Jun 2, 2019
As the Trump administration and most
congressional and state Republicans continue the ostrich approach to addressing
the global climate crisis — their proverbial head in the hole as the Midwest is
under water, much of the West is still a cinder and places like Texas, Florida
and especially Puerto Rico continue to rebuild from total devastation — local
action on the climate crisis has grown more and more important.
At Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action,
we have been dedicated for nearly four years to educating on, leading activism
on and coalition-building around addressing the climate crisis. We happily work
with Republicans (like those few advocating for carbon taxation and other
climate solutions) and anyone else to take on this crisis, but time is short
and we have no time to waste. The science is settled and the argument is over …
the time for action is now.
Examples of what Mid-Ohio Valley
Climate Action has done include, but are not limited to, the following: We have
joined with the organization Solar United Neighbors of both West Virginia and
Ohio to help folks join the Mid-Ohio Valley Solar Co-Op in both Wood and
Washington counties and the surrounding areas and we are working with Solar
United Neighbors of Ohio again at this time to help folks join the Appalachian
Solar and EV (Electric Vehicle) Co-Op, again on both sides of the Ohio River;
We have awarded cash prizes for a climate change public service announcements
contest to area high schools and colleges, wherein the first prize was won by
contestants at Ohio Valley University for running a TV and radio spot; We have
provided a scholarship for a solar installer licensing course held at the First
Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta; We have worked with West Virginians
for Energy Freedom to stop the sale of the Pleasants Power Station from First
Energy’s Ohio subsidiary to its West Virginia subsidiary, saving Mon Power and
Potomac Edison ratepayers in West Virginia thousands of dollars; and we have an
excellent program in Wood County and surrounding county schools on both sides
of the river where we have reached between 3,000 and 4,000 middle and high
school students, including some private school students, with presentations on
the climate crisis and the urgency involved.
We can’t let willful ignorance
and/or greed destroy our ability to safely inhabit this planet. If you want to
understand where we are and how close we came in the past to avoiding our
current fate, I recommend three books: “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David
Wallace-Wells; “Falter” by Bill McKibben; and “Losing Earth” by Nathaniel Rich.
All are available at the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library. Join with
us and Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action today and help us not only save the
grandchildren, but save ourselves!
Eric Engle
Parkersburg
PARKERSBURG, West Virginia – Alex Cole, a community organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), will present “The Proposed Appalachian Storage Hub and What it Means for the Ohio River Valley” at the June 20 Third Thursday meeting of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action at 7:00 p.m. at the First Christian Church, 1400 Washington Ave., Parkersburg, WV. MOVCA’s Third Thursday programs are open to the public and free of charge; anyone interested is welcome to attend.
Cole’s grassroots organizing work with Ohio Valley
Environmental Coalition is now focused on stopping the proposed Appalachian
Storage Hub/Petrochemical Complex proposed for the region.
“Our state and federal governments are already
talking about this boom in chemical and plastic production not only as a savior
for the faltering fracking industry but also as a godsend for our economic
development,” Cole says. “But
even while the politicians talk about it, I find that most people don’t know what
the Appalachian Storage Hub is. My
primary goal is to present the proposed infrastructure laying it all out from
Pittsburgh to Catlettsburg. I hope that a better understanding will inspire
outrage and we can work together and fight this thing every step of the way and
not just when it pops up directly in our backyards.”
Cole has a BS in Environmental Geography and a BA in
United States History from Ohio University. He describes himself as a born
naturalist; his mother is an artist and landscape painter, and his father is a
landscaper and horticulturalist. His first exposure to OVEC was in 1995, when
he was just six years old. He still remembers the scratch-and-sniff sticker his
family received in the mail during OVEC’s successful campaign to stop the paper
mill in Apple Grove, only ten miles from his family’s hilltop farm in Pliny,
WV. Cole now lives off-grid on that hilltop farm next to Westvaco Company
property that would have been clear cut if the pulp mill had been built.
Cole was previously employed as an extension agent
with WV State University. He also
volunteered with OVEC’s water quality monitoring project, gathering baseline
data from streams impacted by the Mountaineer Express Pipeline. He is also
leading OVEC’s Innovation Valley Project, which promotes sustainable living and
community-driven sustainable economic development in the Ohio and Kanawha River
Valleys. His background as a naturalist, extension agent, off-grid farmer,
landscaper, and permaculturalist provides a wealth of experience for this work.
To learn more about OVEC and Cole’s work, contact https://ohvec.org/about-ovec/ or alex@ohvec.org
#####
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action focuses on raising awareness of the solid
science establishing the danger of the climate crisis and the urgency of
dealing with it. MOVCA is affiliated with 350.org and Citizens’ Climate Lobby
and is a Science Booster Club for the National Center for Science Education.
The not-for-profit volunteer group also collaborates with other environmental
groups on campaigns and events in the Mid-Ohio Valley. https://main.movclimateaction.org.
Last Updated: August 1, 2019 by main_y0ke11
OVEC leader to speak on Appalachian Storage Hub
Jun 18, 2019
PARKERSBURG — A community organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition will discuss a proposed natural gas storage hub 7 p.m. Thursday at the Third Thursday meeting of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action at the First Christian Church, 1400 Washington Ave., Parkersburg.
Alex Cole will present “The Proposed Appalachian Storage Hub and What it Means for the Ohio River Valley” at the meeting, which is open to the public and free of charge.
Cole is an organizer with Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition who is focused on stopping the Appalachian Storage Hub/Petrochemical Complex proposed for the region.
“Our state and federal governments are already talking about this boom in chemical and plastic production not only as a savior for the faltering fracking industry but also as a godsend for our economic development,” Cole said. “But even while the politicians talk about it, I find that most people don’t know what the Appalachian Storage Hub is. My primary goal is to present the proposed infrastructure laying it all out from Pittsburgh to Catlettsburg. I hope that a better understanding will inspire outrage and we can work together and fight this thing every step of the way and not just when it pops up directly in our backyards.”
Cole has a bachelor’s of science in environmental geography and a bachelor’s of arts in United States history from Ohio University. He describes himself as a born naturalist. His mother is an artist and landscape painter and his father is a landscaper and horticulturalist.
Cole’s first exposure to the coalition was in 1995 when he was 6 years old. He remembers the scratch-and-sniff sticker his family received in the mail during the coalition’s campaign to stop the paper mill in Apple Grove, only 10 miles from his family’s hilltop farm in Pliny, W.Va.
Cole now lives off-grid on that hilltop farm next to Westvaco Co. property that would have been clear cut if the pulp mill had been built.
Cole was previously employed as an extension agent with West Virginia State University. He also volunteered with the coalition’s water quality monitoring project, gathering baseline data from streams impacted by the Mountaineer Express Pipeline.
He also is leading the coalition’s Innovation Valley Project, which promotes sustainable living and community-driven sustainable economic development in the Ohio and Kanawha River Valleys. Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action focuses on raising awareness of the science establishing the danger of the climate crisis and the urgency of dealing with it. It is affiliated with 350.org and Citizens’ Climate Lobby and is a Science Booster Club for the National Center for Science Education and collaborates with other environmental groups on campaigns and events in the Mid-Ohio Valley. https://main.movclimateaction.org.
Last Updated: August 1, 2019 by main_y0ke11
There’s no time to waste
Jun 2, 2019
As the Trump administration and most congressional and state Republicans continue the ostrich approach to addressing the global climate crisis — their proverbial head in the hole as the Midwest is under water, much of the West is still a cinder and places like Texas, Florida and especially Puerto Rico continue to rebuild from total devastation — local action on the climate crisis has grown more and more important.
At Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, we have been dedicated for nearly four years to educating on, leading activism on and coalition-building around addressing the climate crisis. We happily work with Republicans (like those few advocating for carbon taxation and other climate solutions) and anyone else to take on this crisis, but time is short and we have no time to waste. The science is settled and the argument is over … the time for action is now.
Examples of what Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action has done include, but are not limited to, the following: We have joined with the organization Solar United Neighbors of both West Virginia and Ohio to help folks join the Mid-Ohio Valley Solar Co-Op in both Wood and Washington counties and the surrounding areas and we are working with Solar United Neighbors of Ohio again at this time to help folks join the Appalachian Solar and EV (Electric Vehicle) Co-Op, again on both sides of the Ohio River; We have awarded cash prizes for a climate change public service announcements contest to area high schools and colleges, wherein the first prize was won by contestants at Ohio Valley University for running a TV and radio spot; We have provided a scholarship for a solar installer licensing course held at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta; We have worked with West Virginians for Energy Freedom to stop the sale of the Pleasants Power Station from First Energy’s Ohio subsidiary to its West Virginia subsidiary, saving Mon Power and Potomac Edison ratepayers in West Virginia thousands of dollars; and we have an excellent program in Wood County and surrounding county schools on both sides of the river where we have reached between 3,000 and 4,000 middle and high school students, including some private school students, with presentations on the climate crisis and the urgency involved.
We can’t let willful ignorance and/or greed destroy our ability to safely inhabit this planet. If you want to understand where we are and how close we came in the past to avoiding our current fate, I recommend three books: “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells; “Falter” by Bill McKibben; and “Losing Earth” by Nathaniel Rich. All are available at the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library. Join with us and Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action today and help us not only save the grandchildren, but save ourselves!
Eric Engle
Parkersburg
PARKERSBURG, West Virginia – Alex Cole, a community organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), will present “The Proposed Appalachian Storage Hub and What it Means for the Ohio River Valley” at the June 20 Third Thursday meeting of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action at 7:00 p.m. at the First Christian Church, 1400 Washington Ave., Parkersburg, WV. MOVCA’s Third Thursday programs are open to the public and free of charge; anyone interested is welcome to attend.
Cole’s grassroots organizing work with Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition is now focused on stopping the proposed Appalachian Storage Hub/Petrochemical Complex proposed for the region.
“Our state and federal governments are already talking about this boom in chemical and plastic production not only as a savior for the faltering fracking industry but also as a godsend for our economic development,” Cole says. “But even while the politicians talk about it, I find that most people don’t know what the Appalachian Storage Hub is. My primary goal is to present the proposed infrastructure laying it all out from Pittsburgh to Catlettsburg. I hope that a better understanding will inspire outrage and we can work together and fight this thing every step of the way and not just when it pops up directly in our backyards.”
Cole has a BS in Environmental Geography and a BA in United States History from Ohio University. He describes himself as a born naturalist; his mother is an artist and landscape painter, and his father is a landscaper and horticulturalist. His first exposure to OVEC was in 1995, when he was just six years old. He still remembers the scratch-and-sniff sticker his family received in the mail during OVEC’s successful campaign to stop the paper mill in Apple Grove, only ten miles from his family’s hilltop farm in Pliny, WV. Cole now lives off-grid on that hilltop farm next to Westvaco Company property that would have been clear cut if the pulp mill had been built.
Cole was previously employed as an extension agent with WV State University. He also volunteered with OVEC’s water quality monitoring project, gathering baseline data from streams impacted by the Mountaineer Express Pipeline. He is also leading OVEC’s Innovation Valley Project, which promotes sustainable living and community-driven sustainable economic development in the Ohio and Kanawha River Valleys. His background as a naturalist, extension agent, off-grid farmer, landscaper, and permaculturalist provides a wealth of experience for this work.
To learn more about OVEC and Cole’s work, contact https://ohvec.org/about-ovec/ or alex@ohvec.org
#####
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action focuses on raising awareness of the solid science establishing the danger of the climate crisis and the urgency of dealing with it. MOVCA is affiliated with 350.org and Citizens’ Climate Lobby and is a Science Booster Club for the National Center for Science Education. The not-for-profit volunteer group also collaborates with other environmental groups on campaigns and events in the Mid-Ohio Valley. https://main.movclimateaction.org.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Defining Alarmism
Dec 16, 2018
On Dec. 9, the Parkersburg News and Sentinel published a piece by syndicated columnist, Mona Charen. Ms. Charen spoke of climate alarmism and how many environmental and climate activists were resorting to fear-based tactics in their climate and environmental messaging that are over-the-top and are not helpful in addressing their concerns. I beg to differ, for the most part.
On Dec. 1, 11 members of Mid-OhioValley Climate Action attended the 2018 National Energy Conference at West Virginia University College of Law, hosted by the WVU College of Law Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, Friends of Blackwater and the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation. The keynote speaker at the event was Emily Calandrelli, WVU graduate with a B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate with a master’s degree Aeronautics and Astronautics and Technology and Policy. Emily is an Emmy-nominated science TV host and Executive Producer of Fox’s Xploration Outer Space, a correspondent on Bill Nye’s Netflix program Bill Nye Saves the World and author of a children’s book series on STEM about a little girl in West Virginia, Ada Lace Adventures.
Part of the focus of the conference was climate communications and there were numerous speakers and panelists throughout the day. An especially good panelist, I felt, was a University of Maryland psychologist named Dylan Selterman. Dylan’s focus was on decision-making and what motivates people on a cognitive level. Dylan pointed out that liberals and conservatives tend to view the world a bit differently.Liberals tend to value things like equality, community and fairness most, while conservatives tend to value things like loyalty, respect and patriotism most.Being aware of this can have a profound effect on how we all communicate with one another regarding anthropogenic climate change.
I mention the conference, and Ms. Callandrelli and Mr. Selterman in particular, because the conclusion these and other panelists and speakers reached on climate communications is that it is important not to scare people to death. This is something that most of the climate and environmental activist community fundamentally understands. There are those who try to use the fear tactic, but it’s most often an unsuccessful motivator, as it leads mostly to despair and a feeling of helplessness.
That said, numerous reports and studies released in recent months warrant serious concern and demand our immediate attention. On Black Friday, volume II of the 4th National Climate Assessment was released by 13 federal entities under the Trump administration.This report was nearly 1,700 pages in length and included such findings as a predicted 10 percent loss in gross domestic product (GDP) in the U.S. by 2100related directly to climate change.
On Oct. 8, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of approximately 2,000 global scientists, released their report on a world where we encounter 1.5C(centigrade) warming over a pre-industrial baseline, the lowest and most ambitious target set in the 2015 Paris Climate Accords. The report warned that the world must reach net zero carbon and equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by2050 to avoid potential climate catastrophe should we exceed 1.5C or at the most 2C of warming over a pre-industrial baseline. We’re currently on track to hit at least 3C warming by the end of the century.
Given these realities, I think there is plenty of reason to sound an alarm. Global governments are not doing nearly enough on what you could say even approaches a reasonable time frame. The Trump administration is headed in the exact opposite direction from what’s needed,exacerbating global warming on a daily basis. Ms. Charen accuses the climate and environmental activist community of alarmism, but it is not hyperbole to simply state what the science unequivocally shows and call for the actions necessary to mitigate what we’ve locked in and prevent the worst from occurring. Ms. Charen recommends nuclear energy as a solution, as do others.Perhaps nuclear is part of the equation but, contrary to what Ms. Charen states, nuclear is prohibitively costly and we would need to explore so-called new age nuclear options to avoid some of nuclear energy’s worst drawbacks.
The science is settled, the threat is real and growing, and the time for action is right now. Together we can tackle the challenge of anthropogenic global climate change, but we’ve got to stop the politically motivated back and forth and work to deliver real solutions. It starts with public policy and the actions of global asset managers and investors, but it doesn’t end there. Please join us at Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action today and let’s work together locally to effect change globally.
***
Eric Engle of Parkersburg is Chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Posted: November 25, 2018 by main_y0ke11
Response
As Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action was called out in the Parkersburg News Sentinel this morning, I will offer a retort here and pin it to the top of our page for anyone who may come to this public page looking around after reading Mr. Mullen’s nonsense.
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action is not usually in the habit of responding to right-wing hysterical paranoia and propagandizing, but I feel it is necessary in this case to offer up something of actual substance to counter Mr. Mullen’s numerous falsities and lack of even rudimentary understanding of climate science.
Let’s begin with the most recent development from just this weekend. Day before yesterday, 13 federal agencies under the Trump administration released the 1,700 page Fourth National Climate Assessment – https://nca2018.globalchange.gov – showing in great detail that anthropogenic (human-caused) global climate change is, among other things, exacerbating and increasing the prevalence of heat waves, droughts, wildfires and strengthening hurricanes and other precipitation events and leading to more coastal flooding and inundation by rising seas. Please review at least the summary findings of the report at the link provided. The economic effects are and will be devastating.
Going back a bit further to October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of approximately 2,000 global scientists from 195 member countries who review and present the findings of the global climate science community periodically, released it’s Sixth Assessment, this time on 1.5C (centigrade) scenarios wherein the world keeps global temperatures from rising more than 1.5C above a preindustrial baseline. A World Meteorological Organization summary of the assessment can be found here – https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=5188
Regarding Mr. Mullen’s questioning of the scientific consensus on human-caused global climate change, I reference Dr. James Lawrence Powell, Ph.D. in Geochemistry and two-time appointee to the National Science Board by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, who conducted 5 literature reviews of all published, peer-reviewed scientific literature on global climate change between 1991-2015 (54,195 articles) and found an average consensus on the reality of human-caused global climate change of 99.94%.
It’s often said that there is a 97% consensus (still greater than the medical science consensus that smoking or chewing tobacco is harmful to human health) but that the “3%” should be acknowledged and the rest rejected. To refute this, I offer the work of Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech University (known for her Evangelical Christian Faith) published in the journal of Theoretical & Applied Climatology. See here an article in Quartz on Hayhoe et. Al’s findings – https://www.google.com/…/the-3-of-scientific-papers-th…/amp/
So far as what Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action is doing in the schools, MOVCA has a team of 8 folks who have reached out to area public schools to educate students on anthropogenic global climate change and how they can make a difference at home, in their communities, in their state (West Virginia or Ohio) and even nationally and globally. To date, our educational outreach team has reached approximately 3,000 area students and we will continue this important effort.
We also have a good rapport and working relationship with the editorial staffs of the Parkersburg News & Sentinel and Marietta Times, but, as Mr. Mullen’s piece makes clear, these papers do not hesitate to publish the viewpoints of others and are not engaging in some kind of vast left-wing conspiracy.
Anthropogenic global climate change is settled science. Solutions exist for mitigation and adaptation, all that is currently lacking is the political will to go through with these solutions, many of which consist of or must be lead or supported by public policy. Mr. Mullen’s conspiratorial, willfully-ignorant, propagandistic and entirely politically-motivated rhetoric is not solving anything, and in fact is contributing to the problem even as hurricanes worsened by warmer ocean surface waters and warmer air holding more moisture have killed thousands; wildfires fueled by hotter, drier conditions and a wavier jet stream preventing relief have killed hundreds and destroyed thousands of properties and acres; and cities like Miami are flooding at high tide, just to name a few present effects.
Together, we can tackle anthropogenic global climate change and save lives today and in the future, but this empty-headed nonsense on display by Mr. Mullen can no longer be treated as a viable alternative viewpoint to what is a virtually unanimous global scientific consensus or as an alternate reality to what is happening before our very eyes.
Please share widely!
#SavetheGrandchildren
#ClimateActionNow
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Tell PSC we want choice
Parkersburg News & Sentinel – Nov 4, 2018
To quote the organization Solar United Neighbors of West Virginia, “West Virginia’s monopoly electric utilities — Appalachian Power, Wheeling Power, Mon Power, and Potomac Edison — want to drastically reduce the rate at which net-metered solar owners receive credit for the energy their solar panels produce. If the state’s Public Service Commission accepts the utilities’ proposal, this would penalize existing solar owners who went solar expecting to receive full retail-rate credit, and would strongly discourage additional West Virginians from investing in solar.”
Solar United Neighbors continues, “The utilities’ proposal comes at a time when the Public Service Commission is considering changes to the state’s net metering regulation. The PSC proposed relatively minor changes, but the utilities have taken this opportunity to argue for gutting our net metering rules, making it far more expensive for West Virginians to go solar.”
We must let the Public Service Commission know that this is unacceptable. No matter your political ideology or party affiliation, we can all agree that penalizing West Virginians for trying to generate their own energy and feed part of what’s generated back into the grid is just mindless greed on the part of existing electric utilities.
Public comments to the PSC regarding this reduction of net metering rates are due by Nov. 8. To protect reasonable net metering rates, go to www.solarunitedneighbors.org/westvirginia/ and click on “contact the public service commission” on the main page by or before Nov. 8. Or you can go to Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action’s facebook group page and click into the Solar United Neighbors comments page for the PSC at the top of MOVCA’s page under “announcements.”
Let’s take a stand today for renewable energy independence in West Virginia. Montani Semper Liberi.
Eric Engle
Parkersburg
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
We must act on climate change
Parkersburg News & Sentinel – Oct 21, 2018 Eric Engle
There are a few things I think everyone needs to know in lieu of Trump’s “60 Minutes” comments on climate change following the most recent IPCC report.
When you look at literature reviews by the likes of Dr. James Lawrence Powell, the global scientific consensus on the existence of anthropogenic (human-caused) global climate change is actually about 99.6 percent or a fraction of a percent less than 100 percent. Not to mention that the notorious “3 percent” have been thoroughly discredited by the likes of Dr. Katherine Hayhoe. So, in reality, the global scientific consensus is virtually 100 percent. We are as absolutely certain as you can scientifically be.
Even assuming just a 97 percent consensus with a credible 3 percent opposing (which is not the case) that’s still greater certainty than the one that exists in the medical community that smoking tobacco is harmful to human health.
There is no question that climate change is occurring, that we are causing it, that it is a dangerous and increasingly catastrophic threat with the possibility of becoming existential (aka we become extinct) in the next century or so, or that we must act right now. None of this is equivocal, none of this is debatable.
Trump says that climate change is occurring now instead of calling it a hoax (progress I suppose) but that “it’ll change back.” Well, that’s actually not entirely wrong. The earth will reach an equilibrium under a business as usual scenario, but that equilibrium point will be a state in which we cannot exist. We evolved along with countless other species in a sort of goldilocks geological epoch known as the Holocene. We have altered earth’s atmosphere and natural systems to the point where most geologists agree that we have changed that geological epoch to what is called the Anthropocene (Anthrop = Greek for Human — cene is from the Greek Kainos meaning “new” or “recent”). The Anthropocene, should we do nothing or fail to do enough, will be our demise.
We have to act, folks. And we have to start by electing candidates to become officeholders who will deal in reality and not deny climate change or water it down because their palms are greased by fossil fuels interests or they think a deity is going to handle this or something. Vote to save ourselves and our children and grandchildren this election cycle and next!
Eric Engle
Parkersburg
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Change: Bad News and Good News
Marietta Times 10/14/2018 Viewpoint by George Banziger
First the bad news about climate change. This past week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) raised the alarm with their new report, which stated that global warming needs to be limited at or below 1.5 degrees Centigrade. If not, there will continue to be–at increasing frequency–mass wild fires, food shortages, and dying coral reefs by 2040. We are also likely to see an increase of massive storms in frequency and intensity, such as hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Florence. Climate scientists can now with “attribution models” specifically ascribe the increase in intensity of these storms to climate change. Climate change caused by human activity also can lead to rising sea levels, which will soon be evidenced in the flooding of fishing communities on the Chesapeake Bay and regular inundation of streets in Miami Beach. It is also likely that climate change will lead to an increase in terrorism due to new migration patterns, water, and food shortages. This report, however, has landed on Donald Trump’s desk with a thud, as he ignores or denies this information provided by an organization composed of 235 scientists from 57 countries and a report reviewed by 2,000+ experts and based on 9,000+ peer-reviewed documents; he has withdrawn U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, which was signed by 194 other countries. Following his model, Brazil may also withdraw. Other warning signs–there have been record droughts in South Africa and Australia, accelerated warming in the Arctic, and 87 degrees on October 9 in the Mid-Ohio Valley!
Amidst this “carbon cloud” of gloom there is some good news. Bottom-up constructive reaction to climate change is occurring in states like California, New York, and Massachusetts in the form of support for technological innovation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Solar technology is accelerating increasing the longevity and efficiency and lowering the costs of solar panels. Jobs in the solar area (360,000 nationally) exceed those in coal and nuclear combined. In our region AEP-Ohio has announced a solar generating hub in Highland County. In this historic commitment to renewable energy last month AEP-Ohio filed a proposal with the Public Utilities Commission to develop this 400 megawatt solar facility and 500 mw of wind power. In a survey conducted by AEP-Ohio last summer 89% of residential customers and 75% of commercial customers at least moderately supported a shift to renewable energy. The long-term savings for this shift to renewables will result in $200 million savings for its customers. Despite Trump’s attempt to resurrect the coal industry, energy companies themselves are opting to close coal-fired power plants. Government-supported welfare for coal will not bring back coal jobs nor rejuvenate this dying industry.
Some critics of renewable energy have mentioned that fossil-fuel based energy is needed when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow. This issue is being addressed by some amazing recent innovations in battery technology, which can store both solar and wind energy for future use. Among these innovations are: the large lithium-ion battery being developed in Australia by Tesla; the zinc-air batteries that can be used to capture solar energy in microgrids in places like Africa and Asia; and the mountain water plants in Austria which pump water up to higher elevations when renewable power is in excess and then send the water downhill to generator turbines when power is needed. In another piece of good news the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Paul Romer and William Nordhaus, who have helped identify the costs of climate change in terms of crop failures, flooding, and expenses for storm recovery. These Nobel winners have advanced our thinking concerning the costs of inaction and the benefits of action to address climate change.
We have also seen innovation to address climate change locally in the form of the installation of solar panels on the Municipal Court Building in Marietta and on the roof of the sanctuary building of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta. There are also dedicated volunteers and groups in our area working to conduct education about climate change and how to constructively respond to the challenges it represents. Most active among these groups is Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, which has an active presence on Facebook.
* George Banziger, Ph..D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a volunteer for the Devola MultiUse Trail Committee, Mid-Ohio Valley Interfaith, and Harvest of Hope. He is a member of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, and of the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action group.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Faith Panel Discusses Issues at MOV Climate Action Meeting
Faith panel discusses issues at Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action meeting
Sep 22, 2018
From staff reports
editoral@newsandsentinel.com
PARKERSBURG — Five local faith leaders described their denominations’ call for responsible stewardship of the earth 15 days after Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas at a meeting Thursday of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
The pastors and lay leaders said they were called by God to be stewards of creation, and to protect and preserve the web of life.
The Rev. Shauna Hyde of the United Methodist Church said Methodists offer a sermon series, the “Seasons of Creation,” and that almost all church renovations result in greater energy efficiency and resource conservation.
Mike Bailey of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta created the Green Sanctuary Committee at the church when he read the church’s Statement of Conscience in 2006.
“We started small, becoming aware of what we ate, what we drove, and encouraged everyone to make the steps they could to reduce extreme global climate change,” he said.
The church leaders and Climate Action plan to work together to help people find ways to understand the issues and act together to protect the environment.
Also participating in the panel were the Rev. Rich Johnson of Beechwood Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Janice Hill of the Disciples of Christ and the Rev. Jerrie Green of the United Methodist Church.
MOV Climate Action hosts a public meeting on a variety of related topics at 7 p.m. on the third Thursdays of the month at the Disciples of Christ, Latrobe Street and Washington Avenue, Parkersburg. The public is invited.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Wind Power Not More Expensive
Wind power not more expensive
Delegate Deem did not share with us any data supporting this assertion nor did he identify who it was who was “knowing” the alleged cost of wind versus coal power. I, for one, am not “knowing” his assertion because I know from reading an article in the science magazine Scientific American (8/28/17) that “a comprehensive survey of the wind industry shows wind energy is routinely purchased in bulk for 2 cents per kilowatt hour (KH), less than the cost of coal and natural gas — and turbines are getting cheaper, bigger and better.” The article was based on a 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Energy (obviously released before Trump’s critters could lay their paws on it), which found that U.S. wind energy will continue to be one of the lowest cost electricity generating technologies available.” I suspect that AEP also knows that wind power is cheaper than coal and natural gas because it is in the business of making a profit and profits are generally not made by paying the highest price for something, even if it’s good ol’ West Virginia coal.
Perhaps Del. Deem used “knowing” in the Biblical sense, that is, that he believes or has faith that coal is cheaper than wind power. While people often avoid real facts by wishful thinking, I expect that’s how the House of Delegates operates, the human species is running out of time for wishful thinking and needs real solutions real fast. In fact, many climate scientists feel that we have already passed the point of no return. Nevertheless, for the sake of future generations, we must try to reduce global warming and we can’t do that by burning coal, which releases more heat trapping CO2 than any other energy source.
Wonder if Del. Deem wouldn’t mind passing that message to the good ol’ boys down in Charleston? Surely, at least for some, the prospect of an uninhabitable planet by the time of their grandchildren would outweigh their greed and lust for coal money.
Patrick N. Radcliff
Vienna
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Exxon, Shell and climate change
Sep 23, 2018 Parkersburg News and Sentinel, Eric Engle
Benjamin Franta, a former research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and doctoral candidate at Stanford University where his focus is on the history of climate science and politics, recently wrote a piece for The Guardian newspaper titled “Shell and Exxon’s Secret 1980s Climate Change Warnings.”
In the piece, Franta explores how documents from Exxon and Shell scientists in the 1980s clearly showed that CO2 release from the burning of fossil fuels would warm the planet and that climate catastrophe would undoubtedly ensue. Franta quotes Shell’s analysts as warning of “the disappearance of specific ecosystems or habitat destruction … runoff, destructive floods and inundation of low-lying farmland … and new sources of freshwater being required” to compensate for changes in precipitation. The Shell analysts also warned that global changes in air temperature would “drastically change the way people live and work” and that “the changes may be the greatest in recorded history.”
Exxon, as Franta quotes, warned of “potentially catastrophic events that must be considered” such as “devastating sea level rise” and “the American Midwest and other parts of the world becoming desert-like.”
To quote Franta directly, “The documents make for frightening reading. And the effect is all the more chilling in view of the oil giants’ refusal to warn the public about the damage that their own researchers predicted. Shell’s report, marked ‘confidential,’ was first disclosed by a Dutch news organization earlier this year. Exxon’s study was not intended for external distribution, either; it was leaked in 2015.”
These oil giants, and researchers that preceded them as far back as the 1950s who were also part of or consulted by the fossil fuels industry, decided for us that anthropogenic (human-caused) global climate change was not going to be meaningfully addressed. Instead, the industry started a massive, decades-long misinformation and denial campaign.
These documents reveal two things unequivocally: (1) even the industry most responsible found that human-caused global climate change is real and a growing threat, as we’ve seen daily. And (2) the fossil fuels industry should be held accountable for the lion’s share of mitigation efforts and efforts to prevent the most catastrophic effects of what they chose to ignore and deny.
A lawsuit filed by the group Our Children’s Trust (Juliana v. U.S.) seeks to hold the fossil fuels industry and U.S. federal government accountable for violation of the constitutional rights of the youth plaintiffs in the suit. The suit alleges that the industry and the federal government knowingly violated the rights of the plaintiffs (and of us all) to life, liberty and property, as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, when they refused to address anthropogenic global climate change.
The suit, originally filed in 2015, has most recently been allowed to proceed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and has a trial date set in federal district court on Oct. 29. Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action is working with other organizations statewide to encourage people to show up at the federal district courthouse in Charleston on Oct. 29 to show our support for the plaintiffs and for holding industry and government accountable. Our Children’s Trust has asked people in every state to do the same.
The most profitable industry in the history of the world and an enabling government have attempted to decide our collective fate for us, but we will not go down without a fight and we will work toward a better future than the one they have tried to leave us with.
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Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
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