Good News/Bad News On The Environmental Front

First, from the NYT, comes the bad news.

A new ranking of the world’s nations by environmental performance puts some of the globe’s largest economies far down the list, with the United States sinking to 61st and China to 121st.

In the previous version of the Environmental Performance Index, compiled every two years by Yale and Columbia University researchers, the United States ranked 39th, and China 105th.

The top performer was Iceland, which gets nearly all of its power from renewable sources, followed closely by Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

“Countries that take seriously the environment as a policy challenge do improve, and those that don’t deteriorate,” said Daniel C. Esty, director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, who oversees the index project.

The paper does note that because most of the data is from 2007 and 2008, "the index does not fully reflect new efforts by the Obama administration" to improve environmental performance. It also notes that the U.S. scores well in forestry and safe drinking water, but our ranking is abysmal because we score low in areas like heat-trapping emissions and urban air pollutants.

Increasing renewable energy would help decrease our emissions. The good news is that we're advancing quickly in one area - wind power.

Despite a crippling recession and tight credit markets, the American wind power industry grew at a rapid pace in 2009, adding 39 percent more capacity. The country is close to the point where 2 percent of its electricity will come from wind turbines.

According to the NYT, that's up from virtually nothing a few years ago, and they reported that the American Wind Association said "the amount of capacity added last year, 9,900 megawatts, was the largest on record, and was 18 percent above the capacity added in 2008, also a banner year."

The nation’s wind turbines generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 9.7 million homes, according to the report. Last year, Texas consolidated its lead as the nation’s top wind producer, with a total capacity of 9,410 megawatts, about three times more than the second-largest producer, Iowa. They were followed by California, Washington and Minnesota.

And guess what the AWEA credits for the growth of wind power? “The U.S. wind industry shattered all installation records in 2009, and this was directly attributable to the lifeline that was provided by the stimulus package,” said Denise Bode, the trade association’s chief executive.

However, as extraordinary as growth has been in this area, they also point out that it would be better if Congress would pass a a federal mandate requiring that a certain percentage of power come from renewable sources. Mandates already exist throughout the European Union and in China, and in the U.S. 29 states have adopted a renewable power standard, including Michigan, which set a standard of 10% of electricity from renewable resources by 2015.

“The wind manufacturing sector has the potential to employ many more Americans in green jobs, but without a renewable electricity standard to provide a long-term market, the sector will be slow to grow,” the trade group said in its report.

I'm so tired of the U.S. falling behind in everything but the strength of our military. The U.S. should be leading the way in this area instead of falling further behind. And although we're fortunate to have Gov. Granholm and other Democrats with foresight and vision pushing for higher standards, we're still stuck with obstructionist Republicans who would rather help their fossil fuel cronies than our environment. Just imagine how much better our country could be if Republicans didn't always stand in the way.

(Cross-posted at Blogging for MI.)

Dreaming of a large screen TV?

This is something to consider if you're in the market for a new television, especially one of those behemoth plasma models.

European Union countries are close to agreeing upon minimum energy performance standards for televisions, according to reports this week in the British press. It’s likely the largest plasma models will be outlawed under the new requirements because of the extraordinary amount of electricity these units consume.

On the whole, plasma televisions use about 50 percent more power than those with liquid crystal displays.

Yikes. That's a lot of energy being consumed, especially if your household is anything like mine and the television stays on whether it's being watched or not. Exactly how much energy is being wasted?

...in the US, 275 million televisions gobble up as much electricity as is produced by 10 coal-fired power stations.

According to the NYT, the creation of national efficiency standards for televisions is in stand-by mode in this country, although California regulators are proposing state standards that would require all new TVs use 50 percent less energy by 2013.

In the meantime, if you're worried about the environment and your electric bill, there are a couple of things you can look for when buying a television. The familiar Energy Guide labels provide specific information on how much electricity an appliance is likely to use annually and how much the operating costs are likely to be; however, the standards used for television efficiency date back more than 30 years.

A better choice according to the EPA is to look for the Energy Star label.

Televisions that meet the new Energy Star specification will be up to 30 percent more energy efficient than conventional models. If all televisions sold in the United States met the new Energy Star requirements, the savings in energy costs would grow to be about $1 billion annually and greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by the equivalent of about 1 million cars.

More information about Energy Star televisions (and other products) can be found here. Energy efficiency does make a difference. The EPA said "in 2007 alone, Americans, with the help of Energy Star, saved $16 billion on their energy bills while reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 27 million vehicles."

(Cross-posted at Blogging for Michigan.)

Wind Power Capabilities by 2030

Here’s a tidbit of information about wind energy from today’s WaPo.

The Energy Department said yesterday that the United States has the ability to meet 20 percent of its electricity-generation needs with wind by 2030, enough to displace 50 percent of natural gas consumption and 18 percent of coal consumption.[…]

The report noted that a big expansion of wind-power generation would also cut the amount of water used by the electricity industry by 17 percent by 2030.

It wouldn’t be cheap to meet those goals. The report said it would cost nearly $197 billion, but that most of that would be offset by nearly $155 billion in lower fuel expenditures, among other offsetting positive effects like reduced carbon emissions.

To put an investment like that into perspective, it works out to about $9 billion a year over 22 years. Heck, we spend more than that in Iraq every month.

(Cross-posted at Blogging for Michigan.)

Bush on global warming

According to the WaPo, Bush spoke at a Washington conference of major economic powers today about global warming.

Bush Seeks New Image on Global Warming

President Bush assured the rest of the world today that he takes climate change seriously and vowed that the United States "will do its part" in crafting "a new international approach" to reduce the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet.[...]

[...] Bush said "the moment is now" to find a broad consensus on how to confront the challenge of climate change. "I want to get the job done," he told hundreds of envoys, lobbyists and activists. "We have identified a problem; let's go solve it together."

Bush didn't propose any new initiatives and the speech disappointed critics who had hoped he would offer more tangible solutions. The most acerbic criticism came from a Democrat:

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of a House global warming committee, said Bush's only commitment to the environment is to "recycling rhetoric." Markey, who attended the speech, added: "For these countries meeting with the president, this must have felt like attending a prayer session led by an atheist."

Ouch! Markey was a little harsh. Was it justified? Here's video from the conference, you be the judge.

George W. Bush imitation

MORE FUNNY, EXTREME AND STUPID VIDEOS AT STUPIDVIDEOS.US

Have a nice weekend!

Retire to Michigan

It was fun visiting Vegas and seeing the glitz and glamor of all the fancy casinos, but I hated the weather. It was 98 degrees the whole time we were there, which still felt hot in spite of the low humidity. Even riding in our rental car with the air conditioner turned up full blast was uncomfortable, especially if the sky was clear and the sun was beating down, which happens nearly everyday. Cloudy skies are anomalies in the Vegas area. The TV weatherperson said Vegas only averages 22 days of appreciable rainfall a year.

Hazy skies are not an anomaly though. It was extremely hazy while we were there, and a friend of mine who lives in N. Vegas told me the haze comes from the wildfires in California. She said as long as they have wildfires, Vegas has haze. She also told me not to drink the tap water which is apparently contaminated with cryptosporidium, a microscopic organism that can cause severe diarrhea in healthy people, and can be fatal to people with compromised immune systems. She claims the locals only drink bottled water. That alarmed me, but her advice was too late. I had already been drinking the tap water in Vegas for two days after paying $3 for bottled water my first day there. I guess the $7 dollar mango daiquiris killed the critters in the tap water because I never got sick!

I also learned a few other things about Vegas and Nevada while listening to their local news. Nevada has topped the list in the number of home foreclosures for four consecutive months - up 224 percent from a year earlier. Renting is problematic too. One cabbie told us his rent was $450 dollars four years ago and is now $850 dollars, nearly double.

There are a large number of homeless people in Vegas too. The week we were there the F.O.E. provided haircuts, baths and dental care for nearly 4,000 (mostly Iraq war) veterans living on the streets. Las Vegas has a total of more than 14,500 homeless people. In fact, I was surprised to learn Nevada ranks second nationally and is more than double the national average in the number of homeless.

The mayor of Vegas once suggested sending homeless people to a vacant prison 30 miles out of town, and city council members recently passed an ordinance making it illegal to give food to homeless people in city parks, but, thankfully, more compassionate and level-headed lawmakers took action. They recently came up with a plan to help each homeless person who uses on average about $40,000 per year in local resources such as jail, court time and medical expenses:

Several Nevada mayors gathered here Monday to support a proposal that would funnel $20 million over two years to local governments to help eradicate homelessness.

The mayors said it makes economic sense to fund transitional housing and other services such as drug abuse counseling to get homeless people of streets.

The state government is considering ways to help the prison population (and their budget) too:

Confined by Nevada's gloomy budget projections, the Legislature is poised to revise the state prison and legal systems to undo elements of the tough-on-crime legislation of 10 years ago.

The purpose is largely to avoid embarking on an expensive prison-building campaign by slowing the growth of the prison population. That would be accomplished through lighter sentences and faster paroles.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Select Committee on Corrections, Parole and Probation, said one pending bill could make 1,000 inmates eligible for parole immediately, and make 3,800 more inmates eligible in the next five years.

I didn't hear anything about education on television, but I did hear complaints from several locals about their schools, which they partially attribute to the fact that Nevada ranks near the bottom in the number of dollars spent on education. They also rank near the bottom in preparing students for success in school and future careers.

Finally, I couldn't mention Nevada without mentioning taxes. As you may know, Nevada has no income tax, but their sales tax is among the highest in the nation. In Las Vegas (Clark County), the sales tax is 7.75% and the gasoline tax is 23 cents (with some counties charging up to an additional 10 cents per gallon). A little searching turned up these additional sources of revenue:

[...] Bank branch tax; car rental tax; cigarette tax; entertainment tax; gaming tax; incorporation taxes; insurance premium tax; jet fuel tax; licensing taxes; liquor tax; livestock tax; lodging taxes; mining taxes; per-employee business tax; public utility taxes; sales tax; tire tax; unemployment insurance tax; and the oh-so-unpopular vehicle registration tax.

Did I like Nevada enough to retire there? No way! I like having green trees and plants to look at out my window instead of rocks and dirt, and I even like our four seasons, including winter. Nope, I wouldn't move to Nevada, not even to avoid paying income tax. Besides, according to Prudential Nevada Realty's website, what I save in tax dollars I'd spend elsewhere:

To maintain the same standard of living, a salary of $50,000 in Grand Blanc [Michigan] should increase to $67,368 in North Las Vegas. In other words, it's 35% more expensive to live in North Las Vegas than in Grand Blanc.

Oh, and did I mention that Michigan's water is safe to drink?

Two Views From Canada

Canada's equivalent of Donald Rumseld and Dick Cheney all rolled into one has the solution for our energy woes:

[Former deputy prime minister] Hellyer wants to use alien technology to eliminate burning fossil fuels. He pointed out to the Ottawa Citizen ... that alien spacecraft have to travel vast distances to reach Earth. So they must have extremely advanced propulsion systems that don't rely on sweaty little green guys shoveling coal into a flying saucer furnace. [...]

Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen, "We need to persuade governments to come clean on what they know. Some of us suspect they know quite a lot, and it might be enough to save our planet if applied quickly enough."

How about that? The solution has been right under our noses in Roswell, N.M. all this time! Would someone please tell Washington?

Moving along to a more sane (and chilling) point of view from Canada, The Old Bill recently wrote about evil and what it might look like. He concludes that it's likely to resemble Erik Prince (founder of Blackwater Security, a private mercenary army for hire that has the largest private military base in the world) or his father, Edgar, founder of the Family Research Council.

Old Bill is concerned about other member's of Prince's family too:

Erik's mom Elsa is a board member of Focus on the Family. His sister, Betsy, one time head of the Michigan Republicans, married Dick Devos, son of Amway - their foundation is a strong backer of Focus on the Family. His Freiheit Foundation funds numerous theocon/religious right groups.

What's Old Bill's conclusion?

Let's see, a major war-profiteer, mercenary army CEO. . . does that seem a bit at odds to the gospel? to the person/spirit/ethos of Jesus?

[...] having watched the rise of the religious/theocratic right in the US for almost 3 decades, I'd never considered the possibility of them creating their own army, I'd underestimated the wiliness of the devil. Yet here's a group that has created its own army, with the blessing of the Bush administration, and is amassing huge profits. Appears Corrie ten Boom was right. Sounds over the top, I know, but I think as Canadians we need to start asking what we will do if/when the US drifts/lurches into a fascist state, a theocracy. . . And as Christians, we need to start asking the questions Bonhoeffer asked, at what point must we give up our silence, our comfortable acquiescence? [emphasis added]

If you think Old Bill is overreacting, then consider this statement from Aaron, a priest-in-training at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida (built by Tom Monaghan, Domino Pizza billionaire):

Aaron argued that the United States can only be saved from moral perdition if it, like Ave Maria, embraces the magisterium as supreme. "We don't believe in the separation of church and state," he said, "and this country should orient itself toward Christ. The foundation of Western civilization rests on Christendom, which means that America owes its existence to the Catholic Church." [emphasis added]

Our country should orient itself toward Christ? A good starting point would be to end the war in Iraq, the one based on a lie.

Kennecott Mine Update

Here's an update to yesterday's post about the Kennecott Mining Company's efforts to open a sulfide mine near Marquette. From Media Mouse, the EPA Intervenes in Sulfide Mining Permit Process:

On Monday, the National Wildlife Federation, issued a press release stating that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has notified Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company that at least one federal permit will be needed before the company can open its proposed sulfide mine near Marquette, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. Citing concerns over the safety of drinking water in the region, the EPA sent a letter to Kennecott asking the company to submit previously requested information about a treated water filtration system proposed by Kennecott. That system--a series of pipes buried underground that allows treated water to trickle back into the ground--would impact the entire aquifer. The EPA has determined that a permit is required to ensure that the system would not "endanger an underground source of drinking water" while also stating that once the information is received from Kennecott, it will "make a determination about other potential requirements." [emphasis added]

This is welcome news because it will stall approval of the mine and give the public more time to comment. Michigan's DEQ earlier said they expected to make their decision by May of this year, but an EPA spokesperson said it would take about six months for their agency to process an application for the permit and a 45-day period would be set aside for public comment and a hearing might be conducted.

State level hearings are scheduled for March 6-8 at Northern Michigan University and March 12 at the Lansing Center in Lansing.

As I said yesterday, I'm not convinced this mine is a good fit for the state. Acid mines are never safe.

Acid mine drainage is an unavoidable and destructive by-product of the sulfide mining process has been deemed one of the most serious threats to water quality by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Here's how the EPA describes possible damage:

A region impacted by acid mine drainage often has a decline in valued recreational fish species such as trout as well as a general decline in outdoor recreation and tourism along with contamination of groundwater drinking supplies.

Marquette County enjoys nearly 1.5 million tourists a year, bringing more than $77 million dollars to the local economy, and creating 1,600 jobs. The proposed mine will only create between 100-250 temporary jobs that are expected to last 5-7 years, and many of those jobs are expected to be filled from people outside the state.

The real benefactor is Kennecott Mining Company who stands to make up to $2.8 billion, and 90% of that will leave Michigan. The company will take their profits back to London. Meanwhile, if our water should become permanently impacted by the toxic sulfuric acid, what happens to those 1,600 jobs that depended on tourists to come and fish, boat and enjoy the outdoor recreation?

Kennecott Mining Wrong for Michigan

Joyce Kilmer said, "But only God can make a tree." I'll expand on that a bit and say only God can create the real beauty that surrounds us in nature. I've seen beautiful man made sights in my time, but the places and things that have always filled me with a sense of reverence were made by the hand of God. Nothing can hold a candle to His creation and that's why it's so important for us to be good stewards and make wise decisions about the way we use the earth.

If you care about the earth too - and particularly Michigan - please read on about public hearings being held by the DEQ regarding a proposed decision to approve a mining permit to the Kennecott Eagle Mining Company to conduct nickel mining operations at the proposed Eagle Project Mine. Here's some background and details from other sites:

From Michigan Liberal:

The battle is over sulfide mining - an inherently destructive technique of extracting (in this case) a deposit of nickel and copper from the ground. Unfortunately, this deposit, sought by Kennecott Corporation, underlies the headwaters of the Salmon Trout River, believed to be among the last spawning streams on the south shore of Lake Superior for the native coaster brook trout. Sulfide mining is a process that releases toxic sulfuric acid into nearby water. It's like putting a chemical factory in one of the wildest places in Michigan - and then counting on good-faith promises not to leave an expensive mess behind for taxpayers to pay for. But acid mine drainage has already polluted more than 12,000 miles of rivers and streams and over 180,000 acres of lakes and impoundments in the U.S. [...]

When sulfide mining was proposed in the north country of Wisconsin a few years back, the same concerns about the long-term environmental risks of sulfide mining were heard. There, legislators enacted a law with a simple, easily defensible standard - sulfide mining would be allowed provided that its proponents could demonstrate the safety of the method. There's been no new sulfide mining in Wisconsin. But Michigan has taken a different approach, enacting a law that assumes that sulfide mining can be made safe - when it is inherently unsafe with current technology.

From Save the Wild U.P., here's more about Wisconsin's actions:

Wisconsin did not "ban" metallic sulfide mining. The state of the technology and the record of MSM have done that. Wisconsin's law is a moratorium that says, in effect, "Industry can mine metallic sulfide ores in Wisconsin when it can show one mine in the United States or Canada that has operated and been closed for ten years without significant damage to its watershed." That cannot be done so far, and that challenge has been sufficient to make Wisconsin the least friendly place in the world to attempt to mine metallic sulfide ores!

There have been other incidents too. From Media Mouse [emphasis added]:

Kennecott has had problems with other mines it runs and acid mine drainage, most notably with its Green’s Creek Mine in Juneau, Alaska and the Flambeau Mine in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. According to research conducted by the Eagle Alliance, Kennecott tops the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of corporations with the highest toxic release in the United States.

What does Michigan stand to gain from granting the permit? Jobs. There's no doubt the U.P. needs the employment, but it's projected the project will only create between 100-250 temporary jobs that are expected to last 5-7 years, and many of those jobs are expected to be filled from people outside the state.

Moreover, while the mine may bring up to $100 million in investment, the ore body may be worth up to $2.8 billion and 90% of the profits will leave Michigan The payoff goes to a foreign corporation at the possible expense of our environment. I'm just not convinced this is a good fit for Michigan.

This could just be the beginning according to Dick Huey of Save the Wild U.P.:

This first proposed mine is just the foot in the door -- if it is permitted there will be a new mining district up here that may well go from end to end in the U.P., and could even extend into the Lower Peninsula all the way down to Ann Arbor.

The prospect of a huge mining district sounds exciting, but it doesn't guarantee wealth and good paying jobs. Just ask someone like Judy Bonds of Coal River Mountain Watch, West Virginia. [Via Alternet]

"The more coal we mine, the poorer we get. We don't have good roads, good infrastructure, water and sewage -- we have nothing," said Bonds. "They treat us like a third-world country, and the rest of America turns their faces away. There is no prosperity here."

We can't afford a short-term fix that risks ruining Michigan's most valuable resource - it's fresh water. The Great Lakes were formed at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago - acid mine drainage from sulfide mines can be “forever.”

Click here to learn about 5 Simple Things You Can Do Now to Protect Michigan's Water