EC August 2007

ec@lists.wvsierraclub.org

12 participants
25 discussions

FW: global warming
by Grubb, Karen 28 Aug '07

28 Aug '07

These came from another list serve I am on, and I found them interesting. Rainforest Action Network's current campaign.: *Update: America's Dirtiest Bank: *We want to hear from you. Which bank do you think is America's dirtiest-- and the most worthy RAN target? * Bank of America <http://ga3.org/campaign/target_bofa/8enwgdk2h85jjkb?>? *Bank of America is elbow deep in coal!* * Responsible for a $175 million loan to the "poster child" of mountaintop removal coal mining: Massey Energy. * Major funder of Peabody Energy, the largest mining company in the world. Peabody was recently implicated in the contamination of Navajo and Hopi water sources in the Black Mesa area that extends through northern Utah and Arizona. Furthermore, Bank of America financing is allowing Peabody to build three new coal-fired power plants in Illinois, Kentucky and New Mexico. * Citi <http://ga3.org/campaign/target_citi/8enwgdk2h85jjkb?>? *Citi is elbow deep in coal!* * Financial backer of the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the nation--American Electric Power (AEP). AEP is heavily involved in the US Coal Rush building 5 new coal plants around the Mid-West and South. AEP will also manage up to 9 coal-fired power plants within 10 miles of Meigs County, Ohio--a community already ravaged with health and environmental impacts of coal. * Funder of destructive strip mining and mountaintop removal from the American Southwest to Appalachia. * Co-owner of Texas-based utility TXU who just got permits to build 3 outdated dirty pulverized coal-fired power plants in north and central Texas. * JPMorgan Chase <http://ga3.org/campaign/target_jpmc/8enwgdk2h85jjkb?>? *JPMorgan Chase is elbow deep in coal!* * Funds Dynegy, which is sponsoring the building of 12 new coal-fired power plants -- the largest coal build-out in the country. * Helped Mid-American Energy secure $350 million in financing for construction of a new coal-fired plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mid-American Energy operates dozens of power plants across the U.S. and England. ________________________________ Ultimately, global warming presents a much greater threat to our planet than the war in Iraq. However, the war will be the first and foremost issue in the minds of the American people as long as our troops are there. The longer that we stay in Iraq, the longer it will take our country to focus on the threats to our global environment. Tom Yager

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1998 remains the warmest year (NY Times)
by Duane330＠aol.com 26 Aug '07

26 Aug '07

Quarter-Degree Fix Fuels Climate Fight By ANDREW C. REVKIN, The New York Times Posted: 2007-08-26 13:51:58 Filed Under: _Science News_ (http://news.aol.com/science) (Aug. 26) - Never underestimate the power of the blogosphere and a quarter of a degree to inflame the fight over _global warming_ (javascript:;) . A quarter-degree Fahrenheit is roughly the downward adjustment _NASA_ (javascript:;) scientists made earlier this month in their annual estimates of the average temperature in the contiguous 48 states since 2000. They corrected the numbers after an error in meshing two sets of temperature data was discovered by Stephen McIntyre, a blogger and retired business executive in Toronto. Smaller adjustments were made to some readings for some preceding years. All of this would most likely have passed unremarkably if Mr. McIntyre had not blogged that the adjustments changed the rankings of warmest years for the contiguous states since 1895, when record-keeping began. Suddenly, 1934 appeared to vault ahead of 1998 as the warmest year on record (by a statistically meaningless 0.036 degrees Fahrenheit). In NASA's most recent data set, 1934 had followed 1998 by a statistically meaningless 0.018 degrees. Conservative bloggers, columnists and radio hosts pounced. "We have proof of man-made global warming," Rush Limbaugh told his radio audience. "The man-made global warming is inside NASA." Mr. McIntyre, who has spent years seeking flaws in studies pointing to human-driven climate change, traded broadsides on the Web with James E. Hansen, the NASA team's leader. Dr. Hansen said he would not "joust with court jesters" and Mr. McIntyre posited that Dr. Hansen might have a "Jor-El complex" -- a reference to _Superman_ (javascript:;) 's father, who foresaw the destruction of his planet and sent his son packing. Blogs are still reverberating, but Mr. McIntyre, Dr. Hansen and others familiar with the initial data revisions are clarifying what is, and is not, at issue. One thing not in question, Mr. McIntyre and Dr. Hansen agree, is the merit of shifting away from energy choices that contribute heat-trapping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Mr. McIntyre said he feels "climate change is a serious issue." His personal preference is to shift increasingly to nuclear power and away from coal and oil, the main source of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Mr. McIntyre and Dr. Hansen also agree that the NASA data glitch had no effect on the global temperature trend, nudging it by an insignificant thousandth of a degree. Everyone appears also to agree that too much attention is paid to records, particularly given that the difference between 1934, 1998, and several other sets of years in the top 10 warmest list for the United States are so small as to be statistically meaningless. Mr. McIntyre said that when he posted the revised list under the heading "A New Leaderboard at the U.S. Open," "I just was sort of having some fun with it as much as anything." He added: "The significance of things has been misstated by Limbaugh and people like that." Dr. Hansen and his team note that they rarely, if ever, discuss individual years, particularly regional findings like those for the United States (the lower 48 are only 2 percent of the planet’s surface). "In general I think that we want to avoid going into more and more detail about ranking of individual years," he said in an e-mail message. "As far as I remember, we have always discouraged that as being somewhat nonsensical." Jay Lawrimore, a scientist at the National Climatic Data Center of the Commerce Department who works on assembling the climate records that NASA analyzed, said his agency could probably do a better job of emphasizing the uncertainty surrounding its annual temperature announcements. Indeed, there is enough wiggle room in the numbers that the center has a different list of the 10 warmest years than those produced using NASA’s and Mr. McIntyre’s analyses. By the climate center’s reckoning, 1998 remains the warmest year for the 48 states (with 2006 second and 1934 third). Dr. Lawrimore, Dr. Hansen and other experts said that trends are far more important than particular years, and the recent widespread warming trend has been clear — and very distinct from the regional hot spell that drove up United States temperatures in the 1930s. Mr. McIntyre and the government scientists do agree on at least one more thing: the need to improve the quality of climate data gathered around the world, including in the United States, which has by far the planet’s biggest network of meteorological stations. Mr. McIntyre is not alone in pointing out that the need to adjust and revise such data -- with the attendant risk of mistakes -- would be reduced with more care and consistency taken in collecting climate data. The National Academy of Sciences has repeatedly called for improvements in climate monitoring. An independent group of meteorologists and weather buffs is compiling its own gallery of American weather stations at www.surfacestations.org, with photographs showing glaring problems, like thermometers placed next to asphalt runways and parking lots. Dr. Lawrimore said that the government is preparing to build a climate reference network of more sophisticated, and consistent, monitoring stations that should cut uncertainty in gauging future trends. In any case, he said, the evidence for human-driven warming remains robust. "Saying what they're saying has just provided an opportunity for them to create doubt in people's minds," he said of the bloggers. Copyright © 2007 _The New York Times Company_ (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) 2007-08-26 ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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Pennsylvania Hearings on TrAIL
by Duane330＠aol.com 25 Aug '07

25 Aug '07

To: Duane. RE: Public Hearings on TrAIL power line in Western Pennsylvania.............. Here is the schedule: 1. Washington County fairgrounds – Building B – August 29 & 30, September 19 & 20 – 1:00 and 7:00 pm daily 2. Greensboro VFD – September 5 – 1:00 pm 3. Carmichaels High School – September 5 – 7:00 pm 4. Waynesburg University Alumni Hall – September 6 – 1:00 and 7:00 pm To get on the schedule, you simply sign up when you arrive at the hearings. Rick Layton, Greene County. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> P.S. I am planning to testify, either at Greensboro or Carmichaels, on behalf of the MonValley Clean Air Coalition. I will try to get representatives from the WV Sierra Club and from a few other groups to come out as well. Duane Nichols ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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Virginia's State Corporation Commission holds hearings
by Duane330＠aol.com 24 Aug '07

24 Aug '07

NORTHERN VIRGINIA. Hearing on Power Line Draws Vocal Crowd Supporters Say Project Is Vital to Success Of Area Economy; Foes Question Its Need By _Sandhya Somashekhar_ (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/sandhya+somashekhar/) Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 27, 2007; Page B02 Heated testimony at a hearing yesterday about a proposed 65-mile high-voltage power line through _Northern Virginia_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Northern+Virginia?tid=infor…) provided a hint of the friction associated with the project and the tension ahead as the state begins deciding whether to approve it. Many people waited all afternoon at _Fauquier High School_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fauquier+High+School?tid=in…) in _Warrenton_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Warrenton?tid=informline) for the chance to address a State Corporation Commission hearing examiner, who will play a key role in deciding whether the 500 kilovolt line proposed by Dominion Virginia Power and Allegheny Power should be built. Although organized opposition to the project has been fierce and many speakers condemned it, a parade of business owners and representatives from Northern Virginia chambers of commerce endorsed it, saying the area's economy will depend on a reliable flow of electricity. "The success of the high-tech-driven economy in _Fairfax County_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fairfax+County?tid=informli…) and the rest of Northern Virginia" depends on maintaining the infrastructure, said William D. Lecos, president and chief executive of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, reading from a statement. "Without it, the economy of Northern Virginia cannot thrive." But William Arrington, whose southern _Fauquier County_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fauquier+County?tid=informl…) farm could be sliced by the line, said that if _Fairfax_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fairfax?tid=informline) needs power, that's Fairfax's problem "because that's where the over-development has been allowed to run rampant." The hearing was the first of eight scheduled this summer about the transmission line, which is planned for parts of _Frederick_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Frederick+(Maryland)?tid=in…) , Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper and _Prince William counties_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Prince+William+County?tid=i…) before ending at a substation in _Loudoun County_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Loudoun+County?tid=informli…) . Without it, the region might face rolling blackouts within five years, Dominion officials have said. Since announcing the project last summer, Dominion has encountered well-organized, sometimes emotional opposition from landowners, conservationists and others who say the line would scar the landscape and encourage the construction of polluting coal plants. The company revised the line's route to avoid environmentally and historically significant areas, and the opposition has persisted. Led by the slow-growth _Piedmont Environmental Council_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Piedmont+Environmental+Coun…) , critics have promised to convince the state that the project is not needed for Northern Virginia. The Warrenton-based organization has raised about $1 million to fight the project, organizing rallies and commissioning studies that emphasize alternatives such as conservation. This month, Dominion has stepped up its efforts to convince residents that the line is essential for the health of Northern Virginia's electrical grid and that no alternative will suffice. Dominion commissioned and is heavily promoting an April study by KEMA, a _Massachusetts_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Massachusetts?tid=informline) engineering firm, that shows "there will be significant problems in the system that will require new transmission facilities by 2011." A full-page newspaper ad by Dominion this week said, "Without a new transmission line, Northern Virginians will need to reduce electrical use by 40%." And the company has been reaching out to business owners who support the line, asking them to speak out at hearings that are expected to be dominated by the line's critics. Six more meetings will take place next month -- in Bristow, _Winchester_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Winchester?tid=informline) and _Front Royal_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Front+Royal?tid=informline) . The commission will spend the fall studying the issue and will reconvene in January to hear arguments from attorneys for the different sides. If the commission approves the project, Dominion officials hope to have it built by 2011. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Scores press SCC to reject Dominion plan By: Don Del Rosso, 07/31/2007, Fauquier Times-Democrat There seemed to be no end in sight. For two days and more than 10 hours, they attacked Dominion Virginia Power's proposed transmission line through the Piedmont. In speeches long and short, impassioned and measured, opponents from Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Loudoun and elsewhere hammered away at familiar themes. The utility has failed to demonstrate a need for the planned 500,000-volt line, they told the State Corporation Commission during a public hearing last Thursday and Friday in the Fauquier High School auditorium. The proposed line would destroy vistas and pristine land under easement, diminish property values, degrade air quality and compromise agricultural operations, tourism and historic sites, critics told SCC Hearing Examiner Alexander F. Skirpan Jr.. Ninety-four of the 106 speakers asked Skirpan to recommend denial of the proposed line. Fifty-eight of the public hearing speakers live in Fauquier. (Skirpan will make a recommendation to the SCC's three-judge panel, which will decide the matter.) Just 12 people, representing Northern Virginia businesses or organizations such as the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, the Prince William Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Vienna-Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce, testified in favor of the proposed line. Dominion insists the line must be in place by 2011, or Northern Virginia faces the prospect of rolling blackouts. Its 1,000-page application to the SCC includes a 70-page analysis by Massachusetts-based KEMA Inc. that argues a transmission line would provide the only practical solution to meet Northern Virginia's immediate and long-term electricity demands. The proposed line would link substations in Frederick and Loudoun counties. It would parallel an existing transmission line but require Dominion and its partner, Allegheny Power, to acquire substantial additional rights of way from private landowners. Besides Frederick and Loudoun, the proposed 65-mile line would cut through parts of Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper and Prince William counties. The alternative route would connect the same substations along Interstate 66, using Virginia Department of Transportation right-of-way. Under either scenario, the line would be suspended from steel towers that, in places, could exceed 150 feet. Dominion's "credibility" should be tested, said Kathleen King, a retired federal government lawyer from Broad Run. She claims the utility has given no specifics about the precise location of the proposed power line. "There are absolutely no straight answers," she told the hearing examiner. "I have no idea how close I am to those (proposed) power towers (along I-66), but I'm close....We can't get information from the applicant to tell us where the power line is going." Like many others, King believes that conservation methods and more efficient technology would eliminate the need for a new line. Her remarks elicited cheers and clapping, which Skirpan quickly squelched with a stern reminder. Before the hearing started Thursday afternoon, he explained to the audience that the hearing would be operated similar to a courtroom proceeding. Speakers, which he called witnesses, would be sworn in and could be subject to questioning by SCC staff and lawyers and attorneys representing various interests. "It's not a situation where we have audience participation," Skirpan said. "I don't want applause, boos or any types of comments from the audience." If necessary, he would evacuate the auditorium and listen to speakers individually. William Arrington of Catlett called the proposal "ill-conceived." Arrington contended that Dominion has yet to demonstrate a need for the line, which he claims would violate the sanctity of conservation easements. He also said the line would produce electromagnetic fields, posing "unacceptable health risks to the general public." If Northern Virginia indeed needs substantially more electricity, then build a power plant there, Arrington suggested. William Stribling of Markham said the I-66 alternative would devastate an area rich with historic and agricultural importance, undermining Fauquier's agribusiness and tourism economies. Harry Atherton, who represents Marshall District on the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors, spoke as a private citizen. He pointed out that Fauquier has one of the highest concentrations of conservation easements in the nation, with more than 77,000 acres permanently protected from further development. Moreover, he said it claims 29 sites on the Virginia Landmarks list and National Register of Historic Places, two scenic rivers, 10 Civil War battlefields, 17,000 acres in historic districts, 8,000 acres in state management reserves, 1,800 acres of state park land and 1,000 acres of county park land. "This is not by accident, but the result of many decades of public and private efforts to preserve this historic and beautiful part of [Virginia]" he concluded. "If the end result of these efforts is that the county has become the corridor of least resistance for the transmission line of power to the Mid-Atlantic, this seems both unfair and unnecessary." Fauquier's population stands at "just over 60,000" and thus isn't "a significant contributor to congestion on the Northern Virginia [power] grid," Atherton also noted To the contrary, Fauquier has been part of the solution to the area's energy needs, because it approved two natural gas-fueled generators near Remington that operate during the hottest and coldest days, he claimed. Katherine Kristie of Rappahannock County focused on air quality and health-related issues. The proposed line would transmit electricity generated by some of the nation's "dirtiest" coal-burning plants, Kristie said. "Why?" she asked. Because "it is much cheaper for the power industry to continue to rely on some of the dirtiest plants than to utilize cleaner-generation energy plants located closer to northeast customer demand." Kristie continued: "But when public health costs and environmental impacts are considered, is this truly the cheapest solution?" She and other critics also believe Dominion wants the line chiefly because it would reap huge profits from electricity destined for the Northeast. The KEMA report does not address the line's financial implications for Dominion. KEMA's Jeff Palermo, who helped prepare the transmission line study, said Northern Virginia, a "big-time" importer of electricity, would be the primary beneficiary of the line, not the eastern seaboard. Northern Virginia's business community was represented in force at the hearing. Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Hugh Keogh said the continued robust expansion of the region's economy depends the "predictability and availability" of electricity. Northern Virginia generates high-paying technology jobs that provide spinoff financial benefits for the entire state, Keogh said. A perceived lack of energy in the next decade could threaten future economic development opportunities, he added Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce William D. Lecos called Northern Virginia the state's "economic engine." As its high-tech sector grows, so must critical infrastructure such reliable electricity sources to sustain business, Lecos said. "There's every reason to believe this trend [of economic growth] will continue," he said. Representatives of the National Association of Industrial Office Properties and several businesses spoke in support of the power line. SCC hearings will continue during the next two weeks in Prince William County, Winchester and Front Royal. Dominion Spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson said the hearing offered no surprises. "We feel that, frankly, it was an example of why the SCC process is fair," giving people a chance "to talk as long as they wanted to" about issues that concern them, Anderson said. "It was nice to hear from independent organizations, businesses and associations" that support the line, she added. Despite widespread objections to the proposal, Anderson said "We still believe the need is great. We're steadfast in the belief the need is real." The hearing turnout and "quality of testimony" impressed Chris Miller, president of Piedmont Environment Council, which plans to spend more than $2 million to fight the project. "Are the hearings meaningful?" Miller said. "Yes. You're getting hundreds of people testifying about the [line's] impacts on their lives. The quality of testimony is very high. There's a lot of information that otherwise would not be on the record." Some people waited up to four hours to testify, he said. "The intestinal fortitude was high," Miller said. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Power struggle Area residents denounce line proposal By Drew Houff, The Winchester Star WINCHESTER — The first day of local hearings regarding a proposed 5 50-kilovolt transmission line that may pass through Frederick County seemed at least slightly different from previous hearings in Warrenton and Bristow. For one, none of the 32 speakers at James Wood High School on Monday supported the proposed joint project from Dominion Virginia Power and Allegheny Energy’s Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Co. subsidiary. The hearings in Warrenton at least had a few contractors and developers who appeared to back the project, which power company officials say is needed to provide for increased electricity needs in Northern Virginia. The general theme from the first day of public testimony at James Wood suggested that neither Allegheny nor Dominion had provided information to support the claim that the new lines are needed. No one from either company testified. That testimony will come in evidentiary hearings beginning on Jan. 14 in Richmond. Alexander F. Skirpan Jr., the hearing examiner for the State Corporation Commission, will listen to all of the testimony at each hearing and then file a recommendation with the commission, which will decide the fate of the proposal, said Andy Farmer, the SCC’s education resources manager. Skirpan reminded people attending Monday’s morning and evening hearings that this was a court of record for the testimony and that audience participation, including clapping in favor of some remarks, would not be viewed favorably. He confirmed that position during the morning hearing when the audience applauded testimony from Wingate Mackay-Smith of White Post. She said she was speaking with mixed emotion, but reminded those in attendance that approval of the proposal was similar to giving the 800-pound gorilla a banana. "There’s no evidence that Virginia has any need for new lines to avoid blackouts in 2011, as the companies claim," Smith said, drawing some enthusiastic cheers. Skirpan quickly responded, reminding everyone that he could close the hearings if they continued to interrupt testimony. He encountered no such problems in the evening session. Clarke County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Staelin, the lone local officeholder to speak on Monday, said his board had opposed the possibility of a high-voltage line through his county a year ago, leading to a unanimous resolution in opposition. "I came here today because I want to make sure you know this is not a ‘Not in my backyard’ issue," he said. "This power line may have moved out of Clarke County’s backyard, but that does not suddenly make it a better idea for either Clarke or the rest of the citizens of the commonwealth." Elizabeth Tate of Star Tannery offered a theme that was echoed by many, noting that Allegheny’s treatment of the landscape had decreased the values of property. She said her family had tried to leave behind the visual clutter in Virginia Beach for the unscarred environment of the northern Shenandoah Valley, but added that the proposal would put a gash in the trees and bring other unsightly problems. Eleanore Boudreaux of Stephens City agreed, noting that she had lost livestock and value to her property because of moves by Allegheny. Ellen Rivers of Frederick County said Virginia has to set a good example, evaluating the effects of the lines before approving them. Barbara Smith of Stephens City said another potential concern for the lines would be their impact on tourism, particularly the effect on sightlines near the Cedar Creek Battlefield and Belle Grove Plantation near Middletown. Stanley M. Hirschberg, president of The Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, agreed, noting that tourist dollars may disappear along with the views if 120-foot-tall power lines are installed. The hearings at James Wood will continue today at 9:30 a.m. Additional public hearings are scheduled at the North Warren Volunteer Fire Department near Front Royal on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday’s hearings will begin at 1:30 p.m. and reconvene at 7 p.m, and Thursday’s hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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joint venture PATH line
by Duane330＠aol.com 24 Aug '07

24 Aug '07

POWER LINE, Washington Post, August 23, 2007. ____________________________________ Joint Venture Created For W.Va.-Md. Project ____________________________________ Two utilities finalized a joint venture yesterday to build a high-voltage transmission line that would carry electricity 290 miles from West Virginia into Western Maryland and end just shy of the _Montgomery County_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Montgomery+County+(Maryland…) line near _Damascus_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Damascus?tid=informline) . [The starting location is to be the John Amos power plant sub-station, near St. Albans, WV...dgn] At 765,000 volts, the $1.8 billion line would have the highest capacity in the country, carrying enough electricity to power an estimated 2.5 million homes. The operator of the electricity grid serving the East Coast, _PJM Interconnection_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/PJM+Interconnection+LLC?tid…) , approved plans for the line in June, saying it would improve the flow of power in the mid-Atlantic region. Yesterday, _American Electric Power_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/American+Electric+Power+Co.…) and Allegheny Energy announced that they have created a joint venture holding company, Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline LLC, to build the line. [Can be called the "PATH line"............dgn.] The holding company plans to file with the _Federal Energy Regulatory Commission_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Federal+Energy+Regulatory+C…) this fall to set rates to recover the costs of the project. The company also will begin studying potential routes and assessing environmental impacts over the next year. Once a route is determined, the company will seek approval from state regulators in _Maryland_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Maryland?tid=informline) and _West Virginia_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/West+Virginia?tid=informline) . ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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Fwd: NEWS: Rule Changes Ease Legal Limits on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
by Paul Wilson 24 Aug '07

24 Aug '07

We will have a "take action" webpage on this next week. We should generate as many comments as possible so we can say that the Admin. is ignoring the public (once again!) wishes on this issue. Pls forward the News Release as you wish, best, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 22, 2007 Contact: Cindy Rank, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (304) 924-5802 Dianne Bady, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (740) 886-5796 Vernon Haltom, Coal River Mountain Watch (304) 854-2182 Jared Saylor, Earthjustice (202) 667-4500 Jim Hecker, Public Justice (202) 797-8600 Ed Hopkins, Sierra Club (202) 675-7908 Bush Administration Proposes Repeal of Stream Protection Rule to Ease Legal Limits on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Protective "buffer zone" for streams ignored under new OSM plan Washington, D.C. – Continuing a dangerous and irresponsible trend, the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) this week will announce plans to try again to make stream annihilation legal by exempting coal mining wastes from a 1983 regulation. For years, the agency has ignored the law and allowed thousands of miles of headwater and perennial streams in Appalachia to be permanently buried by coal companies under millions of tons of waste generated by mountaintop removal coal mining. Known as the "stream buffer zone rule," this decades-old regulation has prohibited surface coal-mining activities from disturbing areas within 100 feet of streams. A copy of the proposed changes to the buffer zone rule is available at: http://www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/draft-environmental-impact-s… "The Bush administration just doesn't give up in its quest to give away more and more legal protections to the mountaintop removal polluters," said Joan Mulhern, Senior Legislative Counsel for Earthjustice. "Despite the federal government's own studies showing widespread, harmful, and irreversible stream loss in the region, the OSM proposes exempting the most harmful mountaintop removal mining activities from the buffer zone rule. Once again, OSM is demonstrating that it is not an effective regulator for the public, but the 'Office for Slicing Mountains' and 'Office of Stream Mangling' for coal companies." The new exemption is the latest chapter in a long-running effort by the Bush administration to allow coal companies to avoid compliance with both the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (administered by OSM) and the Clean Water Act. According to OSM's own figures, 1,208 miles of streams in Appalachia were destroyed from 1992 to 2002, and regulators approved 1,603 more valley fills between 2001 and 2005 that will destroy 535 more miles of streams. Those actions were taken in defiance of the plain language of the existing rule. Under the plan announced this week, OSM proposes to change the rule to conform with its deviant behavior. It would exempt from the stream buffer zone rule those very mountaintop removal activities that are most destructive to streams, including "permanent excess spoil fills, and coal waste disposal facilities" – in other words, giant valley fills and sludge-filled lagoons. "OSM has chosen to turn its back onirreplaceable water resources of the Appalachian region," said Cindy Rank with West Virginia Highlands Conservancy."Headwater streams are the lifeblood of the mountains and those of us privileged enough to livein those mountains.This new interpretation of the buffer zone rule is an unholy reversal of the original intent of the Surface Mine Act,which wasto protect communities and streams, not bury them." The effort to repeal the buffer zone rule dates back to 2004, when OSM proposed repealing the Reagan-era rule to allow coal companies to accelerate mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. In response to protests from coalfield residents and conservation groups, OSM agreed it would do an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before changing the longstanding rule. But in its new draft EIS, OSM rejected and failed to analyze all alternatives that would have restricted stream filling. In its own words, "OSM would not anticipate a major shift in on-the-ground consequences from any of the alternatives." Most egregious is that the agency did not even consider the effect of enforcing the stream buffer zone rule as written. "OSM summarily rejected all alternatives that would reduce harm and only considered those that would allow stream burials to continue at the same rate as in the past," said Jim Hecker, Environmental Enforcement Director at Public Justice. "OSM's own report shows that valley fills harm downstream water quality but this proposal does nothing to address it." The agency also assumes all stream loss will be fully mitigated, even though it freely admits that stream mitigation has generally failed. "While proven methods exist for larger stream channel restoration and creation, the state of the art in creating smaller headwater streams onsite has not reached the level of reproducible success," the OSM wrote. "Attempts to reestablish the functions of headwater streams…have achieved little success to date." "The coal companies have yet to show that they can successfully recreate streams after they completely destroy these mountains and bury these waters, yet OSM still gives them this major exemption from the law," said Dianne Bady, with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. "These headwater streams are the sources of our drinking water and our heritage, and this administration is knowingly allowing them to be buried and poisoned." This wholesale exemption for mountaintop removal mining will have significant impact to downstream water quality, permanently filling and destroying important headwaters that feed larger waters that function as drinking water sources and fishing and recreational waters for thousands of Americans. Already, mountaintop removal mining has flattened more than 500,000 acres and permanently buried 2,000 miles of streams. "The OSM essentially wants to destroy our most valuable, life-giving resource to extract a filthy, polluting resource," said Vernon Haltom of Coal River Mountain Watch. "We who live near mountaintop removal sites are having our future sustainability destroyed for someone else's short-term profits." "This proposal amounts to a stamp of approval for the nation's most destructive form of coal mining," said Ed Hopkins, Director of Sierra Club's Environmental Quality program. "Instead of loosening protections for our waters, we should be strengthening our commitment to cleaner, renewable sources of energy that can protect our communities, boost the economy and help fight global warming." -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club Wildlife & Endangered Species Comm. 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-6975

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Fw: Biston Globe editorial
by Allan Tweddle 24 Aug '07

24 Aug '07

Jeff Regardless of how we are thinking, this editorial is increasingly the way most of the rest of the country is thinking. To remain competitive, and get off the bottom of Forbes' list, we need an aggressive approach to diversify the State's economy, including the energy industry. As I have said so often, and will not let up stating, "We MUST participate, and/or even be seeking leadership roles, in the rapidly growing alternative and renewable energy technologies, including their manufacturing and jobs potential!". I am concerned that yesterday's meeting, while interesting, was not particularly helpful in considering the changes in thinking, as well as the unique future policies and actions needed for the participating in the energy dynamics, not of the past, but of the today and the future. We certainly must avoid a token, pacifying or just tolerant approach. I did not come away from the meeting with any sense of accomplishment. You will recall that Charles Bayless urged you and I to look at the Ontario Power web pages for their innovative and aggressive efforts at energy conservation and efficiency. I did, and it is quite revealing. Global Warming is real. Mandating efforts for efficiency and conservation is appropriate from the power plants on down to the consumer, residential, commercial and industrial. When is the appointment with WV Tech's Charles Bayless and faculty rescheduled, and why was it cancelled? The potential for clean safe jobs in the construction and operation of CSP plants must be investigated...the PEA made that decision several meetings ago, and the investigation is dragging on much too slowly. Progress should be reported at the next PEA Meeting, billed as the "Renewable Energy Public Hearing". We were asked again at the meeting yesterday why we are not investigating this, and no answer was provided. I don't enjoy being embarrassed. The agenda yesterday called for members to speak. We skipped that, and went to the public. It seems to me that we would be better served if we have Q&A after each speaker, and, as I tried to do yesterday, that we have a dialogue with those who speak so that they feel we are listening and value their input. Jeff, I trust that you understand I am submitting these thoughts in an effort to help us all improve these important hearings. Allan http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007…<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007…> Coal miner's nation August 23, 2007 LATE IN HIS presidency, George Bush finally brought himself to lament the nation's addiction to oil. But neither he nor leading Democratic politicians have ever rallied the country to break its addiction to a more lethal form of energy: coal, which supplies half the nation's electricity. This month, an accident in Utah entombed six miners, forever. Three more died trying to rescue them. Four days after the first accident, three coal miners plunged down a shaft to their deaths in an Indiana mine. In China, which has the world's worst coal-mining fatality record, 181 miners are trapped in a flooded mine shaft with little hope of survival. More than 2,000 Chinese coal miners have died in accidents this year. Then there are the respiratory conditions, including asthma, that are made worse by the sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and fine particulates emitted in coal's combustion. Coal-burning power plants are also the principal man-made source of the nerve-system poison mercury. Its buildup in many species of fish has caused the Food and Drug Administration to advise women of child-bearing age to limit consumption of that otherwise healthful source of protein. Despite such warnings, women in the United States face a 10 to 15 percent risk of bearing children with mercury levels high enough to slow their mental development. In Appalachia, mining by mountaintop removal is changing the face of the earth. Coal burning is changing the climate of the earth. Of all the fossil fuels, coal emits the most carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. Forty percent of the US total of carbon dioxide comes from coal burning, mostly to produce electricity. Gasifying coal before burning it makes it possible to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, but the process raises the cost of the electricity produced and has yet to be tested at full scale. In the meantime, utilities in the United States and elsewhere continue to build coal-fired plants without controls on carbon dioxide. Last year alone, China built more than 90 major coal-fired power plants. Legislation passed by the US House that would force utilities to start getting more of their power from renewable sources faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where it is opposed by senators from states without ready access to renewables. The United States cannot wean itself from coal overnight. But as Congress and all Americans chart the nation's energy future, coal's environmental costs, especially its contribution to global warming, have to be factored into the equation. So do those accidents in Utah, Indiana, and China. No other energy solution -- not wind, solar, nuclear, biomass, natural gas, geothermal, and certainly not conservation and efficiency -- takes a toll in lives and environmental destruction that is at all comparable to coal's.

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OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING PROPOSED REGULATION ON M.T.R.
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 24 Aug '07

24 Aug '07

ATTACHED IS A LINK TO A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/us/23coal.html?ex=1188619200&en=f3f537189…>YESTERDAY DISCUSSING THE PROPOSED MTR RULE FROM OSM, IT IS, IN PLAIN ENGLISH, A BLANK CHECK TO GO FORWARD WITH THE PRACTICE OF MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY BARRIER OF ANY TYPE. THE TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS ATTACHED AS A .TXT FILE AND WAS PUBLISHED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER TODAY. THERE IS A 60-DAY COMMENT PERIOD ENDING OCTOBER 23, 2007. I BELIEVE THE SIERRA CLUB, NATIONALLY, SHOULD BE ON RECORD AGAINST THE PROPOSAL IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHALLENGE IN IT COURT LATER. BILL -- William V. DePaulo, Esq. 179 Summers Street, Suite 232 Charleston, WV 25301-2163 Tel: 304-342-5588 Fax: 304-342-5505 william.depaulo(a)gmail.com www.passeggiata.com

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(no subject)
by Duane330＠aol.com 23 Aug '07

23 Aug '07

THE PHILLIP MERRILL CENTER HAS ADDED MORE GREEN FEATURES The Philip Merrill Center is the headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and is presently the only office building in the world to be platinum certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's program _Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design _ (http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEED_main.asp) (LEED). (http://www.epa.gov/epahome/exitepa.htm) Some of its outstanding features are an extensive rainwater collection system which is used for non-potable purposes such as dish and floor washing, compostable toilets, waterless urinals, natural ventilation, geothermal heat exchange, structural insulation panels, and solar panels. The center has added a new green feature, a vegetated roof for cooling and reducing storm water runoff impacts. More about the Center: _http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?_ (http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_sub_merrill&JServSessionI…) ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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[Fwd: [fom] DOE classifies report that finds no advantage in touted carbon capture technology]
by Regina Hendrix 23 Aug '07

23 Aug '07

FYI. I wanted to be sure you saw this one. Regina

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EC August 2007