Apr 9, 2022
Linda Eve Seth
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
In a world of more than seven billion people, each of us is a drop in the bucket. But with enough drops, we can fill any bucket. — David Suzuki
***
As our climate changes, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense; sea levels are rising, prolonged droughts are impacting food crops, and many animal and plant species are being driven to extinction. It’s hard to imagine what we as individuals can do to resolve a problem of this scale and severity.
The following suggestions, while all valuable and do-able, are simplistic and just scratch the surface of what individuals can do to help the planet.
GO CAR-FREE: This is one of the most effective actions an individual can take. Cars are more polluting compared to other means of transportation like walking, biking, public transportation.
Walk, ride your bike, take a bus, ride-share with neighbors, travel less, combine errands. Try doing them each on just one day each week. Choose more efficient vehicles and, whenever possible, switch to electric vehicles
CHANGE YOUR DIET: After fossil fuels, the food industry — especially the meat and dairy sector — is one of the most important contributors to climate change. The meat industry contributes to global warming in three ways: cows’ burping releases lots of methane, a greenhouse gas. Secondly, we feed them with other potential sources of food, like maize and soy, which makes for a very inefficient process. And they require lots of water, fertilizers that can release greenhouse gases, and plenty of land — increasing amounts of which come from cleared forests, another source of carbon emissions. To make your diet more climate-friendly:
Eat more meat-free meals
Buy organic and local whenever possible
Don’t waste food
Grow your own
You don’t have to go vegetarian or vegan to make a difference; cut down gradually. By reducing your consumption of animal protein by half, you can cut your diet’s carbon footprint by more than 40%?
USE ENERGY WISELY: By becoming more energy-efficient, you pollute less and save money too.
Swap your furnace for a heat pump, which extracts heat from one location and transfers it to another.
Install a programmable thermostat. Let the house remain cooler/warmer when no one is at home.
Swap your gas stove for an electric stove, which actually lowers indoor air pollution.
Unplug energy vampires (computers, printers, TVs, other electronics) when you’re not using them.
Wash clothes in cold water. Hang-dry your clothes when you can and use dryer balls when you can’t (they help fluff and dry your clothes).
Winterize your home to prevent heat from escaping and to keep it cool in the summer without an air conditioner.
Change to energy-efficient light bulbs.
URGE THE GOVERNMENT — SPEAK OUT: Write letters and emails, make phone calls, attend meetings … encourage our legislators and officials to take bold, ambitious climate action now. Voting is important. Keeping action going at governmental levels and national levels to fight climate change is critical.
Join the members of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action in calling on our government to cooperate and encourage more action on climate change with the urgency this crisis requires.
Where climate change is concerned — KIDS COUNT! Young people can write notes asking for more pro-climate actions. Their voices may be especially impactful when heard by local officials like mayors and city council members.
While climate change won’t be solved by one individual’s buying or driving habits alone, these actions are important and can influence others to make changes, too. Studies have demonstrated that when one family makes a conscious, helpful change designed to aid in slowing climate change, others around them will also become motivated to undertake similar changes in their daily habits. By doing some of the things we’ve mentioned here, you and your family can become citizen climate leaders.
Whether you are a farmer in Colombia or a homeowner in West Virginia, climate change will have an impact on your life. Your actions will influence the planet for the coming decades — for better or for worse.
You can take action NOW. You can make a difference NOW.
Until next time, be kind to your Mother Earth.
***
Linda Eve Seth, SLP, M.Ed. is a mother, grandmother, concerned citizen and member of MOVCA.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Capitalism and cancer
May 7, 2022
Randi Pokladnik
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Twenty years ago, I lost my mother to cancer. She died two months before her 70th birthday. Her cancer had already progressed to stage 3 by the time of her diagnosis.
At first it was hard to believe she was sick. She looked perfectly healthy but her oncologist informed us cancer cells had been slowly growing inside her body for many years.
Our family wanted to know what caused my mom’s cancer. Her lifestyle wasn’t one that might have led to the development of cancer. Her oncologist told us that “unfortunately these tumors do not come with labels,” however, he pointed out that my mom, like many of his other patients, was born and raised in the heavily industrialized Ohio River Valley. There were few regulations in place in the 1930s and 1940s to protect human health and the environment.
The National Institute of Health Sciences reports more than two-thirds of cancer is from environmental exposures to substances including pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, benzene, dioxins, and vinyl chlorides.
My folks moved from Steubenville, Ohio, (a city once noted as having the dirtiest air in the nation) to Toronto, Ohio, in 1962. In 1970, Weirton Steel began construction of its coke ovens on Brown’s Island just outside Toronto’s city limits. Coke ovens heat coal to high temperatures to remove sticky coal tars. These tarry substances are collected and used to make various aromatic solvents like benzene, which are carcinogenic.
The coke plant drew national attention in late 1972 when 21 workers were killed in an explosion at the construction site. Our home, which was less than a mile away, was rocked by the explosion. By 1982, the plant was shut down. However, the pollution in the form of coal tars and benzene containing compounds remained.
Like many people who are diagnosed with terminal cancer, my mom was willing to try anything to gain a few more months. But once the cancer spread, she had to admit she wasn’t going to beat it. She would not see her grandkids grow up or see another birthday, she wouldn’t celebrate another Mother’s Day with us. She lost her hair, her life savings, her dignity and eventually her life.
We will never know for sure if living in the Ohio Valley contributed to my mom’s cancer, but our next-door neighbor died at the age of 14 from leukemia and another friend died at the age of 11 from stomach cancer.
For years the petrochemical industry has discounted the connection of environmental toxins to cancer and they continue to deny the major role they play in the climate crisis. Many consumers are unaware of the risks associated with these toxic products, which include many personal care products, cleaning products, and lawn and garden chemicals.
Countless studies show forever chemicals known as polyfluoroalkyl substances, “PFAS,” are now basically found everywhere on the planet. These compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and numerous other diseases.
Environmental Lawyer, Rob Bilott said in a recent interview, “one of the things we found in the internal files of the main manufacturer of the chemical PFOS was that this company was well aware by the 1970s that PFOS was being found in the general U.S. population’s blood and was being found at fairly significant levels.” Yet the manufacturers failed to share this information with citizens.
In July 2021, a report by Physicians for Social Responsibility presented evidence that oil and gas companies have been using PFAS, or substances that can degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing. Ignoring the toxicity associated with fracking fluids and claiming a need for “energy independence,” local, state and federal politicians are calling for more fracking.
Corporate CEOs and cancer cells have this in common; their main goal is growth. The collateral damage is of no concern to them so long as their stock values climb. Scientists frantically warn us we are devastating fragile ecosystems and warming the planet to dangerous temperatures. Still CEOs, media, and politicians ignore the warnings.
Many people, including scientists, have become as desperate as cancer patients; searching for an answer, a cure, some way to stop the death of our planet. It was devastating to watch my mother slip away bit by bit until she was barely recognizable. It’s also devastating to watch the only habitable planet in our solar system, the one that harbors so many marvelous creatures and ecosystems, being killed by corporate greed and a dysfunctional economic system that requires the consumption of Mother Earth to make a buck.
***
Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in Environmental Studies and is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Thank you, Mr. Bruce
Apr 30, 2022
Aaron Dunbar
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
I’d like to take a moment to honor the sacrifice of the late Wynn Alan Bruce, who departed this life following an act of self-immolation outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building this Earth Day. Bruce, a Shambhala Buddhist and photojournalist, is described by friends and family as having been a kind and compassionate man, as well as deeply concerned about the environment and the ecological breakdown of Earth’s biosphere.
“This guy was my friend,” wrote Zen priest and climate scientist Kritee Kanko. “He meditated with our sangha. This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis.”
Unsurprisingly, Bruce’s final actions have been met with criticism from some, mockery from others, as well as questions regarding the legitimacy of self-immolation as a form of demonstration. I neither endorse nor condemn the act of self-immolation, but I would strongly argue the attempt to delegitimize it as a form of demonstration is, itself, illegitimate.
Bruce’s actions appear to have been inspired in part by the demonstrations of Vietnamese monks throughout the 1960s and 70s. Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, of whom Bruce was an admirer, once wrote to Dr. Martin Luther King of such individuals:
“The self-burning of Vietnamese Buddhist monks in 1963 is somehow difficult for the Western Christian conscience to understand. The Press spoke then of suicide, but in the essence, it is not. It is not even a protest. What the monks said in the letters they left before burning themselves aimed only at alarming, at moving the hearts of the oppressors and at calling the attention of the world to the suffering endured then by the Vietnamese. To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful than burning oneself. To say something while experiencing this kind of pain is to say it with the utmost of courage, frankness, determination and sincerity. During the ceremony of ordination, as practiced in the Mahayana tradition, the monk-candidate is required to burn one, or more, small spots on his body in taking the vow to observe the 250 rules of a bhikshu, to live the life of a monk, to attain enlightenment and to devote his life to the salvation of all beings. One can, of course, say these things while sitting in a comfortable armchair; but when the words are uttered while kneeling before the community of sangha and experiencing this kind of pain, they will express all the seriousness of one’s heart and mind, and carry much greater weight.”
What Wynn Alan Bruce had to say with his final act in this life was indeed of the utmost importance, expressed in as stark and compassionate a way as possible. Aside from nuclear war, there is no greater threat faced by civilization today than runaway, irreversible climate change
Day by day, the prospect of an unlivable planet for future, and in many places present generations, becomes more a reality. On the same day Wynn Alan Bruce’s life came to an end, U.N. Secretary General Anonio Guterres made it clear the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters must begin drastically reducing emissions within the next 36 weeks, in order to have a hope of averting climate catastrophe.
This comes as the U.S. Supreme Court, the apparent intended recipient of Bruce’s message, considers the case of West Virginia v. EPA, a suit pertaining to the Clean Air Act, with the court’s right wing extremist judges appearing poised to slash the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
As the crisis of climate change grows more and more alarming, and as the stakes become higher and higher, the industrialized world proves itself not only incapable of adapting to difficult circumstances, but indeed, bound and determined to exacerbate and accelerate its destruction every step of the way.
It is my sincerest hope the actions of Wynn Alan Bruce are not relegated to the misguided efforts of an insane man, but are instead accurately seen as the deeply compassionate actions of a kind and clear-eyed individual, as we, the living, continue with the true insanity of setting the world aflame, relentlessly fanning the fires as we watch our only home burn to the ground around us.
Thank you, Mr. Bruce, for your sacrifice. May you rest in peace, and may we keep your message forever at heart as we consider what manner of world we wish to create for ourselves, and for the children of future generations.
***
Aaron Dunbar is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: May 4, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Engage, inform on climate change
Apr 23, 2022
George Banziger
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
After the 52nd annual Earth Day we should celebrate by striving to get more people engaged in action to address climate change. A majority of Americans accept the fact that global warming is happening (72%) and that it is caused by humans (57%); furthermore, a majority (65%) also believes that corporations should pay a carbon tax (Yale Program on Climate Change Education, 2019).
But these survey responses do not translate into concerted action in the population and resultant legislative action by our lawmakers. Perhaps we should be mobilizing people with more facts about the impacts of climate change. Such incontrovertible facts include: the oceans are rising, becoming warmer, and more acidic; glaciers are disappearing at alarming rates (especially in the northern hemisphere), extreme weather is becoming more frequent, costly, and disastrous.
In response to these facts and to other influences, Americans are divided into six groups: alarmists (33%), concerned (26%), cautious (17%), disengaged ( 5%), doubtful (11%) and dismissive (9%) (Global Warming’s Six Americas, Leiserowitz & Maibach). Alarmists, the fastest growing group, are the most engaged in climate action; concerned are keenly aware of the dangers of climate change but are not yet fully mobilized; the cautious are persuadable but not yet fully convinced about climate; change; the disengaged are not attentive to the issue, and the dismissive are the active deniers of climate change.
Our political world has become highly polarized, and climate change is fully enveloped in this polarization. Facts are important, but they are not enough. The problem with facts is that in our highly divisive political context of “them versus us,” facts about climate change are, on the one hand, readily accepted or, on the other hand, resisted, denied, refuted or reinterpreted.
In her book, Saving Us, Katherine Hayhoe writes that opinions on climate change are driven less by facts and more by values, ideologies, world views and political orientation. Dr Hayhoe, an evangelical environmental scientist, urges those in the alarmist group, when speaking to someone from one of the non-alarmist groups, to find out what that person might be interested in and build on that personal interest. For example, a hunter might be touched by facts about the decline in habitat of wild animals; a scuba diver might be attentive to the depletion of coral reefs and its effect on marine life; and a beer lover might be interested in the fact that beer companies are taking action on climate change because of threats of climate change to barley and malt harvests.
As a devoted Christian, Hayhoe is sensitive to the importance of seeking some common ground with other Christians on climate change, White evangelicals are among the least concerned with climate change. She points out that the word “dominion” in the Book of Genesis does not refer to domination but to stewardship. Nothing is more Christian than to be good stewards of the planet and to love the global neighbor as oneself.
Human agency is an important part of many faith traditions including Christianity. An individual can make a difference, especially when working in concert with others and as a model to others who are in the cautious and concerned categories. An individual can adjust his/her thermostat (reducing a couple of degrees in the winter and raising a couple of degrees in the summer), can use renewable energy when possible, can car pool or take pubic transit, recycle, cut back on plane trips, reduce consumption of red meat.
It is important for the climate activist, i.e., alarmist, not to be obsessed with the dismissive category but to deal constructively with the other 91% who are persuadable to taking action on climate change. Besides the climate groups I am affiliated with, I am also a member of Braver Angels (braverangels.org) , a group dedicated to bridging the political divide. In their workshops Braver Angels encourages those of opposing viewpoints to actively listen to each other, to reflect what the other is trying to say, to avoid direct refutation, to find common ground, and to seek a sustainable personal relationship with the political other. These principles of bridging the divide also apply aptly to coming together on climate change. If we don’t convince the political other to take action on climate change, we can at least reach a better understanding between opposing groups.
***
George Banziger, Ph..D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a volunteer for the Mid-Ohio Valley Interfaith, and Harvest of Hope. He is a member of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, Citizens Climate Lobby, Braver Angels, and of the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Youth vs. government
Apr 16, 2022
Giulia Mannarino
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Across the globe, youth are dissatisfied with their governments’ responses to the climate crisis. Recently, Lancet Planet Health published a report about the first large-scale investigation of climate anxiety in young people and its relationship with perceived government response. Ten thousand young people (ages 16-25) in ten countries were surveyed. The findings show climate anxiety and dissatisfaction with government responses are widespread in young people everywhere and this negatively impacts their daily lives. Another study published in a recent issue of Science shows an inter-generational inequality of climate change. This study determined the average six-year-old of today will endure many more environmental disasters than their grandparents. It was estimated children born in 2020 will experience a two- to seven-times increase in extreme events, particularly heat waves, compared with people born in 1960.
This issue of fairness across generations has “fueled” a surge of global climate protests led by youth as well as climate litigation filed on their behalf. Young people are taking their countries to court over their failure to address the climate crisis. All cases make the similar argument that the climate crisis compromised their basic rights to life, water and health. Research like that noted above help strengthen arguments in court for harms caused by governments. And there have been some victories!
In April of last year, German youth activists won a rewrite of the country’s emission laws after they argued the previous plan was insufficient. In Portugal, six young people are taking their country and 32 of the most polluting European governments to court over the climate change risks that threaten their health and future. The case filed in 2020 with the European Court of Human Rights has been fast-tracked and could see a ruling by next year.
Here in the U.S. youth climate crisis lawsuits have been filed in many states. A case filed in Montana had a recent victory. The constitutional climate lawsuit, Held v. State of Montana, filed March 13, 2020 by 16 youth from across the state, asserts that by supporting a fossil fuel-driven energy system which is contributing to the climate crisis, Montana is violating their constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment; to seek safety, health, and happiness; and to individual dignity and equal protection of the law. The youth plaintiffs also argue the state’s fossil fuel energy system is degrading and depleting Montana’s constitutionally protected public trust resources, including the atmosphere, rivers and lakes, and fish and wildlife. On Aug. 4, 2021, in a historic decision, Judge Kathy Seeley ruled the youth plaintiffs could proceed to trial. Scheduled for Feb. 6-17, 2023, Held v. State of Montana will be the first ever children’s climate trial in U.S. history!
The groundbreaking constitutional climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, was filed Aug. 12, 2015. That complaint, filed by 21 youth aged 11-22, from different states and cultural backgrounds, asserts the U.S. government had willfully acted over six decades to create the climate crisis, thus endangering their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property. Going up against evidence from climatologists, whistle blowers, scientific experts, and the testimonies of the plaintiffs, the government took extraordinary measures to get the case dismissed. But these empowered youth refused to back down. They are awaiting a ruling on their Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint and the Motion to Intervene filed by 18 states. Regardless of the court’s decision, future generations have a right to a livable future and it is our moral duty to ensure those who come after us have clean air, water and a stable climate.
The monumental legal battle of these courageous youth against the world’s most powerful government is detailed in the film “YOUTH v GOV.” The movie follows the courageous young Americans suing to protect their constitutional rights to a stable climate and demanding a recovery plan that will stabilize the crisis they’ve inherited. Producer/Director, Christie Cooper, in addition to being a film maker, is a PhD scientist. In keeping with their Faith Climate Action Week theme of “Our children’s right to a livable future,” Interfaith Power and Light has an agreement with the filmmakers of “YOUTH v GOV” to make the documentary available for special screenings to faith communities.
The Green Sanctuary Committee of First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta will be hosting a virtual screening via Zoom April 21 at 7 p.m. Interested people must register in advance at https://tinyurl.com/2jrry85c to receive a confirmation email with a link to the screening.
***
Giulia Mannarino, of Belleville, is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: What can one person do?
Apr 9, 2022
Linda Eve Seth
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
In a world of more than seven billion people, each of us is a drop in the bucket. But with enough drops, we can fill any bucket. — David Suzuki
***
As our climate changes, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense; sea levels are rising, prolonged droughts are impacting food crops, and many animal and plant species are being driven to extinction. It’s hard to imagine what we as individuals can do to resolve a problem of this scale and severity.
The following suggestions, while all valuable and do-able, are simplistic and just scratch the surface of what individuals can do to help the planet.
GO CAR-FREE: This is one of the most effective actions an individual can take. Cars are more polluting compared to other means of transportation like walking, biking, public transportation.
Walk, ride your bike, take a bus, ride-share with neighbors, travel less, combine errands. Try doing them each on just one day each week. Choose more efficient vehicles and, whenever possible, switch to electric vehicles
CHANGE YOUR DIET: After fossil fuels, the food industry — especially the meat and dairy sector — is one of the most important contributors to climate change. The meat industry contributes to global warming in three ways: cows’ burping releases lots of methane, a greenhouse gas. Secondly, we feed them with other potential sources of food, like maize and soy, which makes for a very inefficient process. And they require lots of water, fertilizers that can release greenhouse gases, and plenty of land — increasing amounts of which come from cleared forests, another source of carbon emissions. To make your diet more climate-friendly:
Eat more meat-free meals
Buy organic and local whenever possible
Don’t waste food
Grow your own
You don’t have to go vegetarian or vegan to make a difference; cut down gradually. By reducing your consumption of animal protein by half, you can cut your diet’s carbon footprint by more than 40%?
USE ENERGY WISELY: By becoming more energy-efficient, you pollute less and save money too.
Swap your furnace for a heat pump, which extracts heat from one location and transfers it to another.
Install a programmable thermostat. Let the house remain cooler/warmer when no one is at home.
Swap your gas stove for an electric stove, which actually lowers indoor air pollution.
Unplug energy vampires (computers, printers, TVs, other electronics) when you’re not using them.
Wash clothes in cold water. Hang-dry your clothes when you can and use dryer balls when you can’t (they help fluff and dry your clothes).
Winterize your home to prevent heat from escaping and to keep it cool in the summer without an air conditioner.
Change to energy-efficient light bulbs.
URGE THE GOVERNMENT — SPEAK OUT: Write letters and emails, make phone calls, attend meetings … encourage our legislators and officials to take bold, ambitious climate action now. Voting is important. Keeping action going at governmental levels and national levels to fight climate change is critical.
Join the members of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action in calling on our government to cooperate and encourage more action on climate change with the urgency this crisis requires.
Where climate change is concerned — KIDS COUNT! Young people can write notes asking for more pro-climate actions. Their voices may be especially impactful when heard by local officials like mayors and city council members.
While climate change won’t be solved by one individual’s buying or driving habits alone, these actions are important and can influence others to make changes, too. Studies have demonstrated that when one family makes a conscious, helpful change designed to aid in slowing climate change, others around them will also become motivated to undertake similar changes in their daily habits. By doing some of the things we’ve mentioned here, you and your family can become citizen climate leaders.
Whether you are a farmer in Colombia or a homeowner in West Virginia, climate change will have an impact on your life. Your actions will influence the planet for the coming decades — for better or for worse.
You can take action NOW. You can make a difference NOW.
Until next time, be kind to your Mother Earth.
***
Linda Eve Seth, SLP, M.Ed. is a mother, grandmother, concerned citizen and member of MOVCA.
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
The war we cannot afford to lose
Marietta Times
Apr 6, 2022
Dr. Randi Pokladnik
Dr. Svitlana Krakovska, a Ukrainian climate scientist and member of the International Panel on Climate Change recently said, “Human induced climate change and the war on Ukraine have the same roots, fossil fuels, and our dependence on them,” Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels from Russia is “funding the war” in Ukraine.
Russia, the second largest producer of natural gas, has been accused of using the resource in a geopolitical way against European countries dependent on its gas.
Europe views the worsening situation in Ukraine as justification to double up its investments in renewable energy and cut Europe’s demand for natural gas. The IEA and EU leaders want to fast-track permitting for wind and solar projects, revisit decisions to phase out nuclear energy, and double the rate of conversions from natural gas boilers to electric heat pumps in buildings.”
However, oil and gas companies in the US, along with many politicians including Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Bill Johnson of Ohio CD 6 are using the war to rationalize more drilling and fracking in the US, basically, ignoring the real war at our doorstep; the war for a livable planet. Natural Resource Chair Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) said in a recent op-ed, “Doubling down on fossil fuels is a false solution that only perpetuates the problems that got us here in the first place.”
The newly released UN Climate Report clearly shows we are losing the battle against climate change. UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteras said “the evidence detailed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is unlike anything he has ever seen, it is an “atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.”
Make no mistake, we all are witnessing a war; a war waged on our planet by the fossil fuel industry and those who benefit financially from these industries. Like most wars, money is needed to fund this endeavor. Federal taxpayer-funded grants, subsidies, and tax incentives help fuel the climate crisis by providing financial incentives for continued extraction.
“Conservative estimates put U.S. direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry at roughly $20 billion per year, with 20 percent currently allocated to coal and 80 percent to natural gas and crude oil.”
Just like a conventional war, propaganda and lies are used to mold public opinion. “The fossil fuel industry has perpetrated a multi-decade, multibillion dollar disinformation propaganda and lobbying campaign to delay climate action by confusing the public and policymakers about the climate crisis and its solutions.”
It is difficult to win a war when the cards are stacked against you, but the war for a livable planet is one we cannot afford to lose. It is time to demand renewable energy and stop subsidizing the companies responsible for the destruction of our planet. As Dr. Svitlana Krakovska of Ukraine said, “We will not surrender in Ukraine, and we hope the world will not surrender in building a climate-resilient future.”
Dr. Randi Pokladnik
Uhrichsville
Last Updated: April 28, 2023 by main_y0ke11
The fossil fuel quandary
Marietta Times
Apr 5, 2022
Vic Elam
Much is being made nowadays about a perception that the United States needs to increase fossil fuel production in the form of natural gas (methane) and oil production. The argument being that because of sanctions, we no longer receive oil from Russia and that we must, therefore, make up for that loss by producing more domestically. Another argument is that for Germany to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, we must again produce more domestically to ship to Germany. Furthermore, arguments have been made, that pipelines previously halted for environmental reasons, must now be fast tracked to completion to facilitate the transport of Canadian tar sands oil and for the transport of natural gas to coastal areas for shipment overseas.
Another school of thought is that we should heed the warnings of climate scientists and push hard at converting our fossil fuel dependency and replacing it with cleaner, greener, cheaper alternatives in the form of renewable energy such as solar and wind power. There are arguments for and against this transition to renewable energy and just as with fossil fuels there is a lot of misinformation. Thorough effort to verify the information presented has been made.
The argument for increasing natural gas production for exportation really doesn’t work. Even if pipelines were in place to bring natural gas to seaports, the gas would need to be converted to liquified natural gas for shipping and additional capacity to complete that conversion would have to be constructed. Construction would take substantial time; I don’t think anyone has a good handle on how long – how may have been impacted by the inability to get needed parts in this post-covid world? Also, the liquified natural gas would have to be converted back to gaseous form in Europe and facility capacity for that is lacking as well.
Similarly, increasing domestic oil production is not a quick process, nor is completing pipelines to transport oil. The dilemma is that as we try to move toward reducing our contribution of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, we are at odds with the sudden need to increase fossil fuel supplies. Further complicating the issue is that easily accessible fossil fuel reserves have long been depleted and extraordinary measures are required to extract remaining fuel reserves. The measures necessary to reach remaining reserves are often environmentally damaging as well.
The renewable energy advocates point to environmental harm from extracting remaining fossil fuel reserves, the climate change concerns from burning those fuels, the lives lost from fighting over fossil fuel reserves and more. The transition to renewable energy will take some time, yet climate scientists will tell you that time has about run out.
So, what’s a person to do. I like to put challenges like this through a cost benefit analysis. Simplified, my analysis looks like this: ramping up of fossil fuel production has many negative ramifications that are of a magnitude that we are really, just beginning to fully recognize. For increasing renewable energy, the ramifications are all positive except for the delay, and high fuel prices, which are artificially high but that is a whole different conversation.
Pushing aside our transition to renewable energy would be a huge mistake and ramping up domestic production is like hitting your thumb with a hammer to cure a headache – you might forget about your headache for a while, but it’s still there and now you have a sore thumb as well. Let’s do the right thing and move to a bright future free from our reliance on fossil fuels, if we put our minds to it, we can do it and the world will be a much better place for it.
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.
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