A new Lowe's, lower unemployment, a new hospital and -oh yeah, baby - even a factory that is making wind towers and shipping them across Lake Michigan. Once a depressing shithole and armpit of America, Sheboygan, WI is on the rebound.
Read this story here.The Sheboygan Press - Local economy recovering with business, building boom
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: Totally inadequate domestic renewable fuels regulation announced today
Starting in 2006, Americans will be gassing up with almost three percent of so-called "domestic renewable fuels" under new standards issued today. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates this first step, and EPA's Renewable Fuels Standard Program is an attempt to reduce vehicle emissions and strengthen U.S. energy security by doubling the use of fuels produced from American crops by 2012. This Bear's opinion: 3% is not even worth mentioning. Why not 20% or 30% or 50%? Why not phase out fossil fuels completely by 2012? Why not phase out internal combustion engines by 2012? Well, because the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was a complete crock of shit created by Republicans who don't intend to do anything to benefit the environment or the American people.
EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson: "This investment in renewable fuels made from domestic crops will support American agriculture and replace fossil fuels with an increasing amount of cleaner-burning alternatives such as ethanol or biodiesel illustrating that environmental progress and economic development can, in fact, go hand-in-hand." Did he really say that or did someone just make up a quote? You decide. Every press release from the EPA quotes Johnson. The guy must do nothing but sit around and give quotes for the media, doesn't anyone else work there? Is he a robot?
Anyway, the new regulation "is intended to provide market certainty for smooth implementation of the program in 2006 as EPA expands the program. Many of the act's other provisions regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard Program for 2007 and beyond will be implemented in subsequent regulations." Yeah, okay. Smooth implementation. Smoothly implement ice caps melting, polar bear extinction and worsening global weather conditions. We're still compromising ourselves into extinction. We're smoothly implementing our own demise.
Okay, sure, their hearts are in the right place. Supposedly this program will "significantly increase the volume of renewable fuels blended into motor vehicle fuels." Under this new regulation "refineries, blenders, and importers would collectively be responsible for meeting program requirements for 2006, where compliance would be calculated over the entire pool of gasoline sold to consumers." Ask yourself, "how the hell are they going to do that?" Watch out folks, the Bushies are going to try and pull some more wool over our eyes.
Yo, EPA, how about getting the American automobile industry off of liquid fuels entirely? How about you give away free bikes to the poor?
For more information on the Renewable Fuel Standard Program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/
Find books on Alternative Energy
EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson: "This investment in renewable fuels made from domestic crops will support American agriculture and replace fossil fuels with an increasing amount of cleaner-burning alternatives such as ethanol or biodiesel illustrating that environmental progress and economic development can, in fact, go hand-in-hand." Did he really say that or did someone just make up a quote? You decide. Every press release from the EPA quotes Johnson. The guy must do nothing but sit around and give quotes for the media, doesn't anyone else work there? Is he a robot?
Anyway, the new regulation "is intended to provide market certainty for smooth implementation of the program in 2006 as EPA expands the program. Many of the act's other provisions regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard Program for 2007 and beyond will be implemented in subsequent regulations." Yeah, okay. Smooth implementation. Smoothly implement ice caps melting, polar bear extinction and worsening global weather conditions. We're still compromising ourselves into extinction. We're smoothly implementing our own demise.
Okay, sure, their hearts are in the right place. Supposedly this program will "significantly increase the volume of renewable fuels blended into motor vehicle fuels." Under this new regulation "refineries, blenders, and importers would collectively be responsible for meeting program requirements for 2006, where compliance would be calculated over the entire pool of gasoline sold to consumers." Ask yourself, "how the hell are they going to do that?" Watch out folks, the Bushies are going to try and pull some more wool over our eyes.
Yo, EPA, how about getting the American automobile industry off of liquid fuels entirely? How about you give away free bikes to the poor?
For more information on the Renewable Fuel Standard Program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/
Find books on Alternative Energy
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Bulldozing Chicago
Because man meddled with nature 105 years ago, two of the world's major water systems -- the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins -- were joined together. Now it's time to think seriously about separating the two, a growing number of scientists, advocacy groups and public officials believe. It may be the best way, they say, to stop the spread of invasive species between the basins. With that in mind, the Alliance for the Great Lakes has launched the first study of what would be a gargantuan undertaking costing billions of dollars that will definitely fuck up your commute to work on I-90. Forget about driving on the Skyway for the next 35 years.
Read this article in the Chicago Sun Times: Time to turn things around?
Read this article in the Chicago Sun Times: Time to turn things around?
OH NO! Michigan's first hazardous waste well to get operating license
ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) - A company seeking to operate the state's first liquid hazardous waste well has overcome its final hurdle to open along I-94 about a half mile from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced Monday that it will grant Environmental Disposal Systems of Birmingham an operating license on today, ending a 15-year battle between the company and environmentalists. The company will operate the disposal site, where sludge and other industrial waste is to be pumped 4,500 feet below ground. The company said the site's two wells and a storage treatment facility will be safely and scientifically operated.
"There is no need for this type of facility, and once it's here we will have to worry about what it will do to our health, what it's going to do to our property values, what it's going to do the environment and when the first spill or accident ... is going to happen," R.P. Lilly of New Boston, who heads Romulus Environmentalists Care About People, told the Detroit Free Press on Monday.
The plant, on 15 acres at Citrin Drive near Inkster Road and I-94, will treat up to 400,000 gallons of hazardous liquid waste per day. It is licensed to store up to 11,000 gallons of hazardous waste in drum containers, up to 92,000 gallons in rail tanker cars and up to 267,900 gallons in tanks. The waste is classified as hazardous because it contains corrosive acids or toxic contaminants such as heavy metals and chemicals. It will be treated above the ground to reduce the contaminants before it's injected into a layer of spongelike rock about 4,500 feet below the surface.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates the underground portion of the site. The agency approved the wells and has said the waste will stay confined to a layer of rock deep underground and will not threaten human health or the environment.
But residents in Romulus and neighboring communities, environmentalists and politicians - including Gov. Jennifer Granholm - have expressed concerns. Among them are fears of groundwater contamination, toxins entering the soil, fire, spills and explosions. The state DEQ said there has been no proof that such wells are dangerous.
"Our first choice would have been to adhere to the wishes of the communities of Romulus and Taylor but because of state and federal law and actions by previous administrations, the DEQ must issue an operating license," DEQ Director Steven Chester said in a statement released Monday. In other words "it's not my fault some other dickhead is fucking you." DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said the agency plans to regularly monitor the site and to make sure Environmental Disposal Systems adheres to various conditions.
"There is no need for this type of facility, and once it's here we will have to worry about what it will do to our health, what it's going to do to our property values, what it's going to do the environment and when the first spill or accident ... is going to happen," R.P. Lilly of New Boston, who heads Romulus Environmentalists Care About People, told the Detroit Free Press on Monday.
The plant, on 15 acres at Citrin Drive near Inkster Road and I-94, will treat up to 400,000 gallons of hazardous liquid waste per day. It is licensed to store up to 11,000 gallons of hazardous waste in drum containers, up to 92,000 gallons in rail tanker cars and up to 267,900 gallons in tanks. The waste is classified as hazardous because it contains corrosive acids or toxic contaminants such as heavy metals and chemicals. It will be treated above the ground to reduce the contaminants before it's injected into a layer of spongelike rock about 4,500 feet below the surface.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates the underground portion of the site. The agency approved the wells and has said the waste will stay confined to a layer of rock deep underground and will not threaten human health or the environment.
But residents in Romulus and neighboring communities, environmentalists and politicians - including Gov. Jennifer Granholm - have expressed concerns. Among them are fears of groundwater contamination, toxins entering the soil, fire, spills and explosions. The state DEQ said there has been no proof that such wells are dangerous.
"Our first choice would have been to adhere to the wishes of the communities of Romulus and Taylor but because of state and federal law and actions by previous administrations, the DEQ must issue an operating license," DEQ Director Steven Chester said in a statement released Monday. In other words "it's not my fault some other dickhead is fucking you." DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said the agency plans to regularly monitor the site and to make sure Environmental Disposal Systems adheres to various conditions.
Monday, December 26, 2005
GOVERNMENT: $200,000 brownfield grant awarded to Goodwill in Pennslyvania
Homeless retards to be put to work cleaning up toxic waste!
The Federal Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. The brownfields job training grants provide residents of communities impacted by brownfields with the skills and training needed to effectively gain employment in assessment and cleanup activities associated with brownfield redevelopment and environmental remediation.
Goodwill Industries of the Conemaugh Valley, Inc. will train 40 residents, placing a minimum of 34 graduates in environmental occupations or secondary education, and track graduates for two years. The instruction, which includes hands-on experience, consists of four 15-week training cycles, each with 240 contact hours. The Pennsylvania Highlands Community College (PHCC) will deliver the training at the college and at the Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center. Course instruction includes hazardous materials management, environmental geology, sampling, monitoring, HAZWOPER, and mobile equipment handling and safety. Graduates will receive HAZWOPER certification and automatically qualify for admission into PHCC with 13 hours of technical core credits. Goodwill Industries will recruit Johnstown area residents most affected by harmful environmental conditions, and if necessary, reach out to the remainder of Cambria County (population 149,543). Goodwill Industries employs job development staff who meet with environmental employers and hold environmental career fairs.
Johnstown (population 23,906) has several brownfields, including the Lower Cambria Iron Works. EPA awarded brownfields assessment and cleanup grants to Johnstown in 2004, thereby increasing the demand for environmental technicians. This demand is likely to increase further due to the large number of mining and mine drainage sites that also require assessment and cleanup. Johnstown’s poverty rate for families is 142 percent greater than the state average and 105 percent greater than the national average. The unemployment rate is about 66 percent higher than that of the state and nation. Twenty percent of Johnstown residents between the ages of 19 and 21 are not working or enrolled in school, compared to 14 percent for the state. Environmental employers report that they have been unable to find skilled environmental workers in the local area.
Find books on brownfields
The Federal Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. The brownfields job training grants provide residents of communities impacted by brownfields with the skills and training needed to effectively gain employment in assessment and cleanup activities associated with brownfield redevelopment and environmental remediation.
Goodwill Industries of the Conemaugh Valley, Inc. will train 40 residents, placing a minimum of 34 graduates in environmental occupations or secondary education, and track graduates for two years. The instruction, which includes hands-on experience, consists of four 15-week training cycles, each with 240 contact hours. The Pennsylvania Highlands Community College (PHCC) will deliver the training at the college and at the Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center. Course instruction includes hazardous materials management, environmental geology, sampling, monitoring, HAZWOPER, and mobile equipment handling and safety. Graduates will receive HAZWOPER certification and automatically qualify for admission into PHCC with 13 hours of technical core credits. Goodwill Industries will recruit Johnstown area residents most affected by harmful environmental conditions, and if necessary, reach out to the remainder of Cambria County (population 149,543). Goodwill Industries employs job development staff who meet with environmental employers and hold environmental career fairs.
Johnstown (population 23,906) has several brownfields, including the Lower Cambria Iron Works. EPA awarded brownfields assessment and cleanup grants to Johnstown in 2004, thereby increasing the demand for environmental technicians. This demand is likely to increase further due to the large number of mining and mine drainage sites that also require assessment and cleanup. Johnstown’s poverty rate for families is 142 percent greater than the state average and 105 percent greater than the national average. The unemployment rate is about 66 percent higher than that of the state and nation. Twenty percent of Johnstown residents between the ages of 19 and 21 are not working or enrolled in school, compared to 14 percent for the state. Environmental employers report that they have been unable to find skilled environmental workers in the local area.
Find books on brownfields
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Literature & Environment
I just found this site, thought I would share it. Association for the Study of Literature & Environment
When I was a student at the University of Oregon, I took a course called Environment and the Humanities (er somethin'). We studied the canon of literature reflecting green values throughout history. Some of the books that we read are available below.
According to ASLE, the field of ecocriticism is growing. Check this out.
Here's a list of FREE texts that address aspects of human interaction with the environment at some length (which I just purloined from the ASLE site):
Audubon, John James: Birds of America
Austin, Mary: The Land of Little Rain (HTML at Virginia.edu)
Bird, Isabella: Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (Gutenberg text)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes (HTML at Virginia)
Calvin, William H.: The River That Flows Uphill: A Journey from the Big Bang to the Big Brain (independent site)
Cather, Willa: O Pioneers! (text at Wiretap)
Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans (Text at Book Stacks)
de Crevecoeur, J. Hector St. John: Letters from an American Farmer (AS @ U.Va. text)
Darwin, Charles: Works (Online Literature Library)
Dickinson, Emily: Complete Poems (HTML at Bartelby)
Jefferson, Thomas: Notes on the State of Virginia (AS @ U.Va. text)
Lewis and Clark: Journals (AS @ U.Va. text)
London, Jack: The Call of the Wild (text at Wiretap)
London, Jack: The Jack London Collection (Berkeley)
Melville, Herman: Moby Dick (HTML at Virginia)
Muir, John: American Forests (HTML at Virginia)
Muir, John: Steep Trails (Gutenberg text)
Smith, Henry Nash: Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (AS @ U.Va. text)
Thoreau, Henry David: Works (The Thoreau Reader)
Torrey, Bradford: On Foot in the Yosemite (HTML at Virginia)
Turner, Frederick Jackson: The Frontier in American History (AS @ U.Va. text)
Twain, Mark: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (first edition and commentary) (illustrated HTML at Virginia)
Twain, Mark: Life on the Mississippi (text at Gutenberg)
Whitman, Walt: Leaves of Grass, 1900. (HTML at Bartelby)
Woodlief, Ann: In River Time: The Way of the James (independent site)
When I was a student at the University of Oregon, I took a course called Environment and the Humanities (er somethin'). We studied the canon of literature reflecting green values throughout history. Some of the books that we read are available below.
According to ASLE, the field of ecocriticism is growing. Check this out.
Here's a list of FREE texts that address aspects of human interaction with the environment at some length (which I just purloined from the ASLE site):
Austin, Mary: The Land of Little Rain (HTML at Virginia.edu)
Bird, Isabella: Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (Gutenberg text)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes (HTML at Virginia)
Cather, Willa: O Pioneers! (text at Wiretap)
Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans (Text at Book Stacks)
Darwin, Charles: Works (Online Literature Library)
Dickinson, Emily: Complete Poems (HTML at Bartelby)
Jefferson, Thomas: Notes on the State of Virginia (AS @ U.Va. text)
Lewis and Clark: Journals (AS @ U.Va. text)
London, Jack: The Call of the Wild (text at Wiretap)
London, Jack: The Jack London Collection (Berkeley)
Melville, Herman: Moby Dick (HTML at Virginia)
Muir, John: American Forests (HTML at Virginia)
Muir, John: Steep Trails (Gutenberg text)
Smith, Henry Nash: Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (AS @ U.Va. text)
Thoreau, Henry David: Works (The Thoreau Reader)
Torrey, Bradford: On Foot in the Yosemite (HTML at Virginia)
Turner, Frederick Jackson: The Frontier in American History (AS @ U.Va. text)
Twain, Mark: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (first edition and commentary) (illustrated HTML at Virginia)
Twain, Mark: Life on the Mississippi (text at Gutenberg)
Whitman, Walt: Leaves of Grass, 1900. (HTML at Bartelby)
Saturday, December 24, 2005
CLIMATE CHANGE: Developers have big plans for wind turbines
MACKINAW CITY (WJRT) - (12/18/05)-- If everything goes as the developers plan, 40 wind turbines will be built in Huron County. Mackinaw City already has two wind-powered generators.
It's hard to miss the two towers looming above the landscape, just south of the Mackinac Bridge. They stand 230 feet tall and each has three, 85-foot-long blades. The wind turbines have been making electricity for four years now.
"If we do this well, we can create a whole new industry for Michigan," said Rich VanderVeen, of Mackinaw Power.
One of the turbines at the Straits is temporarily out of service, having been struck by lightning. However, when they both are working, they can turn out enough power for 300 homes. "We know Michigan is the 15th windiest state and certainly could produce enough power for one-third of the power in Michigan with just wind power," VanderVeen said.
Mackinaw City leaders were willing to listen to developers when approached five years ago about the project. "We don't mind standing out from the crowd and being a progressive community in Michigan," said Steve Schnell, with Mackinaw City Community Development.
Last week, members of the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance toured the Mackinaw City wind farm. Andy Hayes is one who was impressed with the environmentally friendly method of making electricity. "Wind power, wind generation, alternative energy sources are on everybody's minds, especially with the rising fuel costs and energy crisis."
But the project is not without its detractors. Fourteen people have signed a petition, asking Mackinaw City to stop the construction of three more wind turbines. They say when the sun shines, shadows from the spinning blades create an irritating strobe effect and the sound is very annoying. "You can hear them outside, which, okay, is bad enough. But when you can hear them inside, that's when you have to take a really strong look at what is this all about," complained Kelly Alexander, who lives near the turbines.
Wind turbine proponents say in three years, there could be 2,000 wind turbines across the Great Lakes region. On December 22nd, a trial will be held in Huron County to consider if a zoning change that allows the construction of wind turbines should be put to a public vote.
ABC12.com: Developers have big plans for wind turbines
Find books about Wind Power
It's hard to miss the two towers looming above the landscape, just south of the Mackinac Bridge. They stand 230 feet tall and each has three, 85-foot-long blades. The wind turbines have been making electricity for four years now.
"If we do this well, we can create a whole new industry for Michigan," said Rich VanderVeen, of Mackinaw Power.
One of the turbines at the Straits is temporarily out of service, having been struck by lightning. However, when they both are working, they can turn out enough power for 300 homes. "We know Michigan is the 15th windiest state and certainly could produce enough power for one-third of the power in Michigan with just wind power," VanderVeen said.
Mackinaw City leaders were willing to listen to developers when approached five years ago about the project. "We don't mind standing out from the crowd and being a progressive community in Michigan," said Steve Schnell, with Mackinaw City Community Development.
Last week, members of the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance toured the Mackinaw City wind farm. Andy Hayes is one who was impressed with the environmentally friendly method of making electricity. "Wind power, wind generation, alternative energy sources are on everybody's minds, especially with the rising fuel costs and energy crisis."
But the project is not without its detractors. Fourteen people have signed a petition, asking Mackinaw City to stop the construction of three more wind turbines. They say when the sun shines, shadows from the spinning blades create an irritating strobe effect and the sound is very annoying. "You can hear them outside, which, okay, is bad enough. But when you can hear them inside, that's when you have to take a really strong look at what is this all about," complained Kelly Alexander, who lives near the turbines.
Wind turbine proponents say in three years, there could be 2,000 wind turbines across the Great Lakes region. On December 22nd, a trial will be held in Huron County to consider if a zoning change that allows the construction of wind turbines should be put to a public vote.
ABC12.com: Developers have big plans for wind turbines
Find books about Wind Power
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
ACTIVISM: Speak your mind at the Great Lakes Town Hall
New Website Seeks Dialogue and Engagement from 42 Million Great Lakes Residents
Imagine what it would be like if you could gather everyone concerned about the future of the Great Lakes into one room. You'd not only need a really big room, you'd also be certain to hear a lot of diverse opinions. This is the vision of the Madison, Wisconsin-based Biodiversity Project who announced their online Great Lakes Town Hall this week. I have started using the "My Turn" section, I strongly encourage you to do the same.
I've also noticed that there are a few wackos using the site. That just comes with the territory.
CORPORATE CRIME: EPA bitchslaps DuPont
The largest civil administrative penalty the EPA has ever obtained under any federal environmental statute will be levied against DuPont for violations related to the synthetic chemical Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), a chemical associated with Teflon and with grease and stain repellants, under provisions of both the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Meanwhile, DuPont Shareholders for Fair Value (a group of investors concerned with financial impacts of DuPont's use of PFOA ) responded today to a decision by a federal appeals court in San Francisco to reinstate racketeering suits that charge DuPont with hiding information about a widely used fungicide called Benlate. It ain't good when your shareholders turn against you. Read more: DuPont Investor Coalition Cites Reinstatement of Racketeering Case Against DuPont As Echoing Concealment Risks on Teflon Chemical
Meanwhile, DuPont Shareholders for Fair Value (a group of investors concerned with financial impacts of DuPont's use of PFOA ) responded today to a decision by a federal appeals court in San Francisco to reinstate racketeering suits that charge DuPont with hiding information about a widely used fungicide called Benlate. It ain't good when your shareholders turn against you. Read more: DuPont Investor Coalition Cites Reinstatement of Racketeering Case Against DuPont As Echoing Concealment Risks on Teflon Chemical
ECOTERROR: Suspect charged in 2001 UW arson
A woman being held in Oregon and accused of toppling an electricity transmission tower and torching a meatpacking plant there is a prime suspect in the 2001 firebombing of the University of Washington's Urban Horticulture Center in Seattle. Chelsea Gerlach, also known as "Country Girl," is one of six people the FBI arrested last week in a series of Northwest ecoterrorism attacks. She is likely to be indicted in the UW arson, according to the feds.
Find this article at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Ecoterrorism suspect may be charged in 2001 UW arson
Find this article at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Ecoterrorism suspect may be charged in 2001 UW arson
CORPORATE CRIME: Foundry in Columbia, Pa. nailed for Hazardous Waste Violations
Paul W. Zimmerman Foundries Co. has agreed to pay a $30,000 penalty for violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal law governing the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste, at its brass foundry in Columbia, PA. RCRA is designed to protect public health and the environment, and avoid costly cleanups, by requiring the safe storage and disposal of hazardous waste. Federal and state inspectors found several violations of RCRA regulations, including improper storage of tons of lead-containing waste, failure to label hazardous waste and mark the storage period of this material, failure to conduct inspections of the hazardous waste storage area and to train employees on hazardous waste management. The company also had no emergency plan to deal with hazardous waste releases. $30k seems like just a slap on the wrist.
GOVERNMENT: Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy now available; next federal actions outlined
The Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002 authorizes $270 million in funding over five years for cleanups of contaminated hot spots at 31 areas of concern in the United States. In 2004, the first year funds were available, Congress appropriated $9.9 million. In 2005, Congress appropriated $22.3 million, and $30 million will be available in 2006. President Bush requested $50 million in 2006.
Last week, EPA announced the approval of a $50 million Legacy Act cleanup of the Ashtabula River in Ohio, a tributary to Lake Erie. Cleanups of Black Lagoon, an inlet of the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich., and Newton Creek/Hog Island Inlet in Superior, Wis., were completed last month. Another project is under way at Ruddiman Creek in Muskegon, Mich. More projects will be announced in the coming months.
Additional projects to restore wetlands and aquatic habitat will include streamlining the wetlands permit process specifically for restoration and water quality projects in the Great Lakes basin resulting in the restoration of another 200,000 acres. Healthy wetlands support biological diversity, help maintain valuable economic resources like fisheries, provide flood control and filter pollution.
Funds are also available to increase beach monitoring and notification programs in lakeside communities. A three-year, three-step effort to perform watershed-based sanitary surveys in Great Lakes recreational waters to help identify sources of pollution has been proposed. Surveys will be done in 2006 and the first pilot projects should begin in the Great Lakes basin in 2007.
Yeah, baby, there's lot's of money coming our way. A copy of the Strategy is now available at http://www.glrc.us.
Last week, EPA announced the approval of a $50 million Legacy Act cleanup of the Ashtabula River in Ohio, a tributary to Lake Erie. Cleanups of Black Lagoon, an inlet of the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich., and Newton Creek/Hog Island Inlet in Superior, Wis., were completed last month. Another project is under way at Ruddiman Creek in Muskegon, Mich. More projects will be announced in the coming months.
Additional projects to restore wetlands and aquatic habitat will include streamlining the wetlands permit process specifically for restoration and water quality projects in the Great Lakes basin resulting in the restoration of another 200,000 acres. Healthy wetlands support biological diversity, help maintain valuable economic resources like fisheries, provide flood control and filter pollution.
Funds are also available to increase beach monitoring and notification programs in lakeside communities. A three-year, three-step effort to perform watershed-based sanitary surveys in Great Lakes recreational waters to help identify sources of pollution has been proposed. Surveys will be done in 2006 and the first pilot projects should begin in the Great Lakes basin in 2007.
Yeah, baby, there's lot's of money coming our way. A copy of the Strategy is now available at http://www.glrc.us.
GOOD NEWS: Major Corporations Phase Out PVC
Green Media Toolshed is reporting that Microsoft, HP, Kaiser Permanente, Toyota, Honda have made commitments to phase out PVC in consumer packaging and products Great, now that everyone in the US has it in their house and gets their drinking water through pipes made from this shit...
... This is significant for residents of Michigan, which ranks sixth nationally in the amount of landfilled PVC waste, approximately 96,241 tons every year. Hazardous chemicals are used and released in this commonly used material, the second highest selling plastic in the world. Studies show links between chemicals created and used during the PVC lifecycle and cancer, reproductive and immune system damage, and asthma.
Read more at Green Media Toolshed
... This is significant for residents of Michigan, which ranks sixth nationally in the amount of landfilled PVC waste, approximately 96,241 tons every year. Hazardous chemicals are used and released in this commonly used material, the second highest selling plastic in the world. Studies show links between chemicals created and used during the PVC lifecycle and cancer, reproductive and immune system damage, and asthma.
Read more at Green Media Toolshed
CLIMATE CHANGE: Senator Jeffords' statement regarding the UN Conference
Senator Jim Jeffords, I-Vt. is the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Yesterday he spoke out:
"The meetings in Montreal showed that most nations stand ready and willing to address global climate change. Unfortunately, the United States is not among them. The Bush Administration continues to do everything within its power to slow and stall further progress towards reducing greenhouse gases. Climate change is real, it is happening, and there is no time for further delay. We must make mandatory greenhouse gas reductions a reality as soon as possible. I am heartened that a bipartisan majority in the Senate agrees, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to achieve this goal."
"The meetings in Montreal showed that most nations stand ready and willing to address global climate change. Unfortunately, the United States is not among them. The Bush Administration continues to do everything within its power to slow and stall further progress towards reducing greenhouse gases. Climate change is real, it is happening, and there is no time for further delay. We must make mandatory greenhouse gas reductions a reality as soon as possible. I am heartened that a bipartisan majority in the Senate agrees, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to achieve this goal."
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
GOVERNMENT: If no one says there's pollution, there won't be pollution
EPA is trying to change the rules that require corporations to report their toxic emissions. Obviously The Bushies believe we should allow companies to dump more industrial waste with no way for the public to review their actions. This proposal, now up for public comment, will shrink the main government pollution database, known as the Toxics Release Inventory, by enabling companies to report less information, less frequently.
Read the entire article at AlterNet: EnviroHealth: Hiding Behind Pollution and Paperwork
Read the entire article at AlterNet: EnviroHealth: Hiding Behind Pollution and Paperwork
Monday, December 12, 2005
If you can find proof that the Earth Liberation Front exists, please send it to me
Undercover informant used in ecoterrorism investigation
"An undercover informant helped investigators tape a conversation with one of the seven alleged radical environmentalists accused in a series of arson attacks and other crimes in the Pacific Northwest between 1998 and 2001. Existence of the informant was disclosed last week by an investigator in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., during a bail hearing for Daniel McGowan, 31, who faces indictments that he and another man firebombed the office of a wood products mill in Glendale and the office and truck shop of a tree farm in Clatskanie in 2001."
"The Earth Liberation Front, an underground group that advocates economic sabotage to stop environmental destruction, took credit for the two fires. The FBI describes the group as one of the nation's leading domestic terrorist organizations. "
I will continue to assert my belief that the Earth Liberation Front does not exist. ELF is simply a slogan spraypainted by individuals. ELF is a concept that has been growing, it has no centralized organizational structure, it has no leaders. My belief is that the appearance of an organized and violent pro-environment movement has been created by the media after these 7 recent arrests in conjunction with those seeking the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Nowhere have I seen proof that anyone of any organization took credit for these acts of arson. It's simply not true. Where is the proof of this? There hasn't been a single advocate for monkey-wrenching or economic sabotage since Ed Abbey passed away. If you can find proof that ELF exists, please send it to me.
SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Nation -- Undercover informant used in ecoterrorism investigation
"An undercover informant helped investigators tape a conversation with one of the seven alleged radical environmentalists accused in a series of arson attacks and other crimes in the Pacific Northwest between 1998 and 2001. Existence of the informant was disclosed last week by an investigator in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., during a bail hearing for Daniel McGowan, 31, who faces indictments that he and another man firebombed the office of a wood products mill in Glendale and the office and truck shop of a tree farm in Clatskanie in 2001."
"The Earth Liberation Front, an underground group that advocates economic sabotage to stop environmental destruction, took credit for the two fires. The FBI describes the group as one of the nation's leading domestic terrorist organizations. "
I will continue to assert my belief that the Earth Liberation Front does not exist. ELF is simply a slogan spraypainted by individuals. ELF is a concept that has been growing, it has no centralized organizational structure, it has no leaders. My belief is that the appearance of an organized and violent pro-environment movement has been created by the media after these 7 recent arrests in conjunction with those seeking the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Nowhere have I seen proof that anyone of any organization took credit for these acts of arson. It's simply not true. Where is the proof of this? There hasn't been a single advocate for monkey-wrenching or economic sabotage since Ed Abbey passed away. If you can find proof that ELF exists, please send it to me.
SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Nation -- Undercover informant used in ecoterrorism investigation
Sunday, December 11, 2005
REVIEW: Cradle to Cradle
Click to view "Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. As William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world?
In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new — either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses, as most "recyclables" now are.
I had the opportunity to attend a talk by William McDonough at a meeting of the Economic Club of Grand Rapids. I was blown away by this man's brain. Buy this book!
Judge blocks drilling plan in Michigan
Found this associated press article courtesy of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics website.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI. -- A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked an energy company from clearing land in preparation for oil and natural gas drilling in the Huron National Forest near a river. Judge David M. Lawson issued a preliminary order halting Savoy Energy from cutting timber, building a road, and taking other steps to start the project in the north of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
Lawson said the order was necessary ''to prevent irreparable harm' and to give the court time to review decisions by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to permit the exploratory drilling. The Sierra Club and Anglers of the Au Sable, a fishing group, had filed suit to stop the project.
''The courts are showing what Michigan anglers have known all along: that the Au Sable River is one of the most special places in our state and shouldn't be hastily destroyed,' said Rusty Gates, a Michigan angler who is president of the fishing group. The Forest Service permit would let Savoy install a well about three-tenths of a mile from the Mason Tract, a 5,300-acre section of undeveloped woodland. The south branch of the Au Sable River is less than a mile from the proposed drilling site. The Au Sable is considered one of the top rivers for fishing trout in the nation.
Although the tract is state property, the federal government owns rights to minerals beneath it and has leased production rights to Savoy. The company plans to locate its wellhead on adjacent federal land, and to drill underneath the tract at an angle. If the well is productive, the company plans to install a pipeline and production facility.
Leanne Marten, supervisor of the Huron-Manistee National Forests, approved the permit application in February, saying that the project would not significantly harm the environment.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI. -- A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked an energy company from clearing land in preparation for oil and natural gas drilling in the Huron National Forest near a river. Judge David M. Lawson issued a preliminary order halting Savoy Energy from cutting timber, building a road, and taking other steps to start the project in the north of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
Lawson said the order was necessary ''to prevent irreparable harm' and to give the court time to review decisions by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to permit the exploratory drilling. The Sierra Club and Anglers of the Au Sable, a fishing group, had filed suit to stop the project.
''The courts are showing what Michigan anglers have known all along: that the Au Sable River is one of the most special places in our state and shouldn't be hastily destroyed,' said Rusty Gates, a Michigan angler who is president of the fishing group. The Forest Service permit would let Savoy install a well about three-tenths of a mile from the Mason Tract, a 5,300-acre section of undeveloped woodland. The south branch of the Au Sable River is less than a mile from the proposed drilling site. The Au Sable is considered one of the top rivers for fishing trout in the nation.
Although the tract is state property, the federal government owns rights to minerals beneath it and has leased production rights to Savoy. The company plans to locate its wellhead on adjacent federal land, and to drill underneath the tract at an angle. If the well is productive, the company plans to install a pipeline and production facility.
Leanne Marten, supervisor of the Huron-Manistee National Forests, approved the permit application in February, saying that the project would not significantly harm the environment.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
ECOTERROR: News links regarding recent Earth Liberation Front arrests
Six people have been arrested in connection with alleged ecoterrorism attacks in Oregon and Washington dating back to 1998, including the destruction of a Bonneville Power Administration tower near Bend, Oregon. The arrests were made last Wednesday in New York, Virginia, Oregon and Arizona, and each of the defendants has been indicted in Oregon or Washington. One of these individuals has a masters degree in molecular biology, another owned a bookstore.
What is the connection between these 6 people and why would the feds choose to arrest them all on one day? One bear's opinion: The government is attempting to make it look like there is a coordinated ecoterrorism effort in the US to further justify the upcoming reauthorization of the Patriot Act.
Besides the tower's destruction, the attacks included three arsons in Oregon and one in Olympia. One of the fires caused more than $500,000 in damage, and the other three caused more than $1 million, investigators said. The feds say that Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility.
News stories about the recent arrests in the United States:
Accused ecoterrorist arrested in Flag by Larry Hendricks of the Arizona Daily Sun; Arrests linked to local arson fires by Paul Fattig of the Medford Mail Tribune; Female ecoterror suspect previously convicted in logging protests by KVOA News in Tucson;
2 arrested in state as FBI targets ecoterrorism by Shaun McKinnon of The Arizona Republic;
Female ecoterror suspect had two previous minor convictionsKOLD News 13, Tuscon; Eco-Terror Arrests Bring Hope To Solving UW Fire Case by Tracey Vedder of Seattle's KOMO. Grist is also posting articles from the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
Link to the US Department of Justice press release, the source for many of these stories.
Educate yourself, check out the Earth Liberation Front's website. Then ask yourself, "Does this organization/group actually exist?" The ELF website is just one guy with a computer, probably sitting in his mom's basement.
What is the connection between these 6 people and why would the feds choose to arrest them all on one day? One bear's opinion: The government is attempting to make it look like there is a coordinated ecoterrorism effort in the US to further justify the upcoming reauthorization of the Patriot Act.
Besides the tower's destruction, the attacks included three arsons in Oregon and one in Olympia. One of the fires caused more than $500,000 in damage, and the other three caused more than $1 million, investigators said. The feds say that Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility.
News stories about the recent arrests in the United States:
Accused ecoterrorist arrested in Flag by Larry Hendricks of the Arizona Daily Sun; Arrests linked to local arson fires by Paul Fattig of the Medford Mail Tribune; Female ecoterror suspect previously convicted in logging protests by KVOA News in Tucson;
2 arrested in state as FBI targets ecoterrorism by Shaun McKinnon of The Arizona Republic;
Female ecoterror suspect had two previous minor convictionsKOLD News 13, Tuscon; Eco-Terror Arrests Bring Hope To Solving UW Fire Case by Tracey Vedder of Seattle's KOMO. Grist is also posting articles from the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
Link to the US Department of Justice press release, the source for many of these stories.
Educate yourself, check out the Earth Liberation Front's website. Then ask yourself, "Does this organization/group actually exist?" The ELF website is just one guy with a computer, probably sitting in his mom's basement.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
CLIMATE CHANGE: 70 years after logging, forests don't hold as much carbon as original forests
New research out of Ohio State University suggests that following logging, temperate forests take long periods of time to recover their carbon storing capacity. The scientists examined forests of of the upper Great Lakes region, which were 90% logged at the turn of the century, and found that they store only half the carbon the original forests contained. Poor forest management is blamed for the shortfall.
Click the "read full post" link to read the press release from OSU.
MODERN FORESTS SUFFER FROM CENTURY-OLD LOGGING LEGACY
Ohio State University release
December 5, 2005
By the early 20th century, loggers had harvested more than 90 percent of the forests covering the upper Great Lakes region. The legacy of that destruction continues to have a substantial impact on the environment, researchers say.
Nearly 70 years after this major disturbance, experimental forested plots in the current study have not returned to a point where they store as much carbon as the original stands. And researchers aren't sure just how long it might take to return to that point.
Forests serve as storage areas for carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, a key atmospheric pollutant that contributes to global climate change.
Although many of these harvested areas have regrown, poor forest management practices at the turn of the 20th century have reduced by half the amount of carbon that modern forests can store, said Christopher Gough, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State University.
"It's remarkable that there is still this huge reduction in forest productivity," Gough said.
The more carbon that a forest can store, the more productive that forest is thought to be.
Scientists estimate that forests in North America today store about 10 to 12 percent of the total amount of carbon emitted by sources such as industry and automobiles in the United States and Canada .
Gough, Curtis and their colleagues presented the findings December 8 in San Francisco at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
The researchers measured the amount of carbon stored in several forested study plots that were harvested and burned at some point during the past 100 years. These areas were part of a biological research station in northern lower Michigan. Study plots were left to regrow after experimental clear-cut harvesting and burning anywhere from 6 to 68 years ago. This experimental disturbance imposed by researchers was in addition to the widespread logging and fire destruction of the early 20th century.
Several adjacent plots that had not been experimentally harvested and burned were used as a control.
The measurements showed that the maximum annual amount of carbon stored in the harvested and burned study plots was half of the amount stored in the control forest.
A century ago, loggers were likely to clear an entire area of trees but take only the choice trunks. That left behind an abundance of smaller trees, along with branches and leaves. The debris dried out and in effect became kindling; in many cases these clear-cut harvests were followed by uncontrolled fires caused by lightning or other means.
"This kind of slash followed by burning is similar to the current patterns of disturbance in many developing countries," Curtis said.
Although controlled burning is sometimes used as a forest management practice today, the uncontrolled fires of a hundred years ago were devastating.
"The slash – the branches and leaves and smaller trees that loggers leave behind – contains nutrients that are eventually recycled back into the forest system," Gough said. "But a lot of these nutrients went up in smoke with the fires, and the aftermath continues to have a negative impact on a forest's ability to store carbon decades later."
Carbon remains in leaves, tree trunks, branches and roots, and in the debris that cover a forest floor. Carbon is also stored in soil -– microorganisms break down dead leaves and branches into minute particles that eventually become part of the earth. When a forest is clear-cut harvested and burned, much of the carbon it contains is released into the atmosphere.
"We now know that the amount of carbon that an acre of forest can store depends on how severely it was disturbed in the first place," said Gough.
Gough and Curtis worked with researchers from the University of Michigan's Biological Station in Pellston, Mich.; Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt.; and Colorado State University, in Fort Collins.
A grant from the Department of Energy supported this work.
Click the "read full post" link to read the press release from OSU.
MODERN FORESTS SUFFER FROM CENTURY-OLD LOGGING LEGACY
Ohio State University release
December 5, 2005
By the early 20th century, loggers had harvested more than 90 percent of the forests covering the upper Great Lakes region. The legacy of that destruction continues to have a substantial impact on the environment, researchers say.
Nearly 70 years after this major disturbance, experimental forested plots in the current study have not returned to a point where they store as much carbon as the original stands. And researchers aren't sure just how long it might take to return to that point.
Forests serve as storage areas for carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, a key atmospheric pollutant that contributes to global climate change.
Although many of these harvested areas have regrown, poor forest management practices at the turn of the 20th century have reduced by half the amount of carbon that modern forests can store, said Christopher Gough, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State University.
"It's remarkable that there is still this huge reduction in forest productivity," Gough said.
The more carbon that a forest can store, the more productive that forest is thought to be.
Scientists estimate that forests in North America today store about 10 to 12 percent of the total amount of carbon emitted by sources such as industry and automobiles in the United States and Canada .
Gough, Curtis and their colleagues presented the findings December 8 in San Francisco at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
The researchers measured the amount of carbon stored in several forested study plots that were harvested and burned at some point during the past 100 years. These areas were part of a biological research station in northern lower Michigan. Study plots were left to regrow after experimental clear-cut harvesting and burning anywhere from 6 to 68 years ago. This experimental disturbance imposed by researchers was in addition to the widespread logging and fire destruction of the early 20th century.
Several adjacent plots that had not been experimentally harvested and burned were used as a control.
The measurements showed that the maximum annual amount of carbon stored in the harvested and burned study plots was half of the amount stored in the control forest.
A century ago, loggers were likely to clear an entire area of trees but take only the choice trunks. That left behind an abundance of smaller trees, along with branches and leaves. The debris dried out and in effect became kindling; in many cases these clear-cut harvests were followed by uncontrolled fires caused by lightning or other means.
"This kind of slash followed by burning is similar to the current patterns of disturbance in many developing countries," Curtis said.
Although controlled burning is sometimes used as a forest management practice today, the uncontrolled fires of a hundred years ago were devastating.
"The slash – the branches and leaves and smaller trees that loggers leave behind – contains nutrients that are eventually recycled back into the forest system," Gough said. "But a lot of these nutrients went up in smoke with the fires, and the aftermath continues to have a negative impact on a forest's ability to store carbon decades later."
Carbon remains in leaves, tree trunks, branches and roots, and in the debris that cover a forest floor. Carbon is also stored in soil -– microorganisms break down dead leaves and branches into minute particles that eventually become part of the earth. When a forest is clear-cut harvested and burned, much of the carbon it contains is released into the atmosphere.
"We now know that the amount of carbon that an acre of forest can store depends on how severely it was disturbed in the first place," said Gough.
Gough and Curtis worked with researchers from the University of Michigan's Biological Station in Pellston, Mich.; Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt.; and Colorado State University, in Fort Collins.
A grant from the Department of Energy supported this work.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation wins in court against Nestle
Mecosta, Michigan - The Michigan Court of Appeals released it's ruling on the controversial case of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation vs. Nestle Waters North America. Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) won protection of a stream system deprived of 24 percent of its water as the result of Nestles pumping and diversion of water for the sale of bottled water. The Court further curtailed Nestle's pumping to 200 gallons per minute pending the decision on remand.
"MCWC is thankful for the Court of Appeal's ruling that upheld Judge Root's finding that Nestle's pumping is unreasonable. It is now undisputed that Nestle has caused and continues to cause harm," said Terry Swier, President of MCWC.
But there is more to do. Despite finding Nestle's pumping unlawful, this Court of Appeals decision weakened long-standing common law riparian and public trust protections of Michigan's streams. The Court also narrowed court access under Michigan's environmental laws and remanded the trial court's decision on violations of these environmental laws for further findings.
MCWC is seriously considering all of its options regarding further appeals, clarifying the appeals' court ruling, or going forward with the limited proceedings that have been sent back to the trial court. The appeal involves critical legal precedents at a time when Michigan faces approval of a Great Lakes Basin-wide agreement, water legislation, and a rapidly increasing global demand for freshwater.
MCWC believes the Court of Appeals erred in fashioning a new rule that allows any use or sale of groundwater so long as the social and economic benefits outweigh the harm to a lake or stream. MCWC believes such a rule favors water exports over the rights of private property owners.
Jim Olson, legal counsel for MCWC stated, "By adopting a broad balancing test, those who want to export Michigan's water have been put on equal footing with the rest of us who depend on our supply of water here, for work and quality of life. This includes farmers, manufactures, golf courses, citizens, and our abundant wildlife," He said. "Michigan's water is a precious public heritage. It should not be subjected to a slippery slope that signals a green light to those who want to convert our water into a private commodity without the consent of our citizens or respect for this water as a legacy for future generations."
MCWC has urged the protection of existing legal principles and the public trust, and the adoption of stronger laws that would prevent private sale, harm, and abuse of the state's water resources. "Citizens need to get involved, now, before it is too late," Rhonda Huff, vice president of MCWC said. "Our government is ignoring or compromising these principles, which will cost us dearly."
"Citizens need to contact their legislators and Governor Granholm and demand stronger protection of Michigan's water resources. Michigan can do better," Swier said.
"MCWC is thankful for the Court of Appeal's ruling that upheld Judge Root's finding that Nestle's pumping is unreasonable. It is now undisputed that Nestle has caused and continues to cause harm," said Terry Swier, President of MCWC.
But there is more to do. Despite finding Nestle's pumping unlawful, this Court of Appeals decision weakened long-standing common law riparian and public trust protections of Michigan's streams. The Court also narrowed court access under Michigan's environmental laws and remanded the trial court's decision on violations of these environmental laws for further findings.
MCWC is seriously considering all of its options regarding further appeals, clarifying the appeals' court ruling, or going forward with the limited proceedings that have been sent back to the trial court. The appeal involves critical legal precedents at a time when Michigan faces approval of a Great Lakes Basin-wide agreement, water legislation, and a rapidly increasing global demand for freshwater.
MCWC believes the Court of Appeals erred in fashioning a new rule that allows any use or sale of groundwater so long as the social and economic benefits outweigh the harm to a lake or stream. MCWC believes such a rule favors water exports over the rights of private property owners.
Jim Olson, legal counsel for MCWC stated, "By adopting a broad balancing test, those who want to export Michigan's water have been put on equal footing with the rest of us who depend on our supply of water here, for work and quality of life. This includes farmers, manufactures, golf courses, citizens, and our abundant wildlife," He said. "Michigan's water is a precious public heritage. It should not be subjected to a slippery slope that signals a green light to those who want to convert our water into a private commodity without the consent of our citizens or respect for this water as a legacy for future generations."
MCWC has urged the protection of existing legal principles and the public trust, and the adoption of stronger laws that would prevent private sale, harm, and abuse of the state's water resources. "Citizens need to get involved, now, before it is too late," Rhonda Huff, vice president of MCWC said. "Our government is ignoring or compromising these principles, which will cost us dearly."
"Citizens need to contact their legislators and Governor Granholm and demand stronger protection of Michigan's water resources. Michigan can do better," Swier said.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Dairy Farm Poop Stench Angers Town
The owner of the Maple Leaf Dairy in Wisconsin cries ecoterrorism. Opponents say the farm is responsible for sickening odors and damage to the local watershed, which feeds into nearby Lake Michigan. Opposition to his farm is so intense that he contends that vandals opened a valve of a holding structure and sent thousands of gallons of liquid manure cascading over his property on Oct. 12... (there's more)
Manure from this dairy farm in the Town of Centerville in Manitowoc County is at the center of a dispute between owner Tod Leiteritz and some of his neighbors — a problem seen around the state as dairy farms get bigger and non-farming homeowners move in. Leiteritz started farming in 1978 with five cows on 160 acres. Today, he is the fifth-largest dairy farmer in the state, employing 50 people and managing a herd of almost 3,500 cattle on about 5,000 acres.
Neighbors opposing the growth of Tod Leiteritz’s dairy have posted signs. A neighborhood group called Centerville Cares has filed suit in Manitowoc County contesting Leiteritz’s permit from the Department of Natural Resources.
Jose Romero of Cleveland milks cows at Tod Leiteritz’s Maple Leaf Dairy in Manitowoc County. Leiteritz says vandals have caused problems on his large dairy farm, which is mired in a dispute with neighbors over odor and pollution accusations.
It also has provoked confrontations, lawsuits and a regulatory record that stands three feet high.
Opposition to his farm is so intense that Leiteritz contends that vandals opened a valve of a holding structure and sent thousands of gallons of liquid manure cascading over his property on Oct. 12.
There have been other cases of vandalism, and in frustration, Leiteritz is offering a $15,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the manure pumping.
The controversy over Maple Leaf Dairy is perhaps the most divisive battle today between a Wisconsin farmer and his neighbors, and it underscores the sometimes uneasy relations in farm country as urbanites keep moving in while dairy farms keep growing.
Opponents say the farm is responsible for sickening odors and damage to the local watershed, which feeds into nearby Lake Michigan.
State agriculture officials have offered - to no avail - to bring the two sides together.
And in a sign of how far relations have eroded, Andrew Hanson, a lawyer for the neighbors group Centerville Cares, called Maple Leaf Dairy "the environmental equivalent of a neighborhood crack house."
"It's been a series of problems out there."
Leiteritz's attorney, Todd Palmer of Madison, said the accusation was "irresponsible."
Manure - with all of its odor and potential to pollute - is frequently a source of tension in rural Wisconsin.
It was responsible for 52 pollution cases between June 1, 2004, and July 1 of this year, according to the Department of Natural Resources. This included 17 fish kills and the contamination of 20 private water supplies.
At some of the wells, "liquid manure was coming right out of the tap," said Gordon Stevenson, chief of the runoff management section of the DNR and manure regulator for 21 years.
"This is the worst year I've seen."
Currently, there are a half-dozen enforcement cases against dairy farms over manure pollution, Stevenson said.
"I subscribe to the notion that a majority of the problems are caused by a small minority operating in vulnerable areas," he said.
But there are some trends:
• The growing use of liquid manure systems has exacerbated problems because the mix of water, urine and manure spreads more quickly across the land. Manure otherwise is scattered in a dry or semi-dry state and allowed to decompose.
• Most pollution cases are taking place on dairy farms with 200 or more head of cattle.
• Most of this year's problems took place in February and March - when farmers applied manure on frozen ground, and heavy rains followed.
Today, the largest 140 dairy farms own 10% of all of the dairy livestock, state figures show.
The average size of a dairy herd increased 22% to 78 cows between 2000 and 2004. And larger herds - those with 500 cows or more - increased 43% during the same period, according to state figures.
As dairy herds have grown, "you have more challenges," observed Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen.
"And then you have more and more people wanting to live in the country, you have sprawl, and that can lead to conflict."
In the hope of reducing conflict between farmers and non-farmers, new livestock siting regulations are now before the Legislature.
The regulations include an "odor standard" that requires farms to adopt management practices to reduce manure smells.
The Wisconsin Dairy Business Association, a farm group founded in 2000 after some farmers were stopped from expanding, said the odor standard goes too far and will be costly for many farmers to implement.
But Laurie Fischer, the group's executive director, said the siting rule is important because standards are needed as dairy farms are poised to expand.
Milk prices have risen from an average of $12.90 in 2003 for every 100 pounds sold to $16.90 in 2004. The average price paid to farmers this year is $15.63, according to government figures.
"Two years ago, we had lowest milk prices in 20 years," Fischer said. "No one grew.
"Now you can see that some farmers are starting to think seriously about expanding, and now I am starting hear more about conflict on the town level."
The elongated barns of Maple Leaf Dairy dwarf the size of neighboring farms along I-43 in the Town of Centerville.
Prevailing winds often push the aroma of manure eastward to neighbors along the lake.
That doesn't help Leiteritz with his neighbors, said the DNR's Bryan Ellefson.
"Typically there is a different mind-set for people who live close to the lake than those who live farther in," said Ellefson, a wastewater specialist with the DNR.
Also, his use of a system that automatically flushes manure on the barn floor with a mixture of manure, water and urine causes him problems. The system saves time and labor, but it generally produces more odor, Ellefson said.
Nothing against dairy farms
Russ Tooley said he has nothing against dairy farms.
"They can get as big and ugly as they want," said Tooley, who lives along the lake and is president of Centerville Cares.
"But you have to be able to breathe the air, and the water has to be able to support fish. As a neighbor, I can't stand (the smell), and he's killing all of the fish."
Opponents point to two recent incidents that underscore their concerns.
First, a Sept. 9 fish kill that claimed about 2,000 forage fish and 100 game fish in Fischer Creek.
And second, an Oct. 13 runoff of manure from a drain tile that runs through Maple Leaf Dairy and into the creek.
The DNR has never taken action against Leiteritz's farm for manure problems. And officials said they are still investigating these latest cases.
But DNR documents of the investigation appear to trace the source of pollution in both cases to the Leiteritz property.
Leiteritz insisted that he is not the source of the pollution and that other farmers in the area could be responsible for the manure spills.
Leiteritz is 55 years old and started farming in 1978 with five cows on 160 acres.
Today, he is the fifth-largest dairy farmer in the state. He employs 50 people and manages a herd of nearly 3,500 cattle on almost 5,000 acres.
But he says his success has been tarnished by harassment from environmentalists and their lawyers.
"I think it's unjust, to say the least," Leiteritz said. "We're just like anyone else - we're trying to make a living."
Leiteritz and his attorney aren't pointing their fingers at Centerville Cares. But they say someone is vandalizing Maple Leaf Dairy.
In addition to the October manure spill, farm employees also recently found all of the caps and a dipstick that protects engine fluids removed from a large four-wheel-drive tractor.
And in another incident, several of the farm's livestock gates were opened, allowing 50 to 75 dairy cattle to meander out of their barns and onto fields.
Last year, Leiteritz and his employees had arguments with a neighbor who they claim drove over the centerline with his vehicle as they approached with large pieces of farm equipment.
Palmer, the attorney for Leiteritz, has contacted the FBI office in Green Bay because he said the vandalism smacks of "ecoterrorism" and that federal laws may have been violated.
Leiteritz says he has spent more than $1 million in improvements so that his farm will exceed standards for large confined animal feeding operations.
Unlike smaller farms, large confined feeding operations - any farm with 1,000 animal units or more - must be granted an operating permit by the DNR and file detailed periodic reports of manure spreading and other activities.
An animal unit is a method of measuring livestock on farms. One thousand animal units equal about 700 milking cows.
It's taken more than three years to obtain Leiteritz's latest operating permit from the DNR.
And in recent weeks, Centerville Cares has filed suit in Manitowoc County contesting the permit, arguing that the DNR has never fully analyzed the pollution impact of the farm.
Maple Leaf Dairy also stirred tensions in 2002 when Leiteritz proposed to expand his farm to 9,000 animal units, which would have made it the largest dairy farm in the state.
Leiteritz's expansion plans are on hold for now. But he has moved forward with a large construction project next to his farm that could accommodate thousands of additional cattle.
He said he prefers "slow, steady growth," but if he continues to be challenged, "we will go faster."
This troubles Hanson, the lawyer for Centerville Cares, because he sees large dairy farms as the next step to vertically integrated agriculture, where large corporations control all facets of production.
"Who can afford to take that over?" he asked. "It's Land O'Lakes (the large Minnesota-based cooperative) and Kraft."
Leiteritz bristles at such talk. He said he is merely trying to build a business.
"Where else but in farming do you hear people complain that business is getting too big?" he asked.
Said Palmer, his attorney:
"Like it or not, the dairy industry in this state is undergoing a revolution," Palmer said.
"I think what you see here is that family farm of the future."
Read the article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big farm, big feud: Giant dairy's manure angers neighbors
Manure from this dairy farm in the Town of Centerville in Manitowoc County is at the center of a dispute between owner Tod Leiteritz and some of his neighbors — a problem seen around the state as dairy farms get bigger and non-farming homeowners move in. Leiteritz started farming in 1978 with five cows on 160 acres. Today, he is the fifth-largest dairy farmer in the state, employing 50 people and managing a herd of almost 3,500 cattle on about 5,000 acres.
Neighbors opposing the growth of Tod Leiteritz’s dairy have posted signs. A neighborhood group called Centerville Cares has filed suit in Manitowoc County contesting Leiteritz’s permit from the Department of Natural Resources.
Jose Romero of Cleveland milks cows at Tod Leiteritz’s Maple Leaf Dairy in Manitowoc County. Leiteritz says vandals have caused problems on his large dairy farm, which is mired in a dispute with neighbors over odor and pollution accusations.
It also has provoked confrontations, lawsuits and a regulatory record that stands three feet high.
Opposition to his farm is so intense that Leiteritz contends that vandals opened a valve of a holding structure and sent thousands of gallons of liquid manure cascading over his property on Oct. 12.
There have been other cases of vandalism, and in frustration, Leiteritz is offering a $15,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the manure pumping.
The controversy over Maple Leaf Dairy is perhaps the most divisive battle today between a Wisconsin farmer and his neighbors, and it underscores the sometimes uneasy relations in farm country as urbanites keep moving in while dairy farms keep growing.
Opponents say the farm is responsible for sickening odors and damage to the local watershed, which feeds into nearby Lake Michigan.
State agriculture officials have offered - to no avail - to bring the two sides together.
And in a sign of how far relations have eroded, Andrew Hanson, a lawyer for the neighbors group Centerville Cares, called Maple Leaf Dairy "the environmental equivalent of a neighborhood crack house."
"It's been a series of problems out there."
Leiteritz's attorney, Todd Palmer of Madison, said the accusation was "irresponsible."
Manure - with all of its odor and potential to pollute - is frequently a source of tension in rural Wisconsin.
It was responsible for 52 pollution cases between June 1, 2004, and July 1 of this year, according to the Department of Natural Resources. This included 17 fish kills and the contamination of 20 private water supplies.
At some of the wells, "liquid manure was coming right out of the tap," said Gordon Stevenson, chief of the runoff management section of the DNR and manure regulator for 21 years.
"This is the worst year I've seen."
Currently, there are a half-dozen enforcement cases against dairy farms over manure pollution, Stevenson said.
"I subscribe to the notion that a majority of the problems are caused by a small minority operating in vulnerable areas," he said.
But there are some trends:
• The growing use of liquid manure systems has exacerbated problems because the mix of water, urine and manure spreads more quickly across the land. Manure otherwise is scattered in a dry or semi-dry state and allowed to decompose.
• Most pollution cases are taking place on dairy farms with 200 or more head of cattle.
• Most of this year's problems took place in February and March - when farmers applied manure on frozen ground, and heavy rains followed.
Today, the largest 140 dairy farms own 10% of all of the dairy livestock, state figures show.
The average size of a dairy herd increased 22% to 78 cows between 2000 and 2004. And larger herds - those with 500 cows or more - increased 43% during the same period, according to state figures.
As dairy herds have grown, "you have more challenges," observed Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen.
"And then you have more and more people wanting to live in the country, you have sprawl, and that can lead to conflict."
In the hope of reducing conflict between farmers and non-farmers, new livestock siting regulations are now before the Legislature.
The regulations include an "odor standard" that requires farms to adopt management practices to reduce manure smells.
The Wisconsin Dairy Business Association, a farm group founded in 2000 after some farmers were stopped from expanding, said the odor standard goes too far and will be costly for many farmers to implement.
But Laurie Fischer, the group's executive director, said the siting rule is important because standards are needed as dairy farms are poised to expand.
Milk prices have risen from an average of $12.90 in 2003 for every 100 pounds sold to $16.90 in 2004. The average price paid to farmers this year is $15.63, according to government figures.
"Two years ago, we had lowest milk prices in 20 years," Fischer said. "No one grew.
"Now you can see that some farmers are starting to think seriously about expanding, and now I am starting hear more about conflict on the town level."
The elongated barns of Maple Leaf Dairy dwarf the size of neighboring farms along I-43 in the Town of Centerville.
Prevailing winds often push the aroma of manure eastward to neighbors along the lake.
That doesn't help Leiteritz with his neighbors, said the DNR's Bryan Ellefson.
"Typically there is a different mind-set for people who live close to the lake than those who live farther in," said Ellefson, a wastewater specialist with the DNR.
Also, his use of a system that automatically flushes manure on the barn floor with a mixture of manure, water and urine causes him problems. The system saves time and labor, but it generally produces more odor, Ellefson said.
Nothing against dairy farms
Russ Tooley said he has nothing against dairy farms.
"They can get as big and ugly as they want," said Tooley, who lives along the lake and is president of Centerville Cares.
"But you have to be able to breathe the air, and the water has to be able to support fish. As a neighbor, I can't stand (the smell), and he's killing all of the fish."
Opponents point to two recent incidents that underscore their concerns.
First, a Sept. 9 fish kill that claimed about 2,000 forage fish and 100 game fish in Fischer Creek.
And second, an Oct. 13 runoff of manure from a drain tile that runs through Maple Leaf Dairy and into the creek.
The DNR has never taken action against Leiteritz's farm for manure problems. And officials said they are still investigating these latest cases.
But DNR documents of the investigation appear to trace the source of pollution in both cases to the Leiteritz property.
Leiteritz insisted that he is not the source of the pollution and that other farmers in the area could be responsible for the manure spills.
Leiteritz is 55 years old and started farming in 1978 with five cows on 160 acres.
Today, he is the fifth-largest dairy farmer in the state. He employs 50 people and manages a herd of nearly 3,500 cattle on almost 5,000 acres.
But he says his success has been tarnished by harassment from environmentalists and their lawyers.
"I think it's unjust, to say the least," Leiteritz said. "We're just like anyone else - we're trying to make a living."
Leiteritz and his attorney aren't pointing their fingers at Centerville Cares. But they say someone is vandalizing Maple Leaf Dairy.
In addition to the October manure spill, farm employees also recently found all of the caps and a dipstick that protects engine fluids removed from a large four-wheel-drive tractor.
And in another incident, several of the farm's livestock gates were opened, allowing 50 to 75 dairy cattle to meander out of their barns and onto fields.
Last year, Leiteritz and his employees had arguments with a neighbor who they claim drove over the centerline with his vehicle as they approached with large pieces of farm equipment.
Palmer, the attorney for Leiteritz, has contacted the FBI office in Green Bay because he said the vandalism smacks of "ecoterrorism" and that federal laws may have been violated.
Leiteritz says he has spent more than $1 million in improvements so that his farm will exceed standards for large confined animal feeding operations.
Unlike smaller farms, large confined feeding operations - any farm with 1,000 animal units or more - must be granted an operating permit by the DNR and file detailed periodic reports of manure spreading and other activities.
An animal unit is a method of measuring livestock on farms. One thousand animal units equal about 700 milking cows.
It's taken more than three years to obtain Leiteritz's latest operating permit from the DNR.
And in recent weeks, Centerville Cares has filed suit in Manitowoc County contesting the permit, arguing that the DNR has never fully analyzed the pollution impact of the farm.
Maple Leaf Dairy also stirred tensions in 2002 when Leiteritz proposed to expand his farm to 9,000 animal units, which would have made it the largest dairy farm in the state.
Leiteritz's expansion plans are on hold for now. But he has moved forward with a large construction project next to his farm that could accommodate thousands of additional cattle.
He said he prefers "slow, steady growth," but if he continues to be challenged, "we will go faster."
This troubles Hanson, the lawyer for Centerville Cares, because he sees large dairy farms as the next step to vertically integrated agriculture, where large corporations control all facets of production.
"Who can afford to take that over?" he asked. "It's Land O'Lakes (the large Minnesota-based cooperative) and Kraft."
Leiteritz bristles at such talk. He said he is merely trying to build a business.
"Where else but in farming do you hear people complain that business is getting too big?" he asked.
Said Palmer, his attorney:
"Like it or not, the dairy industry in this state is undergoing a revolution," Palmer said.
"I think what you see here is that family farm of the future."
Read the article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big farm, big feud: Giant dairy's manure angers neighbors
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Quality Environmental Journalism Sources
I received an email yesterday from someone calling himself/herself 'Lorax in Ontario' who wanted to know what my sources of information are. Obviously, I haven't listed all the sources I have on this site, I keep some to myself. That would be giving away the store, Lorax!
One important source of information, as any good reporter will tell you, is the press release. There are literally thousands of companies and organizations out there trying to get information to the public, and they make that info available for free. Most corporations are trying desperately to look green. Head to the company website and you'll be able to find press releases on their efforts. Some advice? Be very skeptical of what a company is telling you in their release. Write your own opinion piece challenging the points that really raise your skeptical cynicism, and make certain to back up your argument with facts.
In the left column of this page is a section entitled "Environmental Communications." There are some great programs listed that will give you insight and ideas on dozens of issues.
The following is a list of respectable online information sources that the average Environmental Studies major would find useful when writing a term paper. There are more listed in the left column of this site, scroll down. Good luck Lorax, I hope you find what you are looking for.
BushGreenWatch - tracking the administration's environmental misdeeds
Eco-Portal - Latest Environmental News Headlines
Eldis (news feeds for your site)
EnviroLink Network
Environmental Health News
Environmental Integrity Project
Environmental Justice Database
Environmental Literacy Council
Environmental Media Services - facts and contacts for journalists
ENN Environmental News Network
EnviroTools.org
Great Lakes Radio Consortium
GreenMedia
Green Media Toolshed
Power Reporting
Society of Environmental Journalists Tipsheet (story ideas)
U.S. EPA Headquarters Press Releases
US Environmental Protection Agency - Press Releases from Region 5 (Great Lakes)
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
To learn more regarding writing about environmental issues, check out the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.
Find books on Environmental Journalism
One important source of information, as any good reporter will tell you, is the press release. There are literally thousands of companies and organizations out there trying to get information to the public, and they make that info available for free. Most corporations are trying desperately to look green. Head to the company website and you'll be able to find press releases on their efforts. Some advice? Be very skeptical of what a company is telling you in their release. Write your own opinion piece challenging the points that really raise your skeptical cynicism, and make certain to back up your argument with facts.
In the left column of this page is a section entitled "Environmental Communications." There are some great programs listed that will give you insight and ideas on dozens of issues.
The following is a list of respectable online information sources that the average Environmental Studies major would find useful when writing a term paper. There are more listed in the left column of this site, scroll down. Good luck Lorax, I hope you find what you are looking for.
BushGreenWatch - tracking the administration's environmental misdeeds
Eco-Portal - Latest Environmental News Headlines
Eldis (news feeds for your site)
EnviroLink Network
Environmental Health News
Environmental Integrity Project
Environmental Justice Database
Environmental Literacy Council
Environmental Media Services - facts and contacts for journalists
ENN Environmental News Network
EnviroTools.org
Great Lakes Radio Consortium
GreenMedia
Green Media Toolshed
Power Reporting
Society of Environmental Journalists Tipsheet (story ideas)
U.S. EPA Headquarters Press Releases
US Environmental Protection Agency - Press Releases from Region 5 (Great Lakes)
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
To learn more regarding writing about environmental issues, check out the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.
Find books on Environmental Journalism
Friday, December 02, 2005
Solid Waste Incinerator Standards Strengthened
Yesterday - New performance standards are being required to reduce emissions of air pollutants from the last remaining category of waste incinerators requiring Clean Air Act regulation. The category is called 'other solid waste incinerators' (OSWI). OSWI consist of very small municipal waste combustion units and institutional waste incineration units. The final performance standards will hopefully provide improvements in protecting human health and air quality by reducing approximately 1,900 tons per year of air pollution from an estimated 248 incinerators... (there's more)
Very small municipal waste combustion units are incinerators that burn less than 35 tons per day of municipal solid waste collected from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources. Institutional waste incineration units are incinerators located at public or private schools, churches or civic organization that burn solid waste generated on site. EPA has already issued regulations to control emissions from large municipal waste combustors (greater than 250 tons per day capacity); small municipal waste combustors (250 - 35 tons per day capacity); medical waste incinerators; and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators.
These final standards will establish emission limits for the following nine air pollutants from these incinerators: particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium, mercury, and dioxins/furans.
For additional information on this rule visit: epa.gov
Very small municipal waste combustion units are incinerators that burn less than 35 tons per day of municipal solid waste collected from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources. Institutional waste incineration units are incinerators located at public or private schools, churches or civic organization that burn solid waste generated on site. EPA has already issued regulations to control emissions from large municipal waste combustors (greater than 250 tons per day capacity); small municipal waste combustors (250 - 35 tons per day capacity); medical waste incinerators; and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators.
These final standards will establish emission limits for the following nine air pollutants from these incinerators: particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium, mercury, and dioxins/furans.
For additional information on this rule visit: epa.gov
CLIMATE CHANGE: Lakes lose ice cover earlier in spring
The trend of northern lakes losing ice cover earlier each spring accelerated during the past 30 years as scientists continue to document a warming climate. Researchers recently re-examined ice trends for 56 lakes across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, and New York from 1971-2002. All 56 lakes showed a trend toward earlier ice breakup dates - an average of three days earlier each decade. The new study shows lakes losing their ice even faster than they were before 1975... (there's more)
Researchers found that the contour line on a map marking where lake ice has melted by April 7 each year moved north by 100 kilometers, or more than 62 miles, during the past 30 years. The recent study reaffirms one released in 2000 that showed lakes across the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia and Japan - over a 150-year period ending in 1995 - froze 8.7 days later each fall and lost their ice 9.8 days sooner each spring.
Other studies show Northland frogs emerging from hibernation earlier and migrating songbirds returning north weeks earlier than just a few years ago.
Not acting now to stem higher temperatures will devastate the U.S. economy in future years. J. Drake Hamilton, science and policy director for Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said more and more studies document a warmer climate in Minnesota, such as the ice cover research. She said the sensible reaction is to assume greenhouse gasses are part of the problem and then move to a renewable energy economy and away from imported fossil fuels.
"This issue has huge economic implications for our region. It's our lakes, our hunting grounds, our heritage all at risk here," Hamilton said. "Not acting will be much more costly for us."
Read the full article:Grand Forks Herald | 11/30/2005 | ENVIRONMENT: Lakes lose ice cover earlier in spring
Utility Leaders Actually Considering Energy Efficiency as Solution to Rising Energy Costs
The fox is definitely in charge of the hen house. Or maybe it's a wolf.
More than 50 organizations, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have developed a leadership group to launch an aggressive new national commitment to energy efficiency. The joint effort could substantially increase utility funding for energy efficiency and could save customers $200 to $300 billion on energy bills over the next 15 to 20 years.
In the face of rising energy demands and costs, larger utility investments in energy efficiency are an effective way to lower consumer energy bills, decrease demand for natural gas, improve the reliability and security of the nation's energy systems, and help protect the environment. However, there is a perception that a number of factors are limiting greater utility investment in energy efficiency. Accordingly, the leadership group will look at policies and programs that are delivering results around the country, develop a common understanding of what works, and develop and follow through on recommendations for action.
"Improving energy efficiency is not just a responsibility that falls to consumers, but the private sector and the government too," Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said. "By working together and sharing the best information and efficiency technologies, all Americans will benefit from an increased energy supply, and hopefully, lower costs."
"Innovative efforts in energy efficiency are proving that environmental progress and economic development can, in fact, advance hand-in-hand," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "While meeting President Bush's call to conserve, EPA and our partners are working to address our nation's growing energy demand in a way that supports our goals for a clean environment, a healthy economy, and lower energy costs."
The leadership group is co-chaired by Diane Munns, member of the Iowa Utilities Board and president of the Natural Association Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and Jim Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer of Cinergy. In addition to the federal agencies, the group is made up of representatives from leading gas and electric utilities, state agencies, energy service providers, environmental/energy efficiency organizations, and energy consumers.
"Given the interrelationship between price, reliability and environmental impact of our energy resource decisions, I am honored to be part of this process which encourages regulators to take a fresh look at cost-effective energy efficiency resources as a means to provide necessary utility services to the customer today and in the future," said Munns.
"Like Cinergy, many utilities are looking to energy efficiency to balance high demand growth with corporate goals for reduced environmental impact and costs," said Rogers. "We are pleased to be part of this national leadership to advance the business case for energy efficiency."
Leadership group members include state utility commissioners from California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington; utility executives from American Electric Power, Austin Energy, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Bonneville Power Administration, Cinergy, Entergy, Exelon, New Jersey Natural Gas, New York Power Authority, Pacific Gas and Electric, PNM Resources, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Santee Cooper, Seattle City Light, Southern California Edison, Southern Company, and Xcel Energy; state agency representatives from California, Connecticut, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas; environmental/energy efficiency organizations such as the Alliance to Save Energy, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and Natural Resources Defense Council; as well as representatives from ISO New England, PJM Interconnection, The Dow Chemical Company, Food Lion, Johnson Controls, Servidyne Systems, US Automobile Association Realty Company and Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. American Gas Association, American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute, National Association of Energy Service Companies, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, National Association of State Energy Officials, National Energy Assistance Directors' Organization, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and North American Insulation Manufacturers Association are serving as observers to the Leadership Group.
The first meeting of the Leadership Group is in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 2. For more information, visit: eeactionplan
More than 50 organizations, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have developed a leadership group to launch an aggressive new national commitment to energy efficiency. The joint effort could substantially increase utility funding for energy efficiency and could save customers $200 to $300 billion on energy bills over the next 15 to 20 years.
In the face of rising energy demands and costs, larger utility investments in energy efficiency are an effective way to lower consumer energy bills, decrease demand for natural gas, improve the reliability and security of the nation's energy systems, and help protect the environment. However, there is a perception that a number of factors are limiting greater utility investment in energy efficiency. Accordingly, the leadership group will look at policies and programs that are delivering results around the country, develop a common understanding of what works, and develop and follow through on recommendations for action.
"Improving energy efficiency is not just a responsibility that falls to consumers, but the private sector and the government too," Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said. "By working together and sharing the best information and efficiency technologies, all Americans will benefit from an increased energy supply, and hopefully, lower costs."
"Innovative efforts in energy efficiency are proving that environmental progress and economic development can, in fact, advance hand-in-hand," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "While meeting President Bush's call to conserve, EPA and our partners are working to address our nation's growing energy demand in a way that supports our goals for a clean environment, a healthy economy, and lower energy costs."
The leadership group is co-chaired by Diane Munns, member of the Iowa Utilities Board and president of the Natural Association Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and Jim Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer of Cinergy. In addition to the federal agencies, the group is made up of representatives from leading gas and electric utilities, state agencies, energy service providers, environmental/energy efficiency organizations, and energy consumers.
"Given the interrelationship between price, reliability and environmental impact of our energy resource decisions, I am honored to be part of this process which encourages regulators to take a fresh look at cost-effective energy efficiency resources as a means to provide necessary utility services to the customer today and in the future," said Munns.
"Like Cinergy, many utilities are looking to energy efficiency to balance high demand growth with corporate goals for reduced environmental impact and costs," said Rogers. "We are pleased to be part of this national leadership to advance the business case for energy efficiency."
Leadership group members include state utility commissioners from California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington; utility executives from American Electric Power, Austin Energy, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Bonneville Power Administration, Cinergy, Entergy, Exelon, New Jersey Natural Gas, New York Power Authority, Pacific Gas and Electric, PNM Resources, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Santee Cooper, Seattle City Light, Southern California Edison, Southern Company, and Xcel Energy; state agency representatives from California, Connecticut, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas; environmental/energy efficiency organizations such as the Alliance to Save Energy, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and Natural Resources Defense Council; as well as representatives from ISO New England, PJM Interconnection, The Dow Chemical Company, Food Lion, Johnson Controls, Servidyne Systems, US Automobile Association Realty Company and Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. American Gas Association, American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute, National Association of Energy Service Companies, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, National Association of State Energy Officials, National Energy Assistance Directors' Organization, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and North American Insulation Manufacturers Association are serving as observers to the Leadership Group.
The first meeting of the Leadership Group is in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 2. For more information, visit: eeactionplan
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