Report cites future harms from proposed coal plant

As Dr. Michael Hendryx, a scientist quoted in the report, puts it, “Let’s say it bluntly: Pollution from coal-fired power plants kills people.” Hendryx, the Director of the Rural Health Research Center at West Virginia University in the heart of coal country, knows of what he speaks. He was consulted, along with asthma specialists, environmental health experts, retired coal miners, and local families, in order to prepare the report that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation released yesterday, warning about the health and community impacts of constructing a new coal-fired power plant in Dendron, Virginia.

Excuse me while I wave my Earth flag.

A Virginia power company called the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) applied in 2008 for an air pollution control permit for the proposed facility, which would be the largest coal-fired plant ever built in Virginia. ODEC promises of jobs and tax revenues have earned them allies in the community and government, but CBF and other heath and environmental groups have come out strongly against the plant. Using ODEC’s own projections for particulate emissions, for example, CBF cites estimates 442 additional asthma attacks, 3,340 days lost to sickness, 40 heart attacks, and 26 premature deaths, with a health care bill of over $200 million a year. Also of real concern to the organization is the effect of mercury and nitrogen oxides, which will be carried into waters, harming fish, crabs, and further degrading the environment of the Bay.

ODEC continues to fight for this plant, waging a campaign that promises prosperity and brushes aside concerns, including health effects of particulates, dicy plans for fly ash disposal, massive amounts of carbon dioxide released into the air, and so on. But I’m with Richard White, another person cited in the CBF report. White is a retired coal-miner who suffers from black lung disease. “If we could put a man on the moon, we can come up with alternative sources for energy,” he says.

ODEC has lined up $6 billion to invest in building a brand new power plant based on a dangerous and outmoded energy source. Let’s keep working to get them to spend all that money in some other way. Dr. Hendryx gets the last word here: “If we started investing more seriously in alternatives like solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energies, it would be healthier for the people, better for the the environment, and we could still provide the power we need to to run our economy.”

Pleasure House Point – buy it all!

When you’re a tree-hugging bike snob like myself, you start reacting to the world a little differently, like applauding when gas hits $4/gallon, and sighing with relief when an overheated housing market crashes, causing something like the Indigo Dunes project at Lynnhaven inlet to die a quiet death before the clearcutting and paving could begin. That site in Virginia Beach now has a likely future as an environmental preserve; the last undeveloped block of land along the Lynnhaven may remain, for the most part, undeveloped.

The city of Virginia Beach recognizes the value that this land represents in its pristine state and so they are reaching a little further, trying to find the money to purchase the last bit of the tract that was slated for development. Happily, the editors of the Pilot are in favor, “and they should be joined by anyone who boats or fishes, kayaks or canoes or simply loves the wildlife found there.”

Stand back, people, I’m on an environmental roll.

Extreme is the new normal

If you feel like we’re seeing a lot of rain this year, as well as tornadoes, floods, drought, etc., you are right. “We are used to certain conditions and there’s a lot going on these days that is not what we’re used to, that is outside our current frame of reference,” says climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University. It’s called climate change, and it’s caused by global warming, scientists agree. “Hayhoe, other scientists, civic planners and a manager at the giant Swiss Re reinsurance firm all cited human-caused climate change as an factor pushing this shift toward more extreme weather.” Insurance companies are taking this seriously, as is the U.S. military.

Anybody else feel like the weather's been kinda funky lately? (Pic | extremeinstability.com)

Of course, not everyone agrees, but its becoming more and more clear that resistance to climate change is ideological, not scientific. My favorite blog, treehugger.com, cites this recent paragraph from a New York Times article as the best snippet of climate coverage they have ever seen from that paper:

Across America and in Congress, the very existence of climate change continues to be challenged — especially by conservatives. The skeptics are supported by constituents wary of science and concerned about the economic impacts of stronger regulation. Yet even as the debate rages on, city and state planners are beginning to prepare.
The precise consequences of the increase of man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are hard to determine, but scientists are predicting significant sea level rise; more extreme weather events like storms, tornadoes and blizzards; and, of course, much more heat. New York City, which is doing its own adaptation planning, is worried about flooding from the rising ocean. The Navy has a task force on climate change that says it should be preparing to police the equivalent of an extra sea as the Arctic ice melts.

So there you have it, my Tuesday tirade. I’ll stop waving my Earth flag for a bit, and get on with other news.

Homes for homeless vets

The Pilot‘s lead local story describes public and private efforts to help vets find homes and and jobs. 13% of the homeless population of Hampton Roads are veterans, according to this piece.

Local navy athletes win at Warrior Games

The Warrior Games is a competition for wounded or seriously ill servicemembers. Read about the four men from Hampton Roads who came back from Colorado Springs with medals this year.

Warrior Dash also happened

Don’t confuse the Warrior Games with the Warrior Dash. The Games is for wounded servicepeople. The Dash, a sort of obstacle course mud-run held in Maryland last weekend, is for deranged people of all stripes. Local girl Whitney Stuart, of Survive Norfolk and Lightsaber Dueling fame, hit the Dash last weekend–updates, Whitney?

Sensible Seafood fest this Thursday

The Virginia Aquarium is holding its second Sensible Seafood fest on Thursday evening. Go for the awesome guilt-free eats, and educate yourself about sustainable consumption.

Crooked Road hits the Times

The New York Times Travel section features a story on Virginia’s heritage of mountain music, with a roadtrip through Galax, Floyd and other mountain towns. Great story, and great to see that recognition and appreciation for this treasure continues to grow.

Hat tip to the Two Dollar Bill Band, a local old-time music trio (sometimes quartest) that debuted at Belmont House of Smoke in Norfolk last Friday. This band, made up of guys from the Crooked Road region who’ve relocated to Norfolk, is an authentic taste of foot-stomping fun. I hope to see more of them and more like them in our local scene. Remember to bring your $2 bills to their next show–it makes them happy when you throw them on the stage.