will help them achieve that goal.
One of the decisions announced was that, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program, the IOC will contribute to the Great Green Wall project in Africa, an initiative to combat the effects of desertification. This project will support communities in Africa’s Sahel region working toward the sustainable use of forest, range lands and other natural resources. Led by the African Union, the initiative brings together more than 20 countries. The epic result will be an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of Africa that will improve food security and help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change. The IOC’s contribution will include the planting of an Olympic Forest from 2021 on.
“Climate change is a challenge of unprecedented proportions and it requires an unprecedented response,” said President Thomas Bach. “Looking ahead, we want to do more than reducing and compensating our own impact. We want to ensure that, in sport, we are at the forefront of the global efforts to address climate change and leave a tangible, positive legacy for the planet. Creating an Olympic Forest will be one way in which we will work to achieve this goal.”
The IOC’s involvement in the initiative creates opportunities for athletes and other organizations within the Olympic Movement to contribute to it as well.
The Great Green Wall project is not the IOC’s only collaboration with the United Nations. In 2018, in a partnership with U.N. Climate Change, the IOC launched the “Sports for Climate Action Framework.” Signatories to this framework take responsibility for their organization’s carbon footprint and identify commitments and strategies to achieve specific climate goals. Almost 100 sports organizations joined within the first year of launch and there are, across the globe, over 340 sports organizations now involved. The IOC also supports Olympic athletes in their individual efforts to combat climate change. An example is Hannah Mills, a member of the British sailing team who won a gold medal in Rio in 2016. Her concern over the fact that our oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050 led her to establish the “Big Plastic Pledge” campaign that has the goal of eradicating single use plastics in sports.
The other decision announced by the IOC’s Executive Board on that day was that all Olympic Games will be climate positive from 2030 on. After 2030, the carbon savings created by the Olympic events will exceed the potential negative impacts of their overall operations. The IOC and Olympic games have been actively addressing climate change since 2014 when sustainability was adopted as one of the three pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020, a reform program introduced by President Bach. Since that time, the IOC has been working with the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games to ensure sustainability principles are embedded across its activities as an organization and that all Olympic Games are carbon neutral and have a significantly reduced carbon footprint.
Tokyo 2020 committed to prioritizing the use of renewable energy and compensating unavoidable emissions. Its carbon offsetting program considered the full scope of emissions related to the Games including the construction of permanent and temporary venues, as well as Games operations, such as the transportation of athletes, officials and spectators. Carbon neutrality is also the objective of Beijing 2022 which has committed to using 100 per cent renewable energy for all Olympic venues. The first Olympic Games to fully benefit from Olympic agenda 2020 will be Paris 2024. From the outset, each stage of the Paris Olympics has been designed with sustainability in mind. Milano Cortina 2026 and LA 2028 also have committed in their Host City contracts to achieve carbon neutrality.
Of course, there would be no Olympic Games without the participation of the athletes. These individuals, supported by coaches, families and sponsors, devote part of their lives to their goal of an Olympic medal. Regardless of the season, global warming is impacting all aspects of human activity including sports. The athletes involved as well as the host cities are having to make adaptations for present conditions. Tokyo 2020, which was held July 23 to August 8, 2021, was one of, if not the, hottest and most humid Games on record. Temperatures reaching the high 80’s/90’s with high humidity made all events high risk. To mitigate the effects of the heat, starting times were changed to later in the day and access to shade and water sprays was improved. Amid the heat concerns, some events were moved away from Tokyo. The marathon took place almost 500 miles North in Sapporo where temperatures were cooler and the course was covered with a reflective layer to cut pavement temperature. Despite these measures, all sports were impacted and all athletes, as well as officials, were at risk of sunburn, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cognitive impairment and dehydration. These border line dangerous conditions put extreme strain on the athletes and certainly effected their performance with several athletes needing medical attention.
The upcoming Beijing Olympics will also be putting the impacts of climate change on display. It will be the first winter Olympic Games to use almost 100% artificial snow to cover ski slopes. In their sustainability report, the OCOG claims the “smart snow making system” uses 20% less water than traditional snow machines and most of the water used is recycled or rain water. But man-made snow doesn’t act the same as natural snow. It gets icier faster and is much firmer. A report written by researchers from the Sport Ecology Group at Loughborough University and Protect Our Winters environment group notes, “This is not only energy and water intensive, frequently using chemicals to slow melt but also delivers a surface that many competitors say is unpredictable and potentially dangerous.”
Global warming is also reducing the number of climatically suitable host venues for winter Olympics. In a 2018 study by Canada’s University of Waterloo it was determined that by 2050 less than half of 21 cities that have hosted these events will be cold enough to host games again. Although being outside in the natural mountains is a large part of a ski experience, skiing indoors may become the norm. Dubai has opened the first indoor ski resort in the Mid East.
Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to host sporting events like the Olympics. The fact that the not-for-profit IOC is concerned about the problem and doing more than its fair share to address it is heartening. What is disheartening; however, is that the fossil fuel industry does not have that same sense of duty and continues to disregard their responsibility for man made global warming. This polluting for-profit industry and their evil corporate billionaire CEOs continue to put profits before people. This is truly unfortunate, not only for the future of the Olympic Games, but for the future of our planet and our grandchildren.
Find Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action on the following social media:
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Faith important in climate rescue
Local columns
Apr 2, 2022
Angie Iafrate
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
When I was younger, my grandpa related the “Parable of the Drowning Man.” It’s the one about the guy who is caught in a catastrophic storm, but as the floodwaters rise, he refuses to accept help. “No, I believe the Lord will save me,” he proclaims as one boat, then another, and finally a helicopter attempt to rescue him from the rising waters. When the man ultimately drowns and later enters the pearly gates, he asks God why he, a man of such faith, was not saved by the divine hand. God replies, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter! What more did you want from me?”
When my grandpa, a remarkably faithful man, shared this parable with me nearly four decades ago, he undoubtedly was not thinking about climate change, which was not even a blip on the average person’s radar then. As a six-year-old in that era, I certainly wasn’t thinking about it. However, in my current role of Outreach Coordinator with West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, a state affiliate of the national Interfaith Power and Light network, which promotes climate action from a faith-based perspective, it’s hard to hear or retell the story without making the connection.
Today, the overwhelming scientific consensus is that our climate crisis demands a similar urgency as that which brought two boats and a helicopter to our drowning man. In fact, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released a stunning report that clearly states the global community is on the verge of “miss[ing] a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all” if we do not take bold climate action now. After decades of warnings by scientists, it seems we’ve already waved away the first and second boats; we’re at the helicopter rescue stage of this impending disaster.
While the IPCC tells us action must be taken on the global stage to affect large-scale change, at WVIPL, we encourage faith communities to be examples of the change and take local action. A growing number are doing so, including two West Virginian congregations that have won national awards in recent years from the IPL network for their energy efficiency projects. We have also seen environmental committees established in faith settings, discussion forums about climate hosted by faith communities, and over 150 registrants signed up for our online discussion series last year. And while there is inevitably some resistance to the idea that climate action and faith should coexist, with a sometimes-vocal preference for the human-hands-off approach, it does not deter us.
At WVIPL we know from firsthand experience with communities and individuals from across the state and varied faith traditions that bold climate action and faith not only can coexist, but for many of the faithful, MUST coexist, as the latter demands the former.
Climate action, after all, is a demonstration of gratitude (for the beauty of the earth), compassion (for those most vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of climate change), justice (as marginalized populations bear the brunt of the polluting practices that contribute to climate change), and community-mindedness (in seeking not to squander for personal gain what others will one day need). While these values are of course not exclusive to the faithful, they tend to be at the core of the faith traditions in our midst, making climate action a logical fast friend.
If you and/or your faith community would like to get involved in this work, we invite you to contact us — whether you are a faith leader who has an entire community behind you, an individual lay person with just your personal convictions, or something in between. IPL’s Faith Climate Action Week taking place later this month in conjunction with Earth Day and the year-round Cool Congregations energy efficiency program are great starting points.
In the meantime, let’s do what we can to avoid becoming a new punchline to The Parable of the Drowning Man, as the experts predict will happen if we do not heed their warnings with the urgency they deserve. “I sent you a panel of climate scientists and some renewable energy!” God might quip in the updated version. “What more did you want from me?”
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Choose to refuse
Mar 26, 2022
Giulia Mannarino
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Before the creation of plastics the world was totally dependent on nature for the materials needed to produce everyday items. Because these other materials; such as metals, stones, bones, horns, fangs and tusks, were not easy to obtain or process, scientists and chemists looked for alternatives. The search began for a material that was not entirely dependent on natural resources and that was strong, durable, lightweight and could be mass produced. Through the mid-1800s and early 1900s various types of synthetic polymers, later known as plastics, were developed. This was the beginning of the plastic revolution in the industrial world. As a senior citizen, I have watched this plastic revolution increase tremendously just in my own lifetime. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, two million tons of plastic were created in 1950 and by 2015, this amount had increased 200 fold.
No one can deny the fact that plastic has proven to be useful in modern lives. In the field of health care, for example, medical instruments have been improved and various medical conditions can be helped because of plastic. But two other facts no sensible person can deny is that the most heinous plastic products overwhelming the globe today are “single use” plastics and that too many of these single use plastic products have been produced too fast! Single use plastics are goods made primarily from petrochemicals which are fossil fuel based chemicals. These goods are meant to be disposed of right after use, sometimes within minutes. These petroleum based single use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and service ware. These items are things like plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging. And the United States is one of the top contributors of this type of plastic waste globally.
The nature of petroleum based disposable plastic makes it difficult to recycle. Petroleum based plastic usually goes into a landfill where it is buried or incinerated. It is not biodegradable and will not decompose into natural substance like soil. Instead petroleum based plastic will degrade (break down) over years into tiny particles and in the process release toxic chemicals which make their way into our food and water supply. These toxic chemicals are now being found in our bloodstream and the latest research has found them to disrupt the endocrine system which can cause cancer, infertility, birth defects, impaired immunity and many other ailments. It has been well established by many studies that the entire life cycle of plastic, from production to disposal, contributes to ocean and community pollution, health issues and climate change. At this point in time, plastic pollution is everywhere from ocean floors to mountain tops and even, as noted above, inside our bodies. A “bioplastic” that is easier to degrade has been developed and is being promoted as a safer alternative. However, bioplastics are in fact just as toxic as other plastics. According to an article published in late October 2020, in the journal Environment International, “Bio-based and biodegradable plastic are not any safer than other plastics,” said the lead author, Lisa Zimmermann from Goethe University in Frankfurt.
Last year, 170 nations pledged to “significantly reduce” use of plastic by 2030. Many countries have already taken nation wide action on plastic pollution including Canada, United Kingdom, European Union, China, Kenya and Zimbabwe. And earlier this month, the U.N. Environment Assembly unanimously voted to develop a treaty to end plastic pollution. This treaty mirrors the Montreal Protocol, which gradually removed ozone-depleting substances from use, and is an important first step toward reducing plastic waste. The Center for International Environmental Law, based in Washington D.C., is very involved in helping develop this new global agreement on plastics. This organization has 3 focus areas: Climate and Energy; Environmental Health; and People, Land and Resources. CIEL has funds available to provide monetary support to help front line groups stop plastics and petrochemical build out across the United States. MOVCA recently received a grant from CIEL and is looking forward to conducting our local campaign.
In the United States there is no federal legislation for limiting single-use plastics. A bill called the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act was introduced in 2020. As of March 2021, the bill was still with the Senate Finance Committee for review. It can take years for a bill like this to pass at the federal level. Until then, the responsibility for the restriction of single-use plastics falls to states, cities and counties. There are eight states that have completely banned certain forms of single-use plastics, mainly plastic bags. These include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. There’s also a long list of other states that have plastic bag bans in process. If the state chooses not to regulate single-use plastics, the decisions fall to the cities and counties. This is where you find most of the plastic straw bans; cities like New York and Miami Beach have enacted their own bans on plastic straws and stirrers. There are countless cities in Florida and California with straw bans, as well as hundreds more scattered across the country including D.C.
In our local area, trying to live without single use plastic products is challenging. However, there are many resources available, including books, websites and videos, that give tips for living with less plastic and help your household minimize single use plastic in as many areas as possible. It’s important for everyone to be a conscious consumer and do our part for the good of the planet. Although it does take a little foresight and planning any one can choose to refuse single use plastic. It’s easy to decline a straw for your drink, take your own cloth reusable bags to the stores for shopping, bring containers for leftovers at restaurants and carry a small set of reusable cutlery instead of accepting plastic utensils at fast food establishments. The world can, and in fact has to, eradicate single use plastics and learn, once again, to live without them. Abandoning single use plastics and the fossil fuels necessary for their production should certainly not be considered irrational by anyone, conservative or liberal. Our transition to no single use plastics is an important solution, along with other solutions, that will help provide a livable future on our planet for both marine life and our grandchildren.
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Giulia Mannarino, of Belleville, is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Transition time is now
Mar 19, 2022
Eric Engle
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Vladimir Putin is a petrostate autocrat, meaning Russia is a nation heavily dependent on oil and gas revenue and Putin, as an authoritarian who has made a mockery of any semblance of Russian democracy, is reliant on this revenue to achieve his aims. This includes his current aim of the violent takeover of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
With Russia being a major player in global oil markets and the continent of Europe getting approximately 40% of its fossil gas (aka “natural gas,” the word “natural” being an industry-created term to make fossil methane sound friendlier), a heated discussion (pardon the pun) is underway on how best to deprive this petrostate autocrat of his most important source of wealth and power.
Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as well as the rest of West Virginia’s congressional delegation, are insisting that we deprive Putin of petro largesse and power by massively driving up production of oil and gas in the U.S. Manchin wants to see the Mountain Valley Pipeline completed and Rep. David McKinley wants to see the Keystone XL pipeline reinitiated and completed. Gov. Jim Justice says that renewable and non-carbon sources of energy are just parsley around the plate and that our oil, coal and gas resources are the meat and potatoes. I find this line of “reasoning” interesting, to put it nicely.
The argument here is that we will deprive a petrostate autocrat of his greatest asset and the core source of his power by feeding the petroleum and methane beast. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. To quote Upton Sinclair, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” Our entire congressional delegation, as well as our governor, know where their bread is buttered.
Thankfully, European Union leaders are living in reality. They understand that, while diversifying their sources for gas in the short-term can help boost reserves, they cannot replace Russian gas entirely and are therefore better-suited to abandon it as quickly as possible, along with all fossil fuels. To quote Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, “It is time we tackle our vulnerabilities and rapidly become more independent in our energy choices. Let’s dash into renewable energy at lightning speed. Renewables are a cheap, clean, and potentially endless source of energy and instead of funding the fossil fuel industry elsewhere, they create jobs here. Putin’s war in Ukraine demonstrates the urgency of accelerating our clean energy transition.”
The Keystone XL Pipeline was a planned extension and replacement of the Keystone Pipeline that was intended to pipe Canadian tar sands oil (the dirtiest oil resource in the world) from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast, almost entirely for shipment overseas. Alberta tar sands oil is extremely difficult to refine into gasoline and therefore more expensive, so it wouldn’t really help domestic gas prices anyway. The pipeline was only 8% complete after longer than a decade when President Biden had his State Department deny it a key permit on his first day in office. It would not lower gas prices here or assist our European allies.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline has been fined millions of dollars by both West Virginia and Virginia regulators for failing to control soil erosion and prevent water contamination. Not only that, but the argument for it from its inception was to boost domestic gas supplies. Now Manchin wants to discuss it as an answer for Europe. Which is it, Senator? Europe’s liquified natural gas facilities can’t handle additional imports right now and importing LNG across the Atlantic is not going to offset the loss of Russian gas.
By the way, all of this exporting of oil and gas since the ban on doing so was lifted under the Obama administration is part of the reason for increased prices at home. But the oil and gas industry isn’t interested in meeting demand with supply here at home anyway. Their profit margins are so high that it’s more convenient to blame “inflation” and keep consumers paying more. Now they have a new price boogeyman with Putin.
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action joined with 200 organizations in a letter to President Biden recently asking that the president use the Defense Production Act to ramp up the deployment of renewable energy to transition the world off fossil fuels and generate millions of good-quality, union jobs. Specifically, the letter asks the President to:
* Rapidly scale up production, manufacturing, and deployment of renewable energy technologies, heat pumps, storage, and weatherization technologies here and abroad
* Create millions of long-term, high-paying domestic jobs while doing so, and
* Accelerate the transition to zero-emission public transportation, alternatives to car based transportation and related infrastructure domestically, and deploy it nationwide, especially to the most vulnerable communities.
The answer to Putin’s madness and to the climate crisis that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II recently continued to detail in a 3,675-page report is not “drill, baby, drill!” The answer is a transition to renewable energies, maximization of energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture and development, and massive decarbonization.
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Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Tackling climate change one forkful at a time
Mar 12, 2022
Randi Pokladnik
When COVID-19 closed down restaurants and affected food distribution, we were reminded of how important food sources were and how quickly those sources could be jeopardized. One of the greatest threats to food security today is climate change. Amanda Little’s 2019 book “The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World,” “explores what it will take to continue feeding 7.5 billion people in a world where farming practices are becoming dangerously compromised due to the effects of a climate crisis that includes catastrophic droughts, record-breaking heatwaves, and wildly swinging weather systems.”
There are ways we as consumers can adjust our diets to be less carbon intensive, and rather than exacerbating climate change, we can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to a 2018 study in Science, what we eat might be the most significant personal choice we can make to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Over the past 50 years, foods and fossil fuels have become united in a toxic marriage where modern technology bends nature at its will. Small family farms have been erased. Industrialized farming (Big Ag) now controls the majority of our foods from planting to harvesting. Genetically modified seeds, pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic chemical fertilizers, and monocultured fields of corn, soybeans, and cotton are now the norm in the Midwestern farming regions.
While proponents of industrialized farming claim this is the only way to feed the world, the techniques used have many drawbacks including a lack of biodiversity in our diets and a large carbon footprint. A 2018 study in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems states “75% of the world’s food comes from just 12 plant species and five animal species.”
A 2017 USDA report titled “The Role of Fossil Fuels in the U.S. Food System and the American Diet” said “in 2007, fossil fuels linked to U.S. food consumption produced 13.6% of all fossil fuel emissions in the U.S.” Farming activities, agrochemical production, and large-scale food production facilities all require large amounts of energy. Fuels are needed to power the heavy farm machinery, to process foods, to transport the food in refrigerated vehicles across the country, and to make the plastic packaging. Petrochemicals are also needed to make the fertilizers and pesticides used on crops. Indeed, foods today have a large carbon footprint.
According to Ms. Little’s book, it will take a blend of many approaches to create a sustainable food system by 2050. Some questions that need to be addressed include: What do we eat? How do we grow it? Where do we grow it?
The production of meat and dairy is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gases. According to a study in March 2021 Nutrition Journal, “the livestock industry accounts for about 14.5% of total global manmade greenhouse gases.” Red meat is the biggest culprit emitting up to 66 pounds of carbon dioxide per one pound of meat produced. Even the U.S. dietary recommendations are not eco-friendly as they are higher in carbon emissions that those of the six other countries used in the study (India, Germany, Oman, Netherlands, Thailand and Uruguay).
Beef and lamb top the charts for greenhouse gas emissions. One reason is these animals have multiple stomachs made to digest very fibrous materials. In the process they expel methane gas, a very potent greenhouse gas.
Additionally, large amounts of land are needed to raise beef cows. Tropical forests that once sequestered carbon have been cut and burned in order to create grasslands to raise cattle. Studies show that “beef and soy production are driving two-thirds of habitat loss in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado regions, and Argentina and Paraguay’s Gran Chaco region.” The majority of soy produced is used for feeding chickens, pigs, farmed fish, and cows.
Pastures for grazing often rely on nitrogen-based fertilizer and water. Water is needed for the animals themselves, for processing the meat, for cleaning, for irrigating crops used to feed the animals, and for agrochemical production. If you add in all sources of water, including rainwater falling on pasture land, beef requires approximately 2,400 gallons of water per pound of beef.
Another factor to consider is transportation. We certainly want to avoid shipping products across the country if a local source is available. However, while many people argue in favor of local meat production, studies show carbon emissions from transporting food tends to be relatively small when compared to other inputs for meat production.
What about those new meat substitutes? On average, “emissions from plant-based foods are 10-50 times smaller than those from animal products.” The carbon footprints for the Beyond Burger made from pea protein and the Impossible Burger made from soy and potato protein are about 20 times smaller than the same amount of beef. Dairy milk emissions are almost double those of plant-based milks with almond milk being the lowest for emissions. However, the high amounts of water and pesticides used for almonds makes the next best milk substitute, oat milk, a better choice.
How will we grow our food? One idea is to use practices that incorporate indigenous knowledge. The University of Arizona is researching ways to grow foods in a warming climate. Their research facility, dubbed Biosphere 2, is looking at methods that will produce foods in areas of droughts and intense heat. Some methods include: growing crops under the shade of solar panels, using heat-resistant varieties of heirloom seeds, and passive use of rainwater and storm water to irrigate crops.
The final question that must be addressed is where will we grow our foods? We know that the western portions of the USA are seeing significant dry spells, the most recent being referred to as the worst since medieval times. Forty-two percent of the soil moisture loss in the past twenty years is directly attributed to man-made climate change according to a recent study in Nature Climate Change. Some of the crops affected include: mint, safflower, peas, oats, rice, melons, sunflowers, millet, onions, beans, sugar beets, sorghum, cotton, onions, potatoes, legumes, barley, corn and hay.
Growing regions may shift due to increases in precipitation and temperature extremes. Instead of plowing up grasslands and clear-cutting forests, farmers could be incentivized to limit the destruction of these carbon rich ecosystems and adopt techniques like agroforestry. Keeping forests and grasslands areas in-tact is important as these are places where carbon is sequestered.
One area that we all can improve on is the amount of food wasted. “The U.S. alone wastes 133 billion pounds of food every year.” The 2017 book, “Drawdown,” ranks the top 80 ways to address the climate crisis. Reducing food wastes is number three, and adopting a plant rich diet is number four. Over 40% of all foods produced in the USA never make it to the table. Foods can be lost during production, harvesting, and shipping, and when they do arrive at our homes, they are often thrown away. “Wasted food is a major contributor to climate change, producing more GHG emissions than 37 million cars.”
The next time you walk into your kitchen or open your refrigerator think of this, “what effect does this food, its packaging, its production, its shipping have on our planet?” Are there options I can adopt? In the end, what we eat affects us as well as the planet. Those effects can be positive it we consider them one forkful at a time
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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.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Job creation from fossil fuels – Where’s the beef?
Mar 5, 2022
George Banziger
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
In a recent opinion piece, the writer asserted the fossil fuel industry has a positive impact on job creation and the economy. This assertion was made without any evidence to support it. Nothing could be further from the truth in the Mid-Ohio Valley. As a capital-intensive industry, the oil and gas business is inherently poor at job creation and contributing to economic growth.
Hydraulic fracturing of natural gas has established well pads, pipelines, processing facilities, and other infrastructure. The shale gas region comprises about 22 counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia; these counties produce about 90% of the gas of the region yet the region trails the nation on key measures of economic prosperity. For example, jobs increased by just 1.6% in the region compared to 8% nationally; the region lost approximately 37,000 residents, while the U.S population grew by 18% in the past decade. Little of the profit from oil and gas has entered the local area; trained workers and service providers are generally from outside the area. The revenue from local natural resources is not returning to Mid-Ohio Valley.
Many of the jobs in oil and gas, particularly in the shale-gas industry are held by outsiders, which has been confirmed with the reports of workers at these sites driving cars with out-of-state license plates. Oil and gas companies should at least be contributing to the local economy through severance taxes, impact fees, and other revenue-generating opportunities that will stay here, benefiting our region and offsetting the health and environmental costs these industries exact upon our population and land.
The recent crisis created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought the question of energy sources and energy costs to the forefront. Russia provides 40% of Europe’s natural gas, and according to a recent report (National Memo, Feb. 28, 2022), the threat of a decline in Russian gas has led many Europeans to accelerate their adoption of solar and wind sources of energy–for example, by placing solar panels on the roofs of their houses. If the Europeans accelerate their investment in renewable sources of energy and enhanced power grids, it will eliminate Putin’s strongest non-nuclear weapon.
Solar and wind sources of energy have been described as “intermittent” sources of energy. Recent advances in smart power grids and in battery technology have rendered this criticism moot. If the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining where you are, it is somewhere else and enhanced power grid transmission can get that power to you.
Many of those who advocate for renewable energy acknowledge that there will be an inevitable transition period from fossil fuels (preferably natural gas) to renewable sources. But shale-gas advocates who describe this transition in terms of 30 or 50 years are asking for a sacrifice of significant degradation of human health and environmental degradation.
Last weekend the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released Part II of its Sixth Assessment. Among some of their conclusions is the following:
The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future.
There is a case study of economic transformation for the 21st Century from the small city of Centralia, Wash. (in Lewis County–about the same size as Parkersburg and Wood County, respectively). This case study has been documented by two researchers from the Ohio River Valley Institute (Hunkler & O’Leary, https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/2021) with the expectation of applicability to Appalachia. There were two major employers in the city, each owned by the same company: a strip mine and a coal-fired power plant, which employed 600 and 300 workers, respectively. Both of these employers shut down their operations about ten years ago. The community obtained some significant investment funds and embarked on a program to transform their economy by establishing three funds: a community development fund, an energy technology fund, and a weatherization fund. Through these funds, which totaled $55 million, provided by the previous owner of the company that had shuttered its two facilities, the community developed several labor-intensive projects including: new sources of energy (mainly renewable), renovation of residences and businesses for energy efficiency, education and training. These investments led to enrichment of local suppliers, growth in businesses such as HVAC and lighting.
The results of this broad-based and local investment were: a rise in GDP (twice the U.S. rate), increase in the number of jobs (to 2,800, which was an increase of 12% in the total number of jobs in the Centralia area), wage growth, increase in population (in the city and the county), improvement of community health, energy efficiency, and a reduction in the poverty rate in the community.
The need to address climate change is urgent and cannot wait until the fossil-fuel industry declares their readiness to move to renewable sources of energy. What the Mid-Ohio Valley can gain from an accelerated adoption of renewable energy is indeed a stronger, sustainable, locally based economy and job creation for its residents.
***
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 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 the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Suggested Readings for March 2022
MOVCA February 2022 Selected Media Postings
Compiled by Cindy Taylor
Appearing in The Marietta Times:
February 17, 2022 Letter to the Editor by Aaron Dunbar, Lowell, OH
“Biden’s Afghanistan genocide”
https://www.mariettatimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2022/02/bidens-afghanistan-genocide/
February 26, 2022 Local Column by Dr. Robert W. Chase, former Chair of MC Petroleum Engineering & Geology Department
“Op-ed: Abandoning fossil fuels irrational”
https://www.newsandsentinel.com/opinion/local-columns/2022/02/op-ed-abandoning-fossil-fuels-irrational/
February 19, 2022 Staff Report
“National Energy Technology Laboratory, partners rolling out Open Hydrogen Initiative”
https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/business/2022/02/national-energy-technology-laboratory-partners-rolling-out-open-hydrogen-initiative/
February 5, 2022 Business news article WVU Today
“Plugging Away: WVU studying integration of renewable energy with U.S. power grid”
https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/business/2022/02/plugging-away-wvu-studying-integration-of-renewable-energy-with-u-s-power-grid/
Appearing on-line in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
March 1, 2022 Op-Ed by Eric Engle
“Eric Engle: WV plays key role in enabling climate disaster”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/eric-engle-wv-plays-key-role-in-enabling-climate-disaster-opinion/article_c0e7eb2d-62a7-5419-ada1-cf65d6a7ba21.html
February 26, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“’Major questions’ loom over climate change as Supreme Court hears WV-led case against EPA”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legislative_session/major-questions-loom-over-climate-change-as-supreme-court-hears-wv-led-case-against-epa/article_ca844bd0-ed02-5c29-a7e4-d05666589386.html
February 19, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“Federal infrastructure law means big environmental cleanup benefits for WV, but also potential missed opportunity”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/federal-infrastructure-law-means-big-environmental-cleanup-benefits-for-wv-but-also-potential-for-missed/article_5f283110-08bb-59ce-a3dd-4ca648960032.html
Eric Engle is quoted opposing the proposed “Hydrogen Hub”, but supporting opportunities for “green” hydrogen
February 14, 2022 Energy and Environment Article by Mike Tony
“WV House changes bill to weaken oversight of oil and gas tanks closest to public water intakes”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legislative_session/wv-house-changes-bill-to-weaken-oversight-of-oil-and-gas-tanks-closest-to-public/article_94498dd9-1ebc-566a-9173-7064baafc336.html
February 7, 2022 Legislative News relating to Energy and Environment. Article by Mike Tony
“WV House passes bill clarifying who profits from extracting rare earth elements from mine drainage”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legislative_session/wv-house-passes-bill-clarifying-who-profits-from-extracting-rare-earth-elements-from-mine-drainage/article_38167659-d73d-5fc3-a4d9-8c26ee22a854.html
February 2, 2022 Legislative News relating to Energy and Environment. Article by Mike Tony
“Bill establishing state regulations for geothermal energy advancing through WV House”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legislative_session/bill-establishing-state-regulations-for-geothermal-energy-advancing-through-wv-house/article_130a45f6-c5f4-52b4-bd50-4f4ba3fb4537.html
January 31, 2022 Op-Ed by Jim Probst, Hamlin, WV; state coordinator of the West Virginia Citizens’ Climate Lobby
“Jim Probst: Miners, families deserve better from Congress”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/jim-probst-miners-families-deserve-better-from-congress-opinion/article_6ddd3a02-a995-5153-b4fa-c5da881821ce.html
Appearing on-line on ReImagingeappalachia.org:
Tuesday, February 15, 2022, 12 Noon Zoom Webinar
“Campaign BiWeekly Lunchtime Update” features speakers from the U.S. Department of Energy – Torend L. Collins, Regional Intergovernmental
& External Affairs Specialist for Appalachia and Rose Dady, Specialist for the Midwest
Presenters recommend this Link for latest updates about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:
https://www.energy.gov/bil/bipartisan-infrastructure-law-homepage
January 30, 2022 Blog Article by Dana Kuhline, ReImagine Appalachia
“ReImagine Appalachia’s 2022 Strategy Summit: Wrap Up”
Included are links to recordings of the panel Presentations each day (and links to their PowerPoint presentations) and notes from breakout sessions.
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org :
February 14, 2022 Article by Ben Hunkler
“Hydrogen, Carbon Capture Hub is a Risky Gamble for the Ohio River Valley”
https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/hydrogen-carbon-capture-hub-is-a-risky-gamble-for-the-ohio-river-valley/
February 7, 2022 Article by Eric Dixon
How to Clean Up the Most Damage with New Federal Investments in Abandoned Mines”
https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/iija-aml-osmre-recommendations/
February 7, 2022 Article by Eric Dixon
“Coal Mine Cleanup in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Explained”
https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/iija-aml-explainer/
Available on WSAZ 3 (Charleston):
February 19, 2022 Article by Brenda Tierney, WSAZ (Text and video)
“WSAZ Investigates/ DEP responds to cancer-causing chemical concerns”
https://www.wsaz.com/2022/02/19/wsaz-investigates-dep-responds-cancer-causing-chemical-concerns/
https://www.wsaz.com/2022/02/14/wsaz-investigates-cancer-causing-chemicals/
Available on WOWK 13 (Huntington):
February 21, 2022 News Article by Stacker
“How much untapped wind energy potential does West Virginia have?”
https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/how-much-untapped-wind-energy-potential-does-west-virginia-have/
Appearing on-line on WV Public Broadcasting or WOUB (PBS) or NPR:
February 28, 2022 Energy and Environment article by Curtis Tate
“Supreme Court Hears West Virginia Case Challenging EPA Authority Over Power Plants”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-02-28/supreme-court-hears-west-virginia-case-challenging-epa-authority-over-power-plants
February 9, 2022 Energy and Environment article by Curtis Tate Text and Audio
“As Nuclear Ban Ends In State, Capito Pushes For Build-Out”
https://www.wvpublic.org/top-stories/2022-02-09/as-nuclear-ban-ends-in-state-capito-pushes-for-build-out
February 8, 2022 Energy and Environment article by Curtis Tate Text and Audio
“Justice Signs Bill To End Nuclear Power Ban”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-02-08/justice-signs-bill-to-end-nuclear-power-ban
February 8, 2022 Energy and Environment article by Curtis Tate
“State To Receive $140 Million In Federal Funds For Mine Cleanup”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-02-08/state-to-receive-140-million-in-federal-funds-for-mine-cleanup
February 3, 2022 Energy and Environment article by Curtis Tate
“Mountain Valley Pipeline Hits New Roadblock Over Endangered Fish”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-02-03/mountain-valley-pipeline-hits-new-roadblock-over-endangered-fish
February 2, 2022 Energy and Environment article by Randy Yohe Text and audio
“State leaders Say W.Va. Finally Transitioning From Coal To Green Energy Economy”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2022-02-02/state-leaders-say-w-va-finally-transitioning-from-coal-to-green-energy-economy
Appearing on Public News Service:
February 9, 2022 Environment/ Sustainable Agriculture Article produced by Mary Schuermann Kuhlman
“Regenerative Agriculture: ‘Farming in Nature’s Image’”
https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2022-02-09/sustainable-agriculture/regenerative-agriculture-farming-in-natures-image/a77795-1
February 8, 2022 Environment/ Rural/Farming Article by Natalia Peart for Yes Media
“Black Farmers are Rebuilding Agriculture in Coal Country”
https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2022-02-08/rural-farming/black-farmers-are-rebuilding-agriculture-in-coal-country/a77757-1
February 7, 2022 Environment Article produced by Nadia Ramlagan
“Federal Court Rejects Mountain Valley Pipeline Permit”
https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2022-02-07/environment/federal-court-rejects-mountain-valley-pipeline-permit/a77741-1
Feb 1, 2022 Environment/ Energy Policy Article produced by Suzanne Potter
“Study: Gas Stoves Leak Methane, Even When Off”
https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2022-02-01/energy-policy/study-gas-stoves-leak-methane-even-when-off/a77666-1
NATIONAL ATTENTION & Relevant to our region:
Presented by People vs Fossil Fuels:
February 24, 8pm Build Back Fossil Free hosted digital rally for Climate Action ( posted to YouTube Feb.28, 2022)
“POTUS on Notice: No More Broken Climate Promises” Recording available below
Feb. 24, 2022 Build Back Fossil Free Letter to President Biden
Signed by 1,140 organizations (including Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action)
Organizations urge President Biden to use executive authority to speed the end of the fossil fuel era, protect communities from climate emergency and address the severe harms caused by fossil fuels.
Available from Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA.org):
February 22, 2020 Article by Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA’s director of financial analysis
“ IEEFA U.S.: Ohio regulators have opportunity to do PTTGC a favor by nixing permit”
Available from Ohio Capital Journal:
February 25, 2022 Article by Jake Zuckerman
“EPA coal ash crackdown could shutter southeast Ohio power plant”
Available from U.S. Department of Energy:
February 24, 2022 Department of Energy News Release
“DOE Releases First-Ever Comprehensive Strategy to Secure America’s Clean Energy Supply Chain”
https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-first-ever-comprehensive-strategy-secure-americas-clean-energy-supply-chain
February 22, 2022 Office of Policy presentation of new REPORT
America’s Strategy to Secure Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition
https://www.energy.gov/policy/securing-americas-clean-energy-supply-chain
Summary given and links provided to Reports & Fact Sheets in thirteen different areas: carbon capture materials, electric grid including high voltage direct current (HVDC); energy storage; fuel cells and electrolyzers; Hydropower including pumped storage hydropower (PSH); neodymium magnets; nuclear energy; platinum group metals & other catalysts; semiconductors; Solar photovoltaics; wind; commercialization and competitiveness; cybersecurity and digital components
February 15, 2022 Department of Energy News Release
“DOE Establishes Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $9.5 Billion Clean Hydrogen Initiatives” – DOE Seeks Public Input on New Hydrogen Hubs, Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing Programs to Decarbonize Industry, Transportation Sectors and Provide Healthier Air for All
https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-establishes-bipartisan-infrastructure-laws-95-billion-clean-hydrogen-initiatives
February 11, 2022 Department of Energy News Release
“Biden Administration, DOE to Invest $3 Billion to Strengthen U.W. Supply Chain for Advanced Batteries for Vehicles and Energy Storage”- Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Fund Projects That Bolster Domestic Battery Manufacturing and Recycling to Support Growing Electric Vehicles and Storage Demand
https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-administration-doe-invest-3-billion-strengthen-us-supply-chain-advanced-batteries
February 11, 2022 Department of Energy News Release
“DOE Establishes $6 Billion Program to Preserve American’s Clean Nuclear Energy Infrastructure” – DOE Seeks Public Input on Executing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program to Ensure Continued Operation of Clean, Reliable Nuclear Energy
https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-establishes-6-billion-program-preserve-americas-clean-nuclear-energy-infrastructure
Available on DeSmog:
February 23, 2022 Article by Julie Dermansky
“One Woman’s Quest to Safeguard Federal Funds Meant to Clean up the Oil and Gas Industry’s Mess”
Available on EENEWS.NET CLIMATEWIRE :
February 4, 2022 Article by Carlos Anchondo
“Major study documents methane ‘ultra-emitters’”
referring to study published Feb. 3, 2022 in the journal Science
REPORT Available on Science :
February 3, 2022 REPORT by T. Lauvaux; C. Giron; M. Mazzolini; A. d’Aspremont; R. Duren; D. Cusworth; D. Shindell; and P. Clais
“Global assessment of oil and gas methane ultra-emitters”
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj4351#tab-contributors
February 2, 2022 Article by Scott Waldman
“How Manchin used politics to protect his coal company”
Available on BusinessWire.com (A Berkshire Hathaway company):
February 3, 2022 Business Wire news article
“Leading Companies Launce Initiative to Support Low-Carbon and Hydrogen Industrial Hub in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220203005153/en/Leading-Companies-Launch-Initiative-to-Support-Low-Carbon-and-Hydrogen-Industrial-Hub-in-Ohio-Pennsylvania-and-West-Virginia
Companies supporting this are listed. Eric Engle noted on Facebook- This is uneconomical and dangerous as shown by the Ohio River Valley Institute and The Science and Environmental Health Network
RESOURCES, RESEARCH, and SOLUTIONS :
Available from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) :
February 28, 2022 Statement by Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair
“Remarks by the IPPC Chair during the press conference to present the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report”
February 27, 2022 NEW REPORT from the Working Group II contributing to the Sixth Assessment Report
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Links provided to report, summaries, Q&A, Facts, Atlas
“Summary for Policymakers Headline Statements” released February 28, 2022
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/resources/spm-headline-statements/
Available from Citizens’ Climate Lobby and reposted with comments Jan, 31, 2022 to Skeptical Science.com
January 27, 2022 Blog Article by Dana Nuccitelli
“Study shows that carbon cashback must be coupled with education”
https://skepticalscience.com/carbon-cashback-coupled-education.html
Available on Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles PSR-LA.org :
February 10, 2022 Article released by PSR-LA
“Danger Ahead: The Public Health Disaster That Awaits From Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)”
Excellent descriptions and explanations about concerns about this topic
Available on the Science & Environmental Health Network (SEHN.org):
February 1, 2022 Article by Carmi Orenstein and Sandra Steingraber, both at SEHN
“The Fracking Science Compendium: to be Released – Soon! – from New Home of Concerned Health Professionals of New York at SEHN”
https://www.sehn.org/sehn/2022/2/1/the-fracking-science-compendium-to-be-releasedsoonfrom-new-home-of-concerned-health-professionals-of-new-york-at-sehn
The 8th edition of the Compendium will shine a spotlight on the environmental injustices of fracking
Available on Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN):
February 3, 2022 Article released by IEN
“10 Executive Actions on Climate President Biden Should Take”
Available on Grist:
February 7, 2022 Article by Eve Andrews about new Report
“Study: Maintenance is a major driver of unaccounted for emissions”
https://grist.org/energy/study-maintenance-is-a-major-driver-of-unaccounted-for-emissions/
– We’ve got a lot of old oil and gas infrastructure, and it’s leakier than we thought. Reference to Science report below:
Available on Green Car Reports:
February 24, 2022 Article by Stephen Edelstein
“Could wind-and-solar towers charge EVs, stabilize the grid?”
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1135143_could-wind-and-solar-towers-charge-evs-stabilize-the-grid?
Available on Electrek:
February 7, 2022 Article by Michelle Lewis
“The US could save $5.6B a year if it switched from coal to solar – study”
Referring to UK study published in the journal, Energy and Environmental Materials
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eem2.12343
January 26, 2021 Article by Michelle Lewis
“Coal-dependent West Virginia gets a $200 million wind farm”
Available from Yale Climate Connections:
February 8, 2022 Article and Audio by Yale Climate Connections Team
“Free online tool identifies climate risks in your neighborhood”
Referring to “Neighborhoods at Risk” free online tool created by Nonprofit research group Headwaters Economics
https://headwaterseconomics.org/apps/neighborhoods-at-risk/
January 25, 2022 Article by Jeff Masters, Ph.D. 2/7/22 with comment to Skeptical Science
“Third-costliest year on record for weather disasters in 2021: $343 billion in damages”
https://skepticalscience.com/third-costliest-year-disasters.html
Available on American Chemical Society ACI (Publications):
January 27, 2022 Published in ACI’s Environmental Science & Technology
STUDY by Eric D Lebel, Colin J. Finnegan, Zutao Ouyang, and Robert B. Jackson
“ Methane and NOx Emissions from Natural Gas Stoves, Cooktops, and Ovens in Residential Homes”
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04707
Last Updated: April 30, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Evolution of climate fight includes faith community
Feb 28, 2022
Eric Engle
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
I usually ignore ridiculous and nonsensical diatribes like a letter to the editor in the Feb. 20 edition of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel titled “Trust God on climate,” but since the author mentioned Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action by name, I feel compelled to respond. I have been in the leadership of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action from its inception six-and-a-half years ago, and I will always defend the wonderful people in this organization against attack.
First of all, I know literally hundreds of people who work tirelessly to address anthropogenic (from the Greek “anthropogenes, meaning “born of man“) global climate change from a faith-based perspective. These people, both as individuals and in collective groups and organizations, have become members of and donated to Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action over the years and have worked as part of other organizations in multiple states as Christians, Jews, Muslims and members of numerous other faith traditions and belief systems to engage in what many of them refer to as “creation care.” They believe the deity or deities they worship call on them to care for this earth and they act upon that belief.
As I have affirmed in these pages many times, I myself am an atheist Humanist. The writer of this letter can threaten me and others like me all he wants with the eternal damnation he believes we’re in for, but these are empty, idle threats of no consequence and are quite juvenile. Anthropogenic global climate change is not waiting for any deity to address it meaningfully. A rapidly warming Arctic and Antarctic, rising seas, record-setting droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, precipitation events, floods, and storms like hurricanes, rapidly acidifying and deoxygenating oceans, habitat losses, species extinctions, crop failures, loss of potable water, the massive spread of vector-borne diseases, desertification and so much more are leading to humanitarian crises, migration events, stress on health care systems and widespread death right now, today. These have been definitively linked to human-caused changes in climate and will indisputably worsen with each fraction of a degree more of warming.
The author repeats long-refuted and discarded talking points like “the climate has always changed” and that we as humans cannot affect the status and trajectory of a global climate system. This is bunk. The greenhouse effect has been well understood since at least the 18th century and is occurring at a rate unprecedented since the dawn of the geological epoch known as the Holocene, during which we evolved, leading many geologists to label our current geological age the Anthropocene — translated from the Greek as anthropo for “man” and cene for “new.” The author subscribes to a creationist notion of the earth being only 6,000 years old, so I guess it’s not surprising that he’d fail to understand this.
The author also seems to lack any understanding of energy use or energy policy. He talks about the foolishness of closing coal-fired power plants and asks why the President of the United States doesn’t just load the White House property down with renewable energy. He also suggests that we members of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action are likely hypocrites who fail to use renewable energy and engage in other sustainable living practices. While it would be nice if the President followed in Jimmy Carter’s footsteps and put a solar array on the White House roof, the President does not have the unilateral ability to site and build any energy installment he likes on White House property. There are laws, rules and regulations for siting and constructing power-producing facilities. There are costs involved (albeit falling costs that are already far cheaper than energy production using coal). As for our members, all of us either have solar arrays and/or have maximized energy efficiency in our dwellings and on our properties, drive hybrids and EVs or don’t have cars at all, are organic gardeners, have eliminated single-use plastics in our consumption patterns, recycle, compost, utilize wind or geothermal or hydro energy or some mix, eat vegan or vegetarian diets, are conservationists and much more. We walk the talk in countless ways.
Rather than writing hateful and willfully ignorant screeds, I’d suggest the author engage in this Information Age and learn more about human-caused climate change, energy generation and energy policy, geologic history, atmospheric physics and so much more. Before impugning others, maybe read more than one book.
***
Eric Engle is Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action board president.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Make friends with a tree
Feb 19, 2022
Nenna Davis
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Shel Silverstein wrote a book called “The Giving Tree” that I would read to my son when he was a wee child. The basic premise of the book is how trees are our friend. For many, trees have provided so much joy for climbing, or a swing or even a treehouse. When I was a child, I remember a particular maple tree in my grandmother’s yard that I considered my summer friend. On lazy summer afternoons it provided a place of solitude and shelter from the hot sun. I loved to lay under the tree and watch the dappled sunlight filter through the leaves. This tree gave me so much pleasure. Trees have always been a part of my life. My mother taught me to appreciate trees for their beauty.
As we continue to fell these beautiful creations, we are adversely affecting our climate. We have spent a great deal of effort in using trees for everything from a source of heat to furniture to housing while not considering the impact of the barren land left behind. This deforestation has had devastating impacts on the wildlife as well as climate. Deforestation can be a planned occurrence like harvesting of timber or felling trees because of insect/disease infestations or from a natural catastrophe such as a wildfire. Quickly responding to such occurrences can help with increased redevelopment of local flora as well as fauna.
Reforestation, or the natural or intentional replacement of the flora of the woodlands and forests is part of the response to these changes that cause climate change.
The Paris Agreement is asking governments around the world to commit to low-carbon emissions. One method is to mitigate carbon emission by reforestation. You may wonder how this will help with climate change. As I have shared before one of the biggest culprits to climate change is carbon emissions. Therefore, if we have remedies to help us with air quality, we may be able to help ourselves remedy climate change.
Around 2000 The Jane Goodall institute started what they titled the Million Tree Project in the Inner Mongolia region of China. China was able to use about 24 million hectares of forest to “offset 20% of Chinese fossil fuel emissions in 2000 and by 2012 had offset the carbon emissions by 33%.” (NASA). The trees become a carbon sink, an area where the carbon from our atmosphere is used and stored by the trees. With the recent fire in the Amazon, the reforestation of these forests would lead to even more absorption of carbon.
The concept of managing forests is not new, but could be a great help in our fight against carbon emissions. The target of the United Nations Strategic Plan for forests is “to increase forest area by 3% by 2030.” Even though reforestation efforts have been established, the goal set is pretty rigorous and most likely will not be achieved in the timeline planned. One of the keys to the reforestation process of forest management is not to only replace the trees, but to provide the same biodiversity that existed before deforestation. Thus, forest management needs to include not only the trees but other flora indigenous to the area.
In 2020 the World Economic Forum, created a Trillion Tree Campaign to plant 1 trillion trees across the globe. These trees would be tailored to the location and the environment. We still have a lot to do.
So, I ask myself what does this mean to me? Well, I can plant trees, most certainly not a forest. But we all can plant trees. Consider planting a tree this Arbor Day, April, 8 or Earth Day, April 22. Consider planting a tree to commemorate your birthday or anniversary. Even consider planting a tree when your child is born, you can watch it grow together. Another way to help conserve wood products and even help with recycling would be to use planks made of recycled plastics to replace your decking or other wooden repairs.
As for the tree in my grandmother’s backyard — When I grew up and visited it later, it seemed smaller than I had remembered it, but it did still provide the same joy it had given me as a child. Eventually it was taken down because the shade, which I had loved as a child, was detrimental to the roof of the house. My tree had met the same end as “The Giving Tree.”
***
Nenna Davis has a bachelor’s degree in zoology/botany, and a master’s degree in organizational communication.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: A little cleanup makes a big difference
Feb 12, 2022
Reed Byers
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
As the snow melts and we draw closer to the brighter days of Spring, I’ve begun to feel some relief. Relief not in the sense of wishing the winter away, but from the opportunity and inspiration Spring can often provide. I’ve learned that winter is an ideal time to plan for the wonders that spring can bring. With firm ground, longer days, and new perspective I’m looking forward to us all joining together outdoors in the coming months.
Last time I wrote, I emphasized the importance of focusing on our local environment and illustrated the impact that volunteerism can have on our community. I extended an offer to the community to organize a neighborhood cleanup in an effort to make a tangible difference in the world around us. Considering we were headed into what has been a snow- and ice-filled winter at the time of publication, it was no surprise that I haven’t been contacted by any readers yet. Thankfully, we are at a time where clearer weather is in sight and the holidays are behind us.
I’d like to thank the group of volunteers that generously gave their time to assist Parkersburg City Councilwoman Wendy Tuck and me with a small neighborhood cleanup in District 4. With everyone’s help we were able to remove well over 10 bags of trash from areas of 14th Street, Lynn Street, and St. Marys Avenue. It was very encouraging to witness the transformation a neighborhood can make in just a few hours with a small group of people. It was also very sobering to observe the amount of trash in the areas we were unable to reach. It will take a sustained effort over time to beautify Parkersburg and I am confident that our community will continue to step up and take action to make the Mid-Ohio Valley a more desirable place to live.
If you’ve seen trash in your neighborhood or surrounding areas, how does that make you feel? Do you contemplate your duty to do something about it? Or does it shift your attitude toward one of lost hope for our neighbors? Would you like to be part of the solution but don’t know where to start? I implore you to consider how big an effect a small piece of waste can have on our neighborhood, emotions, perceptions, behavior, and life in general. The ability to overlook a problem and the tendency become complacent in our actions leads to problems that we cannot estimate or measure.
Beginning Feb. 20, each Sunday at 1 p.m. feel free to join us at 13th and Avery streets to take some small steps towards leading by action and treating our community in a way that models stewardship and responsibility to all.
Hopefully, through concerted positive efforts like these, we create an atmosphere of unity — a communal force of individuals that isn’t concerned about differences or disagreements, only creating solutions, together.
It is my vision and belief that by starting on common ground, we open the door toward solutions for the greater problems we are facing in our society and the world.
Be sure to follow Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action on Facebook and join our group to stay up to date on climate related issues.
Please RSVP for our cleanup at 304-812-2884 or reedbyers18@gmail.com. If you have ideas for ways to improve our community through action, please reach out. I am happy to help in any way I can.
Until greener days.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Let the Games begin
Feb 5, 2022
Giulia Mannarino
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
More than 2,700 years ago, in Olympia, Greece, the words “Let the games begin” were spoken to start what has become a global sports and cultural event known as the Olympic Games. This past summer the postponed (due to Covid) 2020 Tokyo Olympics were held, and the 2022 Beijing Olympics will be under way Feb. 4-20. The group that is responsible for supervising, supporting and monitoring the organization of the Olympic Games is the International Olympic Committee.
The not-for-profit, independent, volunteer IOC was established in June 1894. Today, it is a “carbon-neutral” (net zero carbon dioxide emissions) organization that has a strong commitment to not only “building a better world through sport” but also helping the world address the climate crisis. Their headquarters, Olympic House, in Lausanne, Switzerland, is one of the most sustainable buildings in the world. The IOC also has a fleet of 8 hydrogen cars as well as one of the first hydrogen stations in Lausanne, which supplies them with hydrogen sourced from renewable energy. It’s ambition is to become a “climate-positive” organization, meaning that the carbon savings they create will exceed the potential negative impacts of their operations. On March 4, 2020, the IOC’s Executive Board met and announced two important decisions that will help them achieve that goal.
One of the decisions announced was that, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program, the IOC will contribute to the Great Green Wall project in Africa, an initiative to combat the effects of desertification. This project will support communities in Africa’s Sahel region working toward the sustainable use of forest, range lands and other natural resources. Led by the African Union, the initiative brings together more than 20 countries. The epic result will be an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of Africa that will improve food security and help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change. The IOC’s contribution will include the planting of an Olympic Forest from 2021 on.
“Climate change is a challenge of unprecedented proportions and it requires an unprecedented response,” said President Thomas Bach. “Looking ahead, we want to do more than reducing and compensating our own impact. We want to ensure that, in sport, we are at the forefront of the global efforts to address climate change and leave a tangible, positive legacy for the planet. Creating an Olympic Forest will be one way in which we will work to achieve this goal.”
The IOC’s involvement in the initiative creates opportunities for athletes and other organizations within the Olympic Movement to contribute to it as well.
The Great Green Wall project is not the IOC’s only collaboration with the United Nations. In 2018, in a partnership with U.N. Climate Change, the IOC launched the “Sports for Climate Action Framework.” Signatories to this framework take responsibility for their organization’s carbon footprint and identify commitments and strategies to achieve specific climate goals. Almost 100 sports organizations joined within the first year of launch and there are, across the globe, over 340 sports organizations now involved. The IOC also supports Olympic athletes in their individual efforts to combat climate change. An example is Hannah Mills, a member of the British sailing team who won a gold medal in Rio in 2016. Her concern over the fact that our oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050 led her to establish the “Big Plastic Pledge” campaign that has the goal of eradicating single use plastics in sports.
The other decision announced by the IOC’s Executive Board on that day was that all Olympic Games will be climate positive from 2030 on. After 2030, the carbon savings created by the Olympic events will exceed the potential negative impacts of their overall operations. The IOC and Olympic games have been actively addressing climate change since 2014 when sustainability was adopted as one of the three pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020, a reform program introduced by President Bach. Since that time, the IOC has been working with the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games to ensure sustainability principles are embedded across its activities as an organization and that all Olympic Games are carbon neutral and have a significantly reduced carbon footprint.
Tokyo 2020 committed to prioritizing the use of renewable energy and compensating unavoidable emissions. Its carbon offsetting program considered the full scope of emissions related to the Games including the construction of permanent and temporary venues, as well as Games operations, such as the transportation of athletes, officials and spectators. Carbon neutrality is also the objective of Beijing 2022 which has committed to using 100 per cent renewable energy for all Olympic venues. The first Olympic Games to fully benefit from Olympic agenda 2020 will be Paris 2024. From the outset, each stage of the Paris Olympics has been designed with sustainability in mind. Milano Cortina 2026 and LA 2028 also have committed in their Host City contracts to achieve carbon neutrality.
Of course, there would be no Olympic Games without the participation of the athletes. These individuals, supported by coaches, families and sponsors, devote part of their lives to their goal of an Olympic medal. Regardless of the season, global warming is impacting all aspects of human activity including sports. The athletes involved as well as the host cities are having to make adaptations for present conditions. Tokyo 2020, which was held July 23 to August 8, 2021, was one of, if not the, hottest and most humid Games on record. Temperatures reaching the high 80’s/90’s with high humidity made all events high risk. To mitigate the effects of the heat, starting times were changed to later in the day and access to shade and water sprays was improved. Amid the heat concerns, some events were moved away from Tokyo. The marathon took place almost 500 miles North in Sapporo where temperatures were cooler and the course was covered with a reflective layer to cut pavement temperature. Despite these measures, all sports were impacted and all athletes, as well as officials, were at risk of sunburn, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cognitive impairment and dehydration. These border line dangerous conditions put extreme strain on the athletes and certainly effected their performance with several athletes needing medical attention.
The upcoming Beijing Olympics will also be putting the impacts of climate change on display. It will be the first winter Olympic Games to use almost 100% artificial snow to cover ski slopes. In their sustainability report, the OCOG claims the “smart snow making system” uses 20% less water than traditional snow machines and most of the water used is recycled or rain water. But man-made snow doesn’t act the same as natural snow. It gets icier faster and is much firmer. A report written by researchers from the Sport Ecology Group at Loughborough University and Protect Our Winters environment group notes, “This is not only energy and water intensive, frequently using chemicals to slow melt but also delivers a surface that many competitors say is unpredictable and potentially dangerous.”
Global warming is also reducing the number of climatically suitable host venues for winter Olympics. In a 2018 study by Canada’s University of Waterloo it was determined that by 2050 less than half of 21 cities that have hosted these events will be cold enough to host games again. Although being outside in the natural mountains is a large part of a ski experience, skiing indoors may become the norm. Dubai has opened the first indoor ski resort in the Mid East.
Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to host sporting events like the Olympics. The fact that the not-for-profit IOC is concerned about the problem and doing more than its fair share to address it is heartening. What is disheartening; however, is that the fossil fuel industry does not have that same sense of duty and continues to disregard their responsibility for man made global warming. This polluting for-profit industry and their evil corporate billionaire CEOs continue to put profits before people. This is truly unfortunate, not only for the future of the Olympic Games, but for the future of our planet and our grandchildren.
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