Norristown, PA Spring Clean-up

Posted on | January 30, 2009 | Comments Off

Greetings,

I’m sending this to encourage you to engage in our community of Norristown with this community-wide effort to do a massive clean-up project this Spring 2009 (see email below). I’ve been part of this planning committee representing the Greater Norristown Ministerium and Partners for Families to encourage the faith-community the “Body of Christ” to roll-up our sleeves and express our incarnational witness through “servant-leadership.” This will be a comprehensive “Clean-up” effort with a series of projects throughout the month of April i.e., tree-planting, environmental impact education, and other activities.

It is our biblical responsibility as Christians to be concerned residents of our community by setting the example at the grass-roots level to come along side our neighbors and congregations to be a Christ-like witness demonstrating our care for our community. This event aligns so much with a recent seminar I attended on a discussion about Christians and the Environment at http://www.christiansandclimate.org. You’ll be enlightened about how much can make a difference when we act “glocally” within our own communities!

Being engaged in this community-wide effort is a tangible demonstration of “loving our neighbor.” Spread the word to your congregations and colleagues! Let’s help make our community a better place to live…let’s “clean-up and green-up”.

Emperor penguins at risk as ice melts

Posted on | January 27, 2009 | Comments Off

Story From Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

Emperor penguins, the waddling stars of the 2005 movie March of the Penguins, could face extinction by 2100 as Antarctic sea ice melts because of global warming, a study reported Monday. The study, the first to link climate change with this penguin species, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Antarctic sea ice is projected to melt as greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels warms the atmosphere. “Sea ice is essential to the emperor penguin life cycle, as the animals use it to breed, feed, and molt,” the authors write in the study.

The scientists, led by Stephanie Jenouvrier and Hal Caswell of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, based their sea-ice projections on 10 computer models used by the 2007 United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

If sea ice shrinks in Antarctica as the models predict, authors say an emperor penguin colony in Terre Adélie, Antarctica, would decline from its peak of 6,000 breeding pairs in the 1960s to about 400 by 2100. Study co-author Caswell, a Woods Hole biologist, says researchers believe that would qualify as a “quasi-extinction,” based on the 95% or more population decline.

But last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list the emperor penguin as an endangered species. In an online report, the service wrote that “review of the best available scientific information found no significant threats to the current survival of the emperor penguin.”

Caswell and his co-authors say that “to avoid extinction, emperor penguins will have to adapt, migrate or change the timing of their growth stages.” But unlike other Antarctic bird species, emperor penguins have historically seemed slow to change, they note.

PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDA: EPA To Review California’s New Auto Emissions Standards

Posted on | January 27, 2009 | Comments Off

SUBJECT: State of California Request for Waiver Under 42 U.S.C. 7543(b), the Clean Air Act

Under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets emissions standards for new motor vehicles. California may also adopt standards for new motor vehicles if the Administrator of the EPA, based on criteria set out in the statute, waives the general statutory prohibition on State adoption or enforcement of emissions standards. Other States may adopt emissions standards for new motor vehicles if they are identical to the California standards for which a waiver has been granted and comply with other statutory criteria.

For decades, the EPA has granted the State of California such waivers. The EPA’s final decision to deny California’s application for a waiver permitting the State to adopt limitations on greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles was published in the Federal Register on March 6, 2008.

In order to ensure that the EPA carries out its responsibilities for improving air quality, you are hereby requested to assess whether the EPA’s decision to deny a waiver based on California’s application was appropriate in light of the Clean Air Act. I further request that, based on that assessment, the EPA initiate any appropriate action.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE, January 26, 2009

What’s your EnviroQ? Answer Page

Posted on | January 25, 2009 | Comments Off

by the EPA

Washington DC — The “What’s your EnviroQ?” feature highlights important environmental issues and helpful information that everyone can use. We hope the EnviroQ will stimulate users’ interest and curiosity about a variety of topics and make it fun to learn about environmental protection.

Use this page to check your answers or read more of the EnviroQs.

How many USA lung cancer deaths each year are due to radon?

a. 200
b. 2000
c. 20000
d. 200000

The answer is c.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas and has been identified as a leading cause of lung cancer, second only to cigarette smoking in the United States. EPA’s most recent health risk assessment estimates that 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year are due to radon. You can’t see or smell radon because it is a colorless, odorless gas. The only way to know whether radon exists in elevated levels in your home, and to protect your family from radon, is to TEST! Who can test or fix your home? | USA map of radon zones

How many tons of road salt are used each year in the United States?

a. 500 thousand
b. 2 million
c. 11 million
d. 97 million

The answer is c.

More than 11 million tons of salt are applied to roads in the Unites States annually. As ice and snow melt, or rain falls, the salt is washed into the surrounding soil. Salt also enters ground water from improperly protected storage stockpiles. Road salt application and storage

Follow cleanup instructions for a mercury spill. What never to do
Mercury should be carefully cleaned up and disposed of when you

a. visit the innermost planet
b. break a thermometer
c. transmute lead into gold
d. deliver messages quickly

The answer is b.

When liquid mercury (also known as elemental or metallic mercury) is spilled, it forms droplets that can accumulate in the tiniest of spaces and then emit vapors into the air. Mercury vapor in the air is odorless, colorless, and very toxic! Most mercury exposures occur by breathing vapors, by direct skin contact or by eating food or drinking water contaminated with mercury. Any amount spilled or leaked must be treated with extreme caution and cleaned up or removed immediately and very carefully so as not to spread any contamination. What should I do if I have a mercury spill? | Basic information about Mercury | FOR KIDS! What you need to know about Mercury!

In case of oil or chemical spill, who you gonna call?

a. the neighbors
b. the marines
c. the national response center
d. the garbage collector

The answer is c.

To report an oil or chemical spill, call 1-800-424-8802. An environmental emergency is a sudden threat to the public health, or the well-being of the environment, from the release or potential release of oil, radioactive materials, or hazardous chemicals. Environmental emergencies may happen from transportation accidents, events at chemical or other facilities using or manufacturing chemicals, or as a result of natural or man-made disasters. They can be large spills in the ocean or small spills along a neighborhood street. While there are many serious environmental problems EPA is concerned with, an emergency response generally focuses on a sudden, immediate threat. More about environmental emergencies

Photovoltaic panels create electricity from what source?

a. wind power
b. hybrid fuel
c. sunlight
d. water power

The answer is c.

Solar power is produced using solar cells, also known as photovoltaics. Photovoltaic cells turn sunlight (“photo”) energy into electricity (“voltaic”). Like batteries, solar cells generate direct current (DC) which is then converted to alternating current (AC). Solar cells can be used to generate electricity on-site at facilities, and they are often mounted on rooftops. More about green power

Which U.S. state has the most acres of wetlands?

a. Minnesota
b. Louisiana
c. Florida
d. Alaska

The answer is d.

In the 1980s, an estimated 170-200 million acres of wetland existed in Alaska – covering slightly more than half of the state. Next to Alaska, Florida (11 million), Louisiana (8.8 million), Minnesota (8.7 million), and Texas (7.6 million) have the largest wetland acreage. In the 1600s, over 220 million acres of wetlands are thought to have existed in the lower 48 states. Since then, extensive losses have occurred and over half of our original wetlands have been drained and converted to other uses. More information about wetlands status and trends.

Gaylord Nelson
Who organized the first Earth Day?

a. John F. Kennedy
b. Gaylord Nelson
c. Rachel Carson
d. Al Gore

The answer is b.

Gaylord Nelson (1916-2005), Wisconsin governor and U.S. Senator, is considered to be the father of the first Earth Day (held on April 22, 1970). In 1995, Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts to inspire Americans about the importance and urgency of environmental protection. Senator Nelson’s biography | More about Earth Day

What percent of U.S. waste materials is potential compost?

a. 11 percent
b. 23 percent
c. 47 percent
d. 72 percent

The answer is b.

Yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 23 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. That’s a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead! Composting offers the obvious benefits of resource efficiency and creating a useful product from organic waste that would otherwise have been landfilled. Create your own compost pile | Composting programs where you live