Last Updated: August 5, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Group kicks off month-long ‘Break Free from Plastic’ campaign

The Marietta Times

Jul 3, 2023

PARKERSBURG — Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action’s campaign promoting alternatives to single-use, disposable plastics began Saturday.

“We’re inviting everyone to join us as we try to make July plastic-free this summer,” said Adeline Bailey, coordinator of the project.

A calendar of activities and events designed for the Mid-Ohio Valley can be viewed online at https://main.movclimateaction.org/plastic-free-july/. It includes two free in-person screenings of films about plastic pollution, three local expert speakers on plastics’ harms to personal well-being as well as to the planet and a hands-on workshop on repurposing items for more sustainable uses.

In addition, the calendar offers links to articles and videos about ways people can refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle disposable plastics in their homes and workplaces and why eliminating single-use plastic is an important step in the fight against the climate crisis.

“We’re also sponsoring a contest,” Bailey said. “We’re planning to develop a guide to MOV businesses and restaurants that use and encourage sustainable practices in their day-to-day operations, and we realized that we couldn’t gather the information on our own. That’s why we’re calling on local folks to help us investigate by conducting a short survey about single-use plastics as they shop or dine and send us the results. All registered participants will receive a reward for their efforts. The survey questions have been assigned point values, and each of the three top point-earners will win a prize package featuring alternatives to disposable plastics.”

More information about the whens and wheres of all the campaign events can be found on the MOVCA website (http://main.movclimateaction.org), and frequent updates and announcements will be posted on MOVCA’s Facebook page.

“Look for MOVCA’s Break Free From Plastic billboards that are ‘large-size’ reminders to eliminate single-use plastics,” Bailey said. “A grant from the Mountain Watershed Association Direct Support Fund in support of our anti-plastic campaign helped make them possible.”

Last Updated: July 2, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Climate Corner: Generation Z speaks out

Jul 1, 2023

Jean Ambrose

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

   I recently participated in a national conversations project — Local Voices for a Fair Workforce Transition — that seeks to better understand the life experiences of those in communities most reliant on fossil fuel jobs. 1.7 million people in the United States work in fossil fuel sectors including oil, gas, and coal operations. With the local economy shifts to focus on renewable energy, significant numbers of existing jobs will be threatened or radically transformed during the transition.

The Deloitte Corporation provides services globally to CEOs and Boards of Directors of many of the world’s largest companies. Deloitte is studying how to best advise those running companies large and small about how to navigate the climate crisis. They understand that the only way to learn about the problem is to hear from those at the local level most directly affected by the change.

The MOV was part of a project in five states – Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and WV. We held 10 conversations, which will be available to the public through an online portal as part of the Local Voices Network. It was a breath of fresh air to have a respected corporation that spans the globe want to know about our Appalachian hopes and fears for this “green transition.”

One conversation that was a highlight for me was with five Parkersburg High School students. Their views were a window into the mindset of Generation Z , “zoomers” born between 1996 and 2012.

Those with deep family roots in the industry described tensions among the generations in their families, some who could remember 50 years ago when there were many mining jobs . For those whose families were not part of the history of the industry, the issue was more clear cut: coal is not sustainable we know more about the devastating effects on the environment, and we have to change.

Having coal in your family didn’t necessarily set the students up to think like their parents or grandparents. They referred to the story of Homer Hickham and the movie October Sky, made out of his book, Rocket Boys. When Russia put the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in orbit on Oct 4, 1957, youth in WV like people across the country, stayed up late to see the satellite cross the night sky. The movie, October Sky, portrayed how distressed the whole town became over a group of boys experimenting with building and shooting off rockets. The boys desperately wanted to be part of the space race and the opportunities for learning and careers, but their ambitions were seen as a threat, upending the familiar patterns of sons following their fathers into the mines.

The PHS students saw a similar connection to why they thought differently from their parents. “I think the reason we are so much more aware is because we have access to the internet and resources to learn more. It provides us with more knowledge than our parents could have had at our age.”

The group agreed that “our generation is a lot more open to newer ideas, even if our grandparents or parents have different views. We can go back and forth with each other about what we think through social media. Even if our parents don’t agree, it allows us to understand things more than they could in past generations. So we can really look at everything and see what we actually think based on all evidence.”

“Through Social media we can look at places all around the world and see how its affecting them there. We see the consequences more and realize that we do need to change.”

“We’re still growing up, so we still have minds that can change. Just as our parents and grandparents grew up knowing that coal and gas and oil kept society moving, our generation has realized the maybe coal isn’t’ the best idea anymore We need to switch for future generations.” “People should be more open-minded about changing.”

When asked where they thought we’d be in ten years, students thought there were lots of opportunities to use wind and water power here but they were skeptical that much would change. They were looking ahead 20 years, when their generation could get into power to change things. In a survey done by Deloitte two years ago, climate change and environmental issues were a major concern for 76% of young people born between 1996 and 2012 with 43% being afraid it is too late to repair the damage done to the environment.

Despite this, the students were hopeful. “I’m glad there are people that are willing to listen to us. We have different opinions than those of the West Virginia government. I don’t feel our opinions are being represented enough in our government.

What did the students want people to know about west Virginia? “Although it’s a small state that is typically very conservative, we do have different viewpoints. We have people who want to support climate change, a lot of young people.”

***

Jean Ambrose is trying not to be a criminal ancestor.

Last Updated: June 24, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Climate Corner: Wildfires smoke – not just a nuisance

Jun 24, 2023

Rebecca Phillips

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

While the Mid-Ohio Valley was spared the worst of the smoke plume from the recent Canadian wildfires, there is no doubt that we felt the effects, or that a different wind pattern could have left our valley with genuinely devastating levels of smoke pollution. As it was, New York City on one day had the world’s dirtiest air, and on several days our area experienced levels of particulate pollution labeled “unhealthy” for some or, for a few hours, all of our population. Unfortunately, this situation is likely to recur; as I write this on June 17, 432 fires are burning in Canada, ten of them new today, with 208 burning out of control.

2023 is looking like the worst wildfire season in Canada’s history. ABC News reported on June 7 that more than 8.7 million acres of Canada had burned, 2.5 million acres more than in an entire average fire season and larger than the state of Vermont. Ten days later, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre was reporting more than 2600 fires to date, with over 14 million acres burned, more than twice the land area of Ireland. So–what is causing these widespread disasters?

The fires that caused our most recent local air pollution were in eastern Canada, not typically a place prone to wildfire. But 2023 has been a dry year, with nearly half the country experiencing moderate to severe drought. May temperatures in Nova Scotia were twenty-plus degrees above normal, a lack of rainfall aggravating existing drought conditions. Extended droughts can kill some plants outright and in all cases can dry out the undergrowth and the dead branches that are fuel for wildfires. Scientists agree that climate change is the likely cause of both these increased temperatures and, in many places around the world, worsening droughts.

There is no question that wildfires have occurred throughout time and that humans are too often careless with flame. However, there is also no question that today’s massive fires are aggravated by climate change. The temperature increase of the last few decades has resulted in more lightning activity and lightning strikes, a common cause of fire. These higher temperatures cause more rapid evaporation of water, drying out the soil and pulling water from plant tissues. Dry plant matter burns quickly, allowing fires to spread rapidly. Unfortunately, recent years have also brought more high-intensity fires, which do not just clear out the undergrowth but are often damaging to the forests themselves. Massive numbers of animal deaths result. And of course, all that burning plant matter releases massive quantities of greenhouse gases, contributing to the climate change that makes such fires more likely, and compromised air quality a growing problem.

Wildfire smoke sends tiny particulates, known as PM 2.5, over great distances. These particulates are not just wood smoke, which is bad enough for lungs, but the remnants of anything else in the fire’s path–burned building materials, chemicals in the plastics from burned cars, and industrial toxins. The small size allows these particles to penetrate deeply into the lungs, causing not only asthma and COPD but sometimes heart disease and lung cancer. Recent studies indicate a link between long-term PM 2.5 exposure and dementia. Longer wildfire seasons put more people at risk, with health agencies around the world issuing air quality alerts during fire season.

Climate change endangers human health. For now, we can only try to protect ourselves from smoke, but we can work to reduce the danger for our grandchildren’s grandchildren.

***

Rebecca Phillips is retired from the faculty of WVU Parkersburg and is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action and the Fort Street Pollinator Habitat coordinating committee.

Last Updated: July 5, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Don’t frack Ohio’s parks

This letter to the editor was originally published in The Bargain Hunter on June 22, 2023.

By Randi Pokladnik

As of May 30, oil and gas companies can “nominate” land parcels within citizen-owned state parks and forests to obtain fracking leases. Parcel leases need approval from the four-member Oil and Gas Land Management Commission, a group that lacks any scientific expertise.

Currently, 10 parcels have been “nominated” to be fracked. They include almost the entirety (302 acres) of Valley Run Wildlife Area in Carroll County, a 66-acre parcel in Zepernick Wildlife Area in Columbiana County, 281 parcels that total over 9,000 acres in Salt Fork State Park and the entirety of Wolf Run State Park (approximately 2,000 acres) in Noble County.

Thousands of peer-reviewed studies show fracking activities cause water and air pollution, release climate-changing methane gases, increase dangerous traffic accidents, require millions of gallons of fresh water, create millions of gallons of toxic-produced water, and contribute to a plethora of human illnesses including endocrine disruption and cancer.

Ignoring the scientific studies, Ohio politicians would rather generate money for the state by relinquishing our precious wildlife, forests and streams to an industry that is the main contributor to climate change.

Fracking requires land for well pads, access roads, storage areas for water, chemicals, sand, wastewater, compressor stations and collector pipelines. Forest fragmentation results in an increase in predation and invasive species as well as a loss of species, especially neotropical migrant birds, which prefer a continuous forest canopy.

Noise from fracking interferes with communication of species like bats and birds. Light pollution from flaring affects migratory birds and nocturnal animals. Open wastewater ponds become death traps for water birds, turtles, frogs, muskrats and other animals. Brine spills from frack pads enter the environment and can kill birds, plants and soil microbes.

In addition, studies show stream water quality, sediment and dissolved oxygen are affected when water is withdrawn in significant quantities. The closer well pads, roads and pipelines are built to streams, the higher the risk of water quality degradation, both in the stream itself and downstream.

Ohio’s public lands have played a major role in the lives of many of Ohio’s citizens and out-of-state visitors. The state parks and forests are our playgrounds, our places of solace, our outdoor learning labs, and they belong to us. We must speak up for the wildlife and the forests; they cannot defend themselves against the heinous industrial development that will soon be invading our public lands and their homes.

Comments to the commission on the nominated parcels can be submitted until July 20. Information is on the webpage, www.saveohioparks.org. Write your comments about why you think a parcel (include parcel number) should not be fracked and send the email to Commission.Clerk@oglmc.ohio.gov.

The wildlife at Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area, Valley Run Wildlife Area and Wolf Run are counting on you to comment by July 20.

You also can show support for Salt Fork by attending a rally there at pavilion one on July 1.

Visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/saveohioparks, Twitter at www.twitter.com/SaveOhioParks and Instagram at www.instagram.com/save_ohio_parks/.

Dr. Randi Pokladnik was born and raised in Ohio. She earned an associate degree in Environmental Engineering, a BA in Chemistry, MA and PhD in Environmental Studies. She is certified in hazardous materials regulations and holds a teaching license in science and math. She worked as a research chemist for National Steel Corporation for 12 years and taught secondary and post-secondary science and math classes for more than 20 years. Her research includes an analysis of organic farming regulations and environmental issues impacting the Appalachian region of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. She lives near Tappan Lake in an eco- log home that she and her husband built in 2001. Her hobbies include running, gardening, sewing and doing fun things with her granddaughters.

Last Updated: July 5, 2023 by main_y0ke11

State parks, wildlife areas on fracking list

Jun 17, 2023

The Marietta Times

George Banziger

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” This quote, is from Dr. Seuss’s 1971 book “The Lorax.” These words may serve as a warning to Ohioans and out-of-state tourists who fail to take action to save Ohio’s parks and forests from hydraulic fracturing (fracking). House Bill 507 opened up our public lands to the endless greed of our politicians and the oil and gas industry. The bill passed along party lines, during a lame-duck session, with no public comment period. It was quickly signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. The governor did state that there would be no surface impacts on state lands, but the many other impacts and effects are numerous.

As of May 30, oil and gas companies can “nominate” land parcels within citizen-owned state parks and forests to obtain fracking leases. Parcel leases need approval from the four-member Oil and Gas Land Management Commission, a group which lacks any scientific expertise. Ten parcels have been nominated. They include almost the entirety (302 acres) of Valley Run Wildlife Area in Carroll County, with one well pad being less than 700 feet from the boundary. A 66-acre parcel in Zepernick Wildlife Area in Columbiana County, with a well pad 3.6 miles away from the boundary. Finally, 281 parcels which total over 9,000 acres in Salt Fork State Park have been nominated to be fracked. Well pads will surround the park, located from 406 to 6,000 feet from the park boundary.

The Ohio Ornithological Society opposed the fracking leases saying, “Our state parks make up less than 3% of Ohio’s land mass and have been set aside as repositories for biodiversity where Ohioans can seek nature, enjoy the scenic rivers and the best wildlife watching Ohio has to offer.”

Thousands of peer reviewed studies show that fracking activities cause water and air pollution, release climate-changing methane gases, increase dangerous traffic accidents, require millions of gallons of freshwater, create millions of gallons of toxic produced water, and contribute to a plethora of human illness including endocrine disruption and cancer. Unlike New York State, which banned fracking based on experts’ studies of health effects, Ohio’s politicians have ignored the scientific studies and have welcomed the industry. Now, in an effort to generate money for the state, our precious forests and streams will become the next target of an industry that is the main contributor to climate change.

Scientific studies show that fracking harms other organisms besides humans. This includes plants, birds, bats, soil microbes, aquatic organisms, and insects. Fracking requires land for well pads, access roads, storage areas for water, chemicals, sand, wastewater, compressor stations and collector pipelines. Forest fragmentation results in an increase in predation and invasive species as well as a loss of species which prefer a continuous forest canopy.

Noise from fracking interferes with communication of species like bats and birds, as well as impairing hunting by owls. Light pollution from flaring affects migratory birds and nocturnal animals. Artificial light from well pads also disrupts predator-prey relationships.

Open wastewater ponds become death traps for water birds, turtles, frogs, muskrats, and other animals. A 2017 study found that up to 16 % of fracked wells reported a spill each year between 2005 and 2014, totaling 6,600 spills. Brine spills from frack pads enter the environment and can kill birds, plants and soil microbes.

It is also notable that Washington County has the highest volume of brine waste (from fracking) in the state. A lot of the fracking waste from these new wells will be coming our way, adding to our problem.

Where will the millions of gallons of water needed for fracking come from? Studies show that stream water quality, sediment, and dissolved oxygen is affected when water is withdrawn in significant quantities. This affects the types and numbers of aquatic species that can thrive in these streams. “The closer well pads, roads, and pipelines are built to streams, the higher the risk of water quality degradation, both in the stream itself and downstream.”

The birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and snakes, as well as the forested ecosystems that make up Ohio’s public lands, have played a major role in the lives of many of Ohio’s citizens and out-of-state visitors. The state parks and forests are our playgrounds, our places of solace, our outdoor learning labs, and they belong to us. So, like the Lorax in Dr. Seuss’ book, we must speak up for the wildlife and the forests; they cannot defend themselves against the heinous industrial development that will soon be invading our public lands and their homes.

Comments to the commission on the nominated parcels can be submitted until July 20th. Information is on the webpage (https://saveohioparks.org). The page also contains information on the environmental, social, climate, and health impacts of fracking.

There are talking points that can help you craft your comments. To submit comments using an email message, put the nomination number in the subject line (see https://saveohioparks.org webpage for numbers). Then write your comments about why you think this parcel should NOT be fracked. Send the email to: Commission.Clerk@oglmc.ohio.gov. Be sure to get comments in by the due date (45 days after nomination.) The wildlife at Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area, and Valley Run Wildlife Area are counting on you to comment by July 20th.

You can also show support for Salt Fork by attending a rally there at Pavilion 1 on July 1st.

¯ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/saveohioparks

¯ Twitter – https://twitter.com/SaveOhioParks

¯ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/save–ohio–parks/

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, Citizens Climate Lobby, and of the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action team

Last Updated: June 17, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Climate Corner: Still everywhere

Jun 17, 2023

Callie Lyons

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

Why are we still talking about C8? I am often asked if our chemical problems aren’t behind us. So much time has passed since the Tennant family lost their cattle to contamination alerting the valley to the dangers lurking in DuPont’s highly fluorinated emissions. Yet, sadly the poisoning continues – and not as a remnant of industrial processes of the past.

Earlier this year I was appalled to learn that DuPont or Chemours was seeking a modification to the state permit that allows them to continue to dump PFAS directly into the river. Upon further investigation it was revealed that not only does the state-supported contamination continue; the corporation often violates this permit by discharging even greater amounts than allowed by permit.

Another reminder of our precarious position came in the form of sampling results from West Virginia that identifies excessive levels of contamination in untreated water supplies in locations all over the state. The list includes Parkersburg, Williamstown, St. Marys and many other places you might not suspect being at risk for the problem. You can find the results on the West Virginia DHHR website.

PFAS are bio-accumulative. So, until the poisoning ceases, the damage cannot be undone.

We must see to it that impacted communities like Parkersburg have the benefit of filtration to reduce the contamination from local water supplies, but this step alone is only a Band-Aid on a much bigger problem.

Ceasing the discharge of this pollution into the river is so very important I cannot overstate it. This pathway alone enables countless others and affects a much larger population of poisoned people. It goes without saying that cleaning up a river is vastly more difficult than installing a community water filtration system. Both are necessary, but if we really want to address the core problem we must stop industry from continuing this archaic practice.

Industry isn’t going to curb their bad pollution behavior over state or federal fines. They have not been willing to significantly curb their PFAS addiction over a class action that by my count cost them nearly a billion dollars so far.

It all reminds me of a quote from my favorite author Kurt Vonnegut in his book “Breakfast of Champions,” which warns against the destruction of the planet. It is a twisted, futuristic look at West Virginia that always caught my attention.

“The surface of West Virginia, with its coal and trees and topsoil gone, was rearranging what was left of itself in conformity with the laws of gravity. It was collapsing into all the holes which had been dug into it. Its mountains, which had once found it easy to stand by themselves, were sliding into valleys now.

“The demolition of West Virginia had taken place with the approval of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the State Government, which drew their power from the people.”

These government entities condoning the continued poisoning of our people do in fact draw their power from us. Are we going to silently condone these actions?

If like me you feel stuck and helpless in the overwhelming machine, I encourage you to join forces with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action, West Virginia Rivers, the Sierra Club or any number of other groups working so hard to provoke much needed change. We can do this together. We absolutely have to.

***

Callie Lyons is a journalist and author living in the Mid-Ohio Valley. She is chief researcher for the Murdaugh Murders Podcast. Her 2007 book, “Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal: The Hidden Dangers of C8,” was the first book to reveal the prevalence and danger of the PFAS family of highly fluorinated compounds used by industry in the manufacture of Teflon and thousands of other consumer applications.

Last Updated: June 10, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Climate Corner: The dirty (debt ceiling) deal

Jun 10, 2023

Giulia Mannarino

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

Climate activists across the country, and especially in West Virginia, have been working hard to keep the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) a pipe dream. Critics oppose it for potential environmental concerns while supporters see it as a significant energy development project. First proposed in 2014, this 42″ diameter pipeline would carry 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas and stretch 303 miles across the heart of West Virginia into Southwestern Virginia to markets in the mid Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. Due to the MVP’s lengthy history of environmental issues and court challenges against it brought by landowners and opponents, work has been off and on since 2018. MVP is currently only 56% complete and still has 429 water crossings to complete. During this construction, it has accrued over 500 violations of permit conditions and state environmental laws and over $3 million in fines.

The debt ceiling deal negotiated between Biden and Speaker McCarthy, titled the Fiscal Responsibility Act, has led to an unjust approval of the MVP. Buried in this bill is a section forcing approval of the completion of this totally unrelated controversial gas pipeline. Amid a flood of fossil fuel cash, Biden and Congress deployed a legal maneuver known as “jurisdiction stripping” to protect the pipeline from further legal challenges. Interestingly, Biden and Democratic lawmakers have declined to use the same maneuver to protect abortion and other civil rights from federal courts.

The dirty deal requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits for the MVP and prohibits judicial review of these permits. Removing meaningful agency and judicial review sets a dangerous precedent as it further rigs the process and promotes the unchecked political power of fossil fuel executives and their political pawns. This effectively cuts out the voice of impacted people in front line communities which will be sacrificed to more decades of hazardous toxins that pollute water and air and expose residents to untold health risks. Completing the MVP accelerates the climate crisis as it will have the equivalent to the emissions from 26 coal plants. And Americans shouldn’t have to choose between a national default and the MVP.

Biden promised to be a climate president. Yet the U.S. continues to be the biggest producer of oil and gas in the world. And fast tracking fossil fuel projects in general, and the MVP in particular, are not the actions of the climate President we need. American journalist, David Sirota, writer for online news organization, The Lever, recently tweeted; “The debt deal protects tax cuts for the rich, gives defense contractors more cash, expedites a fossil gas pipeline during the climate crisis – and makes it harder for starving people to get food stamps”. Although industry leaders are elated, environmentalists are outraged over the administration’s willingness to sacrifice front-line communities to keep Big Oil, and its defenders, like Senator Manchin and the MAGA caucus, satisfied. Deals that roll back environmental law and permitting reform that is heavily slanted toward the fossil fuel industry are contrary to the clean energy and transmission line reform needed to meet clean energy goals.

Opponents of the MVP are still standing against a future of unfettered fossil fuel expansion and will continue their fight against the project. Fortunately, there’s time for Biden to turn it around thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which was spared from harsh cuts in the debt ceiling deal. Actions this month will lay the groundwork for that to happen prior to the UN climate summit scheduled in New York this September. People vs. Fossil Fuels and several other organizational sponsors, including 350.org are mobilizing to turn up the heat and make Biden take real climate action. Across the country, actions are being organized to demand Biden use his executive powers to end the era of fossil fuels and declare a climate emergency. A rally was held at the White House on June 8 to bring the consequences of the debt ceiling deal to his doorstep. And in communities across the nation, June 8-11, more than 50 smaller local End the Era of Fossil Fuels rallies are scheduled. If we really want to save the grandchildren, it’s now more crucial than ever that people concerned about the climate crisis make their voices heard.

***

Giulia Mannarino, of Belleville, is a grandmother concerned for her granddaughter’s future, and vice president of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.

Last Updated: July 5, 2023 by main_y0ke11

A dirty debt ceiling deal

  • By Eric Engle
  • Jun 8, 2023
  • Charleston Gazette Mail

窗体顶端

窗体底端

Many Democrats in Congress, along with the Biden administration, have sacrificed the safety and well-being of West Virginians and Virginians by acquiescing to the whims of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and economic hostage-takers in the Republican Party with the recent debt ceiling legislation. This dirty deal, now signed into law, sacrifices our water, soil and shared global climate on the alter of fossil fuels industry greed and Manchin’s self-enrichment.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline project has been cited for numerous water quality standard violations and fined to the tune of at least $550,000 for failure to control runoff in an adequate and timely manner along its construction route.

The pipeline has failed since its inception in 2014 to obtain all needed permits from regulatory agencies and has had approvals tossed out in court under half-a-century old environmental statutes meant to protect and give voice to communities impacted by monstrosities like MVP. Manchin, President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., led the way in circumventing duly passed laws and regulations set down to carry those laws out, helped along by many Republicans and members of their own party.

Last Updated: July 5, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Climate Ambassadors attend orientation

Community News 

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

Jun 7, 2023

PARKERSBURG — The 2023 Climate Ambassadors received an orientation to climate science and project planning by Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action at the Parkersburg-Wood County Library.

Climate Ambassadors apply to participate in the program and commit to creating a project that addresses environmental issues in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action provides funding for the projects, training, a mentor and a stipend at the completion of the project. Projects can be at school, church, with organizations or in the community.

The 2022 students who completed their projects are Nathaniel McPeak, Lilian Floyd, Anna Earl and Alayna Garst.

The 2023 students beginning their project year are Meredith Poole, Nathaniel McPeak (2nd year), Matthew Taylor, Gianna Ross, mentor Abby Taylor, Aaron Grose, mentor Dawn Weidner, Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action coordinator Angie Iafrate, Riley Dunfee and Nadia Russo.

Last Updated: June 3, 2023 by main_y0ke11

Climate Corner: Women, the environment and health issues

Jun 3, 2023

Randi Pokladnik

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

In 1974, a new term, ecofeminism, was used when speaking of women’s roles in the environmental movement. The definition of ecofeminism combines ecological concerns with feminist concerns in a philosophical and political movement.

Throughout history, many strong, intelligent women have endeavored to speak truth to power. This is especially true when it comes to issues of health and environmental destruction. In the 1960s, Rachel Carson took on the agri-chemical industry to expose the negative effects of pesticides. Marina Silva, who grew up in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, spoke out to protect this forest from illegal logging during the 2000s. Today we have Greta Thunberg leading the fight to address the climate crisis.

Sadly, while women continue to fight for the planet, they are also fighting for their lives as many of the illnesses visited on females are directly linked to toxins released into our environment. The continuing rise in breast cancer rates reflects this link. In the 1970s, breast cancer was not common, but in the past fifty years the incidence of cancer has significantly increased to the point that the National Institute of Health says one out of eight women will get breast cancer in their lives.

The “Clan of the one-breasted women” is a narrative written by Terry Tempest Williams, a breast cancer survivor who grew up downwind of the Nevada nuclear test sites in the 1950s. The basic theme of her story was an examination of the source of the multiple cases of breast cancer in the Williams family. For decades, the women of the Mormon family blamed their cancers on “bad genes.” However, years after her mother succumbed to cancer, Terry realized that being exposed to radioactive fallout from the government’s testing of nuclear devices near Utah played a pivotal role in the cancers.

In the narrative she describes a story of a family living in Hurricane, Utah. They saw the night sky turn red as they sat on top of the roof of a local high school watching a nuclear detonation. The Tempest family also experienced an above-ground explosion while driving north from Las Vegas in 1957. Her dad pulled their car over onto the side of the road as a pink mushroom cloud spread above the surrounding countryside. This scene was played out many times around the Nevada site where between 1951 and 1992, nuclear weapons tests were performed both above and underground.

The British-made documentary “Assault on the Male” brought attention to the correlation of declining sperm counts in males to the increase in petrochemical products. It also highlighted another interesting finding that affects females. Dr. Ana Soto, a breast cancer researcher, discovered that plasticware, in which human blood serum was stored, shed an estrogen-mimicking chemical. Dr. Soto showed that breast cancer cells grew when placed in plastic petri dishes, but did not grow in glass dishes. Studies reveal that toiletries, plastics, and spermicides may release estrogenic compounds. These estrogens may act cumulatively as reproductive disruptors and may also increase the incidence of breast cancer.

Sandra Steingraber, a cancer survivor, endocrinologist and author of “The Falling Age of Puberty in US Girls”, said that over the past decades, the onset of puberty in girls has occurred earlier, especially in the USA and other affluent countries. Numerous studies have linked exposures to hormone-mimicking compounds, like those found in plastics, to early puberty in females. Also of concern is the fact that early puberty is a known risk factor for breast cancer.

Women’s health and exposure to unregulated chemicals are linked. We know that women use more personal care products and are exposed to more endocrine-disrupting compounds such as perfluoroalkyl or PFAS. These chemicals cause “cancer and hormone disruptions, weaken immune systems, and are linked to low birth weights.” In a 2021 Science News report, University of Notre Dame researchers “tested 231 frequently-used makeup products, including liquid foundation, concealer, blush, lipsticks and mascara, and found 82% of waterproof mascaras, 63% of foundations, and 62% of liquid lipsticks contained at least 0.384 micrograms of fluorine per square centimeter of product spread out.”

Women are exposed to chemicals via sanitary products. The cotton fibers that are bleached and used to make cotton swabs, cotton balls and tampons can contain dioxins, a known human carcinogen. These dioxins can be directly absorbed into the blood stream and accumulate over time in the body. Many of these products are considered to be medical devices and therefore have no regulations for their ingredients.

Women use the majority of cleaning products which in many cases do not disclose the entire list of ingredients. The website “Women’s Voices” points out that “some products contain reproductive toxins such as toluene and phthalates, carcinogens like 1,4-dioxane and chloroform, and a hormone disrupting synthetic musk.” My own mom only used vinegar, baking soda and alcohol to clean with because her sensitive skin couldn’t handle cleaners like Lysol and ammonia.

However, the petrochemical industry has done a great job convincing many housewives that they need these toxic products to make homes safe and sanitized. It is not surprising that “petrochemical feedstock accounts for 12% of global oil demand.”

It is time to embrace ecofeminism, and to increase the number of women in Congress from the current 28% to 50%. Women deserve a larger role in writing policies and laws for chemicals and products that disproportionately affect them as well as the planet.

***

Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in environmental studies and is certified in hazardous materials regulations

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