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: July 16, 2019 by main_y0ke11
Green New Deal isn’t just a possibility
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Edward Markey introduced a nonbinding resolution on Feb. 7 calling for a Green New Deal. It would be an overhaul of our energy, transportation, agricultural and infrastructural systems moving us off fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable energy. It would also move us to maximum energy efficiency and sustainable agriculture and development. Not only is this proposal feasible, but by mid-century we have got to see it through if we hope to leave a habitable planet for posterity.
Not surprisingly, there is already much weeping and gnashing of teeth concerning this proposal from the political right. They say this proposal and all it entails will spend us into oblivion and destroy places like Appalachia, long reliant on extractive industries who exploit our resources and our labor. This from the same Republicans who in December 2017 passed a multi-trillion-dollar tax cut for corporations, financiers and the wealthiest households and individuals in the country; the same Republicans (and some Democrats) who happily hand out billions annually in taxpayer dollars for fossil fuels and commercial agricultural subsidies. Our entire congressional delegation in West Virginia was even supportive of using a Department of Energy emergency maneuver to bailout noncompetitive coal and nuclear plants on the backs of ratepayers and taxpayers. So much for the free market.
Speaking of the market, there are two important prerequisites to making a Green New Deal work. One is a carbon tax. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act that has been introduced in the U.S. House (H.R. 763) would place a rising cost on carbon at the source and return all revenue to the American people 100 percent in the form of a dividend. It is crucial legislation with bipartisan sponsorship and support. There is no reason, ideological or otherwise, why West Virginia’s congressional delegation should not support it. It is a market-based solution that does not grow government. If we do not account for the true social costs of carbon, we cannot move forward.
The other prerequisite to a Green New Deal is fossil fuels divestment and socially responsible investment. Coal, oil (and petroleum-based products like plastics and other petrochemicals), gas and nuclear are leaving investors with stranded assets, and this will only get worse. These are not the future and any good investor or asset manager looks at the writing on the wall. The costs of climate change to insurers and underwriters are staggering and set to get much worse. It certainly doesn’t behoove them to maintain the status quo.
But these are only cost analyses, what about jobs and economic fairness and equality? This is where the Green New Deal is so important. President Franklin Roosevelt once spoke of a Second Bill of Rights, an economic Bill of Rights. Writing for Jacobin, with republication in The Guardian recently, Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Thea Riofancos wrote that “Freedom has to mean something more than the capitalist’s freedom to invest or the consumer’s freedom to buy.” Expanding on FDR’s Second Bill of Rights, the authors wrote of five important freedoms that a Green New Deal could guarantee: Freedom from fear (in this case freedoms such as guaranteed jobs and homes as we suffer weather extremes and relocations from climate change and reorganization of industry); Freedom from toil (in this case harmful work or useless toil); Freedom to move (in this case humane immigration policies and non-militarized borders); Freedom from domination (in this case, as one example, the letting go of fantasies of achieving freedom by the domination of nature and recognizing ecological necessities); and Freedom to live (in this case freedom from want and to want — i.e. to have all basic needs met and to live with unfettered access to knowledge, leisure and adventure).
A Green New Deal is only a threat to those seeking to maintain a status quo of massive wealth and income inequality, power and dominion concentrated in the hands of the few and wanton disregard for the overwhelming scientific consensus on anthropogenic global climate change and the urgent threats it poses. A Green New Deal is not some “green dream” of the progressive left, it is a serious proposal containing solutions to the potentially existential havoc we have wrought on our shared planet, our only home in the cosmos. Ignore the noise and let us spare ourselves calamity and salvage life for future generations. Let your congresspersons and senators know you support a Green New Deal.
Eric Engle is chairman
of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Lawmakers should legalize power agreements
Jan. 25, 2019
The Daily Mail editorial “West Virginia can lead in renewable energy too,” (Jan. 11) misses the point.
The editorial acknowledges two important facts: that the energy of the future could and should come from West Virginia; and that every form of energy has financial and environmental costs.
However, the editorial goes on to blame opposition to some forms of energy development as to why West Virginia has trouble competing for future energy needs.
Since all energy development has both benefits and costs, there will always be opposition to, as well as support for, any form of energy. Successful leaders recognize this and develop plans and strategies to meet future market demands as they arise.
The undisputed facts are that gas is replacing coal as an electricity generation source in the short term, while renewable forms of energy will continue to increase as a percentage of supply over the long term.
But this is not a zero-sum game. West Virginia can win as a gas supplier and a leader in renewable energy — if state policymakers take the necessary steps to encourage competition, growth and development in our rapidly changing energy system.
Our lawmakers can take one such step during this legislative session by passing a bill to legalize Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for on-site renewable and alternative energy resources in West Virginia. This widely available financing mechanism allows a third-party developer to install, own and operate an energy generation system — such as a solar array, methane digester or combined heat and power (CHP) facility — on a host customer’s property. The customer purchases the system’s electricity output at a fixed rate, often lower than that of the local utility company.
Commonly used by commercial businesses and tax-exempt institutions such as schools, churches and municipalities, PPAs give consumers access to affordable energy with low to zero upfront cost while lowering electric bills from day one.
Legalizing PPAs for on-site renewable and alternative energy resources will help consumers protect themselves against future rate hikes, create good local jobs, and encourage economic investment in our state — all without raising rates or hiking taxes.
That’s why we have joined West Virginians for Energy Freedom, a coalition of neighbors, organizations, businesses and officials who believe West Virginians should have the right to take control of where their energy comes from. Visit wv4ef.org to find out more and join the fight for energy freedom in West Virginia.
Tom Loehr
and Autumn Long
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
WV Electric Auto Association to present at MOVCA meeting
Jul 16, 2019
PARKERSBURG – Marty Weirick and other members of the West Virginia Electric Auto Association will be guest presenters at the July 18 Third Thursday meeting of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action. Beginning at 6 p.m., the electric auto enthusiasts will gather in the parking lot of the First Christian Church, 1400 Washington Ave., Parkersburg, to display several electric vehicles and offer rides to attendees.
Weirick is the president of the WVEAA, a small club of electric car enthusiasts and a chapter of the national Electric Auto Association. WVEAA was started by a group of hobbyists who built their own cars before manufacturers started building cars.
“These days members drive production cars,” Weirick says. “I will be bringing my personal 2018 Tesla Model 3 for display at the event. I also own a Volt.”
MOVCA members who drive electric vehicles will also display their cars and offer rides.
Following the demonstrations, the meeting will move to the church fellowship hall around 7 p.m. where Weirick will present “Driving on Sunshine in West Virginia.” Weirick noted that electric car sales continue to grow in the U.S. and in West Virginia, citing reports that U.S. June plug-in vehicle 2019 sales were up 51% over June 2018 sales. He will also address the increased availability of EV charging stations in the region.
When asked why MOVCA and similar groups would be interested in his presentation, Weirick said, “Climate change cannot be controlled without the control of auto emissions.”
MOVCA’s Third Thursday programs are open to the public and free of charge; anyone interested is welcome to attend.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate change and the changing political climate
Jun 22, 2019
By George Banziger, Ph.D.
Just as sea levels and global temperatures are rising, public opinion is rising in the direction of greater support for the idea of human-caused climate change. In 2016, 57% of Americans believed that climate change is real and that it is caused by human activity; this is up from 44% in 2014. By a ratio of 8:1 Americans are more worried about climate change in 2019 than they were a year ago. To add credibility to this notion, 97% of peer-reviewed scientists endorse the idea of human causation to the climate change we are witnessing, and national academies of science in every major country support this assumption. As a member of the Citizen Climate Lobby has stated when he was in Marietta, if nine out of ten car mechanics told you that you needed new brakes, what would you do?
What is even more striking than the overall support for addressing climate change is the recent change in political views on the subject. Frank Luntz, a GOP strategist and pollster, recently reported that 85% of Republican millennials are concerned that the current Republican position on climate change is hurting the party with younger voters. By a ratio of 2:1 (4:1 for all Americans), Republicans endorse the uniquely popular carbon dividend plan.
This plan has taken the form of HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Dividend Act, a bill that involves a fee not a tax and seeks no further regulation of the energy industry. This bill, if enacted, will constitute a major step toward addressing human-caused climate change. Scientists have enumerated the many effects of climate change that we are currently witnessing: glaciers and ice caps melting (e.g., the Antarctic ice cap is melting at the equivalent rate of three and half swimming pools a second), global warming of our climate, the oceans rising, getting warmer, and more acidic, and extreme weather. CO2 emissions and global temperatures have been strongly related for centuries, and the spike in global temperatures in the last 100 years is compelling. It’s not normal variation, and it’s caused mainly by emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
HR 763 would impose a fee on carbon emissions, starting at $15/ton and growing over time. Every citizen of the U.S. would then receive a monthly dividend directly tied to this carbon fee, which would not affect revenue or expense of the federal government. It will reduce carbon emissions by 40% over 12 years and, by virtue of the dividend that it will put in the hands of every American, it will add 2.1 million jobs. Low and middle income persons, a large part of the population of the Mid-Ohio Valley, would gain the most benefit from this legislation.
Given the broad appeal of this bill, it is ripe for bipartisan support. It has been endorsed by groups such as the Presbyterian Church of the USA, the U.S. Conference of Bishops, republicEn (Republicans concerned about climate change), Young Evangelicals for Climate Change, and the American Sustainable Business Council.
Ohio and the Mid-Ohio Valley are uniquely positioned for the economic benefit to be gained from this legislation. The income from the carbon dividend, to be dispensed through the Social Security system, will stimulate spending in retail, housing, education and other areas where low and middle income people spend their money. Furthermore, the manufacturing base in this region can potentially serve to support industries related to renewable energy such as supplies and infrastructure for wind farms.
Please send a message to Congressman Bill Johnson (or to Congressman David McKinley if you live in West Virginia) and urge him to support HR 763.
George Banziger, Ph.D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a member of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action group, and the Citizens Climate Lobby.
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.
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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
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