I saw in my roundup of Virginia news this morning that the commonwealth is trying to figure out what to do with a dead whale that washed up near Gloucester Point and is stinking up the place.
Last year I marked the anniversary of a similar incident in Oregon on the RT blog with bit of video. Reminder, Oregon marine officials: Whales and dynamite don't mix.
(Video shamelessly posted again below the jump.) Read more »
J. Winston Porter
Porter is with Environmental Strategies in Leesburg and formerly was assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The problem of dwindling water supplies in the United States is becoming an increasingly critical one. It's not just happening in the Southwest, but beginning to show up in our own back yards in Virginia and elsewhere in the Southeast, where we've had an abundant supply of water for so long that we've taken it for granted.
Michael G. Morris
Morris is the chairman, president and chief executive officer for American Electric Power.
The arguments for and against climate action haven't abated with the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 by the U.S. House of Representatives. Both sides are sharpening their messages in preparation for Senate action on the issue.
The public hears the rhetoric and must weigh the choices. Cleaner energy? That's good. Higher energy costs? That's bad.
But a key fact that is critical for everyone to understand has been lost in the debate. One way or another, there will be climate action.
Brian Lindholm
Lindholm is a mechanical engineer who lives in Salem.
The U.S. House recently passed the Waxman-Markey bill, commonly called "carbon cap and trade." Under this law, carbon dioxide emissions would be explicitly capped, with utilities purchasing permits to be allowed to emit CO2. The quantity of permits distributed would be gradually reduced, cutting emissions by 83 percent by the year 2050. Estimates of annual cost impact to U.S. households have varied wildly, ranging from $140 to nearly $6,000. What would really happen?
Yes, we know you never litter, are diligent about keeping plastic store bags from blowing away, wouldn't think of driving along a remote road and tossing tires down a hillside.
Unfortunately, not everyone is you. Some of your neighbors are slobs and treat nature as their personal landfill.
The developers of a wind farm in Highland County will be required today to appear before the State Corporation Commission -- again. This time opponents claim that the wind mills, finally under construction, might be seen from the site of a Civil War skirmish.
Monday, Roanoke City Council named a new park -- a link in the Roanoke River Greenway -- after the late Del. Vic Thomas, who for 30 years represented parts of the city and county in the state House. Wednesday, we'll write that Thomas more than earned the honor.
Over the long Labor Day weekend, Van Jones resigned from the Obama administration. Jones, author of the best-selling book "The Green Collar Economy" had been hired to advise the administration on creating green jobs. Before he could get to serious work, though, he became the target of a smear campaign from the right based on some of his past associations.
We're writing an editorial for Wednesday about his resignation. He has become a distraction at a time when the administration needs to focus on more pressing matters.
Much of what got the right hyperventilating really was not that big of a deal. The one unforgivable in his background, however, was his involvement with a group that suspected the Bush administration knew about the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in advance and allowed them to occur so they would have a reason to start wars in the Middle East. Subscription to that sort of ludicrous conspiracy is unacceptable in a servant of the people. In the same way, four or eight years from now, we hope the next president would not hire someone who today subscribes to the inane Birther movement.
We'll also point out that his rise calls into question the vetting process at the White House. Either they knew about Jones' inflammatory background and didn't think it would be a big deal or they missed it completely. The former would indicate they are terribly naive about how Washington works; the latter that they were terribly sloppy. We hope they will do a better job when they replace him. And he does need to be replaced. Moving America into a greener economy remains important work.
Sean McGinnis
McGinnis, of Roanoke, is on the Roanoke Citizens for Clean and Green Committee, a board member of the Southwest Virginia chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and director of Virginia Tech Green Engineering.
The subject of carbon dioxide emissions is increasingly in the news. It's a real challenge to filter through all the information -- new scientific data and results, proposed legislation and political posturing, and strong opinions regarding the scale of the problem and potential solutions.
Nonetheless, responsible citizens educate themselves and act on such issues to improve their communities and the environment for future generations.
Thursday, we'll decry a phony "grass-roots" letter-writing campaign against the controversial cap-and-trade bill in Congress, and argue that there should be a law to require groups that organize such lobbying efforts to reveal who is paying for them.
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