The Green Zephyr

Clinton Down With Mountains Coming Down

2008-03-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

So for anyone not aware of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, Mountain Justice Summer is a great resource.

Essentially it is the removal of anywhere from 200-1000 vertical feet of a mountain ridge in order to expose and remove the coal that runs laterally across the mountain in layers. The left over mountain is then dumped into the valley streams between the mountains, burying one of the most important water sources east of the Mississippi.

MTR is a complex issue, one that people like Ed Wiley and Judy Bonds (who will be speaking at JMU on April 16th as part of Earth Week) have been fighting for a long time now. But what should be simple to anyone aware of climate change, ideas of environmental justice or common 21st century sense is that we need to just stop making new coal plants, stop blowing up mountains for the black rock, and start investing in technologies that will be available long after coal is gone (and won't add to climate change).

"Clinton: “Maybe there’s a way to recover those mountaintops . . .”

Published by jamiehenn, March 19th, 2008 Coal , Coal Campaign , Fossil Fools Day , Politics

With all the attention to Obama’s wavering on coal issues, have we been letting Clinton off the hook? In an interview this morning with West Virginia Public Radio, Clinton wavered on the issue of mountaintop removal, making a false dichotomy between profits and environmental protection. You can listen to the broadcast here or read the quote below:

I am concerned about it for all the reasons people state, but I think its a difficult question because of the conflict between the economic and environmental trade-off that you have here. I’m not an expert. I don’t know enough to have an independent opinion, but I sure would like people who could be objective, understanding both the economic necessities and environmental damage to come up with some approach that would enable us to retrieve the coal but would enable us to do it in a way that wouldn’t damage the living standards and the other important qualities associated with people living both under the mountaintop and people who are along the streams. You know, maybe there is a way to recover those mountaintops once they have been stripped of the coal. You know, I think we’ve got to look at this from a practical perspective."

There is so much wrong with this response. We need to find ways to retrieve the coal? Here’s a better idea: stop burning it in the first place. And I’m sorry, but since when was it “practical” to blow the tops of mountains, destroy communities, threaten people’s lives, and subvert the political process so that corporations could make an extra buck for bribing judges and politicians with?

JMU Eco-Symposium

2008-03-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Check out the second annual Student Ecosymposium March 25th at 7:00 PM in HHS 2301. This event is organized by the Clean Energy Coalition and the Association of Energy Engineers. This year's event will feature students from multiple departments and concentrations, and brings to light the great work on sustainability going on at JMU.

The ecoSymposium showcases the research being done on the JMU campus in topics such as environmental sustainability and renewable energy. This event will give a short glimpse into the research projects of seniors in various majors (Geographic Science, ISAT, Anthropology, Economics) and will be keynoted by the brilliant Dr. Barkley Rosser of JMU's College of Business.

March 25th 2008, 7:00-8:15pm

HHS 2301, JMU Campus

Lineup of Speakers and Topics

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Barkley Rosser
- JMU Professor of Economics, College of Business
- Madison Scholar
- Tying Economics to Sustainability (tentative title)

Aaron Sobel
- Geographic Science Major
- Investigating Marine Algal Blooms as a Renewable Energy Source

Jacob Hileman
- Integrated Science and Technology Major
- Nutrient Uptake of Algae for Fuel and CO₂ Sequestration

Abigail Eisley and Whitney Rice
- Anthropology Majors
- Biodynamics and Green Building Design in Organic Farming

Lindsey Harriman
- Geographic Science Major
- Spatial Distribution of Marlin Bycatch in the Southeast Atlantic Ocean

Toxic Spills from Green Fuels? Not all that Green

2008-03-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

From a Times article Tuesday. Just another, and another, and another reason why Biofuels are not the end all be all of answers to climate change or $4 a gallon gasoline.

The article is talking about recent spills and intentional dumping of pollutants from bio-diesel plants in the mid west, and resulting fish kills. This article is just another reason why we all need to be wary of quick solutions to environmental ills, and why the ultimate fix needs to be personal conservation and life style change.

"According to the National Biodiesel Board, a trade group, biodiesel is nontoxic, biodegradable and suitable for sensitive environments, but scientists say that position understates its potential environmental impact.

“They’re really considered nontoxic, as you would expect,” said Bruce P. Hollebone, a researcher with Environment Canada in Ottawa and one of the world’s leading experts on the environmental impact of vegetable oil and glycerin spills.

“You can eat the stuff, after all,” Mr. Hollebone said. “But as with most organic materials, oil and glycerin deplete the oxygen content of water very quickly, and that will suffocate fish and other organisms. And for birds, a vegetable oil spill is just as deadly as a crude oil spill.”

Other states have also felt the impact.

Leanne Tippett Mosby, a deputy division director of environmental quality for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said she was warned a year ago by colleagues in other states that biodiesel producers were dumping glycerin, the main byproduct of biodiesel production, contaminated with methanol, another waste product that is classified as hazardous."

Welcome to the Green Zephyr: A JMU Breeze

2008-03-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Green Zephyr. This is a project of the JMU student newspaper, the Breeze. At this zephyr we will focus on global and local environmental issues.

I am provisionally the sole author of this blog, and you can call me Miles. I hope to attract other contributors to this project, partly because I'm an overworked student (and activist), partly because I think many people have better things to say and write than I do.

My objective with this site is to bring to JMU students some increased awareness of the rapid environmental changes that people around the world are dealing with because of global climate change, to make some connections between our own life choices and the lives that people around the world and here in our own bio-region must lead because of them, and to highlight some of the magnificence of the natural world, the world that we threaten by living the way we have in the last few decades.

It must be said that I bring my own perspective and view points to this page. That perspective strives to be Bio-Centric, holistic, tolerant, critical and radical (in the sense of seeking out the Radi or root of an issue). This perspective may not jibe with others, and I ask for critique, both in the comment section and in personal emails. It must also be said that I am an active activist, striving for change in the world that will lead to increased environmental justice, social justice and a world balanced between the needs of humans and the needs of all other life forms that share and support this planet, justice for Gaia. My writings will never be separate from these perspectives, and I expect readers to be aware of this.

So, thats that. Lets get to blogging. happy reading.

with hope for a green tomorrow,
miles