A shield law made it out of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today, perhaps removing the major obstacle to putting protection for reporters' confidential sources into the federal statute books. The committee rejected amendments, strongly opposed by journalism groups, that would have sunset the bill in 2013 and made it apply only to a "salaried employee" or "independent contractor" of a news organization.
UPDATE, Dec. 11: The latter amendment was sponsored by Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Dianne Feinstein of California. After it was defeated, Durbin voted against the bill. Because Durbin is the Senate majority whip, he could block consideration of the bill by the full Senate. Durbin has agreed to stop pushing a provision in the amendment that would deny the shield to anonymous or pseudonymous posters, but says he wants to clarify that the shield applies only to news outlets, a term that may have to be further defined to get the bill before the Senate.
The bill defines journalists broadly, "including bloggers, citizen journalists and freelancers — and relies on court tests to determine whether sources deserve protection," The Associated Press notes. "The journalist is defined by the nature of activity engaged in, rather than by the organization that employs the reporter. . . . The bill does not give journalists absolute authority to protect sources. Those rights can be overridden in national security cases. ... A federal judge would weigh the public's right to know versus national security claims made by the government."
The bill "has been pushed by journalistic organizations for at least two decades," reports John Eggerton of Multichannel News. "It was held up by the Obama administration until a compromise was struck on some national security issues, and then by Republicans, who thought the balance was still too far in favor of journalists and argued the compromise had been between people who already supported the bill, not Republicans with remaining issues." (Read more)
The bill was approved 14-5. It now goes to the full Senate. The House has passed a different version but supporters are likely to ask the House to accept the Senate version, which contains language agreed on by the Justice Department, intelligence agencies and the bill's supporters.
Every state but Wyoming has some sort of source protection, or reporter's privilege, in statute or case law. For more from the Society of Professional Journalists, click here. For background on reporters' privilege from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, click here.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
AEP says pilot carbon-capture-and storage facility costing less than half as much as recent estimates
American Electric Power, the country's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, says the first commercial-scale CO2-capture project, at its Mountaineer plant in West Virginia, has “exceeded expectations” and the company "will be able to retire 25 percent of its coal-burning power plants and install advanced carbon-capture equipment on the remaining 75 percent" by 2025, Becky Smith reports in The Wall Street Journal. “This still is an extremely expensive undertaking, but the answer is near at hand,” Morris told Smith.
On the Journal's Environmental Capital blog, Keith Johnson says the economics cited by Morris are "especially striking." Morris estimates that the cost of removing CO2 and storing it in a secure place will add only 4 cents per kilowatt-hour to the cost of elecriticity. That's a lot less than estimated earlier this year by Harvard University’s Belfer Center. "They figured the first generation of clean coal plants would add 8 cents to 12 cents per kilowatt hour," Johnson writes. "Only when clean coal is up and running around the world would the additional costs come down to between 2 cents and 5 cents, Belfer estimated."
Johnson says AEP may have made a breakthrough, but could also be following "a strategy to make sure that Washington invests heavily in clean-coal technology and offers cash premiums for storing the stuff, even as policy makers are threatening drastic environmental regulation of big polluters." (Read more)
On the Journal's Environmental Capital blog, Keith Johnson says the economics cited by Morris are "especially striking." Morris estimates that the cost of removing CO2 and storing it in a secure place will add only 4 cents per kilowatt-hour to the cost of elecriticity. That's a lot less than estimated earlier this year by Harvard University’s Belfer Center. "They figured the first generation of clean coal plants would add 8 cents to 12 cents per kilowatt hour," Johnson writes. "Only when clean coal is up and running around the world would the additional costs come down to between 2 cents and 5 cents, Belfer estimated."
Johnson says AEP may have made a breakthrough, but could also be following "a strategy to make sure that Washington invests heavily in clean-coal technology and offers cash premiums for storing the stuff, even as policy makers are threatening drastic environmental regulation of big polluters." (Read more)
Researcher at a top agriculture school says not to blame animal agriculture for climate change
A researcher at the University of California, Davis says a popular perception that consuming less meat and dairy products will help stop climate change is simply not true. Frank Mitloehner, a UC Davis associate professor and air quality specialist, says promoters of events like "meatless Mondays" seem to be well-intentioned but are not well-schooled in the complex relationships among human activities, animal digestion, food production and atmospheric chemistry. "Smarter animal farming, not less farming, will equal less heat," Mitloehner said in UC Davis release. "Producing less meat and milk will only mean more hunger in poor countries."
Mitloehner says most of the public's confusion about the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by livestock comes from a 2006 U.N. report that said, "The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents). This is a higher share than transport." The two sentences were included in the report's summary but nowhere in the body of the report. Mitloehner maintains the U.N. erred when it calculated livestock's emissions all the way from farm to table, but in figuring transportation's role pnly counted fossil fuels burned while driving. He says raising cattle and pigs for food accounts for about 3 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation creates an estimated 26 percent.
Mitloehner does advocate advancing meat-production methods in developing countries to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, but says developed countries "should focus on cutting our use of oil and coal for electricity, heating and vehicle fuels." (Read more)
Mitloehner says most of the public's confusion about the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by livestock comes from a 2006 U.N. report that said, "The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents). This is a higher share than transport." The two sentences were included in the report's summary but nowhere in the body of the report. Mitloehner maintains the U.N. erred when it calculated livestock's emissions all the way from farm to table, but in figuring transportation's role pnly counted fossil fuels burned while driving. He says raising cattle and pigs for food accounts for about 3 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation creates an estimated 26 percent.
Mitloehner does advocate advancing meat-production methods in developing countries to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, but says developed countries "should focus on cutting our use of oil and coal for electricity, heating and vehicle fuels." (Read more)
GAO says little surface-mined land gets developed
Surface-mine operators say replacing hills and mountains with flat or relatively flat land provides needed land for development in Central Appalachia, but the mines actually provide little in the way of post-surface mine development, says a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
GAO also found "while the area of Appalachia affected by surface coal mining has increased, it has also become more concentrated in a few coalfield counties," Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette reports. Ward first reported about the low percentage of surface mine land used for development a decade ago, and we recently noted a Lexington Herald-Leader story about the issue in Kentucky.
The report, commissioned at the request of several lawmakers, offered no recommendation for action, but did include a wealth of data about mountaintop removal, Ward writes. Among the highlights: approved permit land that had never been reclaimed in West Virginia increased from 184,000 acres in January 1990 to 245,000 acres in July 2008; acres under open permits have become more concentrated in both Kentucky and West Virginia; and only 12 of 212 permits issued in West Virginia from 2000 to 2008 proposed a post-mining land use of industrial or commercial development. (Read more)
GAO also found "while the area of Appalachia affected by surface coal mining has increased, it has also become more concentrated in a few coalfield counties," Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette reports. Ward first reported about the low percentage of surface mine land used for development a decade ago, and we recently noted a Lexington Herald-Leader story about the issue in Kentucky.
The report, commissioned at the request of several lawmakers, offered no recommendation for action, but did include a wealth of data about mountaintop removal, Ward writes. Among the highlights: approved permit land that had never been reclaimed in West Virginia increased from 184,000 acres in January 1990 to 245,000 acres in July 2008; acres under open permits have become more concentrated in both Kentucky and West Virginia; and only 12 of 212 permits issued in West Virginia from 2000 to 2008 proposed a post-mining land use of industrial or commercial development. (Read more)
'Grand Dame' of Kentucky GOP, rural woman who was close to George H.W. Bush, dies in accident
Velma Childers, once called the "grand dame" of Kentucky's Republican Party, died Wednesday following a car accident in her hometown of Pikeville. She was 79. Childers, who served on the Republican National Committee for Kentucky and on the Kentucky Republican Party’s executive committee for 23 years, was a close friend of former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara.
"She was a very outstanding lady," Pike County Coroner Russell Roberts told Deborah Yetter of the The Courier-Journal in Louisville. "We’ve lost a good citizen of Pike County." Roberts said police told him Childers was driving southbound on U.S. 23 when a car pulled in front of her. (Read more)
"Velma Childers was a special person and our dear friend, and I am sure thousands of others will say likewise," said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. He got to know Childers when he was The C-J's political writer and she was ousted from the state party committee in 1991 for supporting the successful candidacy of Democrat Brereton Jones, a former West Virginia Republican, for governor of Kentucky. She remained close to the Bush family and attended the elder former president's birthday parachute jumps.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Chuch of Pikeville. Visitation will be at the J.W. Call Funeral Home Chapel after 6 p.m. Friday. For a story by Dori Hjalmarson, Pikeville bureau reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader, click here. (Photo from Herald-Leader)
Recessionary budget cuts are hard on rural elderly
What is happening to the standard of life for the elderly in your rural communities? It's time to take a look, based on a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberally oriented Washington research group. It says at least 24 states have cut back on programs for the elderly during the recession, Kirk Johnson of The New York Times reports. Hundreds of millions of dollars more in cuts are on the table for next year.
Census data show the "country’s most rapidly aging places are not the ones that people flock to in retirement, but rather the withering, remote places many of them flee," Johnson writes. As young people continue to leave rural places, "the elderly who remain — increasingly isolated and stranded — face an existence that is distinctively harder by virtue, or curse, of geography than life in cities and suburbs," Johnson reports. A lack of public transportation, medical care and reliable cellphone service also complicate life for the elderly in rural America.
"Some people who study rural America say the tough economic times and new budget woes could make it too difficult for many rural stoics to hang on," Johnson writes. "But others suggest the fortitude of the rural elderly simply runs too deep for that." Teresa Radebaugh, the director of the Regional Institute on Aging at Wichita State University, told Johnson, "The people will remain, because they’re rooted and anchored to the land. They’ll stay no matter what." (Read more)
Census data show the "country’s most rapidly aging places are not the ones that people flock to in retirement, but rather the withering, remote places many of them flee," Johnson writes. As young people continue to leave rural places, "the elderly who remain — increasingly isolated and stranded — face an existence that is distinctively harder by virtue, or curse, of geography than life in cities and suburbs," Johnson reports. A lack of public transportation, medical care and reliable cellphone service also complicate life for the elderly in rural America.
"Some people who study rural America say the tough economic times and new budget woes could make it too difficult for many rural stoics to hang on," Johnson writes. "But others suggest the fortitude of the rural elderly simply runs too deep for that." Teresa Radebaugh, the director of the Regional Institute on Aging at Wichita State University, told Johnson, "The people will remain, because they’re rooted and anchored to the land. They’ll stay no matter what." (Read more)
USDA pushing climate bill but hasn't explained how to keep up production as cropland goes to forest
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack "ventured gingerly" into the climate change debate at a news conference called for that purpose Wednesday, DTN reports. Vilsack again explained agricultural benefits from climate change legislation will far outweigh any additional costs, while USDA economists also briefed Congress on the likely effects of the House-passed climate bill on Wednesday and Thursday.
The USDA's work brings to light two questions about the secretary's assertions, DTN writes. First, "how USDA plans to link the program’s benefits to ‘normal’ crop and livestock production since perhaps 85 percent of the expected benefit is seen as coming from planting trees on crop and pastureland." The second question revolves around how USDA will identify winners and losers in the program and keep U.S. agriculture production efficient in the future.
By 2013, USDA estimates the price of carbon allowances will reach about $27 per ton of CO2 equivalent and 27 million acres will have been planted with trees, DTN reports. By 2050, USDA says carbon allowance values could increase to $70 per ton of C02 equivalent and push an additional 60 million acres of forestation; 35 million would come from cropland, a 15 percent decrease from the amount now in crops, and 24 million acres would come from pasture, about a 9 percent decrease from the baseline. (Read more, subscription required)
Not all farmers are convinced the carbon-sequestration practices advocated by USDA and the House bill will be profitable, Mark Steil of Minnesota Public Radio reports. Among their concerns are the uncertainty of sequestration research, limits in the legislation, and the increased cost of doing business as electric rates rise. (Read more)
The USDA's work brings to light two questions about the secretary's assertions, DTN writes. First, "how USDA plans to link the program’s benefits to ‘normal’ crop and livestock production since perhaps 85 percent of the expected benefit is seen as coming from planting trees on crop and pastureland." The second question revolves around how USDA will identify winners and losers in the program and keep U.S. agriculture production efficient in the future.
By 2013, USDA estimates the price of carbon allowances will reach about $27 per ton of CO2 equivalent and 27 million acres will have been planted with trees, DTN reports. By 2050, USDA says carbon allowance values could increase to $70 per ton of C02 equivalent and push an additional 60 million acres of forestation; 35 million would come from cropland, a 15 percent decrease from the amount now in crops, and 24 million acres would come from pasture, about a 9 percent decrease from the baseline. (Read more, subscription required)
Not all farmers are convinced the carbon-sequestration practices advocated by USDA and the House bill will be profitable, Mark Steil of Minnesota Public Radio reports. Among their concerns are the uncertainty of sequestration research, limits in the legislation, and the increased cost of doing business as electric rates rise. (Read more)
Southeast Ohio man hopes to transform dairying into a more localized industry with better milk
The American dairy industry has been sacrificing taste for cheap prices and long shelf life, says one dairyman hoping to reinvent the industry. Warren Taylor, right, who owns and runs Snowville Creamery in Pomeroy, Ohio, and aspires to be "the Che Guevara of the American dairy industry," says he's trying to make milk the way it was made 40 years ago, John Burnett of National Public Radio reports. (NPR photo by Burnett)"I built Snowville Creamery to prove to the American dairy industry that the reason our children have had a 30-year continuous decline in their consumption of milk is not entirely Coke and Pepsi's fault, but because the dairy industry has been delivering a continuously declining quality of milk, in terms of its freshness and taste," Taylor told Burnett. Taylor's milk is sold 48 hours out of the cow, pasteurized at a lower temperature than the industry standard, delivered no farther than eight hours from the dairy and is not homogenized.
Most importantly, Taylor says, his milk comes from cows that are fed grass and hay. "This is in stark contrast to the vast majority of milk in America which is made from cows confined in barns, partly so they can be milked three times a day, and are fed a diet that is predominantly corn and soybeans," he told Burnett. Taylor is one of about 5 percent of American milk producers grazing their cattle on grass, Burnett reports.
The dairy industry maintains his claims of better taste are in the eye, or at least tongue, of the beholder. "We all know the placebo effect is quite powerful. If you're paying $6, $7 or $8 a gallon for milk versus $3, you might think it tastes better simply because it costs more," Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation, told Burnett. Taylor's milk sells for about $3 a half-gallon, but he says after recently expanding to 80 outlets, the latest in Washington, D.C., the business became profitable for the first time this month. (Read more)
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Opponents of mountaintop-removal mining gain support, but their cause has much room to grow
Opponents of mountaintop-removal mining gained more support in 2009 than in the previous decade, but they have yet to mobilize the millions of supporters they want, The Associated Press reported this week. Social networking, protests and celebrity support are just a few of the strategies they have used to advance the anti-MTR message, but they continue to struggle to overcome the collective indifference of average Americans. This section of Vicki Smith's story stood out to us:
Although the practice may seem tailor-made to stoke public outrage, it lacks a cuddly mascot. Its victims are not photogenic polar bears or spotted owls; they are people and places.
Mountaintop-removal mining occurs in sparsely populated parts of Appalachia, places tourists don't visit. It is rugged, unglamorous country, filled with valuable natural resources, yet slow to inspire passion.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Americans voiced strong opinions on whether oil companies should drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. People cared because the debate pitted $4-per-gallon gasoline against Alaska's majestic, snowcapped mountains.
But there is no sticker shock at the light switch. The cost of electricity has grown slowly and steadily. Tolerably, even. (Read more)
Tennessee is national hotbed of animal rescues
Tennessee relied on the The Humane Society of the United States more than any other state in the last two years to respond to animal rescue missions, Anne Paine of The Tennessean reports. The increased use of the nonprofitgroup stemmed from a lack of facilities and funding in rural communities to respond to animal cruelty, she writes. The Humane Society assisted on nine rescue missions in Tennessee during the period; the No. 2 state had five.
"Tennessee just doesn't have the infrastructure to address animal cruelty," Leighann McCollum, the Tennessee director of the Humane Society, told Paine. Forty of Tennessee's 95 counties have no government-funded animal control program, and many that do only have dogcatchers who have no authority to investigate animal cruelty. On Thanksgiving Day, the group rescued 84 food-deprived horses and mules from a Cannon County farm.
"They have all those resources we don't have," Dickson County Sheriff Tom Wall told Paine. "After they came down here, I went on the Internet and joined, and set up an automatic deduction out of my paycheck for them." The group relies mostly on donations to fund its $2 million annual budget. In the upcoming legislative session, Tennessee lawmakers are expected to attempt to amend several state animal cruelty laws to better protect all animals. (Read more) (Tennessean video)
"Tennessee just doesn't have the infrastructure to address animal cruelty," Leighann McCollum, the Tennessee director of the Humane Society, told Paine. Forty of Tennessee's 95 counties have no government-funded animal control program, and many that do only have dogcatchers who have no authority to investigate animal cruelty. On Thanksgiving Day, the group rescued 84 food-deprived horses and mules from a Cannon County farm.
"They have all those resources we don't have," Dickson County Sheriff Tom Wall told Paine. "After they came down here, I went on the Internet and joined, and set up an automatic deduction out of my paycheck for them." The group relies mostly on donations to fund its $2 million annual budget. In the upcoming legislative session, Tennessee lawmakers are expected to attempt to amend several state animal cruelty laws to better protect all animals. (Read more) (Tennessean video)
1 in 5 water systems violated rules in last 5 years; almost all serve fewer than 10,000 people
More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, The New York Times reports. "Since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage," Charles Duhigg writes. The majority of drinking-water violations since 2004 have occurred at water systems serving fewer than 20,000 residents. Look them up here.
Duhigg reports that fewer than six percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials. In many instances, contaminations were one-time events and posed little risk to public health, but hundreds of other contaminations persisted for years, he writes. The Times "compiled and analyzed millions of records from water systems and regulators around the nation, as part of a series of articles about worsening pollution in American waters, and regulators’ response."
Environmental Protection Agency officials said Tuesday they plan to focus financial and technical assistance on water systems that serve fewer than 10,000 people, in which 96 percent of all health-based drinking water violations occur, Trayn Lutz of Greenwire reports for the Times. The new plan was met with grumbling from lawmakers about a shortage of details. Not everyone beleives new regulations will have much power. "The same people who told us to ignore Safe Drinking Water Act violations are still running the divisions," one mid-level EPA official told Duhigg. "There’s no accountability, and so nothing’s going to change." (Read more)
Duhigg reports that fewer than six percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials. In many instances, contaminations were one-time events and posed little risk to public health, but hundreds of other contaminations persisted for years, he writes. The Times "compiled and analyzed millions of records from water systems and regulators around the nation, as part of a series of articles about worsening pollution in American waters, and regulators’ response."
Environmental Protection Agency officials said Tuesday they plan to focus financial and technical assistance on water systems that serve fewer than 10,000 people, in which 96 percent of all health-based drinking water violations occur, Trayn Lutz of Greenwire reports for the Times. The new plan was met with grumbling from lawmakers about a shortage of details. Not everyone beleives new regulations will have much power. "The same people who told us to ignore Safe Drinking Water Act violations are still running the divisions," one mid-level EPA official told Duhigg. "There’s no accountability, and so nothing’s going to change." (Read more)
U.S. settles Indian lawsuit over energy royalties
The federal government announced Tuesday an agreement to settle a 13-year-old class-action lawsuit by paying $3.4 billion to settle claims that it mismanaged the energy-production royalties in American Indian trust funds. The lawsuit centered on hundreds of thousands of disputed land trust accounts that date back to the 19th century, Charlie Savage of The New York Times reports.
Tribal-law specialists described the lawsuit as one of the most important in the history of legal disputes involving the government’s treatment of Indians, and President Obama described the agreement as an "important step towards a sincere reconciliation." Before the agreement becomes final Congress must enact legislation and the federal courts must then sign off on it, Savage reports. Administration officials said they hoped those steps would be completed in the next few months.
"This is an historic, positive development for Indian country,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Savage, "and a major step on the road to reconciliation following years of acrimonious litigation between trust beneficiaries and the United States." Each member of the class-action lawsuit will receive a $1,000 check with the rest of the money to be divided according to land owned. (Read more)
Tribal-law specialists described the lawsuit as one of the most important in the history of legal disputes involving the government’s treatment of Indians, and President Obama described the agreement as an "important step towards a sincere reconciliation." Before the agreement becomes final Congress must enact legislation and the federal courts must then sign off on it, Savage reports. Administration officials said they hoped those steps would be completed in the next few months.
"This is an historic, positive development for Indian country,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Savage, "and a major step on the road to reconciliation following years of acrimonious litigation between trust beneficiaries and the United States." Each member of the class-action lawsuit will receive a $1,000 check with the rest of the money to be divided according to land owned. (Read more)
'Fracking' expands gas supply, threatening coal's power-plant market and perhaps groundwater
We've reported about advancements in the natural-gas drilling practice of hydraulic and chemical called fracturng that is opening up previously inaccessible U.S. reserves, most recently here and here, and major newspapers are starting to pay closer attention, especially since gas offers an expanded source of energy. Some experts say recoverable U.S. gas reserves could now be bigger than the immense Russian reserves, Steven Mufson of The Washington Post reports, and the "fracking" process has led to a land rush in areas like southern New York, which lies at the northern end of the vast Marcellus Shale formation, one of several being fracked.
The new supplies would leave the U.S. less vulnerable to disruptions from Gulf Coast hurricanes and less dependent on imports, Mufson reports. Ready supply of natural gas at stable prices may also deal another blow to proposals for new coal-fired power plants, and gas plants, which can be shut on and off more easily than coal or nuclear, could supplement wind and solar facilities. "Natural gas can serve as a bridge fuel to a low-carbon, sustainable energy future," former Colorado Sen. Timothy Wirth, now head of the United Nations Foundation, told Mufson.
Expanded gas drilling isn't without its skeptics and opponents. Many environmentalists "have sounded alarms about the chemicals that drillers use to fracture the rock and the danger of natural gas or other substances contaminating water supplies," Mufson writes. In September, we reported the environmental concerns regarding fracking. New York has declared a moratorium on drilling until the state's Department of Environmental Conservation new regulations. "There are legitimate concerns that need to be addressed," Bruce Nilles, a lawyer at the Sierra Club, told Mufson, but he added new natural gas supplies could be a "game-changer" in the battle against coal-fired power plants. (Read more)
UPDATE, Dec. 24: The leading news organization on fracking is ProPublica, the non-profit group headed by Paul Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. He take umbrage at criticism from Investors' Business Daily and defends ProPublica's reporting, here.
The new supplies would leave the U.S. less vulnerable to disruptions from Gulf Coast hurricanes and less dependent on imports, Mufson reports. Ready supply of natural gas at stable prices may also deal another blow to proposals for new coal-fired power plants, and gas plants, which can be shut on and off more easily than coal or nuclear, could supplement wind and solar facilities. "Natural gas can serve as a bridge fuel to a low-carbon, sustainable energy future," former Colorado Sen. Timothy Wirth, now head of the United Nations Foundation, told Mufson.
Expanded gas drilling isn't without its skeptics and opponents. Many environmentalists "have sounded alarms about the chemicals that drillers use to fracture the rock and the danger of natural gas or other substances contaminating water supplies," Mufson writes. In September, we reported the environmental concerns regarding fracking. New York has declared a moratorium on drilling until the state's Department of Environmental Conservation new regulations. "There are legitimate concerns that need to be addressed," Bruce Nilles, a lawyer at the Sierra Club, told Mufson, but he added new natural gas supplies could be a "game-changer" in the battle against coal-fired power plants. (Read more)
UPDATE, Dec. 24: The leading news organization on fracking is ProPublica, the non-profit group headed by Paul Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. He take umbrage at criticism from Investors' Business Daily and defends ProPublica's reporting, here.
Kentucky's climate change discussion can provide example for advancing the global warming debate
In an excellent example of moving a global discussion to a local level, a Kentucky forum on climate change yesterday was marked by repeated warnings that cheap, coal-fired electricity is becoming a thing of the past, and Kentuckians must do their part to prepare for rising electricity costs. Much the same is true for much of rural America, especially customer-members of rural electric cooperatives, which get 80 percent of their juice from coal.
"Electricity prices will go up without [carbon-dioxide emissions] regulation," said Justin Maxson of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, based in Berea, Ky. "But they will go up even more with regulation." Tom FitzGerald of the Kentucky Resources Council said climate change could not only cause energy costs to rise, but also cause the coal industry to wither and Kentucky's poor to wind up in even more dire economic straits.
However, Kris Kimel, president of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp., which convened the forum, presented a different scenario in which Kentucky could "land in a sort of economic catbird seat as a place with limited climate change, and could benefit if it enhances education and infrastructure to gain businesses that other states lose," Cheryl Truman of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. (Read more)
Under either scenario, the day's common theme was that Kentucky's traditionally cheap coal-generated electricity rates are going to increase, and the only question is by how much. FitzGerald and John P. Malloy, E.On-U.S. vice president of energy delivery, both spoke of the need for demand-side changes in electricity consumption. While the future of renewables and carbon-capture and sequestration technology for coal-fired power plants may or may not alter the supply-side of electricity consumption, both men said Kentuckians will need to abandon the wasteful consumption that has eliminated much of the state's cheap electricity advantage. Because the state gets 91 percent of its electricity from coal, it has some of the nation's lowest electric rates, but its average bills are only a bit below the national median.
"The good news is that we waste a lot of electricity now because it’s cheap, and higher prices will provide more incentives for conservation and developing alternative energy," Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen writes. "That will reduce the need for costly new power plants and help Kentucky transition away from coal as reserves are depleted." Eblen points out that the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce was discussing many of the same issues just down the hall from the climate conference. A state senator joked with him during a break that the two groups were looking at the issues from different perceptions as well as different rooms.
Local conversations like the Kentucky climate forum can help advance the global warming debate. Maxson pointed out that rural people stand to benefit from a cap-and-trade system in which they would be paid for healthy stewardship of farms and forests. Eblen's thesis that the "underlying truth was clear to everyone: change is here, and Kentucky must deal with it," can be applied to local communities and states across the country.
"Electricity prices will go up without [carbon-dioxide emissions] regulation," said Justin Maxson of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, based in Berea, Ky. "But they will go up even more with regulation." Tom FitzGerald of the Kentucky Resources Council said climate change could not only cause energy costs to rise, but also cause the coal industry to wither and Kentucky's poor to wind up in even more dire economic straits.
However, Kris Kimel, president of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp., which convened the forum, presented a different scenario in which Kentucky could "land in a sort of economic catbird seat as a place with limited climate change, and could benefit if it enhances education and infrastructure to gain businesses that other states lose," Cheryl Truman of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. (Read more)
Under either scenario, the day's common theme was that Kentucky's traditionally cheap coal-generated electricity rates are going to increase, and the only question is by how much. FitzGerald and John P. Malloy, E.On-U.S. vice president of energy delivery, both spoke of the need for demand-side changes in electricity consumption. While the future of renewables and carbon-capture and sequestration technology for coal-fired power plants may or may not alter the supply-side of electricity consumption, both men said Kentuckians will need to abandon the wasteful consumption that has eliminated much of the state's cheap electricity advantage. Because the state gets 91 percent of its electricity from coal, it has some of the nation's lowest electric rates, but its average bills are only a bit below the national median.
"The good news is that we waste a lot of electricity now because it’s cheap, and higher prices will provide more incentives for conservation and developing alternative energy," Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen writes. "That will reduce the need for costly new power plants and help Kentucky transition away from coal as reserves are depleted." Eblen points out that the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce was discussing many of the same issues just down the hall from the climate conference. A state senator joked with him during a break that the two groups were looking at the issues from different perceptions as well as different rooms.
Local conversations like the Kentucky climate forum can help advance the global warming debate. Maxson pointed out that rural people stand to benefit from a cap-and-trade system in which they would be paid for healthy stewardship of farms and forests. Eblen's thesis that the "underlying truth was clear to everyone: change is here, and Kentucky must deal with it," can be applied to local communities and states across the country.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
EPA plans to regulate selenium, a coal pollutant
The Obama administration is planning to "require more than 600 coal-fired power plants to clean up — perhaps even eliminate — wastewater discharged into lakes, rivers and other waterways," Environmental Health News reports. "The national standards would replace a patchwork of state regulations that EPA officials say are too lax to protect fish and wildlife from toxic metals and other elements, particularly selenium, in the plants’ wastewater. Some states allow the plants to emit selenium at levels hundreds of times higher than EPA’s water-quality standards, while others don’t even require monitoring for it."
The new regulation would come from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2012. Selenium occurs naturally in coal and is most prevalent in bituminous coal, used in power plants. It reaches the environment through "scrubbers, which clean contaminants out of the air, and ash ponds, which store waste from coal combustion," Sarah Coefield reports. (Fish and Wildlife Service photo)
Coefield's object example is the Gibson power plant in Southern Indiana (avove), where a lake is "next to a national wildlife refuge [and] a prime fishery for bass and an attractive rest spot for hundreds of species of birds, including endangered least terns. But the manmade lake, built by one of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants to hold its wastewater, contains high levels of selenium that jeopardize the birds and render fish unsafe to eat." Coefield'sd detailed story is here.
The new regulation would come from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2012. Selenium occurs naturally in coal and is most prevalent in bituminous coal, used in power plants. It reaches the environment through "scrubbers, which clean contaminants out of the air, and ash ponds, which store waste from coal combustion," Sarah Coefield reports. (Fish and Wildlife Service photo)Coefield's object example is the Gibson power plant in Southern Indiana (avove), where a lake is "next to a national wildlife refuge [and] a prime fishery for bass and an attractive rest spot for hundreds of species of birds, including endangered least terns. But the manmade lake, built by one of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants to hold its wastewater, contains high levels of selenium that jeopardize the birds and render fish unsafe to eat." Coefield'sd detailed story is here.
Climate-bill backers talk too much about jobs, not enough about climate change, liberal writer says
"Congress is finally ready to address climate change, but the American public seems headed in the opposite direction," The Nation says in introducing an opinion piece from its Washington editor, Christopher Hayes. He notes recent polls that show fewer Americans "think global warming is happening at all . . . think it's because of human activity [and] think it's a 'very serious problem'."
Hayes offers possible reasons: "The past few years have been fairly temperate. The economic crisis has pushed issues perceived as not immediately vital to the back burner. And a good portion of the decline in belief in the climate science comes from sheer partisan polarization: for certain Americans in the era of death panels, birthers and Glenn Beck, if Barack Obama says the world is warming, then it must not be."
He makes no reference to the stolen e-mails of climate scientists, as he should have. That controversy "has given new life to the skeptic camp that had been largely relegated to the sidelines during this year's legislative fight and, in the minds of opponents, handed them a potent new weapon against the climate bill," E & E Daily (subscriber-only) reports this afternoon. Michael McKenna, a Republican lobbyist won energy issues, told E&E, "It allows elected officials, it allows media, it allows guys like me access to the science debate again. For a very long chunk of time, the science debate was thought to be toxic. It was settled, it was done, let's move along. This has given folks who want to talk about the science a very easy access point." UPDATE, Dec. 10: "E-mails being cited as 'smoking guns' have been misrepresented," FactCheck.org reports.
McKenna's point could actually be an argument for Hayes' main point, that the climate-change bill has been sold too much as a jobs bill and too little as prevention of "catastrophic climate change." He acknowledges that "people don't care enough about the climate to motivate any broad support, that immediate concerns like jobs dwarf abstract ones like carbon dioxide, and prophecies of doom have a strong chance of backfiring and causing paralysis, but in so overwhelmingly focusing their rhetorical energy away from the central argument about climate, the good guys have created a vacuum that the armies of reaction have rushed to fill. . . . The large, unwieldy coalition committed to making sure we don't do catastrophic damage to our fellow humans around the globe needs to make sure we put climate back at the center of the climate debate." (Read more)
Hayes offers possible reasons: "The past few years have been fairly temperate. The economic crisis has pushed issues perceived as not immediately vital to the back burner. And a good portion of the decline in belief in the climate science comes from sheer partisan polarization: for certain Americans in the era of death panels, birthers and Glenn Beck, if Barack Obama says the world is warming, then it must not be."
He makes no reference to the stolen e-mails of climate scientists, as he should have. That controversy "has given new life to the skeptic camp that had been largely relegated to the sidelines during this year's legislative fight and, in the minds of opponents, handed them a potent new weapon against the climate bill," E & E Daily (subscriber-only) reports this afternoon. Michael McKenna, a Republican lobbyist won energy issues, told E&E, "It allows elected officials, it allows media, it allows guys like me access to the science debate again. For a very long chunk of time, the science debate was thought to be toxic. It was settled, it was done, let's move along. This has given folks who want to talk about the science a very easy access point." UPDATE, Dec. 10: "E-mails being cited as 'smoking guns' have been misrepresented," FactCheck.org reports.
McKenna's point could actually be an argument for Hayes' main point, that the climate-change bill has been sold too much as a jobs bill and too little as prevention of "catastrophic climate change." He acknowledges that "people don't care enough about the climate to motivate any broad support, that immediate concerns like jobs dwarf abstract ones like carbon dioxide, and prophecies of doom have a strong chance of backfiring and causing paralysis, but in so overwhelmingly focusing their rhetorical energy away from the central argument about climate, the good guys have created a vacuum that the armies of reaction have rushed to fill. . . . The large, unwieldy coalition committed to making sure we don't do catastrophic damage to our fellow humans around the globe needs to make sure we put climate back at the center of the climate debate." (Read more)
Monday, December 07, 2009
Labor Dept. targets black-lung disease but no longer aims to lower limit on coal dust in mines
The Obama administration's strategy to eliminate black-lung disease apparently will not include a lower limit on the amount of coal dust in underground mines, Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette reports on his Coal Tattoo blog. Ward notes that the Department of Labor said in May that it planned to propose a regulation on "Occupational Exposure to Coal Mine Dust (Lowering Exposure Limit), but an announcement today was titled "Occupational Exposure to Coal Mine Dust (Lowering Exposure)."
"The word 'limit' is gone. And that’s significant," Ward writes. "Six months ago, [Labor Secretary Hilda] Solis told miners, the coal industry and the public that her agency was going to lower the limit. Now, lowering the limit is just one of several options that are being considered." Ward's post concludes with a video of Mine Safety and Health Administration boss Joe Main "explaining why he believes MSHA may be able to end black lung without reducing the legal exposure limit."
UPDATE, Dec. 8: Ward and others question Main online but are unable to get an answer to questions like this one: "Is MSHA also committed to lowering the permissible exposure limit for coal dust?" Read Ward's report on the chat here.
"The word 'limit' is gone. And that’s significant," Ward writes. "Six months ago, [Labor Secretary Hilda] Solis told miners, the coal industry and the public that her agency was going to lower the limit. Now, lowering the limit is just one of several options that are being considered." Ward's post concludes with a video of Mine Safety and Health Administration boss Joe Main "explaining why he believes MSHA may be able to end black lung without reducing the legal exposure limit."UPDATE, Dec. 8: Ward and others question Main online but are unable to get an answer to questions like this one: "Is MSHA also committed to lowering the permissible exposure limit for coal dust?" Read Ward's report on the chat here.
Eastern Kentucky woman honored for advocacy of organic gardening
This year's Kentucky Farm Bureau Farm Public Relations Award went last week to a Middlesboro woman who has "become a regional celebrity for promoting organic gardening, nutrition and agriculture education," Farm Bureau said. Pat Biggerstaff, a Maryland native who has lived in Middlesboro for over 20 years, was honored with a plaque and $300 at the organization’s convention. (University of Kentucky photo)Her advocacy for organic gardening led to a weekly newspaper column in the Middlesboro Daily News, a television program produced by Lincoln Memorial University in nearby Harrogate, Tenn., and three books. "If everyone did as much to promote agriculture in limited agricultural counties, farmers would be much better off," Bell County Farm Bureau President John Brock Sr. wrote in nominating Biggerstaff for the award, which goes to "a Kentuckian who has contributed significantly to generating a better public understanding of agriculture," according to a Farm Bureau news release. (Read more) You can read a 2005 UK College of Agriculture feature about Biggerstaff here.
EPA says greenhouse gases threaten health but does not declare carbon dioxide dangerous
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said today that heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere are a threat to huiman health, but she did not do what some expected: declare carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, a dangerous pollutant. An endangerment finding "could pave the way for the government to require businesses that emit carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases to make costly changes in machinery to reduce emissions -- even if Congress doesn't pass pending climate-change legislation," Jeffrey Ball and Charles Forelle of The Wall Street Journal reported this morning.
Jackson's announcement "stems from a Supreme Court ruling which ordered the agency to determine the impact of carbon emissions not only on the environment, but on public health," CNN reports.
"An endangerment finding would allow the EPA to use the federal Clean Air Act to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions, which are produced whenever fossil fuel is burned," the Journal explains. "Under that law, the EPA could require emitters of as little as 250 tons of carbon dioxide per year to install new technology to curb their emissions starting as soon as 2012." EPA has said it will only require permits from facilities that put out 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, but the reporters say that effort to avoid slamming small businesses with new costs is expected to be challenged in court. (Read more) (WSJ graphic)
Jackson's announcement "stems from a Supreme Court ruling which ordered the agency to determine the impact of carbon emissions not only on the environment, but on public health," CNN reports.
"An endangerment finding would allow the EPA to use the federal Clean Air Act to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions, which are produced whenever fossil fuel is burned," the Journal explains. "Under that law, the EPA could require emitters of as little as 250 tons of carbon dioxide per year to install new technology to curb their emissions starting as soon as 2012." EPA has said it will only require permits from facilities that put out 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, but the reporters say that effort to avoid slamming small businesses with new costs is expected to be challenged in court. (Read more) (WSJ graphic)
'Climategate' complicates Copenhagen, but doesn't undercut global-warming science, experts say
Last week we briefly analyzed "Climategate," the name global-warming skeptics use to describe the stolen e-mails between world-renowned climate scientists. Now the controversy is providing added context for the global climate negotiations beginning today in Copenhagen, Andrew C. Revkin and John M. Broder of The New York Times report. As global leaders converge to discuss a new climate treaty, the e-mails have led to renewed attacks on the basic science of climate change.
"The uproar has threatened to complicate a multiyear diplomatic effort already ensnared in difficult political, technical and financial disputes that have caused leaders to abandon hopes of hammering out a binding international climate treaty this year," the Times reporters write. Despite the public outcry, an array of scientists and policy makers have told the reporters that nothing so far disclosed in the e-mails undercuts decades of peer-reviewed science. "Even some who remain skeptical about the extent or pace of global warming say that the premise underlying the Copenhagen talks is solid: that warming is to some extent driven by greenhouse gases spewing into the atmosphere from human activities like the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation," Revkin and Broder write.
Their key example is Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado, "who has been highly critical of the United Nations climate panel and ... branded many of the scientists now embroiled in the e-mail controversy part of a climate 'oligarchy'.” Pielke told the writers there is no real dispute that unusual warming is occuring, because it is widely and independently measured, and “The role of added carbon dioxide as a major contributor in climate change has been firmly established.”(Read more)
Len Peters, a chemical engineer who is secretary of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, told Jim Bruggers of The Courier-Journal in Louisville that the e-mails appear to have been taken out of context and exploited by people who don't understand give and take among scientists. “Now, are there some things we don't know about climate change? Absolutely,” Peters said. "But we know something is happening, and man certainly seems to be having some impact on the climate." (Read more)
In his "Morning Meeting," Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute also passes along several resources for local journalists covering the Copenhagen conference and climate change.
"The uproar has threatened to complicate a multiyear diplomatic effort already ensnared in difficult political, technical and financial disputes that have caused leaders to abandon hopes of hammering out a binding international climate treaty this year," the Times reporters write. Despite the public outcry, an array of scientists and policy makers have told the reporters that nothing so far disclosed in the e-mails undercuts decades of peer-reviewed science. "Even some who remain skeptical about the extent or pace of global warming say that the premise underlying the Copenhagen talks is solid: that warming is to some extent driven by greenhouse gases spewing into the atmosphere from human activities like the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation," Revkin and Broder write.
Their key example is Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado, "who has been highly critical of the United Nations climate panel and ... branded many of the scientists now embroiled in the e-mail controversy part of a climate 'oligarchy'.” Pielke told the writers there is no real dispute that unusual warming is occuring, because it is widely and independently measured, and “The role of added carbon dioxide as a major contributor in climate change has been firmly established.”(Read more)
Len Peters, a chemical engineer who is secretary of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, told Jim Bruggers of The Courier-Journal in Louisville that the e-mails appear to have been taken out of context and exploited by people who don't understand give and take among scientists. “Now, are there some things we don't know about climate change? Absolutely,” Peters said. "But we know something is happening, and man certainly seems to be having some impact on the climate." (Read more)
In his "Morning Meeting," Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute also passes along several resources for local journalists covering the Copenhagen conference and climate change.
E-mail raises questions about role of Kentucky's biggest coal company in state mine official's firing
In November we reported the former head of Kentucky's mine-permit division said he was fired because he refused to approve permits under a policy he said was illegal. Now an internal e-mail sent by an Alliance Coal executive has raised additional questions about the company's role in Ron Mills' firing. Most of the questioned permits were for underground mines ploanned by Alliance. The e-mail, sent by Raymond "Rusty" Ashcraft, Alliance's manager of environmental affairs and permitting at the company's Lexington office, informed his colleagues of the firing just minutes after Mills had been notified, John Cheves reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The controversial rule allows a coal company to mine without showing that it has the legal right to enter as much as a third of the land in its plans, and is the subject of a lawsuit the Kentucky Resources Council is preparing to file. KRC Director Tom Fitzgerald obtained a copy of Ashcraft's email and provided it to the Herald-Leader. The e-mail, sent at 9:24 a.m. on Nov. 13, also said Mills would be replaced by his deputy on an acting basis. Mills told Cheves in an interview he was fired just before the e-mail was sent and his replacement was not named until the afternoon.
"Ashcraft seemed to know before I did that I was going to be fired," Mills told Cheves. "Obviously, somebody in the administration felt compelled to call him and tell him. But why? Why are they calling coal companies about their decisions to hire and fire the people in my position?" State Energy and Environment Secretary Len Peters said last week he alone made the decision to fire Mills, and Kerri Richardson, spokeswoman for Gov. Steve Beshear, told Cheves, "As for how Rusty got information on Mr. Mills being fired, I have no idea. I don't have any information for you on that." (Read more)
In October we reported here and here that Joe Craft, president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners L.P., headed a $7 million group donation to the University of Kentucky Athletic Association to name a new men's basketball team dormitory Wildcat Coal Lodge.
The controversial rule allows a coal company to mine without showing that it has the legal right to enter as much as a third of the land in its plans, and is the subject of a lawsuit the Kentucky Resources Council is preparing to file. KRC Director Tom Fitzgerald obtained a copy of Ashcraft's email and provided it to the Herald-Leader. The e-mail, sent at 9:24 a.m. on Nov. 13, also said Mills would be replaced by his deputy on an acting basis. Mills told Cheves in an interview he was fired just before the e-mail was sent and his replacement was not named until the afternoon.
"Ashcraft seemed to know before I did that I was going to be fired," Mills told Cheves. "Obviously, somebody in the administration felt compelled to call him and tell him. But why? Why are they calling coal companies about their decisions to hire and fire the people in my position?" State Energy and Environment Secretary Len Peters said last week he alone made the decision to fire Mills, and Kerri Richardson, spokeswoman for Gov. Steve Beshear, told Cheves, "As for how Rusty got information on Mr. Mills being fired, I have no idea. I don't have any information for you on that." (Read more)
In October we reported here and here that Joe Craft, president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners L.P., headed a $7 million group donation to the University of Kentucky Athletic Association to name a new men's basketball team dormitory Wildcat Coal Lodge.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Most of rural America has fared better than metros in recession, but rural recovery has its pitfalls
The large concentration of commodity agriculture has helped the rural economy west of the Mississippi River withstand the recession, says a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. "In regions west of the Mississippi River and in the New England/Middle Atlantic region, rural communities have sustained fewer job losses than neighboring metro communities," writes Jason Henderson, the bank's vice president and Omaha branch executive. "In the West South Central Region (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana), rural communities posted much stronger job gains than in the region’s metro areas since the start of the recession."
In his report, "Prospects for a Rural Recovery," Henderson says the housing crisis was less severe in most rural areas, so housing prices in most rural areas dropped less than in metro areas. Consumer spending has dropped less in rural areas than metros, and processed food products appear to be a relative bright spot for rural economies. However, "Weakness in rural financial markets has intensified," Henderson writes. "Commercial banks have responded by tightening credit standards on a wide variety of household and business loans."
Henderson lists outmigration, industrial consolidation and limited access to capital as risks to a rural recovery. He says it hinges on an increased demand for rural products and services, and to increase demand he says rural businesses need to focus on producing goods and services targeted to rural markets. (Read more)
In his report, "Prospects for a Rural Recovery," Henderson says the housing crisis was less severe in most rural areas, so housing prices in most rural areas dropped less than in metro areas. Consumer spending has dropped less in rural areas than metros, and processed food products appear to be a relative bright spot for rural economies. However, "Weakness in rural financial markets has intensified," Henderson writes. "Commercial banks have responded by tightening credit standards on a wide variety of household and business loans."
Henderson lists outmigration, industrial consolidation and limited access to capital as risks to a rural recovery. He says it hinges on an increased demand for rural products and services, and to increase demand he says rural businesses need to focus on producing goods and services targeted to rural markets. (Read more)
E. coli vaccine may help quash beef contamination
An upcoming, large-scale test of an E. coli vaccine for cattle may help solve one of the nation's most persistent food-safety issues. The vaccine has been in the work for years, but bureaucratic delays in Washington have kept it from widespread use, William Neuman of The New York Times reports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture first received an application for the vaccine in 2001, but questions over which federal agency had jurisdiction to issue permits slowed the development till 2005.
Scientists are fairly certain the vaccines won't wipe out the dangerous strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 on their own, Neuman reports, but they could significantly reduce the amount of harmful bacteria that reache slaughter houses. At that point safeguards already in place would have a greater chance of eliminating the remaining germs from beef supply. Preliminary studies show vaccines could reduce the amount of animals carrying the disease by 65 to 75 percent.
Two vaccines are being developed commercially, one by Minnesota-based Epitox and another by Canadian Bioniche Life Sciences. The Canadian vaccine was approved for use in that country last year. USDA FIRST required any vaccines to show at least a 90 percent reduction in the number of cattle carrying the bacteria, but after an increased number of contamination cases, USDA relaxed its standard in 2008. "It’s [the vaccine] definitely a piece of the solution," James L. Marsden, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University, told Neuman. "When you combine it with other pieces you may be looking at a real solution, a total solution." (Read more)
Scientists are fairly certain the vaccines won't wipe out the dangerous strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 on their own, Neuman reports, but they could significantly reduce the amount of harmful bacteria that reache slaughter houses. At that point safeguards already in place would have a greater chance of eliminating the remaining germs from beef supply. Preliminary studies show vaccines could reduce the amount of animals carrying the disease by 65 to 75 percent.
Two vaccines are being developed commercially, one by Minnesota-based Epitox and another by Canadian Bioniche Life Sciences. The Canadian vaccine was approved for use in that country last year. USDA FIRST required any vaccines to show at least a 90 percent reduction in the number of cattle carrying the bacteria, but after an increased number of contamination cases, USDA relaxed its standard in 2008. "It’s [the vaccine] definitely a piece of the solution," James L. Marsden, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University, told Neuman. "When you combine it with other pieces you may be looking at a real solution, a total solution." (Read more)
Medicare Advantage cuts, disproportionately rural, could be key to health care reform passage
One of the major roadblocks in the way of Senate health care reform is the amount of cuts to Medicare to fund the new program. Most of the cuts in the House-passed bill would come from Medicare Advantage, the program designed in the hope that private companies could provide Medicare benefits more cheaply, Brian Faler of Bloomberg reports.
Since more money in Medicare Advantage goes to rural areas than in the rest of Medicare, and rural lawmakers have more power in the Senate, Democrats there are looking to cities for cuts, Faler reports. The gap in the approach “is as wide as on any other issue in the bill,” Brian Biles, former staff director of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health, told Faler. (Read more)
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana proposed an amendment Wednesday to the Senate bill to increase support of rural health programs. Tester had been uncommitted on the bill, but told Mike Dennison of the Billings Gazette he believes it will extend health coverage to most who lack it, lower health care premiums for many and slow the growth of health costs. Tester's amendment would require at least 20 percent of $15 billion worth of public health grants in the bill to be set aside for programs in rural areas. (Read more)
Since more money in Medicare Advantage goes to rural areas than in the rest of Medicare, and rural lawmakers have more power in the Senate, Democrats there are looking to cities for cuts, Faler reports. The gap in the approach “is as wide as on any other issue in the bill,” Brian Biles, former staff director of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health, told Faler. (Read more)
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana proposed an amendment Wednesday to the Senate bill to increase support of rural health programs. Tester had been uncommitted on the bill, but told Mike Dennison of the Billings Gazette he believes it will extend health coverage to most who lack it, lower health care premiums for many and slow the growth of health costs. Tester's amendment would require at least 20 percent of $15 billion worth of public health grants in the bill to be set aside for programs in rural areas. (Read more)
Recession makes some urban dwellers go rural
As urban and suburban real-estate prices continues to suffer during the recession, the rural market is holding up better in many areas. So-called "ruralpolitans," urban immigrants to rural areas, "are looking at land as their new safe investment, one they hope could prove more stable than their jobs and 401(k)s — and provide a better lifestyle," Gewndolyn Bounds of The Wall Street Journal reports.
Ruralpolitans typical break down into three groups, Bounds writes: "Young people buying land as an asset or investment, with vague hopes to live on it someday; exurban commuters who have jobs in big towns or cities but want to escape the sprawl; and back-to-the-land types who want to dabble in hobby farming." The largest number of ruralpolitans are among the 76 million baby boomers, Bounds reports, but a large number of 20-to-early-40-somethings are joining the boomers. Widespread Internet access, enhanced renewable energy options and the associated tax credits are helping to attract the younger crowd.
Historically, economic downturns or disasters have fueled a short-lived appetite for escape to more remote areas. People approaching retirement also often move to more rural areas, Bounds writes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service says if baby boomers follow that trend the rural population between 55-85 will grow by 30 percent between 2010 and 2020. Still, the most prevalent motivation for ruralpolitans is a hedge against an unpredictable future. "I can't tell you how many people at work say, 'Man, I'd like to do that,' " one 36-year-old ruralpolitan told Bounds. "Everybody is looking for the next opportunity for hope." [Read more]
Ruralpolitans typical break down into three groups, Bounds writes: "Young people buying land as an asset or investment, with vague hopes to live on it someday; exurban commuters who have jobs in big towns or cities but want to escape the sprawl; and back-to-the-land types who want to dabble in hobby farming." The largest number of ruralpolitans are among the 76 million baby boomers, Bounds reports, but a large number of 20-to-early-40-somethings are joining the boomers. Widespread Internet access, enhanced renewable energy options and the associated tax credits are helping to attract the younger crowd.
Historically, economic downturns or disasters have fueled a short-lived appetite for escape to more remote areas. People approaching retirement also often move to more rural areas, Bounds writes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service says if baby boomers follow that trend the rural population between 55-85 will grow by 30 percent between 2010 and 2020. Still, the most prevalent motivation for ruralpolitans is a hedge against an unpredictable future. "I can't tell you how many people at work say, 'Man, I'd like to do that,' " one 36-year-old ruralpolitan told Bounds. "Everybody is looking for the next opportunity for hope." [Read more]
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Byrd of W.Va.: 'Coal must embrace the future'
West Virginia and its coal industry must adapt to change or be overrun by it, says U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, the state's senior political leader, breaking from the embrace most of his juniors have with the industry."West Virginia’s elected officials are rightly concerned about jobs and the economic impact on local communities. I share those concerns. But the time has come to have an open and honest dialogue about coal’s future in West Virginia," writes Byrd, a Democrat who has served longer in the Senate than anyone ever has. "Let’s speak the truth. The most important factor in maintaining coal-related jobs is demand for coal. Scapegoating and stoking fear among workers over the permitting process is counter-productive."
To the industry, Byrd makes a business argument: "Coal companies want a large stockpile of permits in their back pockets because that implies stability to potential investors. But when coal industry representatives stir up public anger toward federal regulatory agencies, it can damage the state’s ability to work with those agencies to West Virginia’s benefit. This, in turn, may create the perception of ineffectiveness within the industry, which can drive potential investors away."
Byrd is referring to the Environmental Protection Agency's moves to tighten regulation of mountaintop removal and similar strip mining. He warns, "The practice of mountaintop removal mining has a diminishing constituency in Washington," and has "strong bipartisan opposition." He argues, "Most members of Congress, like most Americans, oppose the practice, and we may not yet fully understand the effects of mountaintop removal mining on the health of our citizens." Byrd also rejects the notion of some West Virginia Democrats that the state's federal representatives should refuse to vote for health-care reform unless the EPA backs off, calling the idea "morally indefensible."
On the biggest issue confronting the industry, Byrd writes, "To deny the mounting science of climate change is to stick our heads in the sand and say 'deal me out.' West Virginia would be much smarter to stay at the table. . . . The 20 coal-producing states together hold some powerful political cards. We can have a part in shaping energy policy, but we must be honest brokers if we have any prayer of influencing coal policy. . . . The greatest threats to the future of coal do not come from possible constraints on mountaintop removal mining or other environmental regulations, but rather from rigid mindsets, depleting coal reserves, and the declining demand for coal as more power plants begin shifting to biomass and natural gas as a way to reduce emissions." (Read more) To listen to Byrd reading his statement, click here.
Mine waste contributed to big fish kill in Pa., W.Va.
In September we reported the largest West Virginia fish kill in more than two decades at Dunkard Creek, which flows into Pennsylvania. Now the Environmental Protection Agency says part of the blame for the kill lies with two Consol Energy mines. The report lists toxins from a golden algae bloom as the cause of a fish kill, but says high levels of pollution from mine discharges created conditions for the algae to grow, Ben Adducchio of West Virginia Public Radio reports.
EPA Aquatic Biologist Lou Reynolds found the golden algae that caused the fish kill in Greene County, north of Dunkard. "High TDS [total dissolved solids] is associated with better growth of this algae; those mine discharges are the major contributors." Consol Director of Public Relations Joe Cerenzia told Adducchio, "Our position is that we still think further study is needed, we think there are a lot of factors that contributed to the algae bloom, aside from discharge from our mining operations. We have been willing to work and have been working with regulatory agencies on coming up with a cause. It is our belief that there still a lot of things happening with Dunkard Creek that need to be determined before you can come out with a final, definitive conclusion." (Read more) For the first story on the findings, from Don Hopey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, click here.
EPA Aquatic Biologist Lou Reynolds found the golden algae that caused the fish kill in Greene County, north of Dunkard. "High TDS [total dissolved solids] is associated with better growth of this algae; those mine discharges are the major contributors." Consol Director of Public Relations Joe Cerenzia told Adducchio, "Our position is that we still think further study is needed, we think there are a lot of factors that contributed to the algae bloom, aside from discharge from our mining operations. We have been willing to work and have been working with regulatory agencies on coming up with a cause. It is our belief that there still a lot of things happening with Dunkard Creek that need to be determined before you can come out with a final, definitive conclusion." (Read more) For the first story on the findings, from Don Hopey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, click here.
New USDA rules help protect poultry growers
Contract poultry growers appeared to win a major battle in their ongoing fight with large poultry companies Tuesday, as the federal Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration announced new rules protecting growers. The administration described the new rules as an effort to "provide poultry growers with new information and improve transparency in poultry growing arrangements."
One of the new rules would require any grower to "be provided a true written copy of a poultry growing arrangement in a timely manner," the Daily Yonder reports. The rules loosen confidentiality clauses in contracts, allowing farmers to discuss contracts with federal agencies and immediate family members, and say farmers must be notified 90 days before a contract is terminated or not renewed. The Rural Advancement Foundation International, a coalition of contract growers which has been fighting with poultry contractors for years, issued a news release praising the new rules. (Read more)
One of the new rules would require any grower to "be provided a true written copy of a poultry growing arrangement in a timely manner," the Daily Yonder reports. The rules loosen confidentiality clauses in contracts, allowing farmers to discuss contracts with federal agencies and immediate family members, and say farmers must be notified 90 days before a contract is terminated or not renewed. The Rural Advancement Foundation International, a coalition of contract growers which has been fighting with poultry contractors for years, issued a news release praising the new rules. (Read more)
USDA says cap-and-trade would benefit farmers
Climate-change legislation would significantly increase farm incomes, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday. Vilsack said carbon offsets and other provisions in the bill would more than counterbalance higher energy costs and could offer a windfall for farmers and ranchers, Jim Snyder of The Hill reports.
Vilsack's comments came in a conference call with reporters as part of the administration's efforts to "build support in rural America for climate change legislation in the face of a lobbying campaign by one prominent farm group against a cap-and-trade bill," Snyder writes. "Vilsack explained the opposition by noting the long history of farmers casting a wary eye toward change," saying "They resisted efforts to use fertilizers, plant hybrid seeds or use mechanized farm equipment."
No-till farming and installation of digesters to trap methane at hog and dairy operations are a few of the farming practices that could qualify for carbon offsets under the plan. Vilsack cited the new review from USDA of cap-and-trade's effect on farmers, saying the plan would raise food prices only 2 percent by 2030. USDA economist Joseph Glauber testified at the House hearing Wednesday that costs for energy and fertilizer, which is tied to the price of natural gas, account for about 15 percent of production expenses for the agricultural sector. (Read more) (USDA map)
Vilsack's comments came in a conference call with reporters as part of the administration's efforts to "build support in rural America for climate change legislation in the face of a lobbying campaign by one prominent farm group against a cap-and-trade bill," Snyder writes. "Vilsack explained the opposition by noting the long history of farmers casting a wary eye toward change," saying "They resisted efforts to use fertilizers, plant hybrid seeds or use mechanized farm equipment."
No-till farming and installation of digesters to trap methane at hog and dairy operations are a few of the farming practices that could qualify for carbon offsets under the plan. Vilsack cited the new review from USDA of cap-and-trade's effect on farmers, saying the plan would raise food prices only 2 percent by 2030. USDA economist Joseph Glauber testified at the House hearing Wednesday that costs for energy and fertilizer, which is tied to the price of natural gas, account for about 15 percent of production expenses for the agricultural sector. (Read more) (USDA map)
Rural children less likely to have health coverage
Rural children are less likely to have health insurance coverage than their urban and suburban counterparts in every region except the South, says a new study from the Carsey Insititute at the University of New Hampshire. In the South, rural children are more likely to be covered than children in central cities, but that's mainly because of Medicaid; Southern rural children do have lower rates of private health insurance coverage.
In Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oregon, South Dakota and Wisconsin, rural children have lower rates of coverage than urban and suburban children. Rural children in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas have insurance coverage comparative to urban children, but significantly lower than suburban children.
Of all the children in the U.S. with health insurance, an estimated 28 percent rely on a public plan, Carsey reports. Across the U.S. a significantly smaller number or rural and urban children are covered by private health insurance than suburban children. You can see the Carsey study here, which includes a state-by-state breakdown of the data.
In Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oregon, South Dakota and Wisconsin, rural children have lower rates of coverage than urban and suburban children. Rural children in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas have insurance coverage comparative to urban children, but significantly lower than suburban children.
Of all the children in the U.S. with health insurance, an estimated 28 percent rely on a public plan, Carsey reports. Across the U.S. a significantly smaller number or rural and urban children are covered by private health insurance than suburban children. You can see the Carsey study here, which includes a state-by-state breakdown of the data.
Nebraska institute suggests county consolidation
Municipal consolidation is catching on again in cities in light of the recession, but one free-market think tank says that movement should move to rural counties as well. Nebraska's Platte Institute for Economic Research released a policy study last month that said, "Having 93 counties in Nebraska does not make sense," Haya El Nasser of USA Today reports. Nebraska has one of the country's highest number of counties per 100,000 people. Eleven of its 93 counties have fewer than 1,000 people and 36 have fewer than 5,000.
Platte's analysis said the state should consolidate some county services into 20 "county centers" from the 85 currently outside the Omaha and Lincoln metropolitan areas. The group concluded if the centers were designated as actual county seats the number of county offices would be cut by 77 percent, Nasser reports. Most Nebraska residents would live within 60 miles of one of the 20 centers.
But as you might expect, the Platte Institute proposal draws some ire. "It's not only control, but it's identity," Platte Executive Director John McCollister told Nasser. "It's like taking somebody's post office away." Rutgers University professor Frank Popper told Nasser the plan wouldn't guarantee savings because some of the remote counties have few services to cut. Jerry Adamson, a county commissioner in Cherry, the state's largest county, told Nasser, "I don't see this county consolidating with anybody. One size doesn't fit all." (Read more)
Platte's analysis said the state should consolidate some county services into 20 "county centers" from the 85 currently outside the Omaha and Lincoln metropolitan areas. The group concluded if the centers were designated as actual county seats the number of county offices would be cut by 77 percent, Nasser reports. Most Nebraska residents would live within 60 miles of one of the 20 centers.
But as you might expect, the Platte Institute proposal draws some ire. "It's not only control, but it's identity," Platte Executive Director John McCollister told Nasser. "It's like taking somebody's post office away." Rutgers University professor Frank Popper told Nasser the plan wouldn't guarantee savings because some of the remote counties have few services to cut. Jerry Adamson, a county commissioner in Cherry, the state's largest county, told Nasser, "I don't see this county consolidating with anybody. One size doesn't fit all." (Read more)
Study shows that removing school junk food leads to better eating habits by students
A new study confirms a widespread assumption: Removing junk food from schools leads children to eat less junk food. Some school officials have argued that removing junk food from schools would only lead to students eating twice as much junk food at home, but researchers at Yale University say that wasn't the case in three Connecticut middle schools they studied.
"We found that when you take soda and high-fat snacks out of schools, students did not compensate at home. Instead, they ate better at school and no worse at home," study lead author Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, said in a Newswise release. Schwartz said financial pressure from the food industry, which wants to build brand loyalty, and the desire of schools to keep getting a cut of the profits from vending machines, stokes most of the opposition to removing junk food in schools.
Researchers replaced junk food with snacks that met state nutrition standards at three middle schools and compared student eating behavior at those schools to three schools were junk food supplies were not altered. While students offered the healthier foods did eat better, some say even those foods aren't enough. Joel Fuhrman, a family physician and study author said in the news release: “Even the foods that weren’t as bad, they weren’t health foods." (Read more)
"We found that when you take soda and high-fat snacks out of schools, students did not compensate at home. Instead, they ate better at school and no worse at home," study lead author Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, said in a Newswise release. Schwartz said financial pressure from the food industry, which wants to build brand loyalty, and the desire of schools to keep getting a cut of the profits from vending machines, stokes most of the opposition to removing junk food in schools.
Researchers replaced junk food with snacks that met state nutrition standards at three middle schools and compared student eating behavior at those schools to three schools were junk food supplies were not altered. While students offered the healthier foods did eat better, some say even those foods aren't enough. Joel Fuhrman, a family physician and study author said in the news release: “Even the foods that weren’t as bad, they weren’t health foods." (Read more)
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
N.C. utility to shut 11 coal plants, switch to gas
North Carolina-based Progress Energy says it will close 11 of its coal-fired power plants in the state by 2017. The utility plans to replace the plants' 1,500 megawatts of electricity with natural gas instead of retrofitting the plants with new technology to meet environmental rules that are likely to become more strict, John Murawski of The News & Observer in Raleigh reports.
The utility said the cost of replacing the plants, all built between 1949 and 1972, with natural gas facilities would be around $1.5 billion while retrofitting them would cost at least $2 billion. The decision, which still has to be approved by the state Utilities Commission, may signal the beginning of the end of coal-powered electricity in a state where more than half the electricity somes from burning coal, Murawski reports. Progress will keep 3,600 megawatts of coal-fired power in the state. (Read more)
Gov. Beverly Perdue called the decision "important for North Carolina's air quality" and "good for the environment and the economy." Progress said it sees gas as a short-term bridge until it can build two nuclear facilities in the next decade, Rebecca Smith of The Wall Street Journal reports. CEO Bill Johnson said the move to gas would help the company cut its carbon-dioxide emissions significantly, but not by the 17 percent President Obama wants by 2020. "It's still a single-digit number for us, but it's moving in the right direction," Johnson told Smith. "I think others will follow." (Read more)
The utility said the cost of replacing the plants, all built between 1949 and 1972, with natural gas facilities would be around $1.5 billion while retrofitting them would cost at least $2 billion. The decision, which still has to be approved by the state Utilities Commission, may signal the beginning of the end of coal-powered electricity in a state where more than half the electricity somes from burning coal, Murawski reports. Progress will keep 3,600 megawatts of coal-fired power in the state. (Read more)
Gov. Beverly Perdue called the decision "important for North Carolina's air quality" and "good for the environment and the economy." Progress said it sees gas as a short-term bridge until it can build two nuclear facilities in the next decade, Rebecca Smith of The Wall Street Journal reports. CEO Bill Johnson said the move to gas would help the company cut its carbon-dioxide emissions significantly, but not by the 17 percent President Obama wants by 2020. "It's still a single-digit number for us, but it's moving in the right direction," Johnson told Smith. "I think others will follow." (Read more)
Millions of farm subsidy dollars go to the dead
As many as 2,393 deceased Floridians received $88,871,593 in farm subsidies, Stephen Stock of WFOR-TV in Miami reports. In addition to the deceased recipients, thousands of others receive farm subsidies despite not actually working on a farm. "You don't have to farm to get farm subsidies," Richard Wiles, Environmental Working Group senior vice president for policy and communications, told Stock. "You don't have to have ever farmed to get farm subsidies. You don't even have to be alive to get farm subsidies."
Stock and WFOR's "I-Team" paired EWG's database of farm-subsidy recipients with people, birth dates, addresses and Social Security numbers in the Social Security Administration's database to determine the number of dead recipients. "I'm not surprised at all that you found that those numbers, hundreds of farmers who have been dead five, seven, or even eight years are still receiving checks from the government," Wiles told Stock. "It's just the way agriculture is today. There's just billions and billions of dollars being spent to farmers every year and almost no accountability for where the money goes." (Read more)
But how do the data look outside of the Sunshine State? Al Tompkins of The Poynter Institute passes along several useful resources in his "Morning Meeting" today to help local journalists investigate data in their communities. You can browse the EWG database of farm subsidy recipients here by name, county or state. You can also read the 2007 Government Accountability Office report calling for better farm subsidy regulations to eliminate payments to deceased individuals.
We echo this piece of advice from Tompkins: "Remember, just because people get a subsidy does not mean they are doing something wrong or illegal. For some farmers, subsidies have been lifelines in tough times. But billions of dollars go to people who have never farmed but hold a financial interest in a farm." (Read more)
Stock and WFOR's "I-Team" paired EWG's database of farm-subsidy recipients with people, birth dates, addresses and Social Security numbers in the Social Security Administration's database to determine the number of dead recipients. "I'm not surprised at all that you found that those numbers, hundreds of farmers who have been dead five, seven, or even eight years are still receiving checks from the government," Wiles told Stock. "It's just the way agriculture is today. There's just billions and billions of dollars being spent to farmers every year and almost no accountability for where the money goes." (Read more)
But how do the data look outside of the Sunshine State? Al Tompkins of The Poynter Institute passes along several useful resources in his "Morning Meeting" today to help local journalists investigate data in their communities. You can browse the EWG database of farm subsidy recipients here by name, county or state. You can also read the 2007 Government Accountability Office report calling for better farm subsidy regulations to eliminate payments to deceased individuals.
We echo this piece of advice from Tompkins: "Remember, just because people get a subsidy does not mean they are doing something wrong or illegal. For some farmers, subsidies have been lifelines in tough times. But billions of dollars go to people who have never farmed but hold a financial interest in a farm." (Read more)
EPA delays ethanol blend decision until mid-2010
The Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that it will delay its decision about raising the ethanol blend in gasoline until the middle of 2010. In a letter to ethanol lobbying group Growth Energy, EPA cited more testing being needed as the reason for the delay.
EPA said in the letter, dated Nov. 30, that preliminary studies appear to show newer automobiles could handle a 15 percent ethanol blend but more study is needed. "We continue to evaluate the question of component durability when E15 is used over many thousands of miles and there is an ongoing study being conducted by DOE [Department of Energy] that will provide critical data on this issue," EPA wrote. Wesley K. Clark, co-chairman of Growth Energy, told Kate Galbraith and Matthew L. Wald of The New York Times that the decision was “basically a positive answer,” but Bob Dinneen, chief executive of the Renewable Fuels Association said, “This delay threatens to paralyze the continued evolution of America’s ethanol industry.” (Read more)
EPA said in the letter, dated Nov. 30, that preliminary studies appear to show newer automobiles could handle a 15 percent ethanol blend but more study is needed. "We continue to evaluate the question of component durability when E15 is used over many thousands of miles and there is an ongoing study being conducted by DOE [Department of Energy] that will provide critical data on this issue," EPA wrote. Wesley K. Clark, co-chairman of Growth Energy, told Kate Galbraith and Matthew L. Wald of The New York Times that the decision was “basically a positive answer,” but Bob Dinneen, chief executive of the Renewable Fuels Association said, “This delay threatens to paralyze the continued evolution of America’s ethanol industry.” (Read more)
Recession drives food-stamp use to record levels; here are county-by-county data, interactive map
The recession means that the once-scorned federal program to help Americans buy food is being used more than ever. Food stamps now help feed one in eight Americans and one in four children, Jason DeParle and Robert Gebeloff of The New York Times report. While the recession has helped fuel the increased food stamp use, a Bush administration decision to make it easier to apply for "nutritional aid" instead of welfare cleared the path for increased use.
More than 36 million Americans now use food stamps, or as the previous administration renamed it, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In at least 239 counties, a quarter or more of the people get food stamps, many in rural areas but also in cities. In 62 counties, the number of recipients has more than doubled since 2007. While once-prosperous areas where the housing bust has hit are experiencing increased usage, the areas where poverty runs deepest still have the highest rates, the Times reports.
Even with food stamp usage at a record level, experts say there are millions more who could qualify for them. "I think the response of the program has been tremendous," Kevin Concannon, an undersecretary of agriculture, told the reporters, "but we’re mindful that there are another 15, 16 million who could benefit." In California food stamps reach only 50 percent of those eligible, while in Missouri 98 percent of the eligible have nutritional aid. (Read more)
Click on the map below to see the NYT full size interactive version; the accompanying chart can be re-sorted by clicking on the header of a category, such as the rate of increase in the last two years. The Daily Yonder has a breakdown of the NYT data, including a chart with state-by-state information. States where the percentage of rural residents on food stamps was at least half again as much as the state’s urban figure: Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont.
More than 36 million Americans now use food stamps, or as the previous administration renamed it, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In at least 239 counties, a quarter or more of the people get food stamps, many in rural areas but also in cities. In 62 counties, the number of recipients has more than doubled since 2007. While once-prosperous areas where the housing bust has hit are experiencing increased usage, the areas where poverty runs deepest still have the highest rates, the Times reports.
Even with food stamp usage at a record level, experts say there are millions more who could qualify for them. "I think the response of the program has been tremendous," Kevin Concannon, an undersecretary of agriculture, told the reporters, "but we’re mindful that there are another 15, 16 million who could benefit." In California food stamps reach only 50 percent of those eligible, while in Missouri 98 percent of the eligible have nutritional aid. (Read more)
Click on the map below to see the NYT full size interactive version; the accompanying chart can be re-sorted by clicking on the header of a category, such as the rate of increase in the last two years. The Daily Yonder has a breakdown of the NYT data, including a chart with state-by-state information. States where the percentage of rural residents on food stamps was at least half again as much as the state’s urban figure: Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Flap over climate e-mails shows one thing for sure: Researchers need to have more transparency
The blogosphere and talk radio have been abuzz with debates from both sides of the argument over global warming since more than 1,000 emails and 2,000 other documents were stolen from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University in the United Kingdom two weeks ago. Many on the right have argued the e-mails represent clear evidence of a conspiracy among climate scientists to cover up the holes in global-warming agruments, and many on the left classify the e-mails as dealing with relatively insignificant elements of climate research.
Either way, significant damage appears to have been done to the public perception of global warming advocates, conservative columnist Kim Strassel writes for The Wall Street Journal, and she has evidence to back her up: George Monbiot, a U.K. writer who has been among the fiercest warming alarmists, recently wrote, "It's no use pretending that this isn't a major blow," adding that the documents "could scarcely be more damaging." Strassel notes that Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, a global-warming denier, has described the e-mails as the final nail in the coffin of cap-and-trade, the proposd system for limiting greenhous-gas emissions.
On the other side, Andrew Freedman of The Washington Post has three interviews, here, here and here, with prominent scientific figures who mostly downplay the effect of the e-mails on the future of climate change research. The controversy has at least claimed one scientist: Phil Jones, one of the e-mailers in question, has stepped down from his director role of the Climate Research Unit while an independent investigation is completed, Juliet Eilperin of the Post reports.
The most critical e-mails seem to center on attempts to silence conflicting views within the pro-global warming side of the scientific community. Judith Curry, the chair of School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a strong believer in global warming, has called for increased transparency in the field in light of the stolen e-mails. "If climate science is to uphold core research values and be credible to public, we need to respond to any critique of data or methodology that emerges from analysis by other scientists," she wrote in an open letter published by Andrew C. Revkin of The New York Times. "Ignoring skeptics coming from outside the field is inappropriate." (Read more)
Curry argues that climate scientists should do more to engage their detractors in an effort to improve public perception of their research. Most of the research data from the climate scientists in the emails is already made public, but selective publishing by the hackers has not really added to transparency. Climategate, as the e-mail scandal is being called, has probably affected the public perception of climate science, but it seems to us that Curry's suggestion of more transparency in how research is conducted, and how scientific journals select articles, is one way to tackle the problem.
Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette has a good roundup of commentary and analysis here.
Either way, significant damage appears to have been done to the public perception of global warming advocates, conservative columnist Kim Strassel writes for The Wall Street Journal, and she has evidence to back her up: George Monbiot, a U.K. writer who has been among the fiercest warming alarmists, recently wrote, "It's no use pretending that this isn't a major blow," adding that the documents "could scarcely be more damaging." Strassel notes that Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, a global-warming denier, has described the e-mails as the final nail in the coffin of cap-and-trade, the proposd system for limiting greenhous-gas emissions.
On the other side, Andrew Freedman of The Washington Post has three interviews, here, here and here, with prominent scientific figures who mostly downplay the effect of the e-mails on the future of climate change research. The controversy has at least claimed one scientist: Phil Jones, one of the e-mailers in question, has stepped down from his director role of the Climate Research Unit while an independent investigation is completed, Juliet Eilperin of the Post reports.
The most critical e-mails seem to center on attempts to silence conflicting views within the pro-global warming side of the scientific community. Judith Curry, the chair of School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a strong believer in global warming, has called for increased transparency in the field in light of the stolen e-mails. "If climate science is to uphold core research values and be credible to public, we need to respond to any critique of data or methodology that emerges from analysis by other scientists," she wrote in an open letter published by Andrew C. Revkin of The New York Times. "Ignoring skeptics coming from outside the field is inappropriate." (Read more)
Curry argues that climate scientists should do more to engage their detractors in an effort to improve public perception of their research. Most of the research data from the climate scientists in the emails is already made public, but selective publishing by the hackers has not really added to transparency. Climategate, as the e-mail scandal is being called, has probably affected the public perception of climate science, but it seems to us that Curry's suggestion of more transparency in how research is conducted, and how scientific journals select articles, is one way to tackle the problem.
Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette has a good roundup of commentary and analysis here.
Survey shows rural Midwest economy still shaky
A survey of business leaders and supply managers in nine Midwestern states shows rural areas in the region are being hit hard by what may be another dip into recession. November's Business Conditions Index for the Mid-America region stood at 47.5, down from 51.8 in October and 56.2 in September, The Associated Press reports. The index ranges from zero to 100, with a score above 50 suggesting economic growth in the next three to six months and a score below 50 suggesting an economic contraction over the same period.
"The significant decline in farm income for 2009 continues to weigh on firms with strong ties to agriculture," Ernie Goss, a Creighton University economist who oversees the monthly survey, told the AP. "For example, agriculture-equipment manufacturers have been hard hit by farmers' reluctance to purchase new equipment. This downturn has been particularly significant for rural areas of the region." The Mid-American region includes Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Goss tells the AP that 41 percent of Midwest supply managers anticipate making layoffs at their companies in the coming months and only 48 percent expect to receive pay increases in 2010. Despite the other bleak information, survey respondents remained optimistic. The confidence index was down only slightly from 68.9 in October to 68 in November. (Read more)
"The significant decline in farm income for 2009 continues to weigh on firms with strong ties to agriculture," Ernie Goss, a Creighton University economist who oversees the monthly survey, told the AP. "For example, agriculture-equipment manufacturers have been hard hit by farmers' reluctance to purchase new equipment. This downturn has been particularly significant for rural areas of the region." The Mid-American region includes Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Goss tells the AP that 41 percent of Midwest supply managers anticipate making layoffs at their companies in the coming months and only 48 percent expect to receive pay increases in 2010. Despite the other bleak information, survey respondents remained optimistic. The confidence index was down only slightly from 68.9 in October to 68 in November. (Read more)
Resources to localize Afghanistan troop coverage
President Obama is expected to announce a new plan to send around 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan during a national television address tonight. While large-scale troop counts and war strategies can be difficult to localize, Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute has provided some excellent resources for local journalists in his Morning Meeting. More than 850 Americans have died in or around Afghanistan since the start of the war.
ICasualties.org also has an interactive map that breaks down the number of wounded and killed by state. Here is tyhe iCasualties site, which is updated daily to include the number of deaths, wounded and missing or captured. The Washington Post's ongoing "Faces of the Fallen" page honors fallen soldiers with a picture, biographical information and details of their death. PBS also has a brief history of Afghanistan and timeline of American involvement in the country. (Read more)
ICasualties.org also has an interactive map that breaks down the number of wounded and killed by state. Here is tyhe iCasualties site, which is updated daily to include the number of deaths, wounded and missing or captured. The Washington Post's ongoing "Faces of the Fallen" page honors fallen soldiers with a picture, biographical information and details of their death. PBS also has a brief history of Afghanistan and timeline of American involvement in the country. (Read more)
Monday, November 30, 2009
University of Kentucky athletics puts $500,000 into annual scholarships for Appalachian students
The University of Kentucky announced today that its self-supporting athletics department will put another $500,000 a year into scholarships, this time for students in Appalachian Kentucky, on top of the $1.2 million it annually gives for non-athletic scholarships. The primary beneficiaries of the new money will be the Robinson Scholars, students from 29 Appalachian coalfield counties whose families have never sent anyone to college. "Some of our most loyal fans are those who reside in Eastern Kentucky," Senior Associate Athletic Director Rob Mullens said at a news conference this afternoon.
The program, which now funds one student from each county, will be expanded to roughly three per county. Any leftover funds will be used for need-based scholarships to help students in Appalachian Kentucky, which includes almost twice as many counties as the coal counties. The money was allocated for scholarships several months ago, but was not designated for Appalachian students. It will come from a 15-year deal among CBS Sports, ESPN and the Southeastern Conference, of which UK is a member.
UK President Lee Todd and the majority leaders of both houses of the state legislature said the scholarships are an investment in the future of the region. Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said he and Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, are known for appropriating money for infrastructure projects in Appalachia, "but pro0bably our most valuable infrastructure" is the "intellectual infrastructure" of its young people. "That is what will really make the difference in our region of the state, and the state as a whole," he said. Todd said at least half the Robinson scholars return to the coalfield after graduation.
The program, which now funds one student from each county, will be expanded to roughly three per county. Any leftover funds will be used for need-based scholarships to help students in Appalachian Kentucky, which includes almost twice as many counties as the coal counties. The money was allocated for scholarships several months ago, but was not designated for Appalachian students. It will come from a 15-year deal among CBS Sports, ESPN and the Southeastern Conference, of which UK is a member.
UK President Lee Todd and the majority leaders of both houses of the state legislature said the scholarships are an investment in the future of the region. Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said he and Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, are known for appropriating money for infrastructure projects in Appalachia, "but pro0bably our most valuable infrastructure" is the "intellectual infrastructure" of its young people. "That is what will really make the difference in our region of the state, and the state as a whole," he said. Todd said at least half the Robinson scholars return to the coalfield after graduation.
Competitors say Monsanto's seed power too great
Ninety-three percent of U.S. soybeans and 80 percent of U.S. corn are now grown from genetically altered seeds. Monsanto "Roundup Ready" technology has allowed the seeds to stand up to herbicides like Roundup even after planting, Peter Whoriskey of The Washington Post reports. Now the Justice Department is now investigating Monsanto's stranglehold on the seed industry to see if it has too much control.
Prices for Roundup Ready seeds have increased to about $50 for a 50-pound bag. "Farmers have decried the price increases, and competitors say the company has ruthlessly stifled competition," Whoriskey writes. The Justice Department's investigation of Monsanto is the latest example of the added emphasis on antitrust regulation by the Obama administration compared to the Bush administration, which didn't file a single case under anti-monopoly laws, Whoriskey reports.
Monsanto says it's done nothing wrong and the popularity of its seeds is only a result of excellent performance. "Everybody wants it, and Monsanto is seeing what the market will bear," Maryland farmer Geno Lowe told Whoriskey. "People say that's capitalism. The question is, where does capitalism meet corruption?" Competitors say the Roundup Ready seeds are so dominant that any new biotech innovations must work with the Monsanto technology, and the company is freezing out competition by making it difficult to win patents to add traits to the seeds.
"Monsanto has abused its unlawfully acquired monopoly power to block competition, thwart innovation and extract from farmers unjustified price increases of over 100 percent in recent years," competitor DuPont argues in court papers. Monsanto says it already licenses the technology to hundreds of companies, but maintains some restrictions to ensure those companies' perform as advertised. (Read more)
Prices for Roundup Ready seeds have increased to about $50 for a 50-pound bag. "Farmers have decried the price increases, and competitors say the company has ruthlessly stifled competition," Whoriskey writes. The Justice Department's investigation of Monsanto is the latest example of the added emphasis on antitrust regulation by the Obama administration compared to the Bush administration, which didn't file a single case under anti-monopoly laws, Whoriskey reports.
Monsanto says it's done nothing wrong and the popularity of its seeds is only a result of excellent performance. "Everybody wants it, and Monsanto is seeing what the market will bear," Maryland farmer Geno Lowe told Whoriskey. "People say that's capitalism. The question is, where does capitalism meet corruption?" Competitors say the Roundup Ready seeds are so dominant that any new biotech innovations must work with the Monsanto technology, and the company is freezing out competition by making it difficult to win patents to add traits to the seeds.
"Monsanto has abused its unlawfully acquired monopoly power to block competition, thwart innovation and extract from farmers unjustified price increases of over 100 percent in recent years," competitor DuPont argues in court papers. Monsanto says it already licenses the technology to hundreds of companies, but maintains some restrictions to ensure those companies' perform as advertised. (Read more)
Cool summer made coal stockpiles grow, dictating needs for more cuts in production, operators say
Despite large cuts in production, U.S. coal stockpiles have continued to grow in 2009. As supply of coal outpaces demand, industry officials are predicting more widespread production cuts in the next year, Kris Maher of The Wall Street Journal reports. A recent uptick in U.S. industrial activity hasn't been enough to raise depressed coal prices in the major U.S. producing areas.
The benchmark price for Central Appalachian coal, 20 percent of U.S. production, is down to $54 a ton from $111 last year, Maher reports. The benchmark price for Power River Basin coal in the West, 40 percent of production, is down to $8.25 a ton from $14.50. Coal stockpiles at utilities hit 199.7 million tons in September, up 37 percent from last year. Industry officials say they are more comfortable with utility reserves hovering around 140 million tons. (WSJ chart)
The summer of 2009 was relatively cool, creating less demand for air conditioning, and utilities' coal stockpiles increased for the first time in 25 summers, Maher reports. Though the industry cut 100 million tons of production this year, Kevin Crutchfield, chief executive of Alpha Natural Resources Inc., tells Maher he expects it to be cut by an additional 20 to 40 million tons in the first half of 2010. The Labor Department reported coal mining employment at 79,600 in September, down 7.5 percent from a year earlier. Small companies in Central Appalachia are expected to be the hardest hit by the downturn.
Some companies have turned to foreign markets to sell coal, and sale of metallurgical coal to steelmakers is up, but much of the coal needed to fuel the increasing Asian demand may come from outside the U.S., Maher reports. "For us it's really a tale of two markets, between a U.S. market where stockpiles need to be worked down, and where the growth will come in Australia feeding into Asian markets," Vic Svec, a Peabody Energy Corp. senior vice president, told Maher. (Read more)
The benchmark price for Central Appalachian coal, 20 percent of U.S. production, is down to $54 a ton from $111 last year, Maher reports. The benchmark price for Power River Basin coal in the West, 40 percent of production, is down to $8.25 a ton from $14.50. Coal stockpiles at utilities hit 199.7 million tons in September, up 37 percent from last year. Industry officials say they are more comfortable with utility reserves hovering around 140 million tons. (WSJ chart)The summer of 2009 was relatively cool, creating less demand for air conditioning, and utilities' coal stockpiles increased for the first time in 25 summers, Maher reports. Though the industry cut 100 million tons of production this year, Kevin Crutchfield, chief executive of Alpha Natural Resources Inc., tells Maher he expects it to be cut by an additional 20 to 40 million tons in the first half of 2010. The Labor Department reported coal mining employment at 79,600 in September, down 7.5 percent from a year earlier. Small companies in Central Appalachia are expected to be the hardest hit by the downturn.
Some companies have turned to foreign markets to sell coal, and sale of metallurgical coal to steelmakers is up, but much of the coal needed to fuel the increasing Asian demand may come from outside the U.S., Maher reports. "For us it's really a tale of two markets, between a U.S. market where stockpiles need to be worked down, and where the growth will come in Australia feeding into Asian markets," Vic Svec, a Peabody Energy Corp. senior vice president, told Maher. (Read more)
U.S. wind industry says it employs more than coal
The wind-energy industry says it employs more Americans than coal mining. A new report from the American Wind Energy Association says wind industry jobs jumped to 85,000 in 2008, up 70 percent from the previous year. The U.S. Department of Energy reported coal mining employed close to 81,000 people in 2007, and Todd Woody of Fortune magazine reports reports coal jobs have remained steady in recent years but are down 50 percent since 1986.
The jump in wind jobs resulted from the 50 percent increase in installed wind capacity, with 8,358 megawatts coming online in 2008. Wind also accounted for 42 percent of the new electricity generation installed in the U.S. in 2008, Woody reports. But the outlook for wind jobs in 2009 isn't as rosy, because the global credit crisis has delayed financing for new projects. Layoffs have also hit companies that make wind turbines. The U.S. wind market is still dominated by European companies, but they have shifted production of components closer to American consumers. Domestic production was 30 percent of the total in 2005, and 50 percent in 2008. (Read more)
The jump in wind jobs resulted from the 50 percent increase in installed wind capacity, with 8,358 megawatts coming online in 2008. Wind also accounted for 42 percent of the new electricity generation installed in the U.S. in 2008, Woody reports. But the outlook for wind jobs in 2009 isn't as rosy, because the global credit crisis has delayed financing for new projects. Layoffs have also hit companies that make wind turbines. The U.S. wind market is still dominated by European companies, but they have shifted production of components closer to American consumers. Domestic production was 30 percent of the total in 2005, and 50 percent in 2008. (Read more)
Highway in Utah is both an example of the dangers of rural roads and the difficulties in fixing them
In October we reported that the National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration had released data revealing almost 60 percent of U.S. traffic fatalities in 2008 occurred on rural roads. Now Howard Berkes of National Public Radio has provided an excellent example of applying that nationwide data in a local context. Berkes focuses on the 120-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 6 between Spanish Fork and Green River in Utah, one of the deadliest roads in America.
"Since 1996, more than 150 people have died in more than 500 serious accidents on that central Utah portion of the road," Berkes reports. The road serves as the link between much of the state and the medical specialists, government offices, shopping, colleges and families along Utah's populous Wasatch Front, which includes Salt Lake City. The road also attracts heavy truck traffic because it is part of the shortest route between Salt Lake City and Denver, and tourists use the road to travel to the national parks and scenic rivers of southeast Utah. (NPR map by Berkes and Nelson Hsu)
Despite vocal community organizing to improve safety on U.S. 6, Utah funds were diverted to northern roads in advance of the 2002 Winter Olympics and the road often ranked as priority No. 2 on many lawmakers' lists, Berkes reports. Utah recently began a series of ambitious and costly projects to improve the road's safety, but the projects' difficulties offer examples of the challenge in improving rural roads. Many rural roads bring environmental concerns about preservation of natural landscapes, Berkes reports, and many dangerous segments parallel natural and man-made features that limit engineering options. (Read more)
"Since 1996, more than 150 people have died in more than 500 serious accidents on that central Utah portion of the road," Berkes reports. The road serves as the link between much of the state and the medical specialists, government offices, shopping, colleges and families along Utah's populous Wasatch Front, which includes Salt Lake City. The road also attracts heavy truck traffic because it is part of the shortest route between Salt Lake City and Denver, and tourists use the road to travel to the national parks and scenic rivers of southeast Utah. (NPR map by Berkes and Nelson Hsu)Despite vocal community organizing to improve safety on U.S. 6, Utah funds were diverted to northern roads in advance of the 2002 Winter Olympics and the road often ranked as priority No. 2 on many lawmakers' lists, Berkes reports. Utah recently began a series of ambitious and costly projects to improve the road's safety, but the projects' difficulties offer examples of the challenge in improving rural roads. Many rural roads bring environmental concerns about preservation of natural landscapes, Berkes reports, and many dangerous segments parallel natural and man-made features that limit engineering options. (Read more)
Massey Energy boss is cool with being the villain
Massey Energy Co. Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship has long been one of the most outspoken critics of climate-change legislation and loudest voices on the pro-coal side of energy debates, but his strong positions haven't led him to spend much money on lobbying efforts. "I don’t believe you can change the behavior of politicians by asking them to vote differently very often, particularly when you are viewed as having a personal interest in the issue," Blankenship told Jim Snyder of The Hill, which covers Congress. "I think you have to take it to the public."Massey Energy, the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia, spends "next to nothing on lobbying of its own," Snyder reports, but is a member of groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which have large lobbying budgets. "I’ve never walked into a senator’s office, told him what my view was, and had him change his view, so I don’t tend to spend a lot of my time doing that," Blankenship told Snyder. Blankenship said when legislators vote against the public will they lose their next election anyway.
Blankenship reasserted his belief that global warming is not a man-made threat, but instead a natural cyclical process. When asked if he thought the "train had left the station" on the politically reality of global warming, Blankenship responded by repeating a lesson he recently told a group of students in West Virginia. "People talk about character being what you do when no one else is looking," he told Snyder. "But the truth of the matter is character is doing that which is unpopular if it’s right, even if it causes you to be vilified." (Read more)
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