Here are some economics on the "Social Cost of Carbon" which is what the emissions of carbon dioxide actually cost us. As explained in the link below, EPA already uses these numbers as part of their estimates of the costs and benefits of various energy regulations. (Would WV ever consider doing so?)
Also, the "cost" is not a specific number, but one that varies largely depending on two factors: 1) the year in which emissions occur; and 2) the "discount rate" (roughly analogous to the interest rate or rate of inflation predicted to occur in the future, i.e., the future value of a dollar). EPA uses a range of rates to provide a range of predicted values for the benefits of damages avoided for a given amount of carbon emissions reductions.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/EPAactivities/economics/scc.html
The Union of Concerned Scientists has a recent editorial explaining some of the rationale and issues regarding the recent update to the SCC.
http://blog.ucsusa.org/the-social-cost-of-carbon-setting-the-record-straigh…
Compared to the values used by AEP and FE during the power plant transfer cases, these values from EPA are much higher.
Enjoy.
JBK
Mountaintop mining pollution has distinct chemical
signatures<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/Nt-…>
Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:36 AM PDT
Three elements commonly found at elevated levels in an Appalachian river
polluted by runoff from mountaintop coal mining have distinctive
chemistries that can be traced back to their source, according to a new
study.
--
Paul Wilson
Sierra Club
504 Jefferson Ave
Charles Town, WV 25414-1130
Phone: 304-725-4360
Cell: 304-279-1361
"There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle
I just ran across this article in an e-mail from last week. I had
heard some of this before, but putting it all together like this is
pretty interesting.
Would it be a good idea to start highlighting how bad First Energy is
at efficiency, and urge the PSC to get independent contractors to do EE?
This may be useful in both preventing a repeat of these kinds of
problems, as well as creating the perception that some type of EE
program is inevitable. This may all be moot if some kind of settlement
gets agreed to, or we might apply it to the EE Stakeholder/Phase II
process, which would be going forward in either case.
Perhaps something like this could turn into a WVNS story?
Whaddya Tink?
Jim Kotcon
On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 1:26 PM, Vanessa Pierce
<vanessa.pierce(a)sierraclub.org> wrote:
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-a-utilitys-shady-business-o…
How a Utility’s Sketchy Efficiency Practices Could Be Costing
Ratepayers More Than $400M
Is FirstEnergy “hiding” efficiency on its books to the detriment of
ratepayers?ADAM JAMES: JULY 12, 2013
FirstEnergy is one of the nation’s biggest investor-owned utilities,
and it has a big problem.
Efficiency investments, required by statute in the state of Ohio since
2008, mandate that utilities such as FirstEnergy make investments in
saving energy. These efficiency targets are good for customers, who will
save billions (
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-efficiency-target-could-…
) of dollars over the lifetime of the investments. However, these same
investments could hurt the bottom lines of vertically integrated
utilities, which profit from selling electrons and building new
electrical infrastructure as customers use more energy, instead of
less.
Efficiency programs are a clear example of the tension between what’s
good for customers and what’s good for utilities. In some cases,
utilities are adjusting their business models to account for these
changing market dynamics. However, there are still companies that are
engaging in business practices to avoid or mismanage efficiency
investments. These practices have a real price tag, to the tune of
millions of dollars, as customers miss out on opportunities to save
energy and lower their bills.
Exploiting Loophole Savings: $368 Million
In 2008, a law was passed requiring FirstEnergy to help customers save
energy. FirstEnergy still had no efficiency programs lined up (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=bbf7c580-3147-42d3-a94….
) by the middle of 2009, so in a scramble to meet its end-of-year goals,
it proposed (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=e9546cf4-f4b7-420b-8fb…
) purchasing and hand-delivering 3.75 million 100-watt equivalent
compact florescent light bulbs, two per customer in their territory, for
a cost of $21 per customer. This is about three times what those bulbs
would cost (
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/firstenergy_light_bulbs…
) at a retail store such as Home Depot.
Despite opposition from interested stakeholders, the commission
approved (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=5ffa3899-2740-4cae-975…
) the programbefore (
http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2009/10/10/Concerns-voiced-over-mercury-i…
) public backlash (
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/light_bulbs.htm )
derailed (
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20091007/FREE/910079967 ) it.
FirstEnergy later sold the bulbs at a discount through retailers.
Again behind on implementing an industrial efficiency program in 2011,
FirstEnergy created (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=0d57b475-28de-4088-807…
)an incentive program for its industrial customers. These overly
lucrative incentives led to the three-year budget for the program being
depleted (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/CaseRecord.aspx?Caseno=09-1947&link=DIVA ) in
less than eight months as many projects went forward that perhaps
shouldn’t have, before the company finally lowered incentives. These
actions stranded contractors (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=410b8b5a-c8d8-401b-a71…
) who had lined up to complete these projects across the state.
"Going in, of course, we couldn’t predict how popular the program would
be, but its success did not diminish opportunities for our customers to
participate in other energy efficiency programs. We did not turn
projects away based on savings achieved through the mercantile program,"
said FirstEnergy's senior spokesman Christopher Eck.
Overall, FirstEnergy has invested less in efficiency than other
utilities. A good example: FirstEnergy invested approximately as much in
helping residential customers save energy between 2009 and 2012 as
Dayton Power & Light, a utility that is one-quarter (
http://www.puco.ohio.gov/emplibrary/files/util/MktMonitoringElecCustSwitchR…
) the size of FirstEnergy.
In addition, FirstEnergy has shown compliance by relying heavily on a
loophole that allows it to count existing efficiency projects at large
consumer facilities toward its total. These “loophole savings” accounted
for over 50 percent of its total claimed savings, compared to18 percent
(
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=55b65ebb-0700-492a-bb8…
) from American Electric Power and 18 percent (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=267ab02e-5247-47b9-b04…
) from Dayton Power & Light and Duke.
FirstEnergy’s reliance on loophole savings between 2009 and 2012
displaced new energy efficiency projects that would have reduced
customer energy bills $253 million over time -- instead raising
customers’ energy bills by at least $115 million by offsetting new
energy-efficiency projects.
“If we could truly implement these programs in the way that they were
meant to, electricity prices would fall and homes and businesses would
receive some much-needed financial relief," said Dan Sawmiller, senior
campaign representative with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.
Weak Capacity Market Bids: $39 Million
Every year, PJM holds a (
https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/fecorp/about.html )capacity
auction (
http://www.pjm.com/~/media/markets-ops/rpm/rpm-auction-info/2016-2017-base-…
) to secure enough resources to meet electricity demand three years in
advance. The payments that all the generators receive are based on the
capacity price, which is set by the most expensive marginal resource
needed to meet demand.
FirstEnergy ( https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/fecorp/about.html
) witnessed a stunning 56 percent decrease in capacity prices in the PJM
auction (
http://www.pjm.com/~/media/about-pjm/newsroom/2013-releases/20130524-pjm-ca…
). The next day, FirstEnergy’s share price dropped 6.5 percent.
As a utility with 20,000 megawatts of generating capacity, FirstEnergy
benefits from higher capacity prices. Every megawatt of capacity
clearing in the auction creates more revenue for the company, and the
more expensive the last marginal generating unit is, the more it gets
back across its whole portfolio.
This year, the clearing price in its territory fell from $357 per
megawatt-day to $114 per megawatt-day, which translated to a massive
financial hit to the company. On the other hand, lower capacity prices
were good for customers, who are paying less to have their electricity
needs met.
FirstEnergy was partially responsible for the lower prices that hurt
them.
The company bid in 75 percent of the projected energy savings it will
achieve before the delivery year, which applied downward pressure on
capacity prices in the auction. In other words, since total demand was
lower, more expensive generators were edged out, making the clearing
price that is paid to all the resources lower as well. So while
FirstEnergy stands to collect $6.9 million on efficiency from the
auction, it will likely lose quite a bit more than that on other
generators in its portfolio.
FirstEnergy didn’t bid the energy efficiency into the market
voluntarily. It was required by the Public Utility Commission to do so,
in part to help “lock in” commitments, since making the bids into
capacity markets requires delivery or a risk of being fined. The end
result was good for customers, but not great for FirstEnergy.
Remarkably, the story took another turn last month, as a last-minute
amendment by Senator Seitz (R-Green Township) in the Ohio statehouse
would have required the state public utilities commission to renegotiate
the terms of the efficiency commitments with FirstEnergy. If FirstEnergy
succeeded in lowering its efficiency requirements during the
negotiations, the company could risk being hit with a fine by PJM for
reneging on its auction bid -- with the bill ultimately being footed by
FirstEnergy’s customers. The amendment did not pass.
This isn’t the first time the capacity markets have been home to some
shady business.
Last year, FirstEnergy’s Ohio distribution utilities could have bid
around 360 megawatts of energy efficiency into the 2015/2016 auction.
Instead, they only bid one-fifth or one-sixth of that, and ultimately
only 36 megawatts cleared in the auction.
This could potentially hurt customers in three ways. First, they missed
out on the payments from efficiency bids that could be used to offset
the costs of making the investments, which in this case would have
amounted to $39 million in additional revenues going toward paying off
the efficiency upgrades.
Second, consumers could be forced to pay for power plants they do not
need, since demand is lower but the market has no way to recognize it.
Third, in some cases this can lead the overall clearing price to be
much higher than it could have been -- and customers will pay those
extra costs.
Fortunately, because the marginal unit in that auction wouldn’t have
been displaced with a full efficiency bid, these last two outcomes
didn’t materialize. But that will not always be the case.
Upon reaching out to FirstEnergy, the utility correctly pointed out
that this analysis assumes that all 360 megawatts would be eligible in
the PJM region and that it owned the resources.
"It would have been irresponsible for the company to bid projected
savings into the auction for years in which it had no approval to run
energy efficiency programs. If we had we done so and the savings had not
materialized, the price our customers would have paid for generation
service could have been much higher. The savings we bid into the auction
reflected actual savings that had already been installed and that the
company owned," said FirstEnergy's Eck.
However, FirstEnergy did not take any steps to ensure that it had
ownership of the resources, and there were a significant amount of
credits it left on the table.
"Our PUCO-approved program met all applicable laws and regulations and
we’re proud of its success," said FirstEnergy's Eck.
Former Commissioner Cheryl Roberto’s dissenting opinion (
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/TiffToPDf/A1001001A12G18B41251E34808.pdf )
points this out, stating that “the burden is on the Companies
[FirstEnergy] to demonstrate that its actions are aligned with both its
own interests and those of its customers. [...] The information in our
record is insufficient to find that the Companies dedicated sufficient
resources to reliability.”
In fact, this is one reason that the Commission ordered FirstEnergy to
require ownership as a condition of participating in its programs the
following year.
Electricity prices have fallen in Ohio by 1.4 percent since passing
efficiency standards. But that's just a small portion of what could be
realized if utilities offered up the full amount of energy efficiency on
their books.
***
GTM Editor Stephen Lacey contributed to this story.
Adam James is a Research Assistant for Energy Policy at the Center for
American Progress and the Executive Director of the Clean Energy
Leadership Institute ( http://cleanenergyleaders.org/ ). You can email
him at ajames(a)americanprogress.org and follow him on Twitter
@adam_s_james.
Tags: capacity market (
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/capacity+market ), energy
efficiency (
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/energy+efficiency ),
firstenergy ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/firstenergy ),
ohio ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/ohio ), ratepayers (
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/ratepayers ), utilities (
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/utilities )
Vanessa Pierce
Eastern Regional Director, Beyond Coal Campaign
Sierra Club | 50 F Street NW | Washington DC 20001
Tel: 202-675-6691 (w) 801-652-5151 (c)
Here's a sterling example of corporate/political corruption in fracking.
Royal Dutch Shell: They've Really Got a Friend in Pennsylvania
By Walter Brasch <http://thedemocraticdaily.com/author/brasch/> |
<http://thedemocraticdaily.com/2013/08/10/royal-dutch-shell-theyve-friend-pe
nnsylvania/> August 10, 2013 - 7:55 am |
by Walter Brasch
Royal Dutch Shell, which owns or leases
<http://www.shell.us/aboutshell/projects-locations/appalachia.html> about
900,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale, had a great idea.
It wanted to frack the Ukraine. But, there was opposition. So, Royal Dutch
Shell decided to create a junket for some of the Ukrainians opposed to
fracking to show them just how wonderful fracking is.
They were going to bring the Ukrainians to northeastern Pennsylvania, and
give them an all-expenses-paid four day tour. The tour was to begin at the
end of July. Other shale gas corporations have created press junkets, where
they lay out a nice day or two of activities, complete with handouts,
trinkets, meals, and lodging. Members of the establishment press often go on
these junkets. Some take what they're told, rework it, and put it into print
or on the air.
Now, the people of the Ukraine anti-fracking movement aren't idiots. They
weren't just going to take whatever they were shown and told. So, they
contacted the state's leading fractivists and anti-fracking organizations.
They wanted to learn all the facts-not just what was spoon-fed to them. They
were willing to talk to anti-fracking activists when there were no other
scheduled activities.
But Royal Dutch Shell was monitoring FaceBook and the Internet, and saw that
the Ukrainians were trying to talk to the grassroots movement in
Pennsylvania to get all sides of the issue.
What a company with solid PR would do would be to just deal with it-and hope
that its side could be presented, and the people would make reasonable
decisions. But, Royal Dutch Shell, apparently, has some rather lame
six-figure income PR people and administrators.
Royal Dutch Shell decided it didn't want to deal with having any opposition
to its PR tour. So, the company that has about $360 billion in assets-and
made about a $27 billion profit last year, placing it No. 1 on the Fortune
500 list-cancelled the tour less than a week before it was to begin.
But the story doesn't end with a cancelled press junket. Royal Dutch Shell
is embedded into Pennsylvania politics.
The foreign-owned company was thinking about building an ethane cracker
plant about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. A cracker plant takes natural
gas and breaks it up to create ethylene, primarily used in plastics. Royal
Dutch Shell considered placing the plant beside the Ohio River in
Pennsylvania, Ohio, or West Virginia. All three states were interested, but
Pennsylvania held out the most lucrative corporate welfare check for the
company, which had spent
<http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=e01&year=2012> $14.5
million in lobbying during 2012, about 10 percent of all lobbying costs for
all gas and oil corporations.
The Pennsylvania legislature handed over a 15 year exemption from local and
state taxes, apparently without consulting local officials
<http://publicsource.org/investigations/potter-township-forgotten-player-bri
nging-shell-oil-pa> in Beaver County's Potter and Center townships. Tom
Corbett, who never met a gas driller he didn't like, then approved a $1.65
billion tax credit over 25 years, tweeting
<http://triblive.com/news/2008446-74/jobs-state-plant-permanent-shell-indust
ry-corbett-numbers-tax-billion#axzz2DbxQ6ptB> , "A crackerplant would create
up to 20,000 permanent jobs in Southwest PA." The reality is considerably
lower.
Shell stated it planned to hire only 400 to 600 persons; because of the
location, many new employees would probably be Ohio and West Virginia
residents. Even if all possible indirect jobs-including more low-wage clerks
at local fast food restaurants-were added, the most would be about
6,000-7,000 employees.
Pennsylvania may have been able to attract the plant without giving up so
much corporate welfare. A Shell news release
<http://www.shell.us/home/content/usa/aboutshell/media_center/news_and_press
_releases/2012/03152012_pennsylvania.html> stated the company "looked at
various factors to select the preferred site, including good access to
liquids rich natural gas resources, water, road and rail transportation
infrastructure, power grids, economics, and sufficient acreage to
accommodate facilities for a world scale petrochemical complex and potential
future expansions." Even then, Shell said it could be "several years" before
construction would begin. At the proposed location, the Horsehead Corp.,
which signed an agreement with Shell to sell the land, has until April 30,
2014, before Shell could begin construction.
Corbett may have believed that extending corporate welfare to Royal Dutch
Shell was just good business, and would spur job creation and the economy.
But, there is another probability for his generosity, and it's both personal
and political.
Dory Hippauf's "Connecting the Dots" series
<http://commonsense2.com/2011/12/naturalgasdrilling/connecting-the-dots-the-
marcellus-natural-gas-play-players-part-1/> explains why Corbett may have
been so generous with extending tax credits and subsidies, and it begins
with billionaire Terrance (Terry) Pegula, who sold
<http://www.forbes.com/profile/terrence-pegula/> East Resources to Royal
Dutch Shell in 2010 for $4.7 billion. East Resources, according to
<http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article326485.ece> reporting in the
Buffalo News, had "a less-than-stellar track record in the environmental
dicey business of drilling for natural gas." Terry and Kim Pegula donated
<http://marcellusmoney.org/company/shell> $280,000, and Shell donated
<http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor_details.phtm
l?&c=123883&i=33&s=PA&y=2010&summ> about $358,000, to Corbett's political
campaign for governor. As governor, Corbett appointed Pegula in March 2011
to the newly-formed Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, which was loaded
with pro-fracking energy company executives prior to being disbanded after
fulfilling Corbett's vision to produce a pro-industry report.
The story continues at Penn State, where the Marcellus Center for Outreach
and Research (MCOR) announced that with funding provided by General
Electric and ExxonMobil-which donated a combined $2 million to Penn State,
the University of Texas, and the Colorado School of Mines-it would offer a
<http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/gas_drilling_industry_pa
ying_p.html> "Shale Gas Regulators Training Program." The Center had
previously said it wasn't taking funding from private industry. However, the
Center's objectivity may have already been influenced by two people-Tom
Corbett, who sits on the university's board of trustees, and Terry Pegula.
Hippauf made a few more connections. Pegula, a Penn State graduate, is full
owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Penn State had
Division II ice hockey teams that played in a 1,350 seat stadium. That would
change. In September 2010, Penn State announced that Pegula and his wife,
Kim, donated $88 million, the largest individual gift in Penn State's
history, to fund a world-class 6,000-seat ice hockey arena; the men's and
women's ice hockey teams would now become Division I athletics; the arena
will be completed this Fall. While understanding a person's motives is
difficult, it's possible the Pegulas wanted to do something nice for Penn
State. It's also possible they saw Penn State as a feeder school to the NHL,
especially the Sabres. There is also another possibility.
On the day Pegula gave the money to Penn State, he said
<http://onwardstate.com/2010/09/18/pegula-marcellus-shale-development-good-f
or-students/> , "[T]his contribution could be just the tip of the iceberg,
the first of many such gifts, if the development of the Marcellus Shale is
allowed to proceed."
So, now we have connections between Penn State, a billionaire with
connections to Penn State and Pennsylvania's governor, and the world's
largest gas and oil multi-nation corporation, which has substantial holdings
in Pennsylvania-and is afraid to allow Ukrainians to hear about the negative
effects of shale gas drilling.
[Dr. Brasch's latest book is Fracking Pennsylvania
<http://www.greeleyandstone.com/mediaroombooks/frackingpennsylvania.html> ,
an in-depth look at the effects of fracking upon health, the environment,
and the economy; he also discusses the politics of fracking. The book is
available at www.greeleyandstone.com <http://www.greeleyandstone.com/> ,
amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and your local bookstore.]
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/10/1230262/-Royal-Dutch-Shell-They-ve-
Really-Got-a-Friend-in-Pennsylvania#
<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/10/1230262/-Royal-Dutch-Shell-They-ve
-Really-Got-a-Friend-in-Pennsylvania>
http://themoderatevoice.com/185340/royal-dutch-shell-theyve-really-got-a-fri
end-in-pennsylvania/comment-page-1/
http://thedemocraticdaily.com/2013/08/10/royal-dutch-shell-theyve-friend-pen
nsylvania/
http://www.laprogressive.com/royal-dutch-shell-fracking/
fyi, for those of you who are not on this SC list. paul w
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mary Anne Hitt <maryanne.hitt(a)sierraclub.org>
Date: Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 9:08 PM
Subject: [Coal Volunteers List] TIME highlights Beyond Coal in article on
climate change as a public health issue
To: #Coal <coal-list(a)sierraclub.org>, coal-volunteers-list(a)sierraclub.org
Greetings Beyond Coal team,
Check this out - TIME has a new article about the power of focusing on the
public health impacts of climate change, and they cite the Sierra Club's
Beyond Coal Campaign as the prime example of the environmental movement
doing it right. This is a testament to the great work you've all been
doing, and to your efforts nationally and locally to build meaningful
partnerships with health professionals. Kudos!
Mary Anne
http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public…
Public Health <http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/public-health/>
Rebranding Climate Change as a Public Health Issue
Why medical professionals may be the best messengers for global warning
right now
By Courtney Subramanian<http://healthland.time.com/author/courtneysubramanian/>
@cmsub <http://www.twitter.com/cmsub>Aug. 08, 20135
Comments<http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public…>
-
-
-
-
-
- inShare1
- Read Later<http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public…>
To most people, climate change <http://topics.time.com/climate-change/> means
melting snowcaps and helpless polar bears sweltering under escalating
temperatures. But most of the world’s populations aren’t likely to see an
iceberg in their lifetimes, much less a stranded polar bear in the wild.
Which explains why the dangers of these environmental changes haven’t
exactly earned high priority on most people’s list of attention-worthy
crises. (Does anyone remember Al Gore <http://topics.time.com/al-gore/>’s
$300 million We
Campaign<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1837761,00.html>?)
The politicization of climate change — the never-ending debate over whether
it exists, for example, and the ensuing back-and-forth over its causes, its
implications and potential solutions — further discourages the public from
action.
But what if climate change were instead about an increase in childhood
asthma, or a surge in infectious diseases, or even an influx of
heat-induced heart attacks? Would that hold more resonance for the average
citizen of the world? That’s what some climate change experts are hoping,
as they steer the conversation about global
warming<http://topics.time.com/global-warming/> toward
the public health issues it raises. Last week, the journal *Science*
featured a special <http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/climate2013/>
issue <http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/climate2013/> on climate
change and included a study on the complex yet growing connection between
global warming and infectious diseases.
*MORE:* Infectious Disease Could Become More Common In a Warmer
World—Especially for Plants and
Animals<http://science.time.com/2013/08/02/infectious-disease-could-be-more-common-…>
According to a recent
study<http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10584-012-0513-6.pdf>,
framing global warming as a public health issue rather than as an
environmental or national security one produces the most emotionally
compelling response among people, since it focuses on the immediate
implications a warmer climate could have on people’s lives. This strategy
also has the benefit of providing a sense of hope that the problems can be
addressed and avoided, if people take action early enough. Matthew Nesbit,
co-author of the study, says such positive actions are critical for
communicating the importance of climate change to a broader and more
diverse proportion of Americans who may not care about environmental
issues. “It’s easy to become fatalistic about the problem,” he says. “You
have to give them a sense of hope that they can become part of something
that addresses the problem.”
For example, tying the frequency of extreme weather events, such as last
year’s devastating Hurricane Sandy, widespread wildfires or the recent
summer heat waves to global climate change can help people to appreciate
the immediacy of the problem. As people deal with the public health
consequences of such events — from floods to contaminated water to
heat-related illnesses — the impact that environmental events have on
health starts to hit home.
To exploit this potential, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) launched a Climate and Health Program in 2009, and
associate director George Luber has been advising 16 states as well as New
York City and San Francisco officials, on regional climate change problems
and the public health issues they entail.
(*MORE: *States Show Improvements but Remain Unprepared for Public-Health
Emergencies<http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/27/states-show-improvements-but-remain-u…>
)
The Obama administration also seems to be getting the message. In an energy
speech in June at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the President
laid out his plans for climate change. Speaking in the midst of a
blistering heat wave that was roasting the Northeast, Obama called on
policymakers to readdress global warming and implement new pollution
standards. And he emphasized that such action was necessary not only to
preserve the planet, but also our health. “Don’t tell folks that we have to
choose between the health of our economy or the health of our children,” he
said as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
“By simply having him put those two words in his speech makes an enormous
difference in people recognizing that it’s a public health problem,” says
Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association
(APHA).
By re-branding global warming as a health issue, the administration is
hoping to bypass the political quagmire that has kept climate change
initiatives such as regulating greenhouse gas emissions from existing power
plants or passing renewable energy standards from being implemented.
Earlier this month, the White House chose to honor medical and
environmental professionals in its Champions of
Change<http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/12/protecting-human-health-changing-…>
program,
for their efforts in “protecting public health in a changing climate.”
(*MORE: *Fighting Climate Change by Not Focusing on Climate
Change<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2085220,00.html#ixzz2bEErBpj2>
)
But even Champion of Change recipient Gary Cohen, co-founder and president
of global non-profit Healthcare Without Harm <http://www.noharm.org/>, says
that the re-branding will require the backing of medical professionals, who
serve as the hubs of education for raising community awareness about the
health consequences of climate change. That’s why Healthcare Without Harm,
for example, is trying to transform the healthcare industry into a greener
sector — encouraging hospitals to adopt more environmentally friendly
energy resources and waste management practices — and informing medical
professionals about the close connection between climate change and
medicine. “Healing is their core mission,” Cohen says. “It’s the one sector
of the economy that has an ethical framework that underpins it.”
Sabrina Mccormick, an environmental documentary filmmaker and sociologist
at George Washington University, agrees that doctors have a unique role
that can transcend political differences. “[The public is] kind of attuned
to their expertise and we really care about what they say,” McCormick says.
“They have a potential for an impact that scientists may not have.” Indeed,
a 2012 Gallup poll<http://www.gallup.com/poll/159035/congress-retains-low-honesty-rating.aspx>
found
that the American public ranked nurses with the highest honesty rating
(85%) while doctors placed third with 70%.
That’s why anti-smoking advocates, for instance, focused on educating
medical professionals to quit smoking first before addressing the greater
public. Cohen believes doctors can do the same for climate change as long
as they are prepared and educated to lead by example as environmentally
responsible stewards.
And they have reason to be hopeful. The environmental group Sierra Club was
successful in doing just that with its “Beyond
Coal<http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/>”
campaign, which shut down coal power plants in several states by eliciting
the help of local stakeholders, including physicians, who informed local
residents about the respiratory problems that the plants triggered among
its workers and children in the area.
(*MORE:* ’Coal Kills Every Day’: Michael Bloomberg Pledges $50 Million to
Fight the Coal Industry<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2084476,00.html>
)
It’s also encouraging that more physicians, particularly newly minted ones,
are inclined to join in the climate change conversation. The American
Medical Association has hosted state-based courses on climate change since
2011 <http://www.amednews.com/article/20110404/opinion/304049959/4/>,
educating doctors about how to prepare for and respond to climate-related
illnesses and injuries. In May 2011, the journal* Lancet* hosted a
worldwide symposium on climate change and health concerns, drawing
international experts to discuss the health implications of a changing
climate while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has
since shifted its efforts to focusing on the health concerns emerging from
global warming after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for its 2007
report<http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessmen…>
.
Such efforts to embed awareness into medical training are important, says
Nesbit and other experts, since the re-branding is not about spin as much
as it is about changing the type of dialogue people have about climate
change. “You’re creating the context and the relationship around which
people are discussing, interacting and bumping into information about
climate change,” he says. For instance, he says pediatricians may start to
explain how higher regional pollen counts, which may be contributing to
their patients’ asthma and allergies, could be due in part to changing
climates that boost pollen production of trees.
And the timing may also be right for such conversations as well. With
unemployment now below 7%, coupled with the frequency in extreme weather,
people may be more inclined to accept public health efforts aimed at
reducing their exposure to potentially costly health problems that might be
emerging from changing patterns in the global climate. Among young voters,
a new poll found<http://www.lcv.org/issues/polling/recent-polling-on-youth.pdf>
that
79% were more likely to vote for a candidate who supports taking action on
the issue, regardless of the candidate’s party.
(*MORE:* Dengue Fever Creeps Back Into the U.S. — and Climate Change Isn’t
Helping<http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/10/dengue-fever-creeps-back-into-the-u-s…>
)
The hope is that seeing climate change as a health issue will spur more
people into pushing for environmental reforms, but that’s still a big ‘if.’
“My biggest concern is that like many things in prevention, people might
want to put it off,” says Benjamin. “We don’t have 20 years to wait like
the tobacco campaign. Every year we wait puts us behind the eight ball, and
I think it’s important to move that message.”
Read more:
http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public…
--
Mary Anne Hitt
Director, Beyond Coal Campaign
Sierra Club
Twitter <http://twitter.com/#!/maryannehitt> |
Blog<http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/coal-director/>
304-876-7064 (w) | 540-239-0073 (c)
www.beyondcoal.org
--
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--
Paul Wilson
Sierra Club
504 Jefferson Ave
Charles Town, WV 25414-1130
Phone: 304-725-4360
Cell: 304-279-1361
"There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle
somebody with Fracking experience want to check this out? David is a SC
member in Massachusetts and this was posted to the Club's
COAST-OCEAN-FORUM. best, paul
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Dow <ddow420(a)comcast.net>
Date: Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 8:11 AM
Subject: Fwd: EPA Fracking Cover Up?
To: Alison Robb <nature(a)cape.com>, Paul Wilson <pjgrunt(a)gmail.com>
Cc: Dan Proctor <dproctor(a)post.harvard.edu>, "Woll Jr. Woll" <
ewoll(a)sandw.com>, Becky Bartovics <bartovi(a)earthlink.net>
fyi
Begin forwarded message:
*From: *Patricia Matejcek <patachek3(a)gmail.com>
*Date: *August 6, 2013 3:51:58 AM EDT
*To: *CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
*Subject: **Fwd: EPA Fracking Cover Up?*
*
*
Wanted to make sure you saw this and signed ~
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sarah Alexander, Food & Water Watch <act(a)fwwatch.org>
Date: Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 2:03 PM
Subject: EPA Fracking Cover Up?
Last week, there was breaking news from EPA whistle-blowers that in 2012
the EPA abandoned an investigation of fracking-related water contamination
in Dimock, Pennsylvania after an EPA staff member raised the flag that it
was likely caused by fracking¹.
There's an unfortunate trend here, because they've also abandoned their
fracking-related water contamination investigations in Pavillion, Wyoming²
and Weatherford, Texas³.
This is unbelievable, and totally unacceptable.
Will you join me today in calling on President Obama and his new EPA
administrator Gina McCarthy to immediately reopen these investigations and
deliver safe drinking water to the residents of these communities while the
investigations commence?<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=egZWsTPol7SnKCbtRCiDsQ>
Thanks for taking action,
Sarah Alexander
Deputy Organizing Director
Food & Water Watch
act(at)fwwatch(dot)org
________________
1. Internal EPA report highlights disputes over fracking and well
water<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=EaDKPGChiqXx05jT7yJgbQ>.
LA Times, July 27, 2013.
2. EPA Drops Fracking Probe in
Wyoming<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=gapXuEGo-WOnCYNRITCTSg>.
Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2013.
3. EPA halted 'fracking' case after gas company
protested<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=K1kUzAAtToHJ1rIQ-l_x-Q>.
USA Today, January 16, 2013.
------------------------------
*Sent by Food & Water Watch to patachek3(a)gmail.com *
Donate:
https://secure3.convio.net/fww/site/Donation2?df_id=1040&1040.donation=form1<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=qRRIdagK3zEA0t-AftwcQA>
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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to
ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and
abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action
and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
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--
Paul Wilson
Sierra Club
504 Jefferson Ave
Charles Town, WV 25414-1130
Phone: 304-725-4360
Cell: 304-279-1361
"There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle
-----Original Message-----
From: dep.online(a)wv.gov [mailto:dep.online@wv.gov]
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2013 4:55 PM
To: fyoung(a)mountain.net
Subject: DEP Public Notice - Comment period begins on draft TMDLs in
Monongahela River Watershed
The following was sent to you because you are a
Member of the DEP Public Notice mailing list.
===========================================================
Friday, August 2, 2013 @ 4:53 PM
===========================================================
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
announces a
comment period and public meeting on draft Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
for impaired streams in the Monongahela River watershed.
A Total Maximum Daily Load is a plan of action used to clean up streams not
meeting water quality standards. Each of the streams under TMDL development
has
been identified as violating state water quality standards and the federal
Clean Water Act requires TMDL development for them. The pollutants addressed
in
this project are acidity (pH), total iron, total manganese, total selenium,
dissolved aluminum, chlorides and fecal coliform. After consideration of
public
comments, DEP will submit final draft TMDLs to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency for approval.
A public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., August 20, 2013 to present a
general
discussion of the TMDL development process and to answer questions regarding
the proposed TMDLs. The meeting will be held at Fairmont State University in
the Falcon Center, Conference Room 3, Room 303, 2101 Locust Ave., Fairmont,
WV. Parking is available to guests on the third floor of the parking garage
across from the Falcon Center.
The DEP invites public comment on all aspects of the draft TMDLs. The
comment
period begins August 2, 2013 and extends through September 3, 2013. Written
comments may be submitted by U.S. Mail, electronic mail, and fax. The
preferred
form for comment submissions is e-mail or disk in order to expedite the
review
and response process. Written comments should be postmarked no later than
September 3, 2013. Comments should be sent to:
Steve Young, ATTN: Monongahela River TMDL Comments
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
601 57th Street
Charleston, WV 25304
E-mail: stephen.a.young(a)wv.gov
The TMDLs will be available for review by close of business August 2, 2013
on
DEP's webpage: www.dep.wv.gov/tmdl
CDs may also be obtained by calling Steve Young at (304) 926-0495, TTY 711
(304) 558-2751.
===========================================================
To view past notices of open public comment periods or to unsubscribe from
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West Virginia Seeks "Reset" on Coal With EPA
Greg Stotelmyer , Public News Service-WV
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33778-1
Join the discussion: facebook.com/PublicNewsService
<http://www.facebook.com/PublicNewsService> Twitter: @pns_news
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<http://plus.google.com/106260479325451709866>
(08/02/13) CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The new head of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) was briefed Thursday by a West Virginia delegation about the
impact the agency's new policies could have on the state's coal industry.
The Obama administration is moving to limit carbon emissions from new power
plants. Politicians and industry leaders who attended the 45-minute meeting
said EPA administrator Gina McCarthy was receptive to their concerns.
"And, I really think that we are going to have the opportunity to hit the
reset button and begin a dialogue that hopefully encourages coal to be a
part of the president's energy plan going forward," said Tim Miley, the
Democratic speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
West Virginia is the third-largest energy producing state.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin also attended the meeting. He maintains the EPA's
policies are overzealous and have led to the closing of coalmines and power
plants.
But environmental groups back the direction the EPA is heading.
"We've never been entirely satisfied with the EPA," said John McFerrin,
secretary of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. "But we're more
satisfied now than at some times in the past. And, they certainly do not
need to be reined in."
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia called the meeting a very
respectful, direct and productive discussion about how the EPA's policies
have hurt the coal industry.
"If anything just trying to prohibit the use of the product we're depending
on," he said. "That makes no sense whatsoever. And, I told them that the war
on coal is not an optical illusion, it was real."
Manchin said the delegation invited McCarthy, who is in her first week as
administrator of the EPA, to come to West Virginia to see first hand the
impact of the agency's decisions.
McFerrin disagrees with how Manchin characterizes the situation.
"By any meaningful definition, it isn't a war on coal," he said. "The proper
way to look at it is, the dealings and industry that has gotten to do
whatever it pleased for the last, oh, forever and if not getting to do
everything that you want to do is your definition of war, then I suppose it
is."
Click <http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33778-1>
here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an
audio version of this and other stories:
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33778-1
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