Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
March 23, 2021 Article by Eric de Place, research fellow, about new report
Higher prices needed to save Appalachian natural gas, but industry faces pressure from decarbonization and uncertain petrochemical markets.
JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania, March 23, 2021 – New gas field developments in Appalachia are unlikely to be profitable as the US energy system undergoes rapid decarbonization, according to a new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center (SEI) and the Ohio River Valley Institute. Rosy industry projections of a gas-fueled petrochemical buildout led many Appalachian communities to bank on job growth that never arrived and now may never materialize.
The report, “Risks for New Natural Gas Development in Appalachia” is the first quantitative assessment of how Appalachia’s gas industry would fare in a low carbon future, and it spells trouble for an already troubled industry. The report is also the most detailed publicly-available analysis of the future prospects for natural gas development in the region. The authors analyzed 200 prospective gas projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, using data from Rystad Energy, a leading energy research and business intelligence agency. By assessing each field’s capital and operating costs — as well as the gas prices necessary to keep such fields profitable — the authors found that the gas industry in Appalachia is vulnerable to sustained, low prices of domestic gas and natural gas liquids.
“Our analysis shows that gas expansion in Appalachia is a risky investment,” said the report’s lead author, Peter Erickson, a senior scientist and Climate Policy Program Director with SEI. “The calculations show that new gas developments face an array of serious financial risks that could render extraction from Marcellus gas fields unprofitable in the coming years.”
The report finds that a rapidly decarbonizing economy — a specific policy aim of President Biden — would severely undermine the profitability of Appalachian gas development, resulting in reduced production. Lower gas production would in turn crimp the production of natural gas byproducts, like ethane, that serve as feedstocks for the region’s much-hyped petrochemical buildout, which is already facing stiff headwinds from competitor regions and an evolving market for consumer plastics.
“Communities in Appalachia know firsthand what happens when leaders fail to plan for markets that are moving away from fossil fuels,” said Joanne Kilgour, executive director of the Ohio River Valley Institute. “We already know that fracking has failed to deliver prosperity for the local communities that produce the gas. This report makes it clear that the region should plan for real economic development that can flourish in the 21st century.”
SEI’s analysis corroborates the views of Wall Street investors and credit ratings agencies that have soured on the gas industry based on its inability to generate reliable profits. And it reinforces concerns expressed by experts from finance, policymaking, and the oil and gas industry in a recent forum sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Institute.
“With the US government committing to deep decarbonization under the Paris Agreement — and signaling an increasing focus on policies to mitigate devastating climate impacts — we expect to see profound changes to oil and gas markets that would render new Appalachian gas fields unprofitable, on average,” said co-author and SEI Scientist Ploy Achakulwisut.
The full report can be found at the Ohio River Valley Institute website here.
Contact: Eric de Place Research Fellow eric@OhioRiverValleyInstitute.org
Monday was World Water Day — a day recognized by 20 global water and related organizations to raise awareness of water crises globally and to recognize and celebrate what water means to us all.
In West Virginia, however, the majority party in our Legislature is acting like water is expendable and that extraction industry profits are far more important.
West Virginia has 46 named rivers, not counting major tributaries, branches, forks, creeks, drains, licks, runs, etc. These were formed by glaciers and should be some of the most pristine, clean, safe and wild bodies of water in the world.
Instead, we have sacrificed our most precious resource to the whims of industries that offer mostly temporary jobs and take our resource wealth out of state, then refuse to clean up their messes. Taxpayers, ratepayers, property owners and consumers always seem to get stuck with the bill after every industry boom and bust.
Two bills that have passed out of the House of Delegates and are now assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee are set to make these problems exponentially worse. House Bill 2598 would allow tanks that store 210 barrels (that’s nearly 9,000 gallons) or less of oil and gas waste in zones of critical concern for our drinking water intakes to go without regulation under the Aboveground Storage Tank Act.
That means that between 800 to 900 tanks near our surface drinking water intakes in West Virginia would become exempt from registration and certification and submittal of spill-prevention response plans under the ASTA. This is not just brine water being stored in these tanks; this also is “other fluids produced in connection with hydrocarbon production activities.”
To quote from the seventh edition of the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking, a fully referenced 475-page compilation provided by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility: “The 2005 Energy Policy Act exempts hydraulic fracturing from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. As a result, fracking chemicals have been protected from public scrutiny as ‘trade secrets.’ Companies are not compelled to fully disclose the identity of chemicals used in fracking fluid, their quantities, or their fate once injected underground. Of the more than 1,000 chemicals that are confirmed ingredients in fracking fluid, an estimated 100 are known endocrine disruptors, acting as reproductive and developmental toxicants, and at least 48 are potentially carcinogenic.”
Adding to this mix are heavy metals, radioactive elements, brine, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which occur naturally in deep geological formations and can be carried up from the fracking zone with the flowback fluid. A 2020 study identified 1,198 chemicals in oil and gas wastewater, of which 86% lack toxicity data sufficient to complete a risk assessment.”
One of the delegates in my three-delegate district, John Kelly, R-Wood, was the lead sponsor of this legislation. We live in Parkersburg, a community made famous in the documentary “The Devil We Know,” which was featured on Netflix, and the major motion picture, “Dark Waters,” for contamination in our water from the production of the DuPont/Chemours product Teflon and related nonstick products. Haven’t we suffered enough?
Another piece of legislation, House Bill 2382, a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection rules bundle, includes revisions to water quality standards that would allow for more toxins in our water.
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommended 94 water quality standards updates for human health criteria. Later, the DEP decided that West Virginia should pursue 56 of those updates.
By the time these recommendations got to the Legislature and industry stepped in with its lobbyists, the can got kicked down the road and now this legislation is set to update only 24 of the standards and weaken 13 of them. One of those weakened is for a contaminant known as PCE (Tetrachloroethylene) that massively contaminated the water supply in Paden City.
Industry argues that science is on its side, but why would we ever want to weaken water protections? These bills are not safe, they’re not smart, and they’ll just worsen the exodus from our state.
Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, a board member for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and co-chairman of Sierra Club of West Virginia’s executive committee.
I am pleased to see that the Marietta Times is concerned about the environmental impact of energy sources, as demonstrated by their editorial which appeared in the March 11, 2021 edition.
The editorial was referring to the Vineyard Wind Project off the coast of Massachusetts, which would involve the establishment of off-shore wind turbines to generate electricity for homes in New England. The Times was seeking as strict environmental review of this project as is done for projects involving extraction (fossil-fuel) industries. I wish that the Times were as concerned about environmental impacts in our own and their own backyard as it is about wind turbines in New England.
First of all, it should be noted that greenhouse gas emissions for coal are 888 tons per gigawatt hour, natural gas 499 tons, and wind 26 tons. Fossil fuels are the leaders of negative environmental impact. These figures are reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a collection of the foremost scientists from around the world. Their conclusion about establishing facilities for these different sources of energy: “Contrary to claims of some critics, today’s research shows the hidden emissions due to building wind turbines, solar panels, and nuclear plants are very low, in comparison to the savings from avoiding fossil fuels.”
Coal has virtually been abandoned as an affordable and environmentally sound source of electricity generation. The free market has priced it out of picture in competition with natural gas. Even the energy companies themselves are shutting down coal-fired power plants. The extraction, transport, and burning of coal are dangerous, costly, and the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions of any energy source.
But natural gas has its own problems of environmental impact. For example, in Appalachian Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, there are numerous abandoned oil & gas wells spewing methane (natural gas) into the air. Natural gas is at least 82 times more significant as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Close to home for us in southeast Ohio is the issue of Class II injection wells, where fracking waste is permanently stored in the ground. Washington County is among the Ohio counties with highest number of injection wells and the most number of barrels of fracking waste injected into its lands. Fracking waste comes not only from production wells in Ohio but from production wells in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states which have stricter rules about injecting fracking waste from their production facilities. Spills at these injection well sites are not uncommon. Last fall there was a spill at the Redbird #4 injection well, which is located in western Washington County, and in January there was a spill just outside Marietta at a site owned by Deep Rock Disposal of Marietta. Of course, natural gas companies are not required to inform the public of the contents of fracking waste, much of which is thought to contain toxic materials and much of which is radioactive. There was no reporting of either of these two recent spills by the Marietta Times. Neither has the Times investigated or questioned the incompetent and under-resourced monitoring of these injection wells by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil & Gas Resource Management.
I respectfully suggest that the Times direct its attention to environmental impacts closer to home and related to the extraction of coal and the shale-gas industry including the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Readers of the Times are more interested in these stories than in attention to distant issues of the environmental impact of off-shore wind turbines in Massachusetts.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 Opinion column by Jim Probst, state coordinator of West Virginia Citizens’ Climate Lobby
We have been through an awful lot in the past 12 months and, as we begin to see some light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, we are being reminded of the one overriding crisis that is not going away anytime soon — climate change.
But, after four years of inaction and denial from our leadership in D.C., our members of Congress and our new president at least appear to be coalescing around one thing: the need to do something.
Many that have studied the various approaches to tackling climate change believe that the most effective first step is to put a price on carbon and to include a dividend to be paid to the American public to offset increases in energy costs.
In a statement published in The Wall Street Journal in December, 2019, 28 Nobel laureate economists, four former chairs of the Federal Reserve and 15 former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers came out in favor of just such an approach. Recently, The Business Roundtable, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have come out in support.
In Congress, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of the fossil-fuel state of Alaska, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and our own Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have expressed that they would consider supporting carbon pricing.
One thing about carbon pricing is that it has the potential to raise a lot of money. A bill like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (House Resolution 763) that was introduced in the last Congress, would raise $3 trillion over the first 10 years.
Carving out just under 1% of those funds would provide $26 billion for coal miner and coal community support. Details for this approach have been laid out in a plan, A New Day for the Coalfields (Newday4.com). This approach not only serves to begin a rapid reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions, but also helps to ensure that states like West Virginia are not left behind as we continue the inevitable transition away from coal fired energy production.
There are other approaches in development that would address the needs of other fossil fuel workers and utility workers.
Now, what we need is for someone to take the lead on this.
I truly appreciate the actions that have been taken by our two senators. Capito has co-sponsored legislation to incentivize carbon capture and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was instrumental in working with Murkowski to pass what some have called the most significant climate legislation ever passed, the American Energy Innovation Act.
I applaud these first steps, but that’s just what they are, first steps. The climate emergency is going to require bold and dynamic leadership, and Capito and Manchin are uniquely positioned in the new Congress to influence what climate legislation is ultimately passed. I call on our senators to rise to the occasion and take the lead on ensuring that climate change is addressed in a significant and enduring fashion.
I call on them to be climate heroes.
Jim Probst is the state coordinator of the West Virginia Citizens Climate Lobby.
Appearing on-line in The Bargain Hunter(Weekly news magazine serving Ohio Counties: Holmes, Tuscarawas, Wayne, and the surrounding area. Stark, Medina, Summit and Cuyahoga):
Friday, March 12, 2021 Column by Dr. Randi Pokladnik
Spring is just around the corner, and soon we will spend more time outdoors and preparing our gardens for planting. Sadly, some of us also will buy the toxic chemicals that line the shelves of most big-box hardware stores.
The petrochemical industry has done a good job of convincing people mankind should be at war with nature and we need their products to win that war.
The United Nations secretary general António Guterres said in a speech last year, “Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. Nature always strikes back, and it is already doing so with growing force and fury.”
Historian Edmund P. Russell III said, “In the first half of the 20th century, the science and technology of pest control sometimes became the science and technology of war.”
In 1962 Rachel Carson wrote “Silent Spring.” She used her expertise as a biologist to explain how our agricultural system had become controlled by the petrochemical industry and how our health was being affected.
Poisons once used in warfare now were being used on our crops. Carson said, “We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude toward nature today is critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.”
Evidence of this ongoing war can be seen each spring as homeowners mount a chemical assault on weeds and bugs. Today, mankind has an endless supply of poisons: fungicides to kill fungus, herbicides to kill weeds, insecticides to kill bugs and rodenticides to kill rodents.
Looking at the label of a product will tell you the active ingredient in the formulation because industries in the U.S. and E.U. are required to make that information public. However, companies are not required to reveal the identities of “inert” ingredients because they don’t contribute to the herbicidal activity of the formulation. But in many cases inert ingredients are as toxic or more toxic than the active ingredients.
The most widely used herbicide in the world is Roundup. The broad-spectrum herbicide was listed as a probable human carcinogen in 2017. The U.S. used 287 million pounds in 2016. Its main uses are as an herbicide and also as a desiccant or drying agent for crops preharvesting.
Roundup contains glyphosate as the active ingredient, but it also contains other “inert” ingredients as well. These substances can be used to help extend shelf life, as colorants, to help it dissolve in water, to help it stick to the plant surface and to stop wind drifting when it is sprayed.
We know from countless peer-reviewed studies that regardless of what Monsanto claims, Roundup is toxic. It is now the focus of over 2,000 lawsuits based on the increase of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among people who used or were exposed to the product. Monsanto continues to deny the claims and has gone as far as paying researchers to “ghostwrite” scientific papers actually authored by Monsanto employees.
There are several categories of pesticides, and glyphosate falls into the category of organophosphates. These compounds are similar to the nerve gases developed for human warfare by Germany. They affect the nervous system by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. Some of the “trade names” for these chemicals are Fallow Master, Touchdown, Rattler, Shackle and Roundup.
The lawn chemical, Diazinon, goes by the trade names, Dazzle or Knoxout. It is now banned for use in the U.S.
Malathion, another organophosphate, is a biocide and toxic to birds, bees, fish, amphibians, crustaceans and aquatic insects. It is still widely used and sold in the U.S.
Another category of pesticides are organochlorines; the most famous one in this group is the now banned DDT. These compounds are basically chlorinated hydrocarbons, and today most are banned due to health effects. They are long-lived in the environment and are very fat soluble. They have bioaccumulated in our food chains and can be found far away from agricultural applications. They have even been detected in the Arctic. They are mutagenic and carcinogenic.
If you drink coffee, you should be aware of an organochlorine called Endosulfan. It was widely used against coffee bean borers and was banned for use in the U.S. in 2010. It is still used in some countries (legally and illegally) on cotton, coffee and tea. Buying organic coffee or “bird-friendly coffee” and organic tea is a good idea.
If you have Sevin in your garden shed, you have a carbamate. Like organophosphates, they too affect the nervous system and can be toxic when absorbed through the skin, ingested or inhaled. Two inert ingredients in carbamates — crystalline silica and petroleum oil — are toxic. The former causes lung cancer, and the latter is a suspected carcinogen.
The horrible explosion of the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India in 1984 and the 1985 explosion of another Union Carbide plant in Institute, West Virginia involved methyl isocyanate or MIC. It is used in the manufacture of carbamate pesticides.
Regardless of the risk to health and the environment, the oil and gas industry is counting on expanding petrochemical production in the Ohio River Valley to make up for revenue losses in its energy sector.
Neonicotinoids are another class of pesticides that target insects’ nervous systems. They are systemic, which means they cannot be washed off a plant as they are incorporated into the plant tissues. This pesticide can accumulate in pollen and nectar, which is why they are so deadly to bees.
Pyrethroids are synthetic compounds based on pyrethrin, a compound extracted from chrysanthemum flowers. These man-made compounds have been shown to cause reproductive issues, immune-system disorders and respiratory problems.
All pesticides are toxic in varying degrees. They can be carcinogenic, mutagens (mutate cells), teratogens (mutates eggs and sperm resulting in birth defects), fetotoxic (poisons the fetus), neurotoxin (damages nerves) and cause organ damage.
Pesticides also affect nontarget organisms. When you spray your yard, you don’t just spray weeds, you spray everything else in contact with that yard: the water, air, beneficial organisms, soil, birds, amphibians, pets and you.
Most pesticide formulations are based on petrochemicals. This means that as we increase our use of these dangerous products, we also increase climate change and encourage more fossil fuel extraction. About 20% of oil is used for petrochemical production.
This spring call a truce on the war against nature and put the poisons away. After all, dandelions have many health benefits and contain three times more vitamin A and five times more vitamin K and vitamin E than spinach.
Several months ago I participated in a public outdoor event with Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action. At some point in the afternoon, a gentleman walking his very lovely dog through the area stopped by our display and confronted me with a rapid-fire barrage of questions about climate change.
The talking points he presented were hardly new to me, but I had a difficult time responding to them in the heat of the moment.
For some time I’ve wanted to offer this gentleman a more well-crafted reply than the one I managed to eke out on the spot. A lot of his arguments are actually pretty common mainstays among climate skeptics, and I thought it might be beneficial to readers to explore a few of them in detail.
The first argument this gentleman offered was that we shouldn’t be too worried about climate change because Earth’s climate is always changing.
It is absolutely true that our planet experiences natural cycles of cooling and heating. However, these natural cycles span over hundreds of thousands of years, whereas the changes we now see are taking place over mere decades, and correspond directly to the release of greenhouse gases by human industry.
He also mentioned the idea that Earth’s position in its orbital cycle (a.k.a., its Milankovitch cycle) is an explanation for why our planet is heating. But again, this possibility has been thoroughly debunked by climate scientists, with the primary onus placed once again on human activity.
Now, I do have to give him some credit for his next point, which was Al Gore’s statement in 2009 that the North Pole would likely be free of ice by 2013, a prediction which clearly hasn’t come to fruition.
The former Vice President did actually say this, and he was absolutely wrong about it. That said, Al Gore is by no means a scientist. Whatever impact his advocacy work has had on our response to the climate crisis, he nevertheless remains a flawed and fallible spokesperson. In this case, it appears as though he inadvertently misrepresented a piece of information once presented to him by an actual climate scientist, and simply got his numbers confused.
On the other hand, Earth has lost over 28 trillion tons (or 62,000,000,000,000,000 pounds) of ice since 1994, so we clearly do have significant cause for concern.
From here, I have to admit that the case this gentleman was making began to get very spacey, and I mean that quite literally.
He went on to argue that if climate change is in fact happening, we can surely depend on technology to save us. This is a fairly common argument, if one loaded with quite a bit of uncertainty. But from here, it quickly turned into an endorsement of grandiose scifi concepts like space colonization and mining other planets for resources, and finally the argument that the sun will burn out eventually (in about 5 billion years), so there’s really no point in worrying about relatively short-term issues like climate change.
It’s truly incredible to me the lengths that we’ll go to avoid confronting the truth about the climate crisis. We shouldn’t be reduced to a hope of cultivating life on dead planets when we can’t even maintain it on our own- an idea which some very powerful people in the world nevertheless pursue with a straight face. Nor should we be throwing up our hands in nihilistic surrender.
Our planet is as unique as it is fragile, and we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to preserve it while we still can.
***
Aaron Dunbar is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel publishes a piece every week from Greg Kozera, director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA. Shale Crescent USA is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization dedicated to oil and gas and petrochemical expansion in the Ohio River Valley around the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Mr. Kozera’s byline says he is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and 40 years of experience in the energy industry. That’s great! That background should lead to more to offer than just oil and gas public relations.
Usually, Mr. Kozera’s pieces are fairly benign and hard to disagree with; that’s part of public relations. This past week, though, in the March 7 edition of the News and Sentinel, Mr. Kozera got downright insulting.
“Whenever there was a public hearing on an oil and gas issue,” Kozera said, “the ‘antis’ would show up in force. One of their standard lines was, ‘It’s all about the money.’ I would laugh because they had no clue. Oil and gas is not alone, the petrochemical and manufacturing industries are similar in their concern for people and communities.”
Is that so, Mr. Kozera? That’s interesting.
As I write this, a bill is advancing in the West Virginia Legislature’s House of Delegates that would, to quote from the Charleston Gazette, “remove tanks containing 210 barrels or less of ‘brine water or other fluids produced in connection with hydrocarbon production activities’ in zones of critical concern from regulation under the Aboveground Storage Tank Act.” Zones of critical concern are defined by the WVDHHR as areas for a public surface water supply that are comprised of a corridor along streams within a watershed that warrant more detailed scrutiny due to their proximity to the surface water intake and the intake’s susceptibility to potential contaminants within that corridor. The Aboveground Storage Tank Act requires registration and certified inspection of such tanks as well as submittal of spill prevention response plans, but industry doesn’t want to continue complying for many tanks.
According to the 7th Edition of the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking, a fully referenced 475-page compilation provided by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility, “the 2005 Energy Policy Act exempts hydraulic fracturing from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. As a result, fracking chemicals have been protected from public scrutiny as “trade secrets.” Companies are not compelled to fully disclose the identity of chemicals used in fracking fluid, their quantities, or their fate once injected underground. Of the more than 1,000 chemicals that are confirmed ingredients in fracking fluid, an estimated 100 are known endocrine disruptors, acting as reproductive and developmental toxicants, and at least 48 are potentially carcinogenic.
Adding to this mix are heavy metals, radioactive elements, brine, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which occur naturally in deep geological formations and which can be carried up from the fracking zone with the flowback fluid. A 2020 study identified 1,198 chemicals in oil and gas wastewater, of which 86 percent lack toxicity data sufficient to complete a risk assessment.” The oil and gas industry doesn’t appear to see a problem here.
The WV Legislature is also considering water quality standards updates for West Virginia. In 2015, the U.S. EPA recommended 94 water quality standards updates, including on some standards that have not been updated since the 1980s. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection decided to update 56 of these standards. When the matter came to the WV Legislature, industry stepped in and essentially said that West Virginians are fat and we don’t eat our fish, so we can handle more toxins. The can got kicked down the road and now the legislature is only considering 24 water quality standards updates and is seeking to weaken 13 of those, including for a contaminant that massively poisoned the water of Paden City.
The climate crisis rages, plastics pollution contaminates every part of the globe (and our bodies), and we can’t get industry to clean up its messes (see Preston County and the Cheat River, orphaned oil and gas wells, and Minden, W.Va., as examples). If this is communal caring and concern, I’d hate to see Mr. Kozera’s definitions of neglect and malevolence.
***
Eric Engle is Chairman of the not-for-profit volunteer organization Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, Board Member for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and Co-Chairman of the Sierra Club of West Virginia Chapter’s Executive Committee.
Appearing on-line in The Bargain Hunter(Weekly news magazine serving Ohio Counties: Holmes, Tuscarawas, Wayne, and the surrounding area. Stark, Medina, Summit and Cuyahoga):
Sunday, February 28, 2021 Column by Dr. Randi Pokladnik
At the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, thanks to grants from the Center, Health, Environment & Justice and The Story of Stuff, OVEC volunteer Dr. Randi Pokladnik conducted a series of workshops at community meetings in and around the Ohio River Valley.
You can register to watch recording of three of Randi Pokladnik’s presentations
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
February 10, 2021 ORVI announces New Report by Sean O’Leary, Senior Researcher
“New Report: Natural Gas Counties’ Economies Suffered As Production Boomed”
February 2021 Report by Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institution (PERI) authored by Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Shouvik Chakraborty, and Gregor Semieniuk
Impacts of the ReImagine Appalachia & Clean Energy Transition Programs for West Virginia: Job Creation, Economic Recovery, and Long-Term Sustainability. Download available at this site:
Thursday, February 25, 2021 Zoom Meeting of Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) presenting study:
Overview of the ReImagine Appalachia Climate Infrastructure Plan which would create 41,100 family-sustaining jobs in West Virginia. Angie Rosser, Robert Pollin (lead author of report), Delegate Evan Hansen, Quenton King, Mayor Steve Williams and Josh Sword. 38-minute Recording available:
Article feasters news of fire at WV facility that processes radioactive oilfield waste generated from fracking and Petta facility in Cambridge, OH and concerns about TENORM – Technologically Enhanced Radioactive Materials
Available on-line on Forbes:
February 4, 2021 Energy News article by Ken Silverstein, Senior Contributor
“Will The Fracking Boom Ever Translate Into Jobs And Income For Appalachia’s Residents?”
Reporting on the news of the February 3, 2021 conference hosted by Ohio River Valley Institute (see Events)
EVENTS:
Monday, March 1, 2021, 9am Virtual Public Hearing before House Judiciary Committee promoted by WV Citizen Action Group. Registration is by 2/26/21 required.
People’s Public Hearing on Water Quality Standards Rule HB 2389
Friday, February 26, 2021, 8am Public Hearing organized by WV Rivers Coalition, WV Environmental Council, WV Citizen Action Group, WV Sierra Club , OVEC and other co-sponsors including MOVCA.
Peoples’s Public Hearing on HB 2598- altering the definition of an aboveground storage tank (exemptions for oil & gas tanks from Aboveground Storage Tank Act) . For more information and registration to speak, see:
Hearing was posted live to Facebook and an YouTube Recording is posted by OVEC WV at this link:
Thursday, February 18, 2021, 7pm Zoom Public Event hosted by MOVCA (registration required)
Co-sponsors: FactOhio/The Ohio HealthProject,West Virginia Rivers Coalition, West Virginia Citizen Action Group and made possible with generous funding from the Dunn Foundation and MOVCA donors.
Livestreamed Lecture by Dr. Sandra Steingraber presenting findings from the recently released 7th edition of The Compendium of Scientific , Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking
For more information and link to download the full compendium released December 14, 2020 by Concerned Health Professionals of NY and Physicians for Social Responsibility see: https://concernedhealthny.org
Monday, February 15, 2021, 6 pm Zoom Meeting by Ohio Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Call for Moral Revival: (Registration required)
“Healthier Days Ahead!!! . . . And how we can make sure of it !!!!”
Ben Hunkler from Concerned Ohio River Residents will tell about project stopping PTTG cracker plant. Thailand-based petrochemical and refining company named PTT Global Chemical has proposed to build an ethane chemical “cracker” plant in Dilles Bottom, oh, about 5 mises south of Shadyside, OH and directly across the Ohio River from Moundsville, WV. Another proposed petrochemical project is the Appalachian Storage hub , a misleading term used to describe a mega-infrastructure project that would greatly expand unconventional oil and gas drilling (fracking ) in our state and region, If built, this petrochemical complex would include five or more cracker plants and regulating stations. We will discuss the impact these new facilities would have on our health and environment and how they coincide with the poor Peoples Campaign 14 policy priorities.
Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 3:00 PM Public Zoom Event by OVEC – Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
“Press Conference: Legislative Response to WVDEF Oil and Gas Budget & Layoffs”
Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 10:30 am Forum Hosted by Ohio River Valley Institute (posted to YouTube)
“Critical Condition: ‘The Shale Crescent’ and the Dream of an Appalachian Petrochemical Boom”
Panelists Kathy Hipple, Prof. of Finance at Bard College, John Hanger, energy consultant and former Pennsylvania DEP Secretary, and Anne Keller, industry consultant and former Wood-Mackenzie analyst discuss the future of regional petrochemical buildout in the Ohio Valley.
Omitted from previous month listing:
Monday, January 25, 2021 Zoom Program Hosted by West Virginia Center on Climate Change
“What Now?- – Climate Solutions in 2021, and Securing a Just Transition for West Virginia”
Of Interest: International Report – (mentioned by Dr. Steingraber)
Available on-line on Common Dreams:
Thursday February 18, 2012 News Article by Brett Wilkins, staff writer
“UN Head Decries ‘Senseless and Suicidal’ Destruction of Nature as New Report Urges Systemic Solutions”
Article about The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report, entitled “Making Peace With Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle climate, biodiversity, and pollution emergencies” released Feb 2021 Download at this site: https://wedocs.unep.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/34948/MPN.pdf
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 News Article by Jake Johnson, staff writer
“With 10-point Declaration, Global Coalition of Top Energy Experts Says: ‘100% Renewables Is Possible’ ”
Did you know that Texas generates 70% of its energy from fossil fuels?
If you’re like me, I’m guessing you didn’t.
I’m also guessing that in the wake of a severe arctic storm blasting the United States, you’ve probably heard something to the effect that “frozen wind turbines caused millions of people to lose power during freezing temperatures across the Lone Star state.”
What you probably didn’t hear from these same folks is that wind energy makes up a mere 24% of Texas energy production, and that at least 80% of outages across the state were due to the failures of coal and gas powered plants.
To be clear, wind farms in Texas ran at about half the capacity they were expected to. While there were issues with frozen wind turbines, they can absolutely be used effectively in cold climates if they’re designed to do so (there are, after all, wind farms in Antarctica of all places.)
But of course, Texas isn’t really the type of place where you expect this sort of winter storm to hit as severely as it has, leaving energy systems unprepared to handle such punishingly cold conditions (Texas also has significant issues with its power grid as well as the rampant deregulation of its energy market, both of which contributed immensely to this crisis.)
For all the conservative and fossil fuel industry efforts to paint this tragedy as a consequence of renewable energy and the (currently nonexistent) Green New Deal, there’s actually a strong chance that such unprecedented winter weather is a direct result of climate change, as rapid heating in the arctic pushes frigid air southward.
So to sum up, the fossil fuel industry directly caused the planet to heat, lied about it, played a significant hand in affecting these deadly weather conditions, then lied about their own systems failing in a bid to turn public opinion against renewables, ensuring that additional crises such as this are all but guaranteed.
There’s a very simple word for what’s taking place here: propaganda.
The bad faith actors who spread this dreck will continue to do so at immense cost to human lives for as long as they can get away with it. Learning to recognize these underhanded industry tactics and making a swift transition to renewable energy is the only way we can pursue a fair, livable future on our planet for all.
Sunday, February 14, 2021 Energy and Environment news article by Mike Tony, staff writer
Features research of professor Richard Thomas and alumnus Justin Mathias published in Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences
Scientists have long known that trees are essential to human life, making the air we breathe healthier by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis to store energy and releasing oxygen for us to take in.
But a newly published study by a West Virginia University professor and alumnus scrutinizing past studies of tree rings suggests that trees are still more vital in helping us breathe and keeping the Earth’s temperature in check than previously thought.
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, WVU biology professor Richard Thomas and alumnus Justin Mathias found that photosynthesis is mainly responsible for a recent increase in trees’ water-use efficiency, the ratio of carbon taken up by photosynthesis to water loss that serves as a key measure in climate change research.
“Our study really pinpoints trees as an integral part of removing some of that fossil fuel emission from the air,” Thomas said. “… We’re really highlighting how important trees are in that process.”
Earlier studies held that a closing of pores on the leaves of trees amid an escalation in carbon dioxide in the air was allowing trees to use water more efficiently. But this new study could change how trees’ role in climate change is viewed, especially since water-use efficiency is an important link between water and carbon cycles.
“[Carbon cycle and water cycle] models will directly inform policy and land management in the future and in the present, so if we can reduce the uncertainty around our future predictions derived from those models, we can then make better predictions and more informed decisions for our policy in the future,” Mathias said.
Mathias was a doctoral student working under the direction of Thomas during the study, which analyzed tree rings spanning over 11 decades of 36 different tree species across 84 sites around the world.
After graduating last year, Mathias has joined the University of California, Santa Barbara as a postdoctoral scholar.
Mathias plans to continue his work in ecosystem ecology and learn more about what fuels the forest ecosystems that fuel us.
“That’s the beautiful thing about science … There are still many more questions that need to be answered, and there’s a lot of research we can address moving forward,” Mathias said. “I guess science doesn’t sleep.”
Find Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action on the following social media:
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Future Appalachian Shale Gas Drilling Unprofitable and Petrochemical Buildout Unlikely
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
March 23, 2021 Article by Eric de Place, research fellow, about new report
Higher prices needed to save Appalachian natural gas, but industry faces pressure from decarbonization and uncertain petrochemical markets.
by Eric de Place
Mar 23, 2021 | Blog Posts, Clean Energy, Research
JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania, March 23, 2021 – New gas field developments in Appalachia are unlikely to be profitable as the US energy system undergoes rapid decarbonization, according to a new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center (SEI) and the Ohio River Valley Institute. Rosy industry projections of a gas-fueled petrochemical buildout led many Appalachian communities to bank on job growth that never arrived and now may never materialize.
The report, “Risks for New Natural Gas Development in Appalachia” is the first quantitative assessment of how Appalachia’s gas industry would fare in a low carbon future, and it spells trouble for an already troubled industry. The report is also the most detailed publicly-available analysis of the future prospects for natural gas development in the region. The authors analyzed 200 prospective gas projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, using data from Rystad Energy, a leading energy research and business intelligence agency. By assessing each field’s capital and operating costs — as well as the gas prices necessary to keep such fields profitable — the authors found that the gas industry in Appalachia is vulnerable to sustained, low prices of domestic gas and natural gas liquids.
“Our analysis shows that gas expansion in Appalachia is a risky investment,” said the report’s lead author, Peter Erickson, a senior scientist and Climate Policy Program Director with SEI. “The calculations show that new gas developments face an array of serious financial risks that could render extraction from Marcellus gas fields unprofitable in the coming years.”
The report finds that a rapidly decarbonizing economy — a specific policy aim of President Biden — would severely undermine the profitability of Appalachian gas development, resulting in reduced production. Lower gas production would in turn crimp the production of natural gas byproducts, like ethane, that serve as feedstocks for the region’s much-hyped petrochemical buildout, which is already facing stiff headwinds from competitor regions and an evolving market for consumer plastics.
“Communities in Appalachia know firsthand what happens when leaders fail to plan for markets that are moving away from fossil fuels,” said Joanne Kilgour, executive director of the Ohio River Valley Institute. “We already know that fracking has failed to deliver prosperity for the local communities that produce the gas. This report makes it clear that the region should plan for real economic development that can flourish in the 21st century.”
SEI’s analysis corroborates the views of Wall Street investors and credit ratings agencies that have soured on the gas industry based on its inability to generate reliable profits. And it reinforces concerns expressed by experts from finance, policymaking, and the oil and gas industry in a recent forum sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Institute.
“With the US government committing to deep decarbonization under the Paris Agreement — and signaling an increasing focus on policies to mitigate devastating climate impacts — we expect to see profound changes to oil and gas markets that would render new Appalachian gas fields unprofitable, on average,” said co-author and SEI Scientist Ploy Achakulwisut.
The full report can be found at the Ohio River Valley Institute website here.
Contact:
Eric de Place
Research Fellow
eric@OhioRiverValleyInstitute.org
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Water is life, except in WV
Monday was World Water Day — a day recognized by 20 global water and related organizations to raise awareness of water crises globally and to recognize and celebrate what water means to us all.
In West Virginia, however, the majority party in our Legislature is acting like water is expendable and that extraction industry profits are far more important.
West Virginia has 46 named rivers, not counting major tributaries, branches, forks, creeks, drains, licks, runs, etc. These were formed by glaciers and should be some of the most pristine, clean, safe and wild bodies of water in the world.
Instead, we have sacrificed our most precious resource to the whims of industries that offer mostly temporary jobs and take our resource wealth out of state, then refuse to clean up their messes. Taxpayers, ratepayers, property owners and consumers always seem to get stuck with the bill after every industry boom and bust.
Two bills that have passed out of the House of Delegates and are now assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee are set to make these problems exponentially worse. House Bill 2598 would allow tanks that store 210 barrels (that’s nearly 9,000 gallons) or less of oil and gas waste in zones of critical concern for our drinking water intakes to go without regulation under the Aboveground Storage Tank Act.
That means that between 800 to 900 tanks near our surface drinking water intakes in West Virginia would become exempt from registration and certification and submittal of spill-prevention response plans under the ASTA. This is not just brine water being stored in these tanks; this also is “other fluids produced in connection with hydrocarbon production activities.”
To quote from the seventh edition of the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking, a fully referenced 475-page compilation provided by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility: “The 2005 Energy Policy Act exempts hydraulic fracturing from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. As a result, fracking chemicals have been protected from public scrutiny as ‘trade secrets.’ Companies are not compelled to fully disclose the identity of chemicals used in fracking fluid, their quantities, or their fate once injected underground. Of the more than 1,000 chemicals that are confirmed ingredients in fracking fluid, an estimated 100 are known endocrine disruptors, acting as reproductive and developmental toxicants, and at least 48 are potentially carcinogenic.”
Adding to this mix are heavy metals, radioactive elements, brine, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which occur naturally in deep geological formations and can be carried up from the fracking zone with the flowback fluid. A 2020 study identified 1,198 chemicals in oil and gas wastewater, of which 86% lack toxicity data sufficient to complete a risk assessment.”
One of the delegates in my three-delegate district, John Kelly, R-Wood, was the lead sponsor of this legislation. We live in Parkersburg, a community made famous in the documentary “The Devil We Know,” which was featured on Netflix, and the major motion picture, “Dark Waters,” for contamination in our water from the production of the DuPont/Chemours product Teflon and related nonstick products. Haven’t we suffered enough?
Another piece of legislation, House Bill 2382, a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection rules bundle, includes revisions to water quality standards that would allow for more toxins in our water.
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommended 94 water quality standards updates for human health criteria. Later, the DEP decided that West Virginia should pursue 56 of those updates.
By the time these recommendations got to the Legislature and industry stepped in with its lobbyists, the can got kicked down the road and now this legislation is set to update only 24 of the standards and weaken 13 of them. One of those weakened is for a contaminant known as PCE (Tetrachloroethylene) that massively contaminated the water supply in Paden City.
Industry argues that science is on its side, but why would we ever want to weaken water protections? These bills are not safe, they’re not smart, and they’ll just worsen the exodus from our state.
Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, a board member for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and co-chairman of Sierra Club of West Virginia’s executive committee.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Local environmental impacts should be discussed
Mar 17, 2021
George Banziger
I am pleased to see that the Marietta Times is concerned about the environmental impact of energy sources, as demonstrated by their editorial which appeared in the March 11, 2021 edition.
The editorial was referring to the Vineyard Wind Project off the coast of Massachusetts, which would involve the establishment of off-shore wind turbines to generate electricity for homes in New England. The Times was seeking as strict environmental review of this project as is done for projects involving extraction (fossil-fuel) industries. I wish that the Times were as concerned about environmental impacts in our own and their own backyard as it is about wind turbines in New England.
First of all, it should be noted that greenhouse gas emissions for coal are 888 tons per gigawatt hour, natural gas 499 tons, and wind 26 tons. Fossil fuels are the leaders of negative environmental impact. These figures are reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a collection of the foremost scientists from around the world. Their conclusion about establishing facilities for these different sources of energy: “Contrary to claims of some critics, today’s research shows the hidden emissions due to building wind turbines, solar panels, and nuclear plants are very low, in comparison to the savings from avoiding fossil fuels.”
Coal has virtually been abandoned as an affordable and environmentally sound source of electricity generation. The free market has priced it out of picture in competition with natural gas. Even the energy companies themselves are shutting down coal-fired power plants. The extraction, transport, and burning of coal are dangerous, costly, and the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions of any energy source.
But natural gas has its own problems of environmental impact. For example, in Appalachian Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, there are numerous abandoned oil & gas wells spewing methane (natural gas) into the air. Natural gas is at least 82 times more significant as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Close to home for us in southeast Ohio is the issue of Class II injection wells, where fracking waste is permanently stored in the ground. Washington County is among the Ohio counties with highest number of injection wells and the most number of barrels of fracking waste injected into its lands. Fracking waste comes not only from production wells in Ohio but from production wells in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states which have stricter rules about injecting fracking waste from their production facilities. Spills at these injection well sites are not uncommon. Last fall there was a spill at the Redbird #4 injection well, which is located in western Washington County, and in January there was a spill just outside Marietta at a site owned by Deep Rock Disposal of Marietta. Of course, natural gas companies are not required to inform the public of the contents of fracking waste, much of which is thought to contain toxic materials and much of which is radioactive. There was no reporting of either of these two recent spills by the Marietta Times. Neither has the Times investigated or questioned the incompetent and under-resourced monitoring of these injection wells by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil & Gas Resource Management.
I respectfully suggest that the Times direct its attention to environmental impacts closer to home and related to the extraction of coal and the shale-gas industry including the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Readers of the Times are more interested in these stories than in attention to distant issues of the environmental impact of off-shore wind turbines in Massachusetts.
George Banziger
Marietta
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
A solution in search of a hero
Appearing on-line in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 Opinion column by Jim Probst, state coordinator of West Virginia Citizens’ Climate Lobby
We have been through an awful lot in the past 12 months and, as we begin to see some light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, we are being reminded of the one overriding crisis that is not going away anytime soon — climate change.
But, after four years of inaction and denial from our leadership in D.C., our members of Congress and our new president at least appear to be coalescing around one thing: the need to do something.
Many that have studied the various approaches to tackling climate change believe that the most effective first step is to put a price on carbon and to include a dividend to be paid to the American public to offset increases in energy costs.
In a statement published in The Wall Street Journal in December, 2019, 28 Nobel laureate economists, four former chairs of the Federal Reserve and 15 former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers came out in favor of just such an approach. Recently, The Business Roundtable, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have come out in support.
In Congress, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of the fossil-fuel state of Alaska, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and our own Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have expressed that they would consider supporting carbon pricing.
One thing about carbon pricing is that it has the potential to raise a lot of money. A bill like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (House Resolution 763) that was introduced in the last Congress, would raise $3 trillion over the first 10 years.
Carving out just under 1% of those funds would provide $26 billion for coal miner and coal community support. Details for this approach have been laid out in a plan, A New Day for the Coalfields (Newday4.com). This approach not only serves to begin a rapid reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions, but also helps to ensure that states like West Virginia are not left behind as we continue the inevitable transition away from coal fired energy production.
There are other approaches in development that would address the needs of other fossil fuel workers and utility workers.
Now, what we need is for someone to take the lead on this.
I truly appreciate the actions that have been taken by our two senators. Capito has co-sponsored legislation to incentivize carbon capture and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was instrumental in working with Murkowski to pass what some have called the most significant climate legislation ever passed, the American Energy Innovation Act.
I applaud these first steps, but that’s just what they are, first steps. The climate emergency is going to require bold and dynamic leadership, and Capito and Manchin are uniquely positioned in the new Congress to influence what climate legislation is ultimately passed. I call on our senators to rise to the occasion and take the lead on ensuring that climate change is addressed in a significant and enduring fashion.
I call on them to be climate heroes.
Jim Probst is the state coordinator of the West Virginia Citizens Climate Lobby.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
We can call a truce on the war against nature
Appearing on-line in The Bargain Hunter (Weekly news magazine serving Ohio Counties: Holmes, Tuscarawas, Wayne, and the surrounding area. Stark, Medina, Summit and Cuyahoga):
Friday, March 12, 2021 Column by Dr. Randi Pokladnik
Spring is just around the corner, and soon we will spend more time outdoors and preparing our gardens for planting. Sadly, some of us also will buy the toxic chemicals that line the shelves of most big-box hardware stores.
The petrochemical industry has done a good job of convincing people mankind should be at war with nature and we need their products to win that war.
The United Nations secretary general António Guterres said in a speech last year, “Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. Nature always strikes back, and it is already doing so with growing force and fury.”
Historian Edmund P. Russell III said, “In the first half of the 20th century, the science and technology of pest control sometimes became the science and technology of war.”
In 1962 Rachel Carson wrote “Silent Spring.” She used her expertise as a biologist to explain how our agricultural system had become controlled by the petrochemical industry and how our health was being affected.
Poisons once used in warfare now were being used on our crops. Carson said, “We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude toward nature today is critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.”
Evidence of this ongoing war can be seen each spring as homeowners mount a chemical assault on weeds and bugs. Today, mankind has an endless supply of poisons: fungicides to kill fungus, herbicides to kill weeds, insecticides to kill bugs and rodenticides to kill rodents.
Looking at the label of a product will tell you the active ingredient in the formulation because industries in the U.S. and E.U. are required to make that information public. However, companies are not required to reveal the identities of “inert” ingredients because they don’t contribute to the herbicidal activity of the formulation. But in many cases inert ingredients are as toxic or more toxic than the active ingredients.
The most widely used herbicide in the world is Roundup. The broad-spectrum herbicide was listed as a probable human carcinogen in 2017. The U.S. used 287 million pounds in 2016. Its main uses are as an herbicide and also as a desiccant or drying agent for crops preharvesting.
Roundup contains glyphosate as the active ingredient, but it also contains other “inert” ingredients as well. These substances can be used to help extend shelf life, as colorants, to help it dissolve in water, to help it stick to the plant surface and to stop wind drifting when it is sprayed.
We know from countless peer-reviewed studies that regardless of what Monsanto claims, Roundup is toxic. It is now the focus of over 2,000 lawsuits based on the increase of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among people who used or were exposed to the product. Monsanto continues to deny the claims and has gone as far as paying researchers to “ghostwrite” scientific papers actually authored by Monsanto employees.
There are several categories of pesticides, and glyphosate falls into the category of organophosphates. These compounds are similar to the nerve gases developed for human warfare by Germany. They affect the nervous system by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. Some of the “trade names” for these chemicals are Fallow Master, Touchdown, Rattler, Shackle and Roundup.
The lawn chemical, Diazinon, goes by the trade names, Dazzle or Knoxout. It is now banned for use in the U.S.
Malathion, another organophosphate, is a biocide and toxic to birds, bees, fish, amphibians, crustaceans and aquatic insects. It is still widely used and sold in the U.S.
Another category of pesticides are organochlorines; the most famous one in this group is the now banned DDT. These compounds are basically chlorinated hydrocarbons, and today most are banned due to health effects. They are long-lived in the environment and are very fat soluble. They have bioaccumulated in our food chains and can be found far away from agricultural applications. They have even been detected in the Arctic. They are mutagenic and carcinogenic.
If you drink coffee, you should be aware of an organochlorine called Endosulfan. It was widely used against coffee bean borers and was banned for use in the U.S. in 2010. It is still used in some countries (legally and illegally) on cotton, coffee and tea. Buying organic coffee or “bird-friendly coffee” and organic tea is a good idea.
If you have Sevin in your garden shed, you have a carbamate. Like organophosphates, they too affect the nervous system and can be toxic when absorbed through the skin, ingested or inhaled. Two inert ingredients in carbamates — crystalline silica and petroleum oil — are toxic. The former causes lung cancer, and the latter is a suspected carcinogen.
The horrible explosion of the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India in 1984 and the 1985 explosion of another Union Carbide plant in Institute, West Virginia involved methyl isocyanate or MIC. It is used in the manufacture of carbamate pesticides.
Regardless of the risk to health and the environment, the oil and gas industry is counting on expanding petrochemical production in the Ohio River Valley to make up for revenue losses in its energy sector.
Neonicotinoids are another class of pesticides that target insects’ nervous systems. They are systemic, which means they cannot be washed off a plant as they are incorporated into the plant tissues. This pesticide can accumulate in pollen and nectar, which is why they are so deadly to bees.
Pyrethroids are synthetic compounds based on pyrethrin, a compound extracted from chrysanthemum flowers. These man-made compounds have been shown to cause reproductive issues, immune-system disorders and respiratory problems.
All pesticides are toxic in varying degrees. They can be carcinogenic, mutagens (mutate cells), teratogens (mutates eggs and sperm resulting in birth defects), fetotoxic (poisons the fetus), neurotoxin (damages nerves) and cause organ damage.
Pesticides also affect nontarget organisms. When you spray your yard, you don’t just spray weeds, you spray everything else in contact with that yard: the water, air, beneficial organisms, soil, birds, amphibians, pets and you.
Most pesticide formulations are based on petrochemicals. This means that as we increase our use of these dangerous products, we also increase climate change and encourage more fossil fuel extraction. About 20% of oil is used for petrochemical production.
This spring call a truce on the war against nature and put the poisons away. After all, dandelions have many health benefits and contain three times more vitamin A and five times more vitamin K and vitamin E than spinach.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Climate myths and misconceptions
Mar 20, 2021
Aaron Dunbar
Several months ago I participated in a public outdoor event with Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action. At some point in the afternoon, a gentleman walking his very lovely dog through the area stopped by our display and confronted me with a rapid-fire barrage of questions about climate change.
The talking points he presented were hardly new to me, but I had a difficult time responding to them in the heat of the moment.
For some time I’ve wanted to offer this gentleman a more well-crafted reply than the one I managed to eke out on the spot. A lot of his arguments are actually pretty common mainstays among climate skeptics, and I thought it might be beneficial to readers to explore a few of them in detail.
The first argument this gentleman offered was that we shouldn’t be too worried about climate change because Earth’s climate is always changing.
It is absolutely true that our planet experiences natural cycles of cooling and heating. However, these natural cycles span over hundreds of thousands of years, whereas the changes we now see are taking place over mere decades, and correspond directly to the release of greenhouse gases by human industry.
He also mentioned the idea that Earth’s position in its orbital cycle (a.k.a., its Milankovitch cycle) is an explanation for why our planet is heating. But again, this possibility has been thoroughly debunked by climate scientists, with the primary onus placed once again on human activity.
Now, I do have to give him some credit for his next point, which was Al Gore’s statement in 2009 that the North Pole would likely be free of ice by 2013, a prediction which clearly hasn’t come to fruition.
The former Vice President did actually say this, and he was absolutely wrong about it. That said, Al Gore is by no means a scientist. Whatever impact his advocacy work has had on our response to the climate crisis, he nevertheless remains a flawed and fallible spokesperson. In this case, it appears as though he inadvertently misrepresented a piece of information once presented to him by an actual climate scientist, and simply got his numbers confused.
On the other hand, Earth has lost over 28 trillion tons (or 62,000,000,000,000,000 pounds) of ice since 1994, so we clearly do have significant cause for concern.
From here, I have to admit that the case this gentleman was making began to get very spacey, and I mean that quite literally.
He went on to argue that if climate change is in fact happening, we can surely depend on technology to save us. This is a fairly common argument, if one loaded with quite a bit of uncertainty. But from here, it quickly turned into an endorsement of grandiose scifi concepts like space colonization and mining other planets for resources, and finally the argument that the sun will burn out eventually (in about 5 billion years), so there’s really no point in worrying about relatively short-term issues like climate change.
It’s truly incredible to me the lengths that we’ll go to avoid confronting the truth about the climate crisis. We shouldn’t be reduced to a hope of cultivating life on dead planets when we can’t even maintain it on our own- an idea which some very powerful people in the world nevertheless pursue with a straight face. Nor should we be throwing up our hands in nihilistic surrender.
Our planet is as unique as it is fragile, and we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to preserve it while we still can.
***
Aaron Dunbar is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
A caring and benevolent industry? Hardly
Mar 15, 2021
Eric Engle
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel publishes a piece every week from Greg Kozera, director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA. Shale Crescent USA is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization dedicated to oil and gas and petrochemical expansion in the Ohio River Valley around the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Mr. Kozera’s byline says he is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and 40 years of experience in the energy industry. That’s great! That background should lead to more to offer than just oil and gas public relations.
Usually, Mr. Kozera’s pieces are fairly benign and hard to disagree with; that’s part of public relations. This past week, though, in the March 7 edition of the News and Sentinel, Mr. Kozera got downright insulting.
“Whenever there was a public hearing on an oil and gas issue,” Kozera said, “the ‘antis’ would show up in force. One of their standard lines was, ‘It’s all about the money.’ I would laugh because they had no clue. Oil and gas is not alone, the petrochemical and manufacturing industries are similar in their concern for people and communities.”
Is that so, Mr. Kozera? That’s interesting.
As I write this, a bill is advancing in the West Virginia Legislature’s House of Delegates that would, to quote from the Charleston Gazette, “remove tanks containing 210 barrels or less of ‘brine water or other fluids produced in connection with hydrocarbon production activities’ in zones of critical concern from regulation under the Aboveground Storage Tank Act.” Zones of critical concern are defined by the WVDHHR as areas for a public surface water supply that are comprised of a corridor along streams within a watershed that warrant more detailed scrutiny due to their proximity to the surface water intake and the intake’s susceptibility to potential contaminants within that corridor. The Aboveground Storage Tank Act requires registration and certified inspection of such tanks as well as submittal of spill prevention response plans, but industry doesn’t want to continue complying for many tanks.
According to the 7th Edition of the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking, a fully referenced 475-page compilation provided by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility, “the 2005 Energy Policy Act exempts hydraulic fracturing from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. As a result, fracking chemicals have been protected from public scrutiny as “trade secrets.” Companies are not compelled to fully disclose the identity of chemicals used in fracking fluid, their quantities, or their fate once injected underground. Of the more than 1,000 chemicals that are confirmed ingredients in fracking fluid, an estimated 100 are known endocrine disruptors, acting as reproductive and developmental toxicants, and at least 48 are potentially carcinogenic.
Adding to this mix are heavy metals, radioactive elements, brine, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which occur naturally in deep geological formations and which can be carried up from the fracking zone with the flowback fluid. A 2020 study identified 1,198 chemicals in oil and gas wastewater, of which 86 percent lack toxicity data sufficient to complete a risk assessment.” The oil and gas industry doesn’t appear to see a problem here.
The WV Legislature is also considering water quality standards updates for West Virginia. In 2015, the U.S. EPA recommended 94 water quality standards updates, including on some standards that have not been updated since the 1980s. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection decided to update 56 of these standards. When the matter came to the WV Legislature, industry stepped in and essentially said that West Virginians are fat and we don’t eat our fish, so we can handle more toxins. The can got kicked down the road and now the legislature is only considering 24 water quality standards updates and is seeking to weaken 13 of those, including for a contaminant that massively poisoned the water of Paden City.
The climate crisis rages, plastics pollution contaminates every part of the globe (and our bodies), and we can’t get industry to clean up its messes (see Preston County and the Cheat River, orphaned oil and gas wells, and Minden, W.Va., as examples). If this is communal caring and concern, I’d hate to see Mr. Kozera’s definitions of neglect and malevolence.
***
Eric Engle is Chairman of the not-for-profit volunteer organization Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, Board Member for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and Co-Chairman of the Sierra Club of West Virginia Chapter’s Executive Committee.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Recommended readings for March 2021
Appearing in The Marietta Times:
Thursday, February 4, 2021 Letter-to-the-Editor by Victor Elam, Marietta, OH
“Everybody lives downstream”
https://www.mariettatimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2021/02/everybody-lives-downstream/
Appearing in The Parkersburg News and Sentinel:
Saturday, February 6, 2021 Letter-to-the-Editor by Charles Pickering, Williamstown, WV
“Support PPAs in West Virginia”
https://www.newsandsentinel.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2021/02/support-ppas-in-west-virginia/
Appearing on-line in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
Thursday February 25, 2021 Energy and Environment news article by Mike Tony, staff writer
“New report predicts power of investments in clean energy infrastructure in WV”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/new-report-predicts-power-of-investments-in-clean-energy-infrastructure-in-wv/article_aa5a4473-df72-53ec-a217-b43ae38b8634.html
Friday, February 19, 2021 Op-Ed by Eric Engle, chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action
“Eric Engle: Legislation that would create jobs and save money”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/eric-engle-legislation-that-would-create-jobs-and-save-money-opinion/article_6b947033-d52d-5d26-9365-32f2aceaff36.html
Monday, February 8, 2010 Op-Ed by Eric Engle, chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action
“Eric Engle: WV delegation’s balk at climate plan senseless”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/eric-engle-wv-delegations-balk-at-climate-plan-senseless-opinion/article_e1195ae6-a219-56b9-bff4-d86b58d008df.html
Friday, February 5, 2011 Opinion by Hoppy Kercheval
“Hoppy Kercheval: WV should beef up staff of gas, oil inspectors”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/hoppy-kercheval-wv-should-beef-up-staff-of-gas-oil-inspectors-opinion/article_6ef26e56-cc23-5f13-87e7-3cbfe6d44a56.html
Thursday, February 4, 2021 News Article by Mike Tony, Staff writer
“Environmental groups, state lawmakers focus on budget shortfall hurting DEP oil and gas well oversight capability”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/environmental-groups-state-lawmakers-focus-on-budget-shortfall-hurting-dep-oil-and-gas-well-oversight/article_1765e2c1-aa70-5b49-9281-c032b789d8a6.html
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 Energy and Environment news article by Mike Tony, Staff writer
“State and federal environmental priorities come into focus during West Virginia Center on Climate Change Webinar’
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/state-and-federal-environmental-priorities-come-into-focus-during-west-virginia-center-on-climate-change/article_0e9cc8c6-682b-5292-894f-4e52037cddb2.html
Appearing on-line in The Columbus Dispatch:
February 4, 2021 News article by Beth Burger
“Thousands of gallons of fracking waste spilled from Noble County well”
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/02/04/thousands-gallons-flthousands-of-gallouid-spilled-oil-and-gas-well-noble-co-damage-and-cause-unclear/4397912001/
Appearing on-line in The Athens News:
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 Letter to the Editor by Aaron Dunbar, Athens, OH
“Keystone XL Pipeline interests by politicians insincere”
https://www.athensnews.com/opinion/letters/keystone-xl-pipeline-interests-by-politicians-insincere/article_bd985e16-cfe8-5872-805a-d21f2e9437fa.html
Appearing on-line in The Times Leader, Martin’s Ferry, OH:
Saturday, February 6, 2021 Local News Article by Robert A. DeFrank, Staff Writer
“Panel discusses economic future of oil and gas”
https://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/local-news/2021/02/panel-discusses-economic-future-of-oil-and-gas/
Appearing on-line in The Bargain Hunter (Weekly news magazine serving Ohio Counties: Holmes, Tuscarawas, Wayne, and the surrounding area. Stark, Medina, Summit and Cuyahoga):
Sunday, February 28, 2021 Column by Dr. Randi Pokladnik
“Polystyrene and your food is a bad combination”
https://thebargainhunter.com/news/col-randi-pokladnik/polystyrene-and-your-food-is-a-bad-combination
Monday, January 28, 2021 Column by Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D.
“When the ability to dissent is taken away”
https://thebargainhunter.com/news/col-randi-pokladnik/when-the-ability-to-dissent-is-taken-away
Sunday, January 17 Column by Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D.
“Greenwashing hydrogen gas as a clean fuel source”
https://thebargainhunter.com/news/columnists/source
Appearing on-line in Hoots and Hollers a blog of Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC):
February 26, 2021
“People’s Public Hearing on HB 2598: Compelling Testimony”
(Includes text of testimony presented by Eric Engle and link to recording of the Hearing:
February 22, 2021 Article by Randi Pokladnik
“The Truth About Polystyrene”
February 9, 2021
“Plastics and Petrochemicals: How They affect You and the Environment”
At the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, thanks to grants from the Center, Health, Environment & Justice and The Story of Stuff, OVEC volunteer Dr. Randi Pokladnik conducted a series of workshops at community meetings in and around the Ohio River Valley.
You can register to watch recording of three of Randi Pokladnik’s presentations
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
February 10, 2021 ORVI announces New Report by Sean O’Leary, Senior Researcher
“New Report: Natural Gas Counties’ Economies Suffered As Production Boomed”
Link to download report (updated Feb. 12, 2021):
“The Natural Gas Fracking Boom and Appalachia’s Lost Economic Decade”
Appalachia’s Natural Gas Counties: Contributing more to the U.S. economy and getting less in return
Click to access Frackalachia-Report-update-2_12_01.pdf
February 8, 2021 Short Video (3 – 4 minutes) presented by Ohio River Valley Institute
“How Appalachia’s shale gas boom became an economic bust”
February 5, 2021 Article by Erin Brock Carlson, WVU and Martina Angela Caretta, Lund University
“Living with natural gas pipelines” – Appalachian landowners describe fear, anxiety and loss
(Article republished from Feb. 3, 2021 article see The Conversation)
https://theconversation.com/living-with-natural-gas-pipelines-appalachian-landowners-describe-fear-anxiety-and-loss-152586
Available on-line on ReImagine Appalachia and Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), Amherst, MA:
February 2021 ReImagine Appalachia shares Summary of results from PERI economic recovery program analysis:
“West Virginia Job Impact Brief” – ReImagine Appalachia blueprint creates 41,000 Jobs in West Virginia
Click to access ReImagine-Appalachia_PeriBrief_WV_Feb2021.pdf
February 2021 Report by Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institution (PERI) authored by Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Shouvik Chakraborty, and Gregor Semieniuk
Impacts of the ReImagine Appalachia & Clean Energy Transition Programs for West Virginia: Job Creation, Economic Recovery, and Long-Term Sustainability. Download available at this site:
Click to access Pollin-et-al-WV-Reimagine-Appalachia-Clean-Energy-Study-2-23-21.pdf
Thursday, February 25, 2021 Zoom Meeting of Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) presenting study:
Overview of the ReImagine Appalachia Climate Infrastructure Plan which would create 41,100 family-sustaining jobs in West Virginia. Angie Rosser, Robert Pollin (lead author of report), Delegate Evan Hansen, Quenton King, Mayor Steve Williams and Josh Sword. 38-minute Recording available:
https://m.facebook.com/PERIatUMass/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0
Available on-line on ENERGY NEWS NETWORK:
February 26, 2021 News article by Kathiann M. Kowalski
“Critics fear investors’ push for profits could thwart other FirstEnergy priorities”
February 23, 2021 News article by Kathiann M. Kowalski
“Ohio refinery city joins coalition to support local clean energy transitions”
Tuesday February 9, 2021 Research Article by Kathiann M. Kowalski, Reporter from Cleveland
“Ohio geologists study potential for geothermal in abandoned coal mines”
Featuring research by geologists at Ohio University, Athens, OH.
Available on-line on DeSmog (headquartered in Seattle, Washington):
Thursday, February 18, 2021 News article by Justin Nobel
“Fire at Oil and Gas Waste Site Raises Safety Concerns Around Possible Radioactive Accidents”
https://www.desmogblog.com/2021/02/18/fire-oil-gas-waste-petta-dallas-pike-safety-radioactivity
Article feasters news of fire at WV facility that processes radioactive oilfield waste generated from fracking and Petta facility in Cambridge, OH and concerns about TENORM – Technologically Enhanced Radioactive Materials
Available on-line on Forbes:
February 4, 2021 Energy News article by Ken Silverstein, Senior Contributor
“Will The Fracking Boom Ever Translate Into Jobs And Income For Appalachia’s Residents?”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2021/02/04/will-the-fracking-boom-ever-translate-into-jobs-and-income-for-appalachias-residents/?sh=1d5adb9d37d6
Reporting on the news of the February 3, 2021 conference hosted by Ohio River Valley Institute (see Events)
EVENTS:
Monday, March 1, 2021, 9am Virtual Public Hearing before House Judiciary Committee promoted by WV Citizen Action Group. Registration is by 2/26/21 required.
People’s Public Hearing on Water Quality Standards Rule HB 2389
Friday, February 26, 2021, 8am Public Hearing organized by WV Rivers Coalition, WV Environmental Council, WV Citizen Action Group, WV Sierra Club , OVEC and other co-sponsors including MOVCA.
Peoples’s Public Hearing on HB 2598- altering the definition of an aboveground storage tank (exemptions for oil & gas tanks from Aboveground Storage Tank Act) . For more information and registration to speak, see:
https://wvrivers.salsalabs.org/hb2598alert
Hearing was posted live to Facebook and an YouTube Recording is posted by OVEC WV at this link:
Thursday, February 18, 2021, 7pm Zoom Public Event hosted by MOVCA (registration required)
Co-sponsors: FactOhio/The Ohio Health Project, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, West Virginia Citizen Action Group and made possible with generous funding from the Dunn Foundation and MOVCA donors.
Livestreamed Lecture by Dr. Sandra Steingraber presenting findings from the recently released 7th edition of The Compendium of Scientific , Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking
For more information and link to download the full compendium released December 14, 2020 by Concerned Health Professionals of NY and Physicians for Social Responsibility see: https://concernedhealthny.org
Monday, February 15, 2021, 6 pm Zoom Meeting by Ohio Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Call for Moral Revival: (Registration required)
“Healthier Days Ahead!!! . . . And how we can make sure of it !!!!”
Ben Hunkler from Concerned Ohio River Residents will tell about project stopping PTTG cracker plant. Thailand-based petrochemical and refining company named PTT Global Chemical has proposed to build an ethane chemical “cracker” plant in Dilles Bottom, oh, about 5 mises south of Shadyside, OH and directly across the Ohio River from Moundsville, WV. Another proposed petrochemical project is the Appalachian Storage hub , a misleading term used to describe a mega-infrastructure project that would greatly expand unconventional oil and gas drilling (fracking ) in our state and region, If built, this petrochemical complex would include five or more cracker plants and regulating stations. We will discuss the impact these new facilities would have on our health and environment and how they coincide with the poor Peoples Campaign 14 policy priorities.
Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 3:00 PM Public Zoom Event by OVEC – Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
“Press Conference: Legislative Response to WVDEF Oil and Gas Budget & Layoffs”
Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 10:30 am Forum Hosted by Ohio River Valley Institute (posted to YouTube)
“Critical Condition: ‘The Shale Crescent’ and the Dream of an Appalachian Petrochemical Boom”
Panelists Kathy Hipple, Prof. of Finance at Bard College, John Hanger, energy consultant and former Pennsylvania DEP Secretary, and Anne Keller, industry consultant and former Wood-Mackenzie analyst discuss the future of regional petrochemical buildout in the Ohio Valley.
Omitted from previous month listing:
Monday, January 25, 2021 Zoom Program Hosted by West Virginia Center on Climate Change
“What Now?- – Climate Solutions in 2021, and Securing a Just Transition for West Virginia”
Of Interest: International Report – (mentioned by Dr. Steingraber)
Available on-line on Common Dreams:
Thursday February 18, 2012 News Article by Brett Wilkins, staff writer
“UN Head Decries ‘Senseless and Suicidal’ Destruction of Nature as New Report Urges Systemic Solutions”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/18/un-head-decries-senseless-and-suicidal-destruction-nature-new-report-urges-systemic
Article about The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report, entitled “Making Peace With Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle climate, biodiversity, and pollution emergencies” released Feb 2021 Download at this site: https://wedocs.unep.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/34948/MPN.pdf
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 News Article by Jake Johnson, staff writer
“With 10-point Declaration, Global Coalition of Top Energy Experts Says: ‘100% Renewables Is Possible’ ”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/09/10-point-declaration-global-coalition-top-energy-experts-says-100-renewables
Article about JOINT DECLARATION of the Global 10% RE Strategy Group. Download at this site:
Click to access Joint-Declaration-of-the-Global-100-RE-Strategy-Group-210208.pdf
SEE also RELATED EVENT- February 9, 2021 Recorded presentation at CleanTech Business Club Meeting
“Joint Declaration of The Global 100% RE Strategy Group at CleanTech Club Thought Leaders”
Featuring the Authors of Joint Declaration of The Global 100% RE Strategy Group: Prof. Andrew Blakers (Australian National University);
Hans-Josef Fell (Energy Watch Group); Prof. Brian Vad Mathiesen (Aalborg University); Prof. Eicke Weber (ESMC, CBC, US Berkley em.)
Prof. Christian Breyer (LUT University); Prof. Mark Z. Jacobson (Stanford University); Tony Seba (RethinkX)
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Tilting at windmills
Letters to the Editor by Aaron Dunbar
Feb 26, 2021
Did you know that Texas generates 70% of its energy from fossil fuels?
If you’re like me, I’m guessing you didn’t.
I’m also guessing that in the wake of a severe arctic storm blasting the United States, you’ve probably heard something to the effect that “frozen wind turbines caused millions of people to lose power during freezing temperatures across the Lone Star state.”
What you probably didn’t hear from these same folks is that wind energy makes up a mere 24% of Texas energy production, and that at least 80% of outages across the state were due to the failures of coal and gas powered plants.
To be clear, wind farms in Texas ran at about half the capacity they were expected to. While there were issues with frozen wind turbines, they can absolutely be used effectively in cold climates if they’re designed to do so (there are, after all, wind farms in Antarctica of all places.)
But of course, Texas isn’t really the type of place where you expect this sort of winter storm to hit as severely as it has, leaving energy systems unprepared to handle such punishingly cold conditions (Texas also has significant issues with its power grid as well as the rampant deregulation of its energy market, both of which contributed immensely to this crisis.)
For all the conservative and fossil fuel industry efforts to paint this tragedy as a consequence of renewable energy and the (currently nonexistent) Green New Deal, there’s actually a strong chance that such unprecedented winter weather is a direct result of climate change, as rapid heating in the arctic pushes frigid air southward.
So to sum up, the fossil fuel industry directly caused the planet to heat, lied about it, played a significant hand in affecting these deadly weather conditions, then lied about their own systems failing in a bid to turn public opinion against renewables, ensuring that additional crises such as this are all but guaranteed.
There’s a very simple word for what’s taking place here: propaganda.
The bad faith actors who spread this dreck will continue to do so at immense cost to human lives for as long as they can get away with it. Learning to recognize these underhanded industry tactics and making a swift transition to renewable energy is the only way we can pursue a fair, livable future on our planet for all.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
New WVU biology study of trees has implications for future climate change predictions
Appearing on-line in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
Sunday, February 14, 2021 Energy and Environment news article by Mike Tony, staff writer
Features research of professor Richard Thomas and alumnus Justin Mathias published in Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences
Scientists have long known that trees are essential to human life, making the air we breathe healthier by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis to store energy and releasing oxygen for us to take in.
But a newly published study by a West Virginia University professor and alumnus scrutinizing past studies of tree rings suggests that trees are still more vital in helping us breathe and keeping the Earth’s temperature in check than previously thought.
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, WVU biology professor Richard Thomas and alumnus Justin Mathias found that photosynthesis is mainly responsible for a recent increase in trees’ water-use efficiency, the ratio of carbon taken up by photosynthesis to water loss that serves as a key measure in climate change research.
“Our study really pinpoints trees as an integral part of removing some of that fossil fuel emission from the air,” Thomas said. “… We’re really highlighting how important trees are in that process.”
Earlier studies held that a closing of pores on the leaves of trees amid an escalation in carbon dioxide in the air was allowing trees to use water more efficiently. But this new study could change how trees’ role in climate change is viewed, especially since water-use efficiency is an important link between water and carbon cycles.
“[Carbon cycle and water cycle] models will directly inform policy and land management in the future and in the present, so if we can reduce the uncertainty around our future predictions derived from those models, we can then make better predictions and more informed decisions for our policy in the future,” Mathias said.
Mathias was a doctoral student working under the direction of Thomas during the study, which analyzed tree rings spanning over 11 decades of 36 different tree species across 84 sites around the world.
After graduating last year, Mathias has joined the University of California, Santa Barbara as a postdoctoral scholar.
Mathias plans to continue his work in ecosystem ecology and learn more about what fuels the forest ecosystems that fuel us.
“That’s the beautiful thing about science … There are still many more questions that need to be answered, and there’s a lot of research we can address moving forward,” Mathias said. “I guess science doesn’t sleep.”
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