Sep 28, 2024
Aaron Dunbar
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
On Feb. 25 of this year, United States airman Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C., refusing to be complicit in the American-backed genocide of the people of Palestine. On the morning of his self-immolation, he shared the following message via his Facebook account: “Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”
Bushnell was neither the first nor the last case of self-immolation in protest of our country’s bipartisan genocide in Gaza. In December of last year, an unidentified woman set herself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta. And earlier this month, Boston resident Matt Nelson did the same outside his city’s own Israeli consulate, adding to the nearly 200,000 to 300,000 casualties of our indiscriminate extermination campaign against the people of Palestine, based on estimates from The Lancet journal and The Guardian.
Nor has the so-called “Israel-Hamas war” been the only impetus for such desperate acts of protest within recent memory. On Earth Day in 2022, just months after his home state of Colorado experienced its most destructive wildfire ever recorded, climate activist Wynn Bruce set himself ablaze outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
In the months prior to this action, Bruce shared a quote from Vietnamese peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, regarding the self-immolation of Buddhist monks: “To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance.” He later added another quote attributed to Nhat Hanh: “The most important thing, in response to climate change, is to be willing to hear the sound of the earth’s tears through our own bodies.”
In more ways than one, we find ourselves the inhabitants of a world on fire. Seldom does a day go by that I don’t reflect on Aaron Bushnell’s sentiment, “What would I do if I was alive during ____? You’re doing it right now.”
I certainly experience these feelings with regard to the escalating genocide in Gaza, but also quite profoundly against the backdrop of the climate crisis — the most devastating global catastrophe ever engineered by humanity, for which the U.S. bears a disproportionate responsibility.
I spend every day doing everything I can think to do as an individual to try and take meaningful action against the climate crisis. But for every opinion piece like this that I write, I’m struck by a seemingly endless barrage of the bleakest headlines imaginable:
* “Antarctic ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Heading for Collapse,” Newsweek, Sept. 23.
* “AI Boom Is Driving a Surprise Resurgence of US Gas-Fired Power:
* New gas plants just keep on coming, defying expectations that their rapid growth was nearing an end,” Bloomberg, Sept. 16.
“Earth may have breached seven of nine planetary boundaries, health check shows:
* Ocean acidification close to critical threshold, say scientists, posing threat to marine ecosystems and global liveability,” The Guardian, Sept. 23.
To be quite honest, I’m at a point where I genuinely don’t know how to live as a human being who exists in the age of the Anthropocene. I have no idea how to think about the future in a world whose biosphere is on the brink of collapse. I’m fully aware of the crisis we’re in, I know the scale of it, I know that it’s irreversible and that, for all intents and purposes, we’ve basically run out the clock when it comes to preventing utter catastrophe. Every day, it seems, we learn that collapse is happening faster than we realized, that it will affect hundreds of millions or even billions more people than we believed, and that global temperatures will skyrocket to previously unfathomable levels due to our failure to curb emissions. How, then, is it possible to know all of this, and still do nothing? Or even worse, to know it and to continue adding fuel to the fire?
Increasingly I find myself questioning whether humans are even capable of thinking in such a way that we might hope to survive the coming storm. So many of us feel like we’re doing everything we can, yet remain plagued by the guilt that it still isn’t enough — that indeed, nothing could ever be enough. It’s like we’re an old-timey bucket brigade, attempting to extinguish an out of control industrial fire on a planetary scale.
It’s not merely that our political and economic systems are uniquely ill-equipped to face the challenges of the climate crisis, but that they are in fact entirely predicated on a foundation of ecological destruction and a wanton disregard for life, human or otherwise.
Should civilization survive long enough for future generations to exist, they will surely be asking the question of us: “What did you do when our world was falling apart?”
The only honest answer that most of us can give to that question, myself included, is “not nearly enough.”
Our society’s ongoing tolerance for so many catastrophic, system-wide failures are directly responsible for the fate of individuals like Wynn Bruce and Aaron Bushnell, who sacrificed their very lives to beg for justice through the angry red flames of a burning world. We cannot go on like this.
We cannot accept that the bare minimum is enough. We cannot throw up our hands and accept that the world must burn. We all need to be doing so much more, every single day, to fight back against this deadly machinery fueled by the kindling of the innocent. We must find new ways to resist our own extinction, and keep resisting as if our very lives depend on it. Without this there can be no hope.
***
Aaron Dunbar is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Posted: December 7, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Blooming in an unfavorable climate
Dec 7, 2024
Callie Lyons
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
In the face of a political climate that feels increasingly unfavorable, especially for environmentalists and those advocating for systemic change, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless. The challenges–stagnant policies, rising climate impacts, and polarized discourse — can seem insurmountable. Yet, history shows that hope thrives in adversity, and progress often begins with small, focused steps.
Reframing hopelessness into hope starts with the realization that while circumstances may not change overnight, our response to them can. This means mastering the art of blooming where we’re planted, finding opportunities for growth and impact, even in the harshest conditions.
“Bloom where you’re planted” isn’t just a metaphor; it’s a strategy. Environmental advocates, youth activists, and marginalized groups all face unique barriers, yet their stories are filled with examples of persistence leading to progress. Local actions — whether installing solar panels on a school roof, planting community gardens, or enacting green municipal policies — have ripple effects.
When we accept our current position as a starting point, rather than a fixed limitation, we empower ourselves to turn challenges into opportunities for growth.
Change is rarely the work of one person or group — it’s the result of united efforts. Coalitions are essential for achieving progress in tough times. Youth activists partnering with scientists, environmental justice organizations collaborating with healthcare professionals, and faith-based groups joining hands with conservationists show the power of diverse alliances.
Challenges often force us to innovate, and the environmental movement is no stranger to doing more with less. Limited resources, whether time, funding, or political support, can inspire groundbreaking solutions.
This principle applies to personal action, too. You don’t need an unlimited budget to reduce waste, adopt sustainable habits, or educate others about climate issues. Small steps, like hosting a workshop or planting a pollinator garden, can inspire broader action.
At its core, this approach to reframing hopelessness is about rediscovering agency. When challenges feel overwhelming, the antidote lies in identifying what we can do and doing it with purpose. Here are three pillars to keep in mind:
Find Strength in Small Victories
Celebrate and share progress, no matter how modest. Whether it’s a city adopting a renewable energy standard or a community rallying to protect local wetlands, every win fuels the larger fight.
Collaborate Across Divides
Build unexpected alliances. Environmentalists working with businesses, or scientists partnering with religious groups, can create momentum by focusing on common ground.
Embrace a Vision for the Future
Use storytelling and education to paint a vivid picture of what’s possible. Hope isn’t passive–it’s the product of actionable plans and the belief that today’s work can create tomorrow’s change.
Yes, the road ahead is steep, and the challenges are vast. But adversity has always been the proving ground for progress. From the civil rights movement to the environmental victories of the past, history reminds us that persistence, collaboration, and creativity can overcome even the toughest odds.
So, let’s bloom where we’re planted. Let’s build coalitions that amplify our voices and find innovative ways to do more with less. And above all, let’s replace hopelessness with a hope grounded in action–a hope that fuels us to create the change we desperately need.
The future is unwritten, but it is not without authors. Together, we can write a story of resilience, collaboration, and hope. Let’s get to work.
***
Callie Lyons is a journalist, researcher and author who works for FITSNews. Her 2007 book “Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal: The Hidden Dangers of C8,” was the first to cover forever chemicals and their impact on communities — a story later told in the movie “Dark Waters.” Her investigative work has been featured in media outlets, publications, and documentaries all over the world. Lyons also appears in “Citizen Sleuth” — a 2023 documentary exploring the genre of true crime.
Posted: November 30, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: COP(out)29
Nov 30, 2024
Giulia Mannarino
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
The United Nations Security Council is the only organ of the United Nations that has the power to make decisions that member states are obligated to implement. Their five permanent members have veto power and are China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and the United States. There also are ten non-permanent members which are elected each year for a two year term by the U.N. General Assembly. The Presidency of the Security Council rotates monthly among the members. The United Nations Secretary-General is appointed by the Security Council. That individual is the chief administrative officer of the U.N. and has many responsibilities including heading the Secretariat, the part of the U.N. that carries out the organization’s programs, policies and day-to-day work. The UNSG is expected to advocate for all the world’s people, especially the poor and vulnerable. UNSGs serve a five-year term and can be re-appointed for a second five-year term. There is no limit to the number of terms a UNSG can serve; however, no one has held the office for more than two terms.
In the context of the U.N., “COP” stands for “Conference of Parties.” It refers to the 198 parties that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This includes 197 countries plus the European Union and constitutes near universal membership. The host country of the COP rotates among the five U.N. regional groups with regional group members determining which country from their region will make an offer to host. Preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system is the main aim of the UNFCCC. Their conferences, held yearly, are the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change. The group reviews progress made toward goals and discusses and determines further actions to address the crisis of global warming.
The first COP was held in 1995 in Berlin, Germany. The last three COPs have been held in countries considered major fossil fuel producers; Egypt (COP27), United Arab Emirates (COP28) and most recently Azerbaijan (COP29), raising concerns about a conflict of interest.
These host nations can prioritize their fossil fuel interests over strong climate action, potentially allowing fossil fuel lobbyists significant influence during the negotiations. In fact, COP29 opened with a minister’s defense of fossil fuels and 1,880 fossil fuel industry lobbyists attended. This number exceeds the number of delegates attending for each of the five permanent member nations of the Security Council (China — 969, France — 649, Russian Federation — 900, United Kingdom — 470, USA — 405). COP29, originally scheduled for 12 days, was extended to finalize critical but chaotic negotiations especially concerning the amount of funding for a “Loss and Damages Fund” that came out of COP28. These funds are to be paid by countries and corporations that have caused the problem to help the undeveloped countries that have been impacted. But the final amount approved was inadequate and will not be disbursed for years. Other issues not resolved were postponed to be taken up next year.
The ninth and current UNSG is Antonio Guterres who took office in January 2017 and was re-appointed to a second term. Guterres was born in Lisbon, Portugal and graduated from the Instituto Superior Tecnico with an engineering degree. He has served in Portugal’s Parliament as well as its Prime Minister and as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Guterres, who is fluent in four languages, has made over a hundred speeches about the climate emergency and has regularly called out governments and companies for adding “fuel to the flames of climate change.” Many of his speeches can be viewed on YouTube. His message is that countries must find the will to address the threat of global warming. He has emphasized that 1.5 degrees C is an important tipping point and the need for action to prevent it is unprecedented. Guterres often emphasizes the fact that those least responsible for the problem are hardest hit by the consequences. He believes it is not too late to take action but that it will require maximum global cooperation. A speech he delivered June 5, 2024, titled:“Special Address on Climate Action: A Moment Of Truth,” includes a doable global climate action plan. Guterres’s command of the English language is excellent, but his accent, at least to my ears, seems to mispronounce the word “fuel” as “fool.” It is unintentional, but entertaining and seems accurate.
***
Giulia Mannarino of Belleville, is a grandmother concerned about her two granddaughters’ futures and a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Posted: November 23, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: A mission to empower people
Nov 23, 2024
Eric Engle
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action has now contributed our Climate Corner column to the Parkersburg News and Sentinel for over three-and-a-half years. I want to thank the editor for her willingness to have published our column all this time and to continue publishing as we submit. It has been the honor and privilege of all our writers to keep information on the global climate crisis and related subjects in the weekend editions of the paper.
The community has largely been accepting, or at the very least deferential, to our column and we also appreciate that as we continue to engage with folks in the area in numerous ways. Some published responses to our column, though, particularly by one writer, have been derogatory, often fallacious, and made use of refuted talking points. I’d like to address that here, as well as share with you our plans as an organization for 2025 following the outcomes of the recent elections.
MOVCA is an organization consisting of and supported by people from all walks of life. While I am an outspoken atheist Humanist, many of our members and supporters are people of faith embracing many different belief systems and faith traditions and affiliated with a wide array of churches and other religious organizations. We have long been recipients of financial support, for example, from the Sisters of St. Joseph in Wheeling, W.Va., as part of their efforts to help carry forward the message of Pope Francis’s second encyclical, Laudato Si’ (“praise be to you”), which was about caring for the planet.
Caring for creation is considered an important part of many Protestant Christian faiths as well and many of our Protestant members have joined in our efforts for that purpose. We count among our members folks who are not only Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians but also Jewish, members of the Baha’i Faith, Buddhists, Unitarian Universalists, Catholic Universalists, and others.
I won’t use this column to engage in theological discussions or argue about faith vs. works, but what I want to make clear is that there are many, many community members who disagree with the writer in question from a position of faith and do not believe that climate change as it is occurring today is just some cyclical pattern of life on earth or that we must passively relegate responsibility for addressing it to a deity.
Anthropogenic (human-caused) global climate change is real and it’s at crisis levels as we alter the delicate balances of our life support systems on timescales never witnessed in geologic history. We are not attempting to save the planet itself; it would go on and numerous life forms would thrive without us. We are attempting to spare ourselves and posterity a great deal of agony and the very real possibility that we will make our only home in the cosmos uninhabitable, both for us and for countless other species.
As far as solutions, renewable energy options like solar and wind are not “pixie dust,” but crucial forms of energy production harnessing the inexhaustible rays of our solar system’s star and the inextinguishable force of air streams circling and churning around our planet. Coupled with storage technologies, some about to be produced in Weirton, W.Va., they are a vital way of kicking our expensive, filthy, dangerous, and planet-destabilizing fossil fuels habits. We’ve already ceded too much ground to China which, despite extensive continued coal use, has become far and away the leader in the manufacturing and production of the energy of the 21st Century.
In 2025, it is MOVCA’s goal to be a central hub in our area for information on the affordability, accessibility, and functional performance and importance of renewable and sustainable alternatives to the status quo. Solar arrays, energy storage options, zero tailpipe emissions transport and charging options, maximization of energy efficiencies, more sustainable agriculture and diets, localization of consumption, composting methodologies, recycling everything possible and doing so effectively, and other means of more simple and sustainable living will be our focus.
In accordance with our mission and values, we will still organize and mobilize around public policy, engage where needed in the judicial system, advocate for responsible investment and divestment, and educate and inform the public on the crises at hand. However, given the outcomes of the 2024 elections, we will concentrate more of our energy and resources on empowering people directly.
Working with coalition partners and our student climate ambassador program, we will utilize our website, social media presences, email lists, other media (TV, radio, newspapers, billboards), and our public programming and presentations to relay this vital information to the public and help folks make changes that are safer, healthier, more sustainable, and, very importantly, save them money.
We at MOVCA wish you a happy, safe, and healthy holiday season and look forward to working with you in the new year with renewed resolve and passion equal to the task, come what may.
***
Eric Engle is board president of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action
Posted: November 16, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Caution – the Renewable Fuel Standard story
Nov 16, 2024
Vic Elam
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
In 2006, the Federal Government passed the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the Environmental Protection Agency was tasked with implementing it. It seemed like a great idea at the time – what could go wrong, producing biofuels from crops to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and prop up the agriculture community. Let’s look a little closer at the reality of this “great” idea.
First, a little background. The U.S. produces corn on more than 90 million acres a year and soybeans on about 87 million acres. And just for clarification for some who are not familiar, when we say corn, we are not talking about the corn you get from your local grocery store or farmer’s market or grow in your garden, that is sweet corn. We are referring to what I call field corn. Field corn is used as feed for livestock including cattle, hogs, chickens, and more. Corn syrup is produced from corn, and with the advent of ethanol production a large amount is used for that. Soybeans are similar in their uses and instead of ethanol it is used to produce biodiesel.
The Renewable Fuel Standard requires a certain amount of ethanol and biodiesel be blended with traditional gasoline and diesel fuel in exchange for financial incentives. In 2022, 15.36 billion gallons of ethanol, and 1.62 billion gallons of biodiesel were produced in the U.S. with 1.31 and .24 billion gallons exported.
Here’s the problem: Production of ethanol inflated the price of corn so much that it caused farmers, who had marginal agriculture quality land that was conserved for wildlife and was sequestering carbon, to convert that land to corn production and in some cases converting native prairie. Corn production typically requires intensive inputs such as fertilizer, irrigation, chemical application, all of which require massive fuel usage and have harmful effects, such as soil erosion, chemical impacts, reduction in aquifer storage, quick run-off that results in flooding and denies aquifer recharge, transportation impacts, etc. Higher prices caused food insecurity problems; and biofuel production may be partially responsible for beneficial insect population declines. The U.S. exports much of our corn and soybean production to countries like China for their livestock feed and when we create a world market for more production, then other countries find it a market to fill and they start converting wildlife habitat (like rainforest) to farming. The problems were similar for soybean production. The price of corn has since moderated, but the stated impacts remain and there are many more negative impacts that I will not expound upon here. In the end, if everything was wrapped into a cost/benefit analysis, I feel quite certain that bio-fuel production would be found to be more damaging to the climate than normal fossil fuel production. We need a different solution.
EPA is required to assess the impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard and adjust accordingly, and that analysis is to include environmental and wildlife impacts, but in a cursory review of the documentation found in the Federal Register and elsewhere, I found little evidence that all the environmental impacts are being weighed. I feel that it would be hard to really assess the carbon release impacts from things like converted forest in South America.
The latest effort is to lower the carbon output from the aviation industry with Sustainable Aviation Fuel which is a similar process to other biofuel production except that hydrogen will need to be added to increase the energy density of the fuel. Hydrogen can be produced with green technology, but that is rare. An honest, holistic look at all implications of SAF production is needed.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is necessary for the future of our planet and ourselves, but looking at solutions with a critical eye is crucial to keep us from going down dead-end roads. I’m sure that there will be many alternatives tried out before we really settle on the right recipe that will take us into the future.
***
Vic Elam is an avid outdoorsman and contributor to organizations that share his concern for our environment, including Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Posted: November 9, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Using water responsibly
Nov 9, 2024
Randi Pokladnik
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
This summer’s drought was a wake-up call for tri-state citizens who take our water resources for granted. Areas across the USA suffered from droughts, but SE Ohio and parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania broke records for deficits of rainfall. More than half of Ohio saw some degree of “drought designation.” Ryan Fogt, a climatologist and meteorology professor at Ohio University, said “It’s really kind of uncommon actually for Ohio.” Our home in Harrison County, Ohio, remains in the exceptional drought range. West Virginia was no different; experiencing the worst drought in over two decades. “The USDA reported the condition of corn, soybeans, apples, and peaches were in very poor, poor, and fair categories, with none in the good or excellent categories.” Farmers in West Virginia and Ohio had to buy feed for livestock as their pastures dried up. Some sold livestock and others dipped into winter feed. Designated areas were set up in the tri-state region to allow farmers access to water for their livestock. We saw these areas along Tappan Lake where we live. Streamflow, groundwater levels, lake levels, and reservoir levels dipped lower and lower as the summer progressed.
The Tappan Lake region has been in an exceptional drought since July. June saw record numbers of over 90-degree days with literally no substantial rainfall. “As of October 25, there have been 36 days this year where the high temperature has reached at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Columbus, Ohio. The last time it reached at least 90° F was September 22, 2024.”
The heat and lack of rain have taken a toll on farmers, and others as well. Woodland streams dried up altogether. Most rural residents rely on well water or in some cases spring water for their water source. We installed a 700-gallon cistern to use for watering our large garden, but without rainwater, that water source was eventually depleted. We went into water conservation mode and stored our wash water in a greywater tank to use for our tomatoes. There was no car washing or any unnecessary use of water.
Sadly, as this drought continues, the oil and gas industry also continues to remove surface water from our region for fracking. Water hoses and pumps can be seen located close to fracking wells as they withdraw water from woodland streams. The USGS estimates that between 1.5 and 16 million gallons of water can be used per fracked well.
The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators said, “Watersheds where the greatest amount of water was used for fracking include those found in the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations covering parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York.”
A recent 2023 study from Ohio Northern University found, “fracking is episodically reducing small Eastern Ohio River basin stream levels,” and though stream flow reductions occur infrequently, they “could have lasting negative impacts on the stream biota and have the potential to affect downstream users, including regionally-endangered species.
The stream ecosystem might be severely impacted.” Christopher Spiese, one of the researchers, said “I was also naively surprised at how difficult it was to find water source locations for well pad permits,” noting that the amount of fracking in Ohio makes it “almost impossible” to determine where the fracking water is coming from specifically.
The area’s lakes also saw significant impacts from the drought. Boat docks at Tappan Lake buckled as the water levels dropped and low lake levels left boats stranded at Atwood Lake. At one point the water sales conducted by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District to Encino Energy for its well pads at Atwood Lake was reduced by 75%, to 500,000 gallons a day, down from 2,000,000 gallons a day. The MWCD also sells water from Leesville Lake to Encino. The MWCD has a long history of selling water to fracking companies; dating back to 2012.
After environmental concerns about water withdraws were expressed in 2012, the MWCD signed an agreement with USGS to do a study of three lakes, Tappan, Leesville, and Atwood for water usage issues. The report however, “assumed historical lake operations were successful in maintaining seasonal pool levels.” Currently, Tappan Lake elevation is 897.4 feet above sea level and two feet below summer pool levels of 899.3 feet. The lake has been below summer pool all season. Studies need to reflect the ongoing possibility of these droughts.
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, “any facility with the capacity to withdraw more than 100,000 gallons of water per day (70 gallons per minute) must register that facility with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources.” Private property owners who have access to surface water are also trying to cash in on water sales. This can be seen along Route 800 near Dennison, Ohio where local residents and businesses with access to water have set up “commercial operations” to sell water.
To add insult to injury, that precious clean water will end up as wastewater from fracking well pads. The “brine” trucks hauling wastes to Class II injection wells along the lake roads are a constant reminder of this careless use of our water by out of state oil and gas companies. Water used for fracking becomes forever contaminated with toxic fracking chemicals as well as Radium-226 and Radium-228. This radiation is naturally occurring deep in the bedrock of Marcellus and Utica shales. “The highly-saline composition of the wastewater is responsible for extracting radium from the shale and for bringing it to the surface.” These water-soluble isotopes become dissolved in fracking fluids during the process of fracking. The tankers are labeled as being “brine” but they are in reality a toxic, radioactive brew.
It is beyond time to put a stop to this irrational and irresponsible use of our water resources.
***
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.
Posted: October 26, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Join the fight!
Oct 26, 2024
Eric Engle
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
A study conducted from July to November 2023 by the NYU School of Medicine, Stanford University, Utah State University, the University of Washington and George Washington University, among others, and published in the scientific journal Lancet Planetary Health, surveyed people aged 16-25 from all 50 U.S. states asking them to rate their concerns, thoughts and emotions regarding climate change. Respondents were also asked to provide their political affiliations and their opinions and ideas about who has the most responsibility for causing climate change.
Reporting by Jessica Glenza in The Guardian newspaper on the survey results summarized them this way: “An overwhelming majority of young people said they were worried about the climate crisis–85% said they were at least moderately worried, and more than half (57%) said they were ‘very or extremely’ worried. Nearly two-thirds endorsed the statement: ‘Humanity is doomed,’ and more than half of the sample (52%) endorsed: ‘I’m hesitant to have children.’”
Glenza also mentions that “Large majorities of both main political parties–92% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans–said they worried about the climate.” Glenza continues, “Respondents also said they had negative thoughts about the climate and had planned action to respond to their concerns, including voting for political candidates who would pledge to support ‘aggressive’ action.”
These young people are right to be concerned and anxious. An assessment published in the scientific journal Bioscience measured 35 of planet earth’s “vital signs” for the year 2023 and found that 25 were worse than have ever been recorded. Earth’s surface and ocean temperatures are at all-time highs driven by record levels of fossil fuel burning and populations of human beings are going up by about 200,000 a day globally, while the number of domestic animals requiring major inputs of resources like cattle and sheep are going up by about 170,000 a day. The assessment concludes with the scientist authors stating, “Only through decisive action can we safeguard the natural world, avert profound human suffering and ensure that future generations inherit the livable world they deserve. The future of humanity hangs in the balance.”
Those who still deny the existence of anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming or global climate change are either extremely misguided (often by propaganda funded by industries like fossil fuels with high stakes in preventing concerted action on the climate crisis) or are willfully ignorant. A study published in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters on Oct. 19, 2021, a survey of 88,125 climate-related studies, found that 99.9% of peer-reviewed scientific papers agree that climate change is mainly caused by humans (see: “Greater than 99% Consensus on Human Caused Climate Change in Peer-Reviewed Scientific Literature” by Mark Lynas, Benjamin Z. Houlton and Simon Perry).
We have a moral and ethical responsibility not only to ourselves but our children, grandchildren and all of posterity to meaningfully act on climate change with the utmost urgency and in every way we safely and responsibly can. Part of that action requires us to be climate-motivated voters in the 2024 election cycle.
In an effort to encourage folks to be climate voters, you may have seen where we at Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action have put up Climate Voter billboards in Downtown Parkersburg across from the front of the United building, on Main Street in Belpre and on Ohio Rt. 7 in Marietta. You may also have heard our Climate Voter radio ads on 103.1, 103.5 and 95.1, and seen our Climate Voter ads here in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. We have terrific Climate voter yard signs that say on one side “Climate Voter: Make America Green Again” and on the other “Protect What’s Ours: Be a Climate Voter.” You can obtain a yard sign by emailing MOVCAGROUP@yahoo.com, as shown on the billboards and in the newspaper advertisements.
As of this month, Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action has been an organization dedicated to addressing the global climate crisis in the Mid-Ohio River Valley, in both WV and OH, for nine years. Our commitment to educating, mobilizing, organizing and activating our communities to address the climate crisis and related crises (i.e. plastics and petrochemicals pollution, biodiversity loss) is unwavering.
We are committed to a cleaner, healthier, more affordable, safer and more stable future for everyone living today and for all generations of people to come. We unequivocally support working-class values and solidarity, union labor and collective bargaining rights and circular, sustainable care economies based on communal well-being and not on overconsumption and exploitation. We love, honor and respect our families, friends and other community members who have worked to earn livings for them and theirs in polluting and dangerous industries and want better for us all in every way.
Early voting in West Virginia started Wednesday, Oct. 23. and runs through Saturday, Nov. 2. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Learn the climate, environmental and public health stances and proposals of the candidates and parties in this election and cast your ballot for climate action in 2024!
***
Eric Engle is board president of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: October 24, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Lions and tigers and pizzlies…Oh, my!
Oct 19, 2024
Linda Eve Seth
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Climate change not only raises global temperatures, it impacts everyone and everything on our planet. As global temperatures rise, ecosystems and the species they harbor are changing in response. Many habitats are either shifting their boundaries polewards, or disappearing altogether – sending wildlife into new regions where they interact with resident creatures in surprising and unprecedented ways. When this geographic collision is between two closely related species, they sometimes cross-breed, leading to the emergence of an entirely new species. One example of this is the grizzly-polar bear hybrid: the “pizzly” or “grolar” bear. Polar bears are significantly larger than grizzlies, with fully grown males weighing around 1,800 pounds and standing nearly 10 feet tall on their hind legs. A typical adult male grizzly will weigh 400 to 600 pounds. Other visible differences are the polar bear’s whitish fur, and their longer skull and snout. A pizzly bear is the hybrid offspring of a male polar bear and a female brown bear. Grolar bears have a brown bear father and a polar bear mother. The first pizzly bear was born in 1936 in The Smithsonian National Zoo, but the first wild hybrid was not found until 2006, when hunters shot a white bear with brown patches in Canada’s Northwest Territories. DNA analysis confirmed that the individual was a hybrid of the two species. Scientists have since documented incidences of second-generation hybrids (e.g. the offspring of pizzly bears and grizzly bears). The interbreeding is surprising since polar bears and grizzlies usually have an adversarial, competitive relationship in the rare incidences when they do meet. These hybrid bears come from areas in northwestern Canada and Alaska where grizzlies and polar bears are crossing paths with increasing frequency as grizzlies encroach on polar bear habitat. This upswing in grizzly and polar bear encounters is almost certainly due to climate change. Rising temperatures and the melting of Arctic ice have led to greater opportunities for these two bear species to come into contact, increasing the chances of interbreeding; for example, when polar bears head further south because the increasingly fragmented summer sea ice makes it harder to hunt prey. These two animals that historically seldom ran into each other are now being forced to share closer quarters. As polar bears are heading further south, warming temperatures are pushing grizzly bears further north, increasing the overlap between the two habitats. This closer contact increases the chances of hybridization. Pizzly bears represent an interesting aspect of the impact of climate change on wildlife and the potential for the hybridization of species due to shifts in their ranges and habitats. Some scientists fear that hybridization could continue to the point where polar bears will one day be subsumed into the general grizzly population, effectively out-breeding them into extinction. Pizzly bears are known to be far less aggressive than either parent species alone and tend to lead solitary lifestyles. Regarding behavior, the hybrids more resemble their polar bear parents, hurling large toys and stamping on objects in a similar fashion. They also lie down with their hind limbs splay-legged–a distinctive polar bear pose. Pizzly bears typically exhibit physical characteristics and traits of both parent species. They may have the body shape and fur coloration of a polar bear, with the hump on the back characteristic of a grizzly bear. The extent of their physical features can vary widely among individual hybrids. Grizzlies don’t typically stray north of the tree line in the Arctic, and permafrost is too frigid for them. But as permafrost rapidly melts and prey moves poleward into polar bear-inhabited regions, grizzlies are bumping into polar bears and mating with them. Likewise, as sea ice wanes, polar bears will likely find themselves stuck in terrestrial locations filling with a slow creep of grizzly invaders. Rather than “grolar bears” or “pizzlies” taking over the Arctic, the real risk is that polar bears will simply be absorbed into a tide of grizzly DNA through successive crossbreeding events. While research suggests that the possibility of climate change-induced hybridization is still low for most species, it is already threatening animals like cutthroat trout, and could someday pose a similar extinction threat to polar bears if it continues unabated. Climate change not only raises global temperatures, it impacts everyone and everything on our planet. Until next time, be kind to your Mother Earth.
*** Linda Eve Seth, M.Ed., SLP, is a mother, grandmother, concerned citizen and member of MOVCA
Posted: October 12, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Finding common ground
Oct 12, 2024
Griffin Bradley
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
To say that America has become more polarized in recent years isn’t breaking any new ground. The “us versus them” mentality has seeped into our political zeitgeist, bringing with it division among family, friends, and peers. That tense conversation with your uncle at Thanksgiving or the Facebook spat between old high school friends? We’ve all seen them, and they have become all-too-frequent.
One of the topics at the crux of America’s political divide is climate change. All across the political spectrum, climate has become not just an issue that everyone has an opinion on, but also one with major electoral implications across the country. Both major political parties emphasize climate issues in their narrative, often with stark differences between the two on how to address the issues at hand, or whether there is an issue at all.
According to the 2023 Yale Climate Opinions poll, 72% of Americans believe climate change is happening, and 70% believe that it will harm the living ecosystem and future generations. Regardless of where Americans have fallen on the issue of climate change in recent years, one thing remains true: There is a clear threat imposed on every American from a worsening climate crisis.
Despite the clear belief among a majority of Americans that climate change is happening and is harmful, there are still questions.
“So, what? People can agree that there’s a problem, but not agree on a solution.”
Herein lies the problem we face as a nation. Every election season, we hear from those seeking office that only one side is right and the other is wrong, and there’s little to no room for agreement on core policy. And yet, from the very same polling that shows us people agree on the negative impacts of climate change, we also see that there is common ground for policy fixes. Yale polling shows strong support for policies to fund research for renewable energy (79%), generate renewable energy on public lands (79%), provide tax incentives for energy efficient vehicles and solar installations (74%), regulate CO2 as a pollutant (74%), and more.
In recent years, we have seen positive impacts from strong climate policy come out of Congress, despite constant rhetoric indicating this to be impossible. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 brought historic policy and investment to bear on climate issues in America. From this bill, we have seen investments in clean energy, clean transportation, and more that have set America on the right path to limit the impacts of climate change, while also sparking economic revitalization in communities across the country, putting money in the pockets of everyday Americans. Even while no Republican members of Congress voted for the IRA at its time of passage, there is now a strong contingent of Republicans supporting provisions of the law, seeing the tangible economic value of increased clean energy investment across the country. Oh, and the rest of America? Similar to the polling trends on policy support above, recent polling has found that 7 in 10 support the IRA.
As we inch our way closer to yet another “most important election of our lifetimes,” let’s remember a couple of key things as it relates to climate change and policy. In every state and federal district in America, we are seeing new environmental trends. From flooding to droughts, extreme heat to extreme cold, more frequent tornadoes and stronger hurricanes, the impacts of climate change are felt across the political divide. The drought felt across our region this year has impacted Democrats just as much as Republicans. For our neighbors to the south, Hurricane Helene uprooted the lives of members of both parties just the same.
If nothing else, please remember: No man-made political boundary stops nature.
***
Griffin Bradley is a lifelong Wood County resident, graduate of West Virginia University (B.A., Political Science ’21; M.A., Political Science ’23), and a contributing author for Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
Last Updated: November 14, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: No place is safe from climate change
Oct 5, 2024
Jean Ambrose
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Many of us have visited the beautiful North Carolina mountains and enjoyed the vibrant community of Asheville, or have friends and family living there. However, Asheville is now unrecognizable due to a hurricane that formed over the warm waters of the Atlantic and intensified over the unusually warm Gulf of Mexico, traveling 600 miles across the Southeast. Early last week, a smaller regional weather disturbance caused two fronts to collide near Asheville, resulting in flooding and saturated ground, only to be further impacted by Hurricane Helene a few days later. The devastation, far from the ocean and high in the mountains where many believe they are safe, is hard to comprehend, and the loss of life in this mostly rural county is heartbreaking.
Some people think their wealth and resources can insulate them from the effects of climate change, but that isn’t the case for those living in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located. Helene destroyed everything in its path, regardless of income level. Increasing weather disasters are making insurance more expensive, as we’ve already seen in Florida and other flood- or fire-prone areas. We can expect a Category 6 storm to occur somewhere in the world each year. Although the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale currently categorizes storms only up to Category 5, some experts advocate for a new Category 6 designation to account for the unprecedented intensity and impacts of storms that have wind speeds exceeding 200 mph, as seen in recent years.
Hurricanes are becoming stronger due to several factors driven by climate change. Warmer ocean temperatures provide more energy to storms, leading to increased intensity. As the planet warms, oceans absorb heat, raising sea surface temperatures. Additionally, higher levels of humidity in the atmosphere enhance the storm’s ability to produce heavy rainfall and stronger winds. This combination creates conditions ripe for more powerful and destructive hurricanes.
In the past decade, five such storms–specifically typhoons in the Pacific–have occurred. Typhoon Patricia, for instance, had wind speeds reaching 215 mph, comparable to a racing car. The Big Bend region of the Florida Panhandle has experienced three hurricanes in just the last 13 months.
The economic impact of climate-related disasters is staggering. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that the U.S. experienced 22 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2020 alone. These events strain local and national economies, as costs associated with recovery, repairs, and lost productivity skyrocket. Communities are forced to divert funds from essential services like education and healthcare to cover disaster recovery efforts. Additionally, rising insurance premiums can lead to financial instability for homeowners and businesses alike, making it harder to recover from damages and creating barriers for those seeking coverage.
Ironically, many people moved to Asheville to escape extreme heat, floods, and fires, believing they would be insulated from these risks. Yet, the reach of the climate crisis is consistently underestimated. As North Carolina’s climatologist noted, “If you live in a place that can rain, you live in a place that can flood.” The same holds true for West Virginia, which is increasingly vulnerable to heavy rainfall, landslides, and flooding as climate patterns shift.
The jet stream, which consists of fast-moving air currents circulating above the Earth, influences global weather patterns. Historically, these streams were consistent and strong, but a warming atmosphere has weakened and made them more erratic. Recent studies indicate that the jet stream will become increasingly wavy and stagnant, allowing storms to linger in one area, leading to extreme rainfall. For instance, Hurricane Harvey dropped 60 inches of rain on Houston over just four days in 2017 because the storm stalled in one location.
The reality is that the climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s a current reality that affects us all, often in ways we don’t immediately recognize. Climate change doesn’t discriminate — it impacts people regardless of where they live or their socioeconomic status. If we dismiss its effects as someone else’s problem, we risk being caught off guard when disaster strikes. Each of us has a role to play in understanding these risks and advocating for proactive measures in our communities. How will you ensure that you and your loved ones are prepared for the challenges ahead?
***
Jean Ambrose lives on a ridge near Mountwood Park.
Last Updated: September 30, 2024 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: A world on fire
Sep 28, 2024
Aaron Dunbar
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
On Feb. 25 of this year, United States airman Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C., refusing to be complicit in the American-backed genocide of the people of Palestine. On the morning of his self-immolation, he shared the following message via his Facebook account: “Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”
Bushnell was neither the first nor the last case of self-immolation in protest of our country’s bipartisan genocide in Gaza. In December of last year, an unidentified woman set herself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta. And earlier this month, Boston resident Matt Nelson did the same outside his city’s own Israeli consulate, adding to the nearly 200,000 to 300,000 casualties of our indiscriminate extermination campaign against the people of Palestine, based on estimates from The Lancet journal and The Guardian.
Nor has the so-called “Israel-Hamas war” been the only impetus for such desperate acts of protest within recent memory. On Earth Day in 2022, just months after his home state of Colorado experienced its most destructive wildfire ever recorded, climate activist Wynn Bruce set himself ablaze outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
In the months prior to this action, Bruce shared a quote from Vietnamese peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, regarding the self-immolation of Buddhist monks: “To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance.” He later added another quote attributed to Nhat Hanh: “The most important thing, in response to climate change, is to be willing to hear the sound of the earth’s tears through our own bodies.”
In more ways than one, we find ourselves the inhabitants of a world on fire. Seldom does a day go by that I don’t reflect on Aaron Bushnell’s sentiment, “What would I do if I was alive during ____? You’re doing it right now.”
I certainly experience these feelings with regard to the escalating genocide in Gaza, but also quite profoundly against the backdrop of the climate crisis — the most devastating global catastrophe ever engineered by humanity, for which the U.S. bears a disproportionate responsibility.
I spend every day doing everything I can think to do as an individual to try and take meaningful action against the climate crisis. But for every opinion piece like this that I write, I’m struck by a seemingly endless barrage of the bleakest headlines imaginable:
* “Antarctic ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Heading for Collapse,” Newsweek, Sept. 23.
* “AI Boom Is Driving a Surprise Resurgence of US Gas-Fired Power:
* New gas plants just keep on coming, defying expectations that their rapid growth was nearing an end,” Bloomberg, Sept. 16.
“Earth may have breached seven of nine planetary boundaries, health check shows:
* Ocean acidification close to critical threshold, say scientists, posing threat to marine ecosystems and global liveability,” The Guardian, Sept. 23.
To be quite honest, I’m at a point where I genuinely don’t know how to live as a human being who exists in the age of the Anthropocene. I have no idea how to think about the future in a world whose biosphere is on the brink of collapse. I’m fully aware of the crisis we’re in, I know the scale of it, I know that it’s irreversible and that, for all intents and purposes, we’ve basically run out the clock when it comes to preventing utter catastrophe. Every day, it seems, we learn that collapse is happening faster than we realized, that it will affect hundreds of millions or even billions more people than we believed, and that global temperatures will skyrocket to previously unfathomable levels due to our failure to curb emissions. How, then, is it possible to know all of this, and still do nothing? Or even worse, to know it and to continue adding fuel to the fire?
Increasingly I find myself questioning whether humans are even capable of thinking in such a way that we might hope to survive the coming storm. So many of us feel like we’re doing everything we can, yet remain plagued by the guilt that it still isn’t enough — that indeed, nothing could ever be enough. It’s like we’re an old-timey bucket brigade, attempting to extinguish an out of control industrial fire on a planetary scale.
It’s not merely that our political and economic systems are uniquely ill-equipped to face the challenges of the climate crisis, but that they are in fact entirely predicated on a foundation of ecological destruction and a wanton disregard for life, human or otherwise.
Should civilization survive long enough for future generations to exist, they will surely be asking the question of us: “What did you do when our world was falling apart?”
The only honest answer that most of us can give to that question, myself included, is “not nearly enough.”
Our society’s ongoing tolerance for so many catastrophic, system-wide failures are directly responsible for the fate of individuals like Wynn Bruce and Aaron Bushnell, who sacrificed their very lives to beg for justice through the angry red flames of a burning world. We cannot go on like this.
We cannot accept that the bare minimum is enough. We cannot throw up our hands and accept that the world must burn. We all need to be doing so much more, every single day, to fight back against this deadly machinery fueled by the kindling of the innocent. We must find new ways to resist our own extinction, and keep resisting as if our very lives depend on it. Without this there can be no hope.
***
Aaron Dunbar is a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
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