Peter Walz

As much of the political debate in America remains primarily focused around health care right now, this report serves as a good reminder that health and clean energy reform are clearly linked together:

Physicians for Social Responsibility has released a groundbreaking medical report, “Coal’s Assault on Human Health,” which takes a new look at the devastating impacts of coal on the human body.  Coal combustion releases mercury, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and dozens of other substances known to be hazardous to human health. This report looks at the cumulative harm inflicted by those pollutants on three major body organ systems: the respiratory system, the cardiovascular system, and the nervous system. The report also considers coal’s contribution to global warming, and the health implications of global warming.

http://www.psr.org/resources/coals-assault-on-human-health.html

The problem of the leftover toxic waste that results from burning coal came to the forefront last year after a massive spill of "coal ash" in Kingston, TN. The television show 60 minutes does some more digging and provides more reasons for us to kick our addiction to coal:

(CBS)  We burn so much coal in this country for electricity that every year that process generates 130 million tons of waste. Most of it is coal ash, and it contains some nasty stuff. Environmental scientists tell us that the concentrations of mercury, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals are considerably higher in coal ash than in ordinary soil. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/01/60minutes/main5356202.shtml

You can check out the video here at the link above. If you agree that we don't need more coal, you can help by signing our petition to stop Duke Energy's energy rate hike to support a massive new coal plant at Cliffside, NC: http://ncconservationnetwork1.org/campaign/dukeratehike  

For those of you who follow the comics section each day, you may have caught today's Dilbert comic strip and its reference to global warming: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-09-29/

We discovered that at www.dilbert.com you can add your own ending to the comic strip of the day. So we tried our comedic hand with today's strip - tell us what you think or come up with a better ending: http://dilbert.com/mashups/comic/70477/

Over the last 6 months we've asked you repeatedly to send emails and make phone calls to your members of Congress to support federal climate legislation. We owe you a big THANKS!. To explain, here's an update from last Friday evening from our partners at the 1Sky campaign:

The House of Representatives just passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) this evening by a vote of 219 to 212. This bill has narrowly passed this hurdle and we will redouble our efforts to strengthen it even more in the Senate. 

Check out this video from 1Sky's Campaign Director, Gillian Caldwell, for more explanation on the amazing campaign to get the bill passed and the road ahead (it's critical the bill gets stronger and that North Carolina's Senator Hagan, in particular, supports efforts to strengthen this historic bill).

Many thanks to the following NC members of Congress for supporting this historic legislation: Butterfield, Price, Etheridge, Shuler, Watt, and Miller (a letter to the editor is a great way to thank them! Contact Christopher[at]ncconservationnetwork.org for assistance).

Voting against this legislation that will create millions of green jobs over time and that will transition America to a clean energy future: all of the Republicans from NC including McHenry, Foxx, Myrick, Coble, and Jones. In addition, two Democrats voted no, McIntyre and Kissell. 

Representative Larry Kissell was the most surprising and disappointing no. When Mr. Kissell was elected he appeared to be a fresh face in Washington who would stand up for meaningful change. In fact, last year as Mr. Kissell was campaigning for Congress he said:

We can’t take any more government inaction, and must seriously invest in alternative, renewable, home-grown energy alternatives now.

Mr. Kissell may get a chance to redeem himself and keep the promises he made in his campaign. If the bill passes the Senate and needs a final House concurrence vote, we'll be watching to see what he does. 

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, it does. Here’s one more reason to fight for real clean energy solutions to climate change:

"Climate change is widening viral disease among farm animals, expanding the spread of some microbes that are also a known risk to humans, the world’s top agency for animal health said on Monday.

The World Animal Health Organization—known as OIE, an acronym of its name in French—said a survey of 126 of its member-states found 71 percent were “extremely concerned” about the expected impact of climate change on animal disease.

Fifty-eight percent said they had already identified at least one disease that was new to their territory or had returned to their territory, and that they associated with climate change.

The three most mentioned diseases were bluetongue, spread among sheep by biting midges; Rift Valley fever, a livestock disease that can also be picked up by people handling infected meat; and West Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquito from infected birds to both animals and humans."

You’ve probably heard by now that Titan Cement Company wants to build a coal-fired cement plant near Wilmington, NC. And you’ve probably heard that this cement plant and mining operation would destroy around 1,000 acres of North Carolina wetlands and the coal fired cement plant would emit hundreds of pounds of the neurotoxin mercury. (And if you haven’t heard about this yet, help us stop Titan’s plans by sending a quick message to your legislators.) Mercury contamination is of great concern to North Carolinians because currently the state Department of Health is advising most women and children to avoid eating over 2 dozens types of fish because of dangerous levels of mercury found in those species (read the fish consumption advisory here).

But don’t worry [insert sarcasm here] - a new report says that the toxic mercury emissions from the cement plant won’t be a problem!

Not surprisingly, this report was a study funded by...the Titan Cement Company. I’m SURE they would have released the report even if the results said something different. But what’s most revealing is what the company and their report actually say about how people can protect themselves from mercury poisoning:

"The best way to alleviate their risk is to help them make better dietary choices, the report concludes."

In other words – the mercury emissions won’t threaten public health...as long as the public stops eating most fish. I’ve got a better idea. How about we stop creating new sources of mercury emissions that add to the growing problem of dozens of toxic fish in our state. Then we won’t have to worry about being poisoned by our plate of fried catfish AND can have a thriving commercial fishing industry.

So you’re trying to decide between a glass of wine or a glass of beer at the restaurant and just can’t make up your mind. What would go better with your grilled salmon - a creamy chardonnay or a crisp India Pale Ale? Well if you also want to consider the environmental impact of your meal, you might pull up this handy chart on the water used in various services, appliances, and food in a typical day: http://www.good.is/?p=16356.

You’ll conserve water by ordering the beer (20 gallons of water needed to make one pint of beer, versus 31 gallons to make a glass of wine).

Also, definitely don’t order beef (1500 gallons of water used to make 1 pound of beef!)

Conservative commentator and Washington Post columnist George Will has decided to throw his hat into the ring with climate change deniers who like to make up facts from thin air. Will, who often stresses the research and data that factor into his positions, based his Sunday column on misleading and made-up data (via Talking Points Memo) regarding the issue of climate change:

Both of Will's major "data points" fall apart after a moment's scrutiny. Here's the first:

"According to the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center, global sea ice levels now equal those of 1979."

But within hours of Will's column appearing, the ACRC had posted the following statement on its website:

"We do not know where George Will is getting his information, but our data shows that on February 15, 1979, global sea ice area was 16.79 million sq. km and on February 15, 2009, global sea ice area was 15.45 million sq. km. Therefore, global sea ice levels are 1.34 million sq. km less in February 2009 than in February 1979. This decrease in sea ice area is roughly equal to the area of Texas, California, and Oklahoma combined. It is disturbing that the Washington Post would publish such information without first checking the facts."

There’s another excellent argument against Will’s column at the blog www.fivethirtyeight.com. Will takes up the latest from mantra from climate change deniers that the earth is actually in a cooling period. Nate Silver (who runs 538 and is renown for his ability to interpret and make predictions from data, polls, and statistics) lays out some pretty hard evidence against Will’s claims, including this graph of global temperature rise since 1881:

Perhaps the only way to deny climate change is happening and is real is to make stuff up?

Some governors from across the country have shown strong leadership on slowing industry moves to build more coal plants, instead requiring or taking a second look at renewable energy resources and efficiency programs. Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan is the latest. Note to Governor Bev Perdue: this is leadership and how you create a loyal following from voters.

LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to make it harder for utilities to justify building new coal-fired power plants, encouraging them to instead rely on more energy conservation. Speaking Tuesday in her seventh annual State of the State speech, Granholm called for reducing the state's reliance on electric plants powered by coal and natural gas 45 percent by 2020...

...Four companies have requests before the state Department of Environmental Quality to build new coal-fired power plants, the most requests for new coal plants anywhere in the country. The state already has 19 coal-fired plants; the average one is 50 years old. The plan is not a moratorium on building more coal-fired plants. But environmental groups are hoping it could make it much harder to get them approved...

...In making it harder for companies to build new power plants that rely on coal, Michigan is following the example of other states. Wisconsin officials recently rejected a request for a new coal-fired power plant, and Kansas officials have rejected proposals to build two plants in the southwest corner of the state. It's possible one of the four proposals now before Michigan DEQ could win approval. But all are being sent back and asked to prove that there are no "prudent and feasible" alternatives to using coal, which emits carbon dioxide that contributes to global warning.

If this story is accurate, it could dramatically change the landscape in the fight for clean energy. It is a great example of why we can’t afford to spend billions of dollars to build new coal and nuclear plants when clean renewable energy is on the brink of being much more affordable in the near future (or in this case, possibly right now).

"Generating clean electricity that is as cheap as power from fossil fuels is the Holy Grail of green-energy companies. A new solar project powering California houses appears to be closing in on that prize. Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy in San Diego, has taken the wraps off a 10-megawatt solar farm in Nevada. That is small by industry standards, enough to light just 6,400 homes. But the ramifications are potentially enormous.

A veteran analyst has calculated that the solar farm can produce power at 7.5 cents a kilowatt-hour, less than the 9-cent benchmark for conventional electricity.

If that is so, it marks a milestone that advocates for renewable energy have longed for: "grid parity," in which electricity from the sun, wind or other green sources can meet or beat the price performance of carbon-based fuels."