Think Progress put out a report yesterday listing the 25 Dirtiest Power Plants in the United States, based on the amount of mercury emissions. The plant in Labadie, MO, released 1,297 lbs in 2009, third highest in the country according to the post. The report goes on to note the following:
So do these plants at least provide an equally high amount of energy? No. According to EDF, while these plants represent one third of mercury emissions, they only provide about 8% of electricity generation.
By the way, Labadie is also where Ameren is trying to build a coal ash landfill full of toxic chemicals in the floodplain of the Missouri River. You can learn how to get involved by going here.
I hate modern day hog farms because they're inhumane, have horrible working conditions, and are environmental disasters. But, of course, they also suck pretty bad just because of the smell:
The EPA has filed a 26-page lawsuit against Ameren UE, claiming that Ameren performed modifications without the necessary permits and failed to install the pollution controls required by law. From the Post-Dispatch:
According to the EPA, Ameren made modifications at the plant from September 2001 to February 2002 without necessary permits and failed to install best available pollution control technology.
Those changes, the agency says, 'significantly increased" emissions of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, two pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act.
While Jefferson County meets national air-quality standards for sulfur dioxide, the county is currently designated as a "nonattainment" area for particulate matter, meaning it doesn't meet standards.
The lawsuit says Ameren didn't disclose the changes at Rush Island to the EPA or the state.
"On the contrary, Ameren filed annual statements with Missouri and the U.S. EPA that certified compliance with the Clean Air Act," the lawsuit says.
The EPA didn't discover the changes until an investigation in 2008.
Ed Martin, of course, decided not to bother waiting for any more information to come out. He's already decided that this is an example of "Big Government run amok:" Yeah, who needs stupid things like laws and courts? We can just have Ed Martin tell whether things are legal based on his 0.02 seconds of reflection.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Three current Green Corps organizers - Kady McFadden, Todd Zimmer, and Jennifer Marienau - are among a group of students from Washington University in St. Louis selected to receive a 2010 national award from the Sierra Club.
Prior to joining Green Corps this August, the three were leaders of the Washington University Climate Justice Alliance. They have been selected to receive the club’s Joseph Barbosa Award, which honors club members under the age of 30 who have a demonstrated record of service to the environment.
The group is being recognized for their efforts to make their fellow students – and the general public – aware of the hidden costs of “clean coal.” In April 2010, the students organized a nationally recognized “Great Coal Debate” that featured Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, and Fred Palmer, vice president of public relations for Peabody Energy. The debate was moderated by Bryan Walsh, environmental correspondent for TIME magazine.
Six members of the group shared their organizing efforts at a June 2010 conference sponsored by the Sierra Student Coalition.
“I have worked with hundreds of students in the U.S. youth climate movement, and these students are some of the strongest, most strategic young people that this movement has ever seen,” said Lindsey Berger, Midwest regional organizer for the Sierra Student Coalition. “They have shown more dedication, more leadership and more results in the short period I have known them than some grassroots organizers do in years of work.”
The award will be presented Sept. 25 during the Sierra Club’s Annual Dinner in San Francisco. It comes with a $500 prize that the students will use to help fund a four-day symposium they are organizing titled “Global Energy Future” that will be held at Washington University in October.
The Great Coal Debate, put on last year, was probably the best organized student activist event I've ever seen. I don't know how they possibly could have done a better job making a powerful case against the continued use of coal to a huge audience. Todd and Jennifer were friends of mine, and it's bittersweet to hear about them kicking butt in other parts of the country rather than in St. Louis, but the good news is that there's still an amazing group of environmental activists at Washington University who have great things planned for this year.
On October 1st to 4th community members and students will be hosting the Climate Solutions Convergence at Washington University, a space designed to discuss how to address the environmental dangers we currently face. It will be a time for coming up with real solutions ourselves instead of depending on the ones so often handed out to us by corporations and politicians.
The urgent need to come together and face these problems head on is clear when reflecting upon some of this year’s past events...
In the world of coal...
... 23 Massey-employed miners were killed in one of the worst mining accidents in the history of the United States. They were working for a company whose CEO boasts of his unflappable commitment to worker safety despite his company habitually not adhering to workplace safety violations meant to prevent such accidents. You can watch a great video of him clothed in the American flag standing in front of another much larger American flag explaining that climate change is a load of hooey concocted by a bunch of Environmental Extremists. Mountain top removal and the destruction of Appalachia continues apace with Arch Coal securing another permit to add onto their existing 15 permits to eradicate mountains and subsequently plant some nice little trees or maybe establish a golf course on the ruins as a show of its environmental concerns. But you know... Coal Keeps The Lights On™.
In the world of oil...
...we witnessed the greatest environmental disaster in US history unfold before our eyes. The tar balls and the birds and the dolphins and the fish destroyed by the spreading slick as it made its way through the gulf were all on display for nearly a solid month. We got to hear the stories of whole communities who had their livelihoods stolen from them and we got to reel at the notion that so many of the very same affected people had to then rely on BP and offshore oil drilling jobs to support themselves even as these very things were devastating the communities they lived in. We realized there was basically nothing we could do about this and we felt the paralysis that that entails. And this is just a taste of the costs we’re incurring by our utter dependence on oil to live in this society. Unless you’re in the middle of the woods and stark naked there is almost never a moment when you could look around and see something that wasn’t there thanks to oil.
In the world of solutions...
...the onslaught of products designed to Green your modern life continues unabated. You got your Green Laundry Detergent. Green Chic. Green Bottled Water. Green SUVs. Green TV Channels. Green Banking. Green Thinking. Green Living™. So Go Green you slob and do your part in purchasing the country sustainability. Hope you can afford the available “solutions” (you have a job right?).
Some people have even been so gregarious as to let us in on the good news of Green Coal! Coal is Green of course because all that nasty CO2 that’s emitted can be taken care of by the planetary equivalent of sweeping untidy messes under the rug: carbon sequestration. Well at least that’ll be the case whenever the technology to do that safely and without actually just generating more CO2 in the process becomes available. Until then we’ll just have to let the globe get a little messier while we find enough of the appropriate rugs scattered across the planet to shove all of our filthy CO2 under. But in the meantime coal is Clean… I mean Green.
In the world of authority...
...the year has given us plenty of insightful peeks into the realm of environmental oversite. It’s been a reminder that perhaps allowing the very industries that create environmental disasters shouldn’t be the ones that decide whether they’re doing a good enough job at adhering to regulations. The year has also given us one of the greatest examples of global failure, thanks in no small part to United States politicians and industry, to do anything constructive towards climate change, the Copenhagen Accord. (Okay so this technically happened in late December last year.) One of the things the year simply wasn’t able to provide us with was any sort of climate legislation whatsoever. But congress members may have just been too busy with compromising legislation to death, meeting with some of the best-paid lobbyists the wealthiest industries on earth can provide, and discussing how much we should fear the brown people that lurk in our midst.
In your region, now...
... Washington University will be hosting the Symposium on the Global Energy Future, an event that in many ways represents all of the above problems and more. To say that the Symposium will be coal-heavy is obvious from looking through the schedule. That’s to be expected, Saint Louis is home to Peabody and Arch Coal, the nation’s 1st and 3rd largest coal companies respectively. They, along with Ameren, have provided 15 million dollars in funding so that Washington University can be at the forefront of “Clean Coal” technologies. So Washington University allows itself to be used by coal companies to perpetuate the myth of clean coal. When Peabody and Arch are both represented on the board of trustees of Washington University and Fred Palmer, the Senior VP of Government Relations for Peabody, earnestly invokes “Climate Gate” in a public debate about coal you have reason to be dubious about the university’s supposedly strong concern about environmental issues.
Clean Coal is certainly an egregious example and it makes for a very easy, and very valid, target. But further at the heart of this Symposium is the notion that technology and research coupled with industrial backing and national leadership is the way out of the mess we’re in. So long as we can do the research needed and shove it into the hands of some multi-national corporation or spry young entrepreneur then the worst effects of climate change can be mitigated. If we could just get our hands on some revolutionary technology then we’re home free. That and some political will strong enough to make significant changes. I wouldn’t hold your breath.
The world of the present and the future...
It’s time to realize that we cannot wait for the future to be decided for us. There is no politician or corporation or technological breakthrough waiting in the wings to lead us into a truly sustainable future. We have to start thinking how we can do this for ourselves.
The Climate Solutions Convergence will be a space to learn about the real consequences of pursuing a future where coal , political expediency, and corporate greed remain the orders of the day. It will be a space to talk about how students and community members can work together towards a truly sustainable and just future. And it will be a space to learn about what people are already doing in the community to bring about such change.
We invite you all to come the Convergence. Whether you would like to just stop by and see what’s going on, participate, or volunteer to help out all are welcome. If you've got ideas or experiences to share, this is the place to share them. This is the place to come together and see that people truly are powerful and that we do not have to wait for anyone or anything to create something wonderful.
See you all at Washington University from October 1st to 4th!
http://www.stopignoring.org/
(a schedule of all events will be posted at that website tomorrow morning!! so check back then!)
Hi all. I'd like to introduce myself as Kevin Wolfe, I'm a student here in St. Louis, and a friend of Adam's and often collaborate with him on various issues related to politics and the media.
Adam and I have started a weekly radio series that focuses on student activism across the St. Louis Area, as well as developments in local, state and national politics. The show will be streaming live at University of Missouri, St. Louis radio on Sunday's from 6pm to 7pm. However we've also created a podcast version of the show via blog talk radio.
In this week's show Adam and I interview Adam Hasz from Wash U's Green Action organization about so called clean coal initiatives at Wash U. As well as environmental activism across the state of Missouri.
Republicans and tea party members, aided by "liberal journalists" like Jake Wagman (who apparently go out of their way to pander to groups and politicians who want them put out of business after even the most idiotic attacks from the Right), are trying to make a big deal out of the fact that $107 million dollars of stimulus money went to a Missouri wind farm owned by Tom Carnahan, brother of Russ and Robin.
I don't see any reason for Democrats to beat around the bush on this issue: the fact is, the wind farm is doing exactly what the stimulus is supposed to do! The United States needs to wean itself of being dependent upon Middle East oil. The U.S. needs to start getting energy from somewhere that doesn't destroy our environment. We need to invest in a green economy so that we can compete with the rest of the world moving in that direction. There's no reason our country couldn't become the leader in a new green economy if we invested in green energy as much as we do in fossil fuels. And, in a time where thousands of Americans are out of work due to the Bush administration's disastrous handling of the economy, we need to fund shovel ready projects that provide people with jobs. The wind farm moves us forward on all of those issues.
Now, if there was some evidence that the money was being handled improperly, or spent on lavish trips or frivolous items, then yes I would have a big problem with it going to the brother of a U.S. Congressman. However, the reality is that this is exactly the kind of project the U.S. government needs to be investing in. In fact, the real problem today is that we didn't spend nearly enough on green energy. Don't tuck your tail between your legs and run every time Republicans scream "boo!" Stand up for the progressive vision for how to keep America on top: a shift towards the green economy of the future.
Update: Jake Wagman does a nice job writing about the Carnahans' responses. It'd be nice if they could speak approvingly about the use of wind energy as opposed to dirty coal and dirty oil, but I suppose anything along those lines would be interpreted as them claiming they were involved in the process, which they weren't. However, other Democrats should very publicly stick up for this project, since it is exactly what we need to move toward a progressive vision of the future.
Ed Martin has been working overtime lately trying to create a smokescreen to distract from the fact that he filed his financial disclosure forms 300 days later than required by federal law, presented a plethora of easily debunked excuses, and somehow still managed to file his forms incorrectly. This latest ethics flap is devastating for Martin because it highlights the core hypocrisy of his campaign: Martin is trying to run as the "idealistic political outsider" when in fact he has a long history of ethical lapses dating back to his time as the arrogant Chief of Staff who despised government transparency and open discourse. His latest bending of the law is just another example of how he appears to think that he should be held to different standards than "the little people."
A recent press release by the Russ Carnahan campaign provides some strong clues as to the real reasons Martin is working so hard to distract from his own financial disclosure forms. It turns out that Martin, a strong defender of the oil industry throughout the recent Gulf disaster, has many connections to Big Oil companies. From the press release:
With a track record of defending BP and calling for fewer regulations of Big Oil, Ed Martin didn’t want people to know about the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Big Oil stocks his family owns...
Last year, Exxon and Chevron – Big Oil corporations in which Martin’s wife reports owning between $101,000 and $265,000 in stocks – handed over a whopping $8 billion and $5.5 billion in dividend payments to shareholders. Exxon is the Martin family’s single largest stock holding.
The press release goes on to highlight Ed Martin shamelessly defending the oil industry that is destroying the Gulf environment even as I type this:
Even with millions of gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, Ed Martin has unapologetically defended Big Oil, saying that “drilling for oil isn’t what caused this accident.” (KMOX, May 28, 2010)
What’s more, despite mounting evidence that BP caused the devastating spill by deliberately ignoring industry standards and cutting corners in order to maximize their profits, Martin thinks the solution is LESS oversight of Big Oil, saying that corporations like BP should be allowed to drill “anywhere, anytime, anyhow.” (KMOX, May 28, 2010)
In fact, in Martin’s view, the BP spill wasn’t caused by BP breaking the rules in order to make as much money as possible --- no, in Ed Martin’s world, this spill it was caused by “overregulation over the decades as government encroached where it does not belong.”
With serious connections to an industry that is one of the worst, if not the worst, examples of corporate abuse of power, it's no wonder Ed Martin is doing everything he can to distract from his financial disclosure forms.
St. Louis City is set to consider Board Bill 73, which would provide up to $50 million dollars in tax breaks for Peabody Coal, one of the leading fossil fuel dinosaurs and climate change deniers in the country. At a time when the city is struggling for cash and talking about cutbacks and layoffs, could this possibly be a good idea? Here's a letter that Climate Action St. Louis sent to Mayor Slay:
Ms. Green,
I appreciate your staff member meeting with us earlier today regarding our concerns over Board Bill 73. As we said, we have some real concerns about the adverse consequences that this bill will inevitably bring about, and feel that the bill is being expedited without due process, as evidenced by the facts that the sponsor of the bill, Alderperson Young, had not read the cost/benefit analysis of the bill when we met with her today, and that the St. Louis Public Schools (SLPC), has not analyzed the financial impacts which this bill will have on their work. We also feel that adverse impacts on the environment which are facilitated by the extraction, production, and combustion of coal are fundamentally inconsistent with the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement which Mayor Slay has signed, as well as the keynote address which he delivered at the 350 International Day of Climate Action on October 24, 2009.
We believe that in light of this lack of communication and consideration, the virtue of prudence requires that this bill be tabled until all concerned parties have been made aware of the bill, and have had a chance to review and consider all of itsimplications. Toward that end, please find a list of our concerns regarding Board Bill 73 attached to this email. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best regards,
Ben Paulson
There's a rally scheduled for this Friday for those interested in opposing this bill.
Related: Earlier in the year, Peabody Vice President of Government Relations was schooled by the Sierra Club's Bruce Nilles in a debate at Washington University.
Getting to this a bit late, but here are a few local posts that I enjoyed yesterday....
The Environment Ryan Witt at the Political Buzz Examiner continues to be a go-to source of information about the BP Oil Spill. Here are a few of his posts from yesterday:
Ed Martin let loose an angry rant last week about the fact that Russ Carnahan introduced the Global Conservation Act to Congress, a bill that creates a Global Conservation Coordinator position in the White House and asks agencies to come up with a plan to:
– Protect millions of square miles of land and sea, – Address illegal and unregulated fishing around the world, – Safeguard the natural sources of fresh water to several major population centers around the world, – Stop the worst wildlife trafficking operations, and – Stabilize environmental destruction trends in areas vulnerable to conflict and instability.
Here's what Ed Martin had to say:
He’s voted for bailouts, he’s voted for a failed stimulus, and now he’s pushing some absurd scheme that may save a giraffe in the Serengeti, but it won’t bring the Dodge Ram back to Fenton. At least Russ Carnahan’s Hollywood buddy Don Cheadle may send a fat campaign check.
Ed Martin's short-sightedness on this issue is astonishing. The decision to "come up with a plan" is hardly a major financial investment. More importantly, destroying the planets' natural resources is bad for the global (and hence the U.S.) economy in the long-term, so small steps like this will inevitably pay for themselves.
In fact, Congressman Carnahan has been doing great work on the environment lately. In addition to introducing the Global Conservation Act with a high-profile press conference with Don Cheadle and Jane Goodall, Congressman Carnahan was at a panel discussion a couple weeks ago about the need for the United States to invest in a more sustainable transportation infrastructure. You can read about the event at the Next Stop St. Louis Blog. I'm glad that St. Louis is represented by a Congressman who recognizes the environment as an important priority rather than a climate change denier like Ed Martin who thinks that Glenn Beck's opinion on the environment is more valuable than scientific consensus.
In an effort to better connect the St. Louis blogosphere and to familiarize people with it, I'm sharing some of my favorite posts from locals for today. Please check out the sites and feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments.
St. Louis locals are writing about the environment, health care, peace, lgbt issues, St. Louis city pride, law and order, and a host of other interesting issues! It's time to check out the awesomeness of the St. Louis blogsophere. Here are a few of my favorites from today. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
A debate on the role of coal in our country's energy future between Fred Palmer, Vice President of Government Relations at Peabody, and Bruce Nilles, Director of the Beyond Coal Campaign at the Sierra Club. Moderated by Bryan Walsh of Time. The debate is scheduled to start at 5 PM
If the above stream isn't working, click here to watch the debate.
(PS I'm not filming the debate, just using the live streem from Wash U Climate Justice).
If you held the fate of one of Missouri’s greatest natural treasures in your hands, what would you do with this power? Would you preserve the area for future generations? Or would you decide that it would better to pave it so that a few people didn’t have to drive as far in order to put their money in a slot machine?
On Tuesday, November 3, the St. Louis County Council had to decide whether or not to allow developers to build a casino, golf course and 8,000 parking spaces adjacent to the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. This is in the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi River, a unique ecosystem of spectacular beauty. For two and a half hours the council members listened to citizens speak out against the development proposal. They heard well reasoned arguments in opposition from every angle imaginable.
People explained how would the proposal would be an ecological disaster by damaging wildlife and increase area flooding. It would increase the poisons in the water intake system for the City of St. Louis. It would both kill and scare away birds that use the area for nesting and as part of their migration route. They reminded the council that no environmental impact study of what the development would do has been conducted.
Others explained how it would create no long term economic development for the region, and it would harm small businesses. They argued that the potential for eco-tourism to a natural, well preserved confluence far outweighs any short term economic gain that a casino may bring the area. They pointed out that the proposed development would greatly decrease the value of the adjacent Conservation Area, into which the State of Missouri has already invested $25 million.
People talked about how casinos encourage gambling additions, they increase the divorce rate, they increase the crime rate, they lead folks into a life of desperation and despair. People came up to state their moral objection to their plan on religious grounds. People testified to the wonderful experiences they have had in the unique area of the Missouri-Mississippi confluence.
After all these arguments, as if they had never been made, St. Louis County Council members Michael O’Mara, Hazel Erby, Steven Stenger and Kathleen Burkett voted to rezone the land and allow the casino to be built. Only council members Barbara Frasier and Gregory Quinn had the sense to vote against the proposal.
In a way, a casino is a fitting structure to put on the last undeveloped area in St. Louis County near the Missouri River. For the last three decades the council has rolled the dice time and time again, permitting the destruction of more and more wild areas and farms in order to allow more and more development. Much of this development has been in floodplains on some of the richest soil in the nation. Under the mantra of growth at any cost, the county has promoted a sprawling, automobile dependent region. They have been gambling that there will always be people to live in the new homes and shop in the new strip malls. They have been gambling that the oil will always be cheap and plentiful. They have been gambling that 1993 was a fluke - that the area will never flood again, that levees are a reasonable replacement for sound ecological management.
Like all gamblers, in the long run the St. Louis County Council will lose and lose big. Unfortunately, when these gamblers lose, there are no winners. We all lose. Fortunately for the Missouri-Mississippi confluence, while the area has been rezoned, no development has yet been built. We need to show these politicians that all development is NOT good development. We need to stop this casino.
The St. Louis Activist Hub blog is the home of weekly event listings for progressive activism across St. Louis. It is also a group blog where a variety of St. Louis viewpoints are presented. You can follow the Activist Hub on Twitter and join the Facebook group for further ways to stay connected.
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