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By Brian Lindholm

In an April 24 commentary, “The fuel standard is working,” Adam Monroe of Novozymes North America argued that the federal Renewable Fuel Standard is working well. In doing so, Monroe falsely credited “the mix of renewable fuel in our gasoline with lowering the average price of a gallon by 79 cents” or even “by $1.09.” On April 19, letter writer Bill Boshong (“Goodlatte’s wrong on renewable fuel”) claimed that the RFS is helping “lower consumer gasoline costs by an average of 89 cents a gallon.”

A trivial analysis shows these claims to be absurd.

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Lindholm is a mechanical engineer who lives in Roanoke.

By Andy Schmookler

If these are the early stages, I shudder to think what’s on the path ahead.

Two things brought that thought to mind.

One is my own aging. Aches and pains, stiffer muscles, presbyopia, diminished energy. As I approach my 67th birthday, I can imagine the kind of hard experience that led Bette Davis to say that old age isn’t for sissies. It’s no small challenge to come to terms with the ancient truth that the uphill part of life’s cycle is followed by the downhill.

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Schmookler, recently the Democratic candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 6th District, is an author whose books include “Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America’s Moral Divide.”

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By Frederick Fuller

OK, let’s grant that climate-change deniers are right: Human beings are not responsible for climate change. Let’s accept that changes in world climate are a natural phenomenon that occurs regularly as time goes by.

What about garbage? Garbage that is burying our planet. Fact is, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American generates 4.6 pounds of trash every day. That amounts to collaboratively 250 million tons per year. Now that is just from average Americans and does not include industrial or municipal waste.

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Fuller lives in Roanoke County.

By Sarah Bucci and John S. Edwards

From record-breaking summer temperatures to the derecho that cut power to Roanoke-area residents for days, last year’s headlines featured far too many dangerous and destructive weather events that have impacted Virginia communities’ health, safety, economy and environment.

What we may not realize is just how many of us have been affected by these types of events.

A new Environment Virginia Research and Policy Center report finds that nine out of every 10 Virginians — nearly 8 million people — have been hit by at least one federally declared weather-related disaster since 2007.

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Bucci is a field organizer with Environment Virginia Research and Policy Center. Edwards, of Roanoke, represents the 21st Senatorial District of Virginia.

By Cristina Siegel

Thirty-six tons of trash and more than 500 tires; this is the recent haul collected by 1,400-plus volunteers at this year’s Clean Valley Day on April 13.

While we are proud to have such dedicated volunteers who care enough about their environment and community to spend the most perfect spring morning out cleaning up other peoples litter, it is troubling that this amount of waste is in our streets, parks, greenways and rivers.

The Roanoke Valley, with its tree-lined streets, surrounding forested mountains, many creeks that all flow into our Roanoke River is truly a beautiful place to live. And yet our streets and rivers are littered enough to require multiple trash trucks working all day to pick up litter collected by a group of volunteers.

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Siegel is executive director of Clean Valley Council.

By Karen B. Maute

Jane Van Ryan’s April 2 commentary, “A troubling result on uranium,” neglects some pertinent facts.

Van Ryan claims Virginia Uranium has made a compelling case for lifting the ban on uranium mining. Not so. In actuality, a compelling case to keep the ban has resulted from the various reports that have been issued on the subject.

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Maute is a resident of Pittsylvania County.

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By Beth Doughty

Runners from across the United States and several countries will flock to Roanoke for America’s toughest road race — the Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon on April 20. Along with the recently opened River Rock climbing gym, expanded green­way system and new outdoor events, the Roanoke region is making progress on an economic development vision — to leverage our outdoor assets to enhance quality of life, which will attract talent, jobs and investment to the region.

Along with education and transportation systems, the outdoors — trails, parks, greenways, lakes and rivers — are building blocks of a vibrant economy. A Knight Foundation study called Soul of the Community says social offerings, openness and aesthetics are factors that attach people to their community. The higher the level of attachment, the stronger the economic growth.

In the Roanoke region, the outdoors is the venue that stimulates social interaction and welcomes all in a beautiful stage. It’s also a laboratory that’s inventing our economic future.

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Doughty is executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, which has focused on an economic strategy around the outdoors through programs such as RoanokeOutside.com, the Blue Ridge Marathon and GOFest.

By Charlotte Moore

The consequences of our actions can be rewarding or they can be disappointing. I’d like to outline some truths about the valley in which we live, work and play.

Our local businesses are responsible for our economic survival. When we support a business like Ply Gem Windows, we are not only promoting local jobs, we are helping to provide a service to local developers and businesses that sell their products. The transportation costs are minimal, which helps reduce the costs of their products. The type of products that Ply Gem sells also helps to save our residents money. When insulated windows and doors are installed, energy costs are reduced.

Our quality of life depends a lot on how we do business on the local level.

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Moore represents the Cave Spring District on the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.

By Emily Walters

Over the last few weeks, talk about the federal sequestration has been circulating in the news as if the end times are near. In particular, Virginia will lose $3 million of environmental funding and close to $1 million in fish and wildlife protection grants.

On the surface, a number like $3 million does not seem to compare to the much larger cuts Virginia faces — namely a $14 million cut from education funding and a $146 million cut from defense funding. A cut to environmental funding, however, is arguably just as devastating because there will be fewer resources to commit to environmental preservation, which will negatively impact local economies.

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Walters is a third-year law student at Washington and Lee University School of Law.