We’ll then go into the heart the Florida Keys to learn which surprising animal is the most dangerous invasive species of the area. While in Key West, we’ll talk about a new opportunity where you can have a say in how the Keys and its waters are managed, preserved and protected.

And have you ever heard about the Fisheating Creek, one of Florida’s premier paddling destinations? Get the story and hear about the old controversy over control of the creek. Plus, don’t miss this week’s ORCA Ocean Minute!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar this Thursday at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org  and on iTunes.

We don’t usually think of climate change as being gender biased in how it impacts human life on earth, but the vulnerability of women in major disasters is surprisingly higher than the mortality rate of men. Extreme weather conditions are widely accepted by the scientific community to be directly connected to global climate change.

When women do not enjoy economic and social rights equal to men, more women than men die in disasters according to a 2006 study by the London School of Economics. This gender discrepancy came to light during the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Mitch, Hurricane Katrina, the European heat waves and cyclones in South Asia.

Why exactly is this the case? There are several reasons. First, post-disaster, women are usually at higher risk of being bustled off into unsafe, overcrowded shelters due to lack of assets such as savings, property or land.

Second, in the context of events that require mobility, cultural constraints on women’s movement hinders their timely escape. An exacerbating factor is that women often avoid shelters due to fear of domestic and sexual violence. The more poverty stricken the country, the higher the risk to women and their children.

Paradoxically, women are not as engaged as men in the critical area of renewable energy – a key climate change mitigation technology. In many parts of the world, energy is primarily thought of in terms of electricity to operate equipment and infrastructure, gasoline and diesel fuels for motors and vehicles, and the delivery of oil for natural gas. Dealing with mediums such as electricity and fuel is often considered men’s work where women are not expected to be involved with power generation and fuel distribution. As a result, women are often absent from discussions about energy plans and policies. However, in many developing countries, most energy currently comes from traditional biomass fuels such as wood, charcoal and agricultural waste. The collection and management of these fuels is strictly within the purview of women in the poorest areas of the globe. It is estimated that close to two billion people in the developing world use traditional biomass fuel for their primary source of energy. Yet women are not engaged with the broad policy decisions on how to transition out of this high CO2 emitting fuel source. So naturally, there is a real disconnect between decisions being made at the highest levels on climate change and the practical application and implementation of those policies by women who are not engaged in the process.

The solution to this paradox sounds simple enough – women in developing countries should be actively engaged in national energy decision making. But translating that solution into reality will be challenging at best. At the very least, the funds that wealthier countries have earmarked for global climate change adaptation should be targeted in a way that recognizes that the situation of women in poverty stricken areas is different from men and as such, different approaches will be needed in order to remain relevant and useful.

The funny thing, you may have just read that whole bit and thought, yeah, well things are different here in the United States. Uh, not really. Yes, of course, the vast majority of us are fortunate in that we don’t have to grapple with issues such as foraging for bits of wood to burn. But the truth is, Americans consume some crazy amounts of energy. We drive around running errands, dropping kids off, picking them up, running dishwashers, washing machines and dryers, doing all the stuff we do everyday to make our jobs and home run smoothly…all of which requires vasts amount of energy. In fact, the average American burns up 98,418kW hours per year whereas the worldwide average is only 21,213kW.

Considering that we are some heavy-weight contenders in the energy consumption arena, you would think American women would have a lot to say on the matter in both the public and private sector. Yet a quick glance at the make up of our top policy leaders on energy, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources reveals that there are only 5 women out of the 22 members on the Committee. The statistics get even worse when we look at who the CEOs are of the Fortune 500 companies (many of which derive profit from the energy sector) – currently only 12 are women. So even here in our own backyard, deep-impacting policy decisions about energy are being made at the highest levels with very little input from half the population that uses energy! The bottom line is: If you use it (and we all do), engage.

Educate yourself on where your energy comes from and make the best decisions you can to lessen the impact of that energy source on our climate. All the cool ladies do it!

Beach Clean-ups
Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s Blue Friends Society hosts at least one beach clean-up a month. These include breakfast and beverages and are run by Lynne Wells. They’re located at 14200 U.S. Highway One, Juno Beach, FL 33408. For more information, go to http://www.marinelife.org/page.aspx?pid=299.

Camp
For kids from 9 to 13 years old, the Loxahatchee River District is holding Aquatic Adventure Camp from June 11-15, July 9-13, July 16-20, and August 6-10. From 9 am to 4 pm, kids can explore the Loxahatchee River by collecting marine animals, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, and playing eco-games. The price is $215 per camper. Call 561-743-7123 to register. For more information, go to http://loxahatcheeriver.org/community_events_calendar.php?month_year=5_2012.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center has its Junior Marine Biologist Summer Camp is Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm. There are varying dates for the different camp programs. Turtle Adventures (June 11-15, 25-29, July 9-13, 23-27, August 6-10) Explore Florida (June 18-22, July 2-6, 16-20, 30-August 3) Field Experiences (August 6-10) Prices vary from $180 to $145. For more information, go to http://www.marinelife.org/page.aspx?pid=391.

Turtle Feeding
Loggerhead Marinelife Center has Outdoor Turtle Feeding every Tuesday and Friday from 12:00 to 12:30 pm. Anyone is welcome to watch the turtles receive their daily nutrition. For more information, go to http://www.marinelife.org/page.aspx?pid=299.

World Oceans Day
On June 8, 2012, Loggerhead Marinelife Center is having a day of fun activities based on Dr. Suess’ One, Two, Three and the Seas to conserve and protect our oceans. The event is from 10 am to 5 pm and is free. For more information, go to http://www.marinelife.org/page.aspx?pid=299.
The Florida Oceanographic Society is also having a day of fun activities on June 10, 2012. This event features stingray feeding, a sea turtle program, and game fish feeding. It is from 12 to 4 pm and is $5 for adults and free for children under 12. For more information, go to http://www.floridaocean.org/p/97/world-oceans-day-2012.

To see the complete list of events, go to our events calendar on our website: http://radiogreenearth.org/blog/?page_id=3154.

Among the many activities each day will be a Legislative Panel Session that will focus on energy diversity and how Florida could achieve a balanced energy fuel mix. The Keynote Speaker this year will be Patrick J. Sheehan, director of the Office of Energy to Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS). Both days will include sessions such as Legislative Session, Cost Effective Clean Energy, Grid Modernization, Fleet Conversion, Sustainable Economic Growth, and more. There will also be presentations called “How to Green Your City.”

Radio Green Earth is conducting an essay contest for students and host Missy Straus will present the Palm Beach County Schools Essay Contest winners.

Also, this is the third annual “100 Cities Summit” Initiative, which includes city and county leaders from Florida brought together through sustainability. For more information visit the Florida Green, Energy, & Climate Conference/Expo website: http://www.floridagreenconference.com/index.html.

We return to the Everglades this week to discuss the great news that two major lawsuits that have been holding up restoration progress for nearly a decade are finally nearing a settlement. Greenpeace has released the CATO Report, which stands for carting away our oceans, and we’ll get all the details. We’ll also hear an Inuit activist’s thoughts on oil drilling plans in the Arctic Ocean and the Norway oil spill that may be in the ice forever.

Concerned about the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney? We’ll talk to a Republican conservationist who will discuss the candidate’s environmental positions.

We also congratulate the winners of the Green Schools Awards and learn about the 2012 Florida Green, Energy, & Climate Conference/Expo in Palm Beach County that is May 16 and 17, 2012. Plus, find out how your grocery store is rated in terms of its sustainable seafood.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar this Thursday at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

We’ll discuss the cars Consumer Reports rank the highest and take you on a test drive in four different diesel and hybrid cars of all sizes. We’ll even get maximum mileage tips from a professional who drove from Florida to Washington D.C. on one tank of gas.

Also, we’ll get an update on “green-washing” from Michelle Diffenderfer, newly elected President of the Chamber of Commerce for Palm Beach County.

Plus, don’t forget about our tweets for a tree! Find us on twitter or find more information about it on our website.

If you want to take a look at the different cars we’ll be talking about, go to the following websites: http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/, http://www.vw.com/en/tdi/jetta.html, http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/. There’s tons of information and lots of pictures!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar this Thursday at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Michelle Diffenderfer, newly elected President of the Chamber of Commerce for Palm Beach County, comes on the show this week to talk about green-washing, an expression describing companies or organizations that claim to be “green” through aggressive marketing, but in reality maybe something far different.

Curious about the environmental views of the Republican Presidential hopefuls? We’ll speak with Jim DiPeso, policy coordinator for the environmental advocacy group, Republicans for Environmental Protection. We’ll also be talking to Bob Means about his new book Reckless, which discusses the effect which the Tea Party movement is having on the Republican environmental legacy.

And this week, learn about all the details of our special tree planting giveaway! We’re very fortunate that FPL is donating the trees for this great event. In order to qualify for a free tree, you’ll need to be creative and branch out. So be sure to listen to the program and find out how you can take advantage of this opportunity!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar this Thursday at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Starting at noon and ending at 4 pm, FOS has a wide variety of activities for adults and children to take part in during the day. There will be paddleboarding, kayaking, and sailing at the Indian River Lagoon for free, and participants are required to wear closed-toed shoes. There will be ray feeding, game fish feeding, a turtle program, and nature walks. Also, there will be games, giveaways, and Kona Shaved Ice.

Admission is $5 for adults and free for children under 12.

In addition to the afternoon event, there will be a beach walk and cleanup from 8 am to 12 pm at Stuart Beach.

For more information, go to http://www.floridaocean.org/p/95/earth-day-2012.

The 42nd annual celebration of the earth (we only do this once a year?!) is approaching this Sunday. I’ve always had mixed feelings about Earth Day. While it’s great to get the message out there about sustainability, respecting our limited resources, consuming less, making sure what we consume isn’t toxic and demanding accountability for cradle-to-grave manufacturing of all the stuff we use on a daily basis, I just really question how much of that permeates your standard Earth Day celebration. It seems to have morphed into a slick green promotional event that does little to trigger reflection and action in the participants. One of our local Earth Day celebrations for example (printed on a full color postcard on non-recycled paper) boasts: “Arts & Crafts – Food – Live Entertainment – Living History – Plant Sales – Bake Sale – Friends Gift Shop – Park Photo Contest – Youth Area – Environmental Displays – Chance Drawings.” There is even an organization called “Earth Day Network,” organizing big rallies on the National Mall and selling t-shirts and bumper stickers with the snarky quip, “It’s the GREEN economy, stupid!”

All fine and good, these events bring awareness to wonky causes, but my expectation of people walking away with a true reflection on how we need to change course is exceedingly low.

Nevertheless, there are signs that we are headed in the right direction. First and foremost we need to give a nod of kudos to Florida Gov. Rick Scott for not kowtowing to his Tea Party constituents (namely, the organization with misleading name “Americans for Prosperity” who should each be sent one of the aforementioned bumper stickers to dwell upon.) The Tea Party had taken solid aim at HB 7117, a wide-ranging energy bill. The bill contains provisions on energy efficiency and conservation, renewable electric energy, and renewable and alternative fuels for electric vehicles. The Governor refused to veto the bill, much to the chagrin of the Tea Party and so the reasonable and common sense measures go into effect this July 1st. Thank you Governor Scott.

In addition, Florida’s first commercial wind project secured Palm Beach County commission approval exactly one month prior to Earth Day. The project is precisely the sort of solution-oriented approach to climate change that Earth Day celebrants should really be embracing. The proposed 114 turbine development will offset 320,000 tons of carbon emissions annually. To get a feel for how much that is, the average American car emits 7 tons of carbon per year. The average American family emits 24 tons. Palm Beach County, which boasts a mind-boggling population of over 1,323,000, clearly has a lot of work to do to offset the carbon emissions of its own population. The approval of this project at the local level was a critical first step to tackling that problem. Thank you Palm Beach County Commissioners.

It’s a profound understatement to observe that much still needs to be done. But if we all work within our own spheres of control, as the Governor did with legislation and the Palm Beach County Commissioners did with a project in their own backyard, then we can at least strive towards sustainability year-round and take some time on Earth Day to thank ourselves and ponder our strategy for the year to come. Happy reflections and happy Earth Day.

Thursday, April 19th, 2012: From 3:00-7:00 pm, we’ll be at Whole Foods Market at Downtown at the Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. You can visit with different environmental organizations that have booths set up at the store. Come by the Radio Green Earth booth and meet the hosts of the show. We’ll be doing live broadcasts from 5:00-7:00 pm, so you could be on the radio!

Friday, April 20th, 2012: Whole Foods Market at Downtown at the Gardens will host Goodwill from the Grill with Radio Green Earth as beneficiaries. And Whole Foods Market will match all donations made to Radio Green Earth.

Saturday, April 21st, 2012: Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s 9th Annual Turtlefest: A Billion Acts of Green® is from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Enjoy environmentally-conscious art, games, educational presentations, shopping, music, and more. And Radio Green Earth will have a booth.

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012: Earth Day! Enjoy a day at Downtown at the Gardens as Whole Foods Market rides the Carousel and makes recycled arts and crafts. Learn about some green practices and enjoy food from Goodwill from the Veggie Grill.

• At 8:00 am, the first 200 customers at Whole Foods Market will receive a FREE recycled Better Bag to put their groceries in.
• From 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, we will host Goodwill from the Veggie Grill. We’ll grill fresh veggies, veggie burgers, and veggie hot dogs. And the proceeds benefit Radio Green Earth.
• All day, ride the carousel! You can purchase your carousel tokens on this day at Whole Foods Market registers. The proceeds will be donated to Resource Depot.

Don’t miss out on these fun activities!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Over the years, the ocean has been slowly rising, one of the many indicators that the climate is changing. Sea level rise appears to have accelerated lately, to a rate of about a foot per century.

For more information, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/science/earth/study-rising-sea-levels-a-risk-to-coastal-states.html?_r=4&hp.

Located just north of Grand Bahama Island, the Wild Dolphin Project is one of the longest ongoing research projects of its kind. Denise Herzing has been working with a group of fifteen spotted dolphins for over 27 years. She’ll be sharing her plans to create a language to communicate with the dolphins. Anyone who is interested in participating in the project can join them in the Bahamas.

Also, we’ll provide an update on the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org  and on iTunes.

At Turtlefest, over 12,000 people will join in an “Act of Green,” promoting conservation through interactions with threatened and endangered sea turtles, and enjoying environmentally-conscious art, music, and shopping. The event will also showcase educational presentations, games, a Global Village, and much more. Admission is free and the event features a student art contest from 4-12 grade Palm Beach County students.

A Billion Acts of Green ® is the world’s largest environmental service movement, participating in initiatives with the goal of reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. Attendees to this year’s Turtlefest will demonstrate the environmental impact that can be made when thousands of individuals come together to make small and large commitments to better their environment. This service movement goes hand-in-hand with Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s mission to promote conservation of Florida’s coastal ecosystem.

Pertinent Details:

Where — Loggerhead Marinelife Center. 14200 U.S. Highway One, Juno Beach, FL 33408

When — April 21, 2012 from 10 am to 6 pm.

Interested in more info or volunteering to help out at the event? Visit http://www.marinelife.org/turtlefest.

We’ll be talking with Laurie Johnson from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) about recent climate change research and updates, including the inside info on the EPA’s new rules on carbon dioxide.

Local environmental news also figures prominently in this week’s show. We’ll discuss a position paper on Sugarland Wind and chat with the new research director at the Everglades Agricultural Area University of Florida Research Station about green cane harvesting. Also, Edie Witter from Team ORCA will be joining us on the show to talk about their latest Land to Sea Initiative. And don’t forget about the update on the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Mac Stone works with the National Audubon Society. Aside from his work with Audubon to further Everglades Restoration efforts, Mac Stone uses photography to raise environmental awareness, not to mention that he takes pictures because he simply loves the outdoors. Most of his recent photography comes from South Florida. Here are a few of Mac Stone’s snapshots from paddling up the Loxahatchee River. Visit his website for more wildlife pictures:  http://www.macstonephoto.com/

We’re traveling up to Juno Beach, Florida for a massive sea turtle release event. Also, we’ll provide an update on the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition and a preview of the events that will be taking place during Earth Day Week.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Carlton Ward, Jr.

This week, Radio Green Earth’s Jim Jackson joins with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition, kayaking and canoeing the St. John’s River in Central Florida. The river has a strange environment in that it flows from South to North from Central Florida to Jacksonville. We look at its history and significance and we talk with several unusual paddling companions including Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, photographer Carlton Ward Jr., wildlife biologist Joe Guthrie, conservationist Mallory Lykes Dimmitt, and filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus.

Plus a chat with Florida Farmer Rick Roth about his ideas for new sustainability initiatives in the Everglades Agricultural Area.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Environmental justice and environmentalism would at the outset seem to be tight bedfellows, natural allies in the fight against pollution and degradation to our natural resources. After all, one is a social movement dedicated to saving the environment, and the other is also a social movement dedicated to justice and the fair distribution of environmental goods. But every so often, two pull apart in an uncomfortable, almost elitist way, that has been criticized as valuing wildlife over people.

In western Palm Beach County, the buds of that chasm are beginning to develop as concerns over bird impacts from wind turbines garner more headlines than concerns for some of the most desperately impoverished residents of the County. First, a snapshot of the statistics of extreme poverty in this area roll out so quickly that most cannot even begin to grasp the level of despair. Forty percent of Glades residents receive food stamps, because they are hungry and are scrambling to figure out what to feed their children – tonight. The unemployment rate is 40%, meaning that almost every other person you pass is out of work, discouraged, and has practically given up. Contrast that with 35% during 1933, the height of the Great Depression. The percentage of disadvantaged students in the western PBC school district is approximately 85%.

This poverty makes the Glades vulnerable to industry that promises jobs but ends up wrecking havoc on the soil, air and water. The types of projects that the Glades has seen proposed over the years take advantage of the despair by placing toxic, polluting industry in the backyard of this agriculturally-based area. The 1890MW Glades coal fired power plant would have spewed toxic mercury and dumped tons of carbon dioxide emissions all over the Glades. Fortunately that project was defeated, but the West County Energy Center, the third largest fossil fuel plant in the U.S. with over 3800MW of gas-fired power, is currently churning out 5.1 million tons of CO2 emissions, the highest source of CO2 emissions in the entire county and yet received little opposition. Can you imagine such a facility next to PGA? This is the classic environmental justice framework – economically depressed and often disenfranchised areas bearing the brunt of the machinery that keeps our country humming along often times at considerable cost to their health. The sad truth is that those lowest on the socioeconomic scale bear a greater burden of environmental and health risk in their neighborhoods, playgrounds, workplaces, open spaces, homes and schools.

Palm Beach County is not blind to the struggles in the west, but it does appear at its wit’s end in crafting a solution to address the extreme poverty. A clearly stated goal of Palm Beach County is to implement new job creation strategies that are comprehensive; “the vision must include logistics, agriculture, energy, tourism, services, and green collar employment, creating some jobs that do not require a college degree but that command respect.” (“No Visible Means of Support, Unemployment and Poverty in the Glades Region of Palm Beach County”).

Sugarland Wind, the proposed 200MW wind project that is being proposed for Western Palm Beach County not only provides a clean source of energy, but it is wholly compatible with existing agricultural uses of the land, and the jobs it will provide (several hundred during construction and 15-20 permanent jobs) are the epitome of green collar jobs. And yet concerns about bird impacts seem to be the only issue that make the headlines about this project. As a lifelong environmentalist that has dedicated my career to public interest environmental issues, I certainly understand that concern. But I also seek balance. Humans are part of the environment. Our children, irrespective of income or opportunity, deserve to grow up breathing clean air. Switching society’s mindset over to clean, renewable energy NOW must be a priority for the survival of ALL species.

Florida Audubon biologists, Mac Stone and Adam Chessy, along with Albrey Arrington, Chief Executive of the Loxahatchee River District, accompany Jim Jackson to River Bend Park in Jupiter, Florida and travel by kayak down Florida’s first designated “wild and scenic” river, the Loxahatchee. We’ll learn about the history of the Loxahatchee and how locals saved this scenic river from development.

While on the river, we’ll also hear about and get the latest on the oyster bed restoration projects in the area. And our Audobon friends update us on the Roseate Spoonbill populations and how they fared after recent storms.

On top of that, get the latest scoop on the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition Team, learn about a surprising turnaround in America’s attitude towards climate change, and get ready to celebrate Earth Day with us at your local Whole Foods Market!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 95.9 FM, 106.9 FM, & 960 AM. Also available at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

According to the NSAPOCC survey, 62 percent of Americans believe global warming is real. In the 2010 survey, 59 percent believed global warming is real.

For more information on this article, go to http://www.enn.com/business/article/44072.

We’ll bring you the latest news on the controversial topic of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” a form of harvesting natural gas. We’ll also be giving you updates on the future of wind energy in Palm Beach County, Florida. The Wind Farm for the Everglades Agricultural Area, Florida’s first, is pushing through its approval process, a major accomplishment on its own. Concerned that these wind farms might mean trouble for our bird population? We’ll take you to the Palm Beach County Zoning Commission meeting held last week where fears about the bird-wind farm mortality controversy are addressed.

And we’ll bring you yet another update on the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition. Plus, get part two of our interview with John Rollins, founding trustee of National Park Trust, about the initiative for getting kids out into state and national parks.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Interesting trends are occurring with respect to oil in this country. Domestic oil production is up while U.S. consumption is down. As a result, oil companies are importing less and exporting more. Are we inching towards oil independence? And if so, what does that look like?

In Chipping Away – Part I we learned that daily domestic oil production is slowly increasing (about 10% over the past three years) due to growing onshore and offshore drilling. The oil is farther away, deeper down and in tighter formations. But with most crude oil above the $100 per barrel mark, expensive drilling and recovery methods like hydraulic fracturing and deepwater exploration are now worth oil companies efforts.

The U.S. receives oil from Canada, Mexico, and even Nigeria, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

We also learned that daily U.S. oil consumption has decreased about 12% over the same time period. Some of this is due to a slower economy, but individuals, businesses and communities are recognizing the value of conservation, efficiency and technology when it comes to oil consumption within our transportation, heating and electrical grids.

But what’s the ultimate goal? Can increased domestic drilling plus improved habits in consumption ultimately reduce our foreign oil imports to zero? The answer is a resounding “no,” but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

According to the U.S. EIA, we consume 18.5 million barrels of oil each day, of which about 9 million barrels is imported. Fourty different countries supply us with oil, from Canada (No. 1) and Mexico (No. 3) down to Brazil, Britain and even Bolivia.

However, approximately 2.8 mbpd comes from politically unstable, dictatorial and monarchal countries like Nigeria, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia (NVSA). There are others on the list, but the NVSA are three of the top five oil suppliers to this country. And it’s these three countries that U.S. politicians are really referring to when they say “foreign oil.” (Note: We import ZERO oil from Iran; haven’t done so since the early 80’s.)

Now imagine if we can reduce our daily consumption another 10 percent, or approximately 1.8 mbpd. At $100 per barrel, that’s $180,000,000.00 (hopefully) not going to the NVSA EACH DAY! I say hopefully, because it’s oil companies that effectively decide where our oil comes from, not the government. And they will purchase oil from the most plentiful and inexpensive source (monarchy or no monarchy).

Yet trends in both technology and behavior suggest that a 10 percent reduction can be achieved. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cites that U.S. passenger vehicles averaged 20 miles per gallon back in 1978. They now average approximately 30 mpg, a 50 % increase in fuel efficiency in 30 years, with most of that occurring over the past ten as hybrids, clean diesel and battery-powered cars become more popular.

Improve fuel efficiency to 35 miles per gallon and increase the number of battery-powered and natural gas-powered trucks and cars on the road and we can reduce our daily oil consumption another 10 percent. That won’t make us Canada and Mexico-free, but it will get us much closer to “NVSA-free.” And that’s a short-term goal both within our reach and worth achieving.

We’ll also head over to the Florida Panther Refuge and Big Cypress Preserve to talk to John Rollins, a founding trustee for the National Park Trust. The National Park Trust is an organization dedicated to land acquisition and education in order to preserve and enlarge state and national parks. Mr. Rollins discusses the Trust’s initiative to getting kids to the parks and an upcoming national park event on May 19, 2012.

Environmental attorney Jane West is coming on this week’s show to talk about coastal legislation being considered in Tallahassee and its ramifications. We’re also returning to Archbold Biological Research Station to learn about everything that has contributed to the creation of this ecological treasure. Last but not least, get an update on the latest happenings with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

As the wind development project proposed for the sugarcane fields in the Everglades Agricultural Area draws closer to a hearing date before the Palm Beach County Commission, information about the project is flowing. Unfortunately, in some cases, that means misinformation too. This is an effort to sort through the rhetoric and just get to the facts so people can make up their own mind about whether or not they support the project.

Photo Credit: Jane West

So, what are the primary concerns about the project? The primary concern is whether the turbines will kill birds and bats. There have been numerous analogies to the Altamont project in California that resulted in the catastrophic death of thousands of birds. Altamont is the black eye of the wind industry. As one of the first and largest wind development projects in this country, it was admittedly poorly designed in an inappropriate location. But to say that lessons were not learned from Altamont would be wildly inaccurate. The industry has learned through extensive data collection and research how to create adaptive management to accommodate the migratory fluctuations of birds and the foraging habits of bats. In addition, turbine technology, from the gear boxes to the blades, has improved dramatically. The turbines that will be used in the Sugarland project are a far cry from the antiquated machines used at Altamont. To address concerns regarding bird impacts, historical data dating back to 2004 will be used to carefully guide the operation of the Sugarland project. The 8 years of data being used by the scientists helping Sugarland is well beyond the industry standard of 1 year. Futhermore, wind turbines pose a much smaller risk to birds than current existing uses out in the EAA, such as transmission lines which kill 174 million birds annually according to the USFWS. By contrast, dirty air in the U.S. is directly attributable to the premature deaths of 50,000 human beings annually.

Another concern is that this project is not needed. This is simply false. South Florida is currently facing an aging energy infrastructure. As power plants face decommissioning, and the demand for energy remains high, the solutions involve building more fossil fuel plants, nuclear plants or renewable energy projects. Unfortunately, energy efficiency alone will not result in completely foregoing the replacement of power projects. By way of example, when FPL’s oil burning Riviera Beach plant was torn down, it wasn’t boarded for good. Rather, it was replaced with plans for a natural gas facility. CO2 emissions will be cut by 50%, but there will still be enough emissions to equal an extra 46,000 cars on local roads. As other plants face the same prospect, the question is, what will they be replaced with? Clean energy or fossil fuels?

A third claim is that the tax credits received by the wind industry for generating electricity are unacceptable. The fact is, every sector of the energy industry receives preferential tax treatment. A 2009 study by the Environmental Law Institute found that the fossil fuel industry receives $72 billion dollars between the years 2002-2008 in subsidies. Nuclear research and development received $50 billion. By contrast, the renewable energy sector received $29 billion, that includes the entire range of commercial renewables, such as wind, solar and biofuels. What isn’t considered in these figures is the staggering cost of the consequences of widespread reliance on dirty fossil fuels. Everything from adaptation to sea level rise, health care costs associated with dirty air, oil spills, and military operations to ensure safe passage of foreign oil.

The fourth concern is that solar would be preferential. Certainly solar is an excellent renewable resource. And while photovoltaics (like most energy sources) are not without environmental impacts, it still is a great option that Florida absolutely must embrace. However, solar is hardly a new technology. There has been nothing over the course of the last 4 decades that would prevent Floridians from installing solar panels on their roofs, except of course, the high cost involved in doing so. Even on a commercial scale, wind is still a cheaper source of energy than solar. But the point is, solar and wind are not mutually exclusive. The need and demand for renewable energy will only continue to grow. Providing a diverse portfolio of renewable energy sources that include both solar and wind is the best approach for a fully integrated smart grid system for Florida.

Participate in the public process and let your voice be heard on this important issue. The Palm Beach Board of County Commissioners takes up the Sugarland Wind project on March 22, 2012 at 9:30.

Plus a visit with the trekkers of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition as they meet with scientists at bear biologist Joe Guthrie’s old stomping grounds, the Archbold Science center in Highlands County.

And we meet a professional volunteer at the John D. McArthur State Park in Palm Beach County, and learn about volunteer opportunities at parks all over Florida and the nation.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Author and professor, John Hardman trains leaders and works to shift of organizations towards what he terms “regenerative practices” in business, community and education. Regenerative practices are all about thinking about organizations and relationships between the individual and the environment in novel ways that emphasize imagination and heightened awareness. Hardman takes leaders on a journey to go beyond conventional ways of thinking and acting in order to engage in a deeper, more conscious approach to work and organizations.

Win this book! Email drawing@radiogreenearth.org!!!

By not repeating old ideas and seeing reality as it is and not how we’ve been taught to view it, Hardman believes we can make a cultural shift toward regenerative, rather than just sustainable, human systems that promise to not only protect but also revitalize our world. For more information on Leading for Regeneration and John Hardman, listen to the 2/9/12 podcast on www.radiogreenearth.org.

If, after reading this, the book sounds good to you, it’s your lucky day! We’re giving away a copy of Leading for Regeneration. Send an email to drawing@radiogreenearth.org and mention your name. The drawing ends on Monday, February 20, 2012. We’ll select the winner by a random draw and email you if you’re the winner!

The unstable economy is also costing families’ their lands and pressing millions of acres of Florida real estate into subdivision and big box development. Chuck Barrowclough, Executive Director of the Treasured Lands Foundation, will join our hosts to talk about how they are saving wild lands from subdivision and helping families avoid high inheritance taxes that might otherwise “cost them the farm.” These unique arrangements are not only protecting Floridian real estate, but also conserving water and protecting the local environment. For more information on the Treasured Lands Foundation, go to www.treasuredlands.org.

Your own home can benefit from eco-friendly cost savings. The Municipal Energy Conservation Coalition (MECC) will give us an update on rebates available to homeowners and businesses that want to retrofit for a greener future and save money on electricity costs.

We’ll also be visiting to The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida to talk to a local wildlife photographer. He’ll be sharing some new educational tools available for teachers that teach kids about Florida’s environment and wildlands.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

We’ll be heading out to Collier County and the Seminole Indian Reservation to talk to a true cowboy and Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Ron Bergeron. He’ll give us a tour of his ranch and we’ll talk about how we can best conserve our wild lands.

Direct from the Big Cypress preserve wild lands, Elam Stolsfus, Joe Guthrie and Carlton Ward Jr., trekkers of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition are coming on the show to talk about their adventures on the thousand mile quest from Florida Bay to the Okefenokee Swamp. They will be discussing their trip and the complicated relationship between private and public lands that may be our only hope to save the Florida panther and bear habitats. Go to http://www.floridawildlifecorridor.org/about-expedition/ for more information on the expedition.

We’ve also invited a man to the show who not only educates the public about sustainability but teaches about regenerative growth. Plus, we’ll give you an update on a recent alliance between the Lung Association and Sugarland Wind in a public health project.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Local fishermen initially discovered “lemon sharks” at nearby Palm Beach County beach. Since the discovery, shark biologist Dr. Samuel Gruber at Bimini Biological Field Station has been researching these lemon sharks that populate a shallow reef near the Jupiter Inlet in Palm Beach County. We’ll go to Dubois Park on Jupiter Inlet to talk to Dr. Steve Kessel about what he has found concerning these sharks, their behaviors – and we’ll find out that this newly discovered shark population has some habits in common with snowbirds in South Florida.

We’ll also be talking about a technology used to form an Atlantic seaboard fish monitoring network that stretches from Canada to South America and talking all the details behind the increasing popularity of natural gas cars. To conclude the show, we’ll be updating our listeners on the 2012 Wildlife Corridor 100 mile trek with Carlton Ward, Jr. and new information learned on the 2012 River of Grass Canoe Expedition with the Marshall Foundation.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Day 6 Dinner Conversation with Carlton Ward’s arrival

Meeting FIU scientists in the sawgrass

Noon podcast with scientists

Chris with snail kite shells

Final Webcast with Carlton Ward Jr

Send off speech on Day 1

Day 1 Dinner Conversation

Day 2 8 AM Podcast

Day 2 Dinner Conversation

Interesting trends are occurring with respect to oil in this country. Domestic oil production is increasing while U.S. consumers are using less. As a result, oil companies are importing less and exporting more. What gives? Are we inching towards oil independence? And if so, what will that look like?

Starting with production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic drilling and extraction of oil has increased approximately 10% over the past three years. Two reasons cited by analysts include: 1) Increased onshore drilling for shale-based oil in places like North Dakota and Montana; and, 2) Increased drilling in both the shallow and deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

That’s right, despite stories to the contrary, more deep water rigs are operating now in the GOM (about 40) than before the Deepwater Horizon incident (37). In fact, according to James Noe, Senior VP with Hercules Offshore, Inc., the GOM is responsible for 28% of the daily oil production in this country, compared to just 14% back in 2005.

The Gulf of Mexico in 2008

This increasing production is anticipated to continue through the remainder of the decade, but only if crude oil prices remain high in order to make these expensive recovery methods cost effective. U.S. oil is out there, but it’s farther offshore, deeper underground and in “tighter” formations that require greater time, energy and money to extract and pipe to refineries for processing.

Yet, while domestic production increases, consumption of oil within the U.S. transportation, heating and power grids have decreased over the past few years. At its peak in 2006 the U.S. consumed nearly 21 millions of barrels per day (mbpd). That number is now down to near 18.5 mbpd, a 12 percent decrease. Some of this is due to a slow economy, but some analysts say that a large part of this decrease is due to three factors: 1) Conservation; 2) Efficiency; and 3) Technology.

Individuals are changing their behavior and making a difference by simply driving less, using mass transit, driving fuel-efficient vehicles, and purchasing all-electric, bio-diesel or natural-gas powered cars and trucks. Additionally, businesses and municipalities are recognizing the cost-savings in doing the same as they reduce wasteful habits and shift their fleets to more fuel-efficient and alternative vehicles.

Homes and businesses in the northeast are replacing polluting and inefficient oil-fired heating units with natural gas ones as the cost of home heating oil continues to rise and the availability of natural gas systems improves.

Finally, electric utilities are recognizing the same cost-savings and environmental advantages as they retire and swap-out their remaining primary and backup oil-burning boilers with less expensive and cleaner burning natural gas and renewables.

A single individual, business or municipality acting to reduce their oil consumption can’t make much of a difference, but millions of individuals, thousands of businesses and hundreds of cities and towns acting collectively can. And that’s what we’re beginning to observe.

We’re chipping away at foreign oil from both the supply and consumption sides. And with oil solidly above $100 per barrel, these trends should continue during 2012. But what’s the ultimate goal? Can we increase our domestic supply of oil while reducing our consumption, ultimately achieving zero barrels of foreign oil? And is that a good idea? That discussion in Part II.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is not a heavily litigated piece of federal legislation, mostly because the courts have chiseled down the scope of the Act so narrowly that it rarely applies to indirect, unintentional commercial activity. But last week, an informative ruling emerged from a North Dakota federal court grappling with migratory birds that had died as a result of highly toxic reserve pits used by the Brigham Oil & Gas Company. The ruling is not so interesting in its ultimate outcome (the oil and gas company prevailed on a motion to dismiss) but rather some of the significant factual findings that were presented to the Court by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service who were the plaintiffs in the case. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has published a summary of estimates on how many birds are killed each year by human-caused threats that the Court reiterated in its Order. These include the following:

“1. Collisions. Building window strikes may account for 97 to 976 million bird deaths each year. Communication towers conservatively kill 4 to 5 million birds annually (possibly closer to 40 to 50 million; a nationwide cumulative impacts study should help resolve this question). Strikes at high tension transmission and distribution power lines very conservatively kills tens of thousands of birds annually. Taking into account the millions of miles of bulk transmission and distribution lines in the U.S., and extrapolating from European studies, actual mortality could be as high as 174 million deaths annually. Electrocutions probably kill tens of thousands of birds but the problem is barely monitored. Cars may kill 60 million birds or more each year, private and commercial aircraft far fewer, while wind turbine rotors kill an estimated 33,000 birds annually.”

The U.S. Fish Wildlife Service report also noted that pesticides were estimated to result in the direct deaths of 72 million birds annually, oil spills can kills hundreds of thousands more and up to 2 million birds are killed annually in oil and wastewater pits – that was the source of bird kills in the instant case. In addition, cats are responsible for killing hundreds of millions of songbirds and other avian species each year. A recent study in Wisconsin estimated that in that state alone, domestic rural cats kill roughly 39 million birds annually. Lastly, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service noted that tens to thousands of seabirds are estimated to die in fisheries each year as a result of by-catch.

Bird kills are not a pleasant topic. No one, other than a hunter perhaps, wants to see a bird die. But neither do I want to see humans die. Right now, according to NOAA, air quality in the U.S. is so poor that it accounts for over 50,000 premature deaths per year. Human deaths. As an amateur birder myself and a mother of two small children, there is an intrinsic balancing act here. I think we can be confident that the the great majority of us who care about our environment and our future are most certainly in favor of developing renewable energy. Impacts from wind development proposed in the sugarcane fields of the Everglades Agricultural Area must absolutely be examined, but so too should the heavyweights of bird mortality that have an indelible presence in western Palm Beach County, such as high tension transmission and distribution power lines, communication towers and pesticides. Consistency with an eye on the big picture helps with the balancing that challenges us all.

The expedition begins at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach, flows through Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, and ends at Tamiami Trail at the Everglades National Park. The paddlers, ranging from ages 22 to 70, are wildlife lovers that come from backgrounds in science, environmental disciplines, education, media and the arts.

Schools in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties had the opportunity to participate in daily webcasts that give students a close view of the Everglades. The paddlers shared their experiences with the students, teaching them about the Everglades vegetation and wildlife. In this special show, we will be talking with Jim not only about his canoe trip experience, but also about the beauty of the Everglades he experienced.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Pity the poor Chilean Sea Bass. It’s neither from Chile or a Sea Bass. It’s unattractive looks are only outdone by it’s even more unattractive original name, the Patagonian Toothfish. Here’s the worst part (if you’re the fish at least), it tastes really good and chef’s love it for it’s color, texture, oil-rich flesh and cooking qualities.

As a result, Chilean Sea Bass have been overfished to the point that their current populations are unsustainable. So if it’s on display at your local market or offered on a menu, and not labeled as certified, there’s a good chance it’s been illegally caught. Avoid it until more sustainable fishing policies and practices are in place. At $25 per pound, and $38 per plate, that shouldn’t be too difficult.

Patagonian Toothfish is found in the deep waters of the southern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along with underwater shelves around the Antarctic. They feed largely on squid, fish, and prawns and, in turn, are food for sperm whales, elephant seals and giant squid. They average about 20 pounds when commercially caught but can exceed over 7 feet and 400 pounds in size.

They are capable of living for up to fifty years but don’t begin to reproduce until they are around 9 or 10 years old, which is about the same time they become large enough for harvest. Therefore, many females reach market size before they reach sexual maturity. As sustainability goes, that’s a worst case scenario.

The methods used to catch toothfish also cause problems. Bottom trawling can damage seafloor habitat, collect juvenile fish and other unwanted bycatch. And miles of baited longline gear can fatally hook and drown endangered albatross and other seabirds as they take the baited hooks at the surface and then dragged down as the gear sinks.

The Chilean Sea Bass is listed as a “fish to avoid” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium on its Seafood Watch list due to overfishing and potentially high levels of mercury which bioaccumulate within older fish.

At present, only the South Georgia and Ross Sea Patagonian Toothfish longline fisheries are certified as sustainable to the standard of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The MSC is an independent non-profit organization that has developed an environmental standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. The MSC product label can be found at www.msc.org.

All restaurants and stores that sell Chilean Sea Bass should have the MSC “Chain of Custody” certification. Legitimate sellers should be able to produce this document when consumers ask. If the certificate is not available, don’t make the purchase. Note: according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, this fish also goes by the names of Antarctic Cod, Black Hake and Icefish, so don’t be fooled by those names.

However, at the end of the day, it’s all about us, the one’s with the forks in our hand, that matter most. If we don’t choose it, the chef won’t buy it; and if we don’t ask for it, the fishmongerer won’t stock it. So, until its populations recover, illegal harvesting is shut down, and more sustainable fisheries are certified, simply “Pass on the Chilean Sea Bass”.

Don’t miss out on these remarkable deals! Come out to Haverhill’s garage sale to catch these great prices, meet with old friends and make new ones.

Also, residents from the Town of Haverhill, Ocean Ridge and Atlantis should stop by the Haverhill booth to learn how to apply for an Energy Rebate for up to $1,200. For more information on the rebate program, go to www.energy2save.net.

For additional information on the Town of Haverhill, go to its website, www.townofhaverhill-fl.gov.

Join Missy Strauss, co-host of Radio Green Earth, as she gets a home energy audit and advice on how to “green” her house. We’ll also hear from Super Green Solutions about their solution to eco-home retrofits. An air conditioning expert will teach our listeners what consumers need to watch out for when buying a central air-conditioning system and we’ll chat with an FPL expert about the Top Ten Energy Saving Green Tips. And did you know that there’s an inventor who took Thomas Edison’s discoveries and built a box that receives more efficiency from your home electrical system and even saves you money? We’ll be talking about this amazing invention on the show!

We’ll also hear about Jim Jackson’s upcoming venture with the Marshall Foundation’s 2012 Canoe Expedition through the Everglades. He’ll be keeping us updated on their progress via email and cell phone updates! Jim’s part will also rendezvous with wildlife photographer, Carlton Ward, Jr. whose Wildlife Corridor Expedition will also be starting a 1000 mile trek through the Everglades at the same time.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

From Everglades To Okefenokee

1,000-Mile Expedition to promote Florida Wildlife Corridor Project

Homestead, FL – Four explorers committed to connecting the remaining natural lands, waters, working farms and ranches from the Everglades to Georgia, will kick-off a 100-day trek to raise awareness of a functional ecological corridor that spans the entire state of Florida on Tuesday, January 17 at midday. Photographer Carlton Ward Jr., biologist Joe Guthrie, conservationist Mallory Lykes Dimmitt and filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus will cover 1,000 miles on a Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition to study and document the land, wildlife and waters for the visionary project.

The goal of the Expedition is to offer an inside look at the proposed corridor, its impact on Florida’s environment and why it’s necessary for the state’s wildlife population.

Everglades National Park Superintendent Dan Kimball, Florida dignitaries, the Everglades Foundation and leading conservationists will participate in an Expedition launch event starting at 10:30 a.m. in the Everglades National Park’s Flamingo Visitor Center.

At 12:30 p.m., the explorers will be participating in a live video call-in to the Everglades Water Supply Summit in Tallahassee. The team will be speaking directly with Senator Bob Graham and the entire summit luncheon.

Who: Photographer Carlton Ward Jr., biologist Joe Guthrie, conservationist Mallory Lykes Dimmitt and filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus

What: Launch of Historic 100-day, 1,000 mile Florida Wildlife Corridor

Expedition

Where: Everglades National Park’s Flamingo Visitor Center

For Directions: Click here to get directions directly to campground.

*When arriving ask the Flamingo Visitor Center to direct you to the Group Campgrounds.

When: Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Starting Time: 10:30 a.m.

Photo Opportunities: Interviews with Florida Wildlife Corridor

Expedition team, dignitaries and conservationists. View live video call-in to Everglades Water Supply Summit. Capture the launch as the expedition team paddles away into the Everglades.

* Editor’s Note: The explorers will be arriving to the Flamingo Visitor Center camp site on Monday, January 16, 2012. Media is invited for pre-coverage opportunities and camping in the Everglades with the explorers as they prepare.

Visit the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition website to download expedition media materials at www.floridawildlifecorridor.org.

Recent announcements from two federal agencies may help shift how the U.S. generates electricity: 1) The EPA released MATS, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which aims to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution produced by coal-fired power plants; and, 2) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a new plant design that could streamline licensing and construction.

It’s more bad news for coal and potentially a reset for nuclear power after a rough 2011.
Back in 1990, Congress gave the EPA the authority to limit mercury and air toxins like arsenic, acid gas, nickel and cyanide. But disagreements among federal regulators, industry officials, activists and politicians over how to implement the program resulted in 20 years of gridlock.

Finally, with the implementation of MATS, all coal-fired units will have to install technology that will remove these pollutants from their stack gases. They have up to four years to do this, but when fully implemented, the new standards are predicted to reduce mercury released into the air by about 90 percent, acid gases by 88 percent and sulfur dioxide by 40 percent.

“Coal huggers” are crying foul, arguing that these requirements are expensive and will result in everything from job cuts to doubling electricity prices to rolling brown outs.

But before we start feeling bad about big coal, recognize that the EPA implemented similar requirements on municipal waste combustors and medical waste incinerators years ago. They complied, reduced their mercury emissions by 90 percent, and did not go out of business.

What’s more, according to the EPA, nearly 60 percent of the 1,400 coal-fired units nationwide already have the necessary pollution controls in place to be in compliance with MATS. Companies like Constellation Energy installed these systems years ago in anticipation of the regulations going into effect.

Burning a 19th century fuel with 20th century equipment should not be part of our 21st century electrical grid. MATS finally forces the 40 percent of older, dirtier coal-fired plants to either upgrade their emissions control systems or shut down. Expect “coal hugger” congressmen and senators to draft resolutions trying to block MATS implementation.

Meanwhile, the NRC approved a design for a nuclear reactor that could kickstart power plant construction in the U.S., something that hasn’t occurred in almost two decades.

The NRC unanimously approved Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 reactor design in December. This reactor is supposed to improve operation and safety through simplified, passive security functions and other features.

Approval of the design is a major step forward for utility companies in Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas that have billions of dollars riding on plans to build AP1000 reactors. All these plants still require construction approval, but in a rare move, the NRC is planning on approving both construction and operation licenses for the plants simultaneously; something that was usually performed and approved independently.

Currently, the U.S. gets 45% of it’s electricity from coal and 20% from nuclear. That nuclear percentage wont change much since construction and startup of those new facilities is years away.

But implementation of MATS should drive down the coal percentage another couple of points in the next year or so (it was 50% just six years ago). It may not seem like much, but that’s millions of tons of particulates, sulfur, mercury and other metals not going up into our atmosphere, and our children’s lungs, each year. Who’s not for that?

There was nothing subtle about the 27th annual Everglades Coalition Conference hosted this year in Martin County. In a nutshell: put the studies on the shelves and get your shovels out! The restoration effort needs to move faster, simpler and smarter, all with less red tape.

The Everglades Coalition just wrapped up hosting its conference over the week-end, parading before the hundreds in attendance high-level folks such as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Senator Bill Nelson, Carl Hiassen, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, Former Assistant Secretary of the U.S Department of Interior, Nathanial Reed and even Governor Rick Scott who made his first appearance at the conference after shunning it last year (a first for a newly elected Governor). Everyone in attendance espoused the virtues of not only sticking with comprehensive Everglades restoration efforts, but funding those efforts adequately and moving forward with an aggressive timeline. This dedicated group of individuals, organizations and agencies are overtly weary of protracted delays and studies that are almost three decades in the making. As Shannon Estenoz, a former member of the SFWMD and current Director of the DOI’s Everglades Restoration Initiative observed, “We plan like we have all the time in the world and we don’t!” She went on to note the paralyzing effect of too many studies by observing that, “An exhaustively planned cure administered to a dead patient is not a cure.”

The same could be said of climate change and our ability to timely respond. It is undeniable that rising sea levels pose critical threats to the future viability of the River of Grass. The theme of the conference this year was “Everglades Restoration: Worth Every Penny” but aren’t those funds, to the tune of an anticipated $40million out of Florida’s state budget this year, a wiser investment if they likewise seek private partnership collaboration to address climate change issues? One private company is doing precisely that with a project that is proactively putting the regional area’s desire to do something about climate change into action.

The project, Sugarland Wind, involves installing 200MW of clean renewable wind energy that would result in the elimination of 320,000 tons of carbon emissions annually. The project would be located on the sugarcane fields in western Palm Beach County in an area known as the Everglades Agricultural Area (the “EAA”). Robin Saiz of Wind Capital Group gave a presentation on Saturday at the conference on a panel dedicated to discussing the future of the EAA. Fellow panelists included Palm Beach County Commission Karen Marcus, and UF/IFAS Member Ron Rice and was moderated by JoAnne Davis of 1000 Friends of Florida.

The panel fielded a range of questions from how to reduce phosphorus levels in the EAA to impacts on migratory birds from wind turbines. Most importantly perhaps to those in attendance to the conference was that the wind project is fully compatible with the Everglades restoration process. And yet, there are concerns, requests for delays and more studies. Despite having data and research on bird migratory patterns dating back to 2004, there are calls for 3 additional years of data. The idea behind the request is that 3 additional years will adjust for the current drought conditions. Unfortunately, Mother Nature may not be clued into this 3 year time frame and she might very well whip out a decade more years of drought. In the meantime, carbon emissions will continue to exacerbate issues very real to South Florida’s ecological survival. Studying data to a point of near paralysis will not solve the underlying problem, nor will it necessarily provide the sought-for clarity. Our climate crisis is a real threat and it is a real threat now. Will those tasked with protecting the environment step forward to take real action against the use of dirty fossil fuels, or will the larger mission be lost to calls for more data?

Governor Rick Scott’s Opening Speech

Friday AM Plenary Session I

Friday AM Plenary Session II

Colonel Pantano Interview

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s Friday Speech

Carl Hiaasen Friday Dinner Speech

Saturday AM Plenary Session IV

Sen. Bill Nelson’s Saturday Lunch Speech

Stuart Applebaum’s Interview On Fishing

Okay, here’s the plan:

Let’s shut down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency once and for all. Nearly every republican including Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have called for it and vowed action if elected. After 40 years, the EPA has been nothing but (to quote Marv Levy) “an over-officious jerk” of a regulatory agency, saddling industry with hundreds of billions of dollars in unnecessary pollution control, management and oversight.

And all for what? Some clean air, clean water and clean land. Well, clean air, water and land don’t pay the bills my friend, and those flower-picking, bunny-hugging, lentil-loving enviro-mentals over at the EPA have killed enough jobs.

Instead, retiring burdensome federal measures like the Clean Air, Clean Water and the Solid Waste Disposal Acts will result in less government interference, increased business opportunities and more jobs. The economy will flourish and it’ll be “Morning in America” once again.

Okay, here’s the reality:

Besides the incalculable damage to our environment and children’s health, shutting down the EPA would be an incredibly bad idea for two additional reasons: 1) Lack of a uniform regulatory framework; and, 2) State governments taking control of environmental policies, missions and budgets.

Pulling the plug on the EPA and shifting environmental compliance to the states would likely result in 50 different sets of regulations. Seriously, you think Utah, Texas and California would have similar standards for air, water and solid waste? They don’t now and a lack of federal minimums and framework would increase these gaps even further. This non-uniformity would result in such a regulatory maze that companies with multi-state operations would simply move to the state with the weakest rules.

Second, although state environmental regulatory agencies are full of good people, they are consistently overworked, understaffed and underfunded. And that’s because their size and standards are influenced by political agendas. Governors and state legislatures can modify environmental policy by controlling budgets and staff, or by passing legislation that weakens existing regulations. At present, they can’t weaken them below federal requirements. Remove the EPA and you set the stage for increasingly lax environmental policy.

And something tells me that the “redder” the state, the more lax (I mean pro-business) the environmental regulations will be. (e.g., “Bring your business to Texas because our environmental standards fit on a 5×7 card – in 18 font!). The race to the environmental bottom would be on.

And once settled in, turning that red state blue wouldn’t matter because any attempts to ratchet-up regulations would simply result in businesses threatening to shutter their doors or leave altogether, holding jobs as hostages against environmental standards.

The only option remaining to private citizens and advocacy groups would be to sue polluting industries for environmental damage and health care costs. And not only nearby industry, but those farther upwind and upstream as they export their pollution across state borders.

So, in the end, you know who really benefits from closing the EPA? Lawyers and lobbyists, because instead of investing in pollution control, industry would be investing in lobbyists to influence state politicians and good counsel to fight ongoing lawsuits.

Make it more efficient, make it more accountable, make it more transparent, but closing EPA’s doors is an incredibly bad idea not only for our natural resources but for our children’s health and welfare. It will balkanize our environmental regulatory structure and return our air, water and land back to the days when setting the Cuyahoga River on fire was just the cost of doing business.

“Morning in America” will begin to look and smell more like “Morning in Beijing”.

Governor Rick Scott at the 27th Everglades Coalition Conference.

As the first speaker at the conference, Governor Rick Scott announced an increase in the State of Florida’s Everglades Restoration budget, a positive change from last year when the budget was cut. We’ll also be talking to Nat Reed, Dean of the Restoration Movement, about the Florida Conservation Coalition and his words with the Governor. John Arthur Marshall, founder of the Marshall Foundation, and Martha Musgrove, member of the Marshall Foundation, will also be joining us to discuss their action plans during the upcoming legislative session.

Also at the conference was Florida Senator Bill Nelson and we got the opportunity to interview him about the Federal budget for Everglades restoration. We’ll also be airing portions of the keynote speech from Miami Herald columnist and author, Carl Hiaasen, as well as parts of EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson’s speech.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Did you know that the world’s population reached seven billion in 2011 and is expected to reach eight billion by the close of the decade? We’ll be welcoming Radio Green Earth correspondents Chris Cherniak and Nell Larson from our sister station KPCW in Park City, Utah to discuss this population boom and what it means for us and the planet.

For an exciting conclusion to this week’s broadcast, we’ll take you out to the Everglades Canoe Expedition, which runs from Kissimmee to Florida Bay. Gisa Wagner will talk about the purpose of the canoe event and renowned Florida wildlife photographer Carlton Ward will talk to us about another upcoming expedition, the trek from Florida Bay to Georgia using Florida’s remaining wildlife corridors.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

First, Everglades Restoration. Despite budget cuts, Everglades restoration has had a great year. Also, election year campaigning in Florida appears helpful for next year’s funding.

Second, climate change. We’ll talk to Oceanographer Mark Perry from the Florida Oceanic Research Foundation about the climate change and our oceans.

Third, hydraulic fracking for natural gas production. We’ll review the Keystone oil sands pipeline and the growth of this highly dangerous harvesting of shale oil.

Fourth, wind energy production. A commercial scale wind farm project is underway in Florida for the first time.

Taking trips to the places around your home is cheaper, more sustainable, and possibly more fun than going elsewhere. We’ll do some eco-touring in the Florida Keys, we’ll go down the street to two American wonders, Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, and we’ll turn a few miles up the road to Pelican Island, the first American Refuge.

We’ll tour the areas with rangers from the parks and experts from the National Parks Conservation Association. Also, we’ll talk with Eco mariner Captain Rob Clift.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Blog from Jane West, Environmental Attorney

World leaders putting their heads together in Durban, South Africa to grapple with global climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference may seem simply too remote for most Floridians to care. There are the holidays, a big election year coming up, football season, and besides, what can Florida do? As a state with a huge swath of real estate sitting right near sea level, Floridians have a lot to be concerned about when it comes to sea level rise, one of the most troubling aspects of climate change.

Earlier this year, Dr. Harold Wanless, the Chairman of the University of Miami’s Department of Geological Sciences, noted that with the projected 6 foot level rise, only a mere 44% of Florida’s developed land would remain above the high tide line by the end of this century. Beyond the staggering economic losses entailed in such a prediction, the other practical vulnerability is our fresh water supply. One aspect of rising sea level that is especially germane to South Florida is the increase in salinity of both surface water and ground water through salt water intrusion. The freshwater Everglades currently recharge Florida’s Biscayne aquifer, the primary water supply to the Keys. According to the IPCC, as rising water levels submerge low-lying portions of the Everglades, portions of this critical aquifer would become saline, rendering useless as a source of fresh drinking water to millions of South Floridians.

So, getting back to what we as Floridians can do about this besides just crossing our fingers and hoping that folks over in South Africa do right by the Everglades (uh, not likely): how about diversifying our energy mix with some local, clean renewable power that won’t spew out greenhouse gas emissions that will only exacerbate our precarious situation? That’s right, Florida finally has an opportunity to diversify its energy mix with the clean, renewable power of wind. The Sugarland Wind project, a 150 MW proposed wind development project located in the sugarcane fields of the Everglades Agricultural Area is the first large scale wind development project in the state. This is welcome news in light of the fact that 2010 was the single biggest jump in global carbon emissions ever recorded. Sitting back and blaming the developing nations of China, India and Brazil for this jump is not only unhelpful, but it shirks our responsibility as a developed country to be an innovative leader in reducing our heavy dependence on dirty fossil fuels. Currently wind power only accounts for a mere 1.2% of the total U.S. Energy Production for 2010 according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Coal and crude oil still account for 45% of our energy production. 150 MW isn’t huge, but it will provide clean, domestic energy to 30,000 homes that would otherwise be relying on fossil fuels. Finally, a chance to take local action to protect our vulnerable coastal resources.

For details on the project, visit sugarlandwind.com.

The Four County Compact on Climate Change, a group of representatives from Palm Beach County, Miami Dade County, Broward County, and Monroe County, met to plan for climate change mitigation and adaptation in South Florida. The group worked on its Action Plan for Climate Change for over two years and its has finally been released it.

We’ll be sharing details from the meeting, including some serious data concerning the Florida Keys and how much it will be affected by rising sea levels.

Also this week, we’ll bring you the story on how ranchers in the Northern Everglades and Kissimmee Valley are doing their part to store and clean water to help the restoration of the Everglades.

For more information on the Four County Compact on Climate Change, go to http://www.broward.org/NaturalResources/ClimateChange/Pages/SoutheastFloridaRegionalClimateCompact.aspx

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

An increasing number of state and federal agencies are transitioning their vehicle fleets over to compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG is not without issues, but it’s beginning to make more economic and environmental sense compared to other alternative fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.

The Federal Transportation Authority recently awarded grants to municipal transportation systems to help fund their transition over to CNG from diesel and gasoline. They included transit authorities in Hillsborough County, FL: Springfield, MA; Columbus, OH; and San Antonio, TX. The funding will be used to either upgrade fueling stations or purchase new cars, buses and trucks as existing equipment ages out.

Now, Ohio Governor John Kasich wants to scale things up even more, asking fellow Republican governors in Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania to join him in a combined effort to replace their state fleets with cars and trucks that run on CNG.

These four states have a total of 40,000 vehicles in their fleets, according to NGVAmerica, a Washington-based natural gas trade group (ngvc.org). Kasich’s plan is to use strength in numbers, having all four states purchase new CNG vehicles as their existing gas and diesel fleets are retired.
The potential benefits of the plan are four-fold: 1) Reduce foreign oil consumption; 2) Increase CNG vehicle production within the U.S.; 3) Use a cleaner burning fuel; and, 4) Increase domestic natural gas production.

What’s so great about CNG? Well, compared to gasoline and diesel, CNG vehicles produce on average 90% less particulate matter (e.g., smoke), along with less nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide on a per unit of energy basis. It does this because CNG is comprised of primarily one compound, methane.

Warning to adults, chemistry ahead: Methane is simply one carbon atom linked up with four hydrogen atoms. Gasoline and diesel contain hundreds of different chemicals with many more carbon atoms infused within them. The more carbon atoms involved in the combustion, the more smoke and carbon dioxide generated.

Kasich’s plan could kickstart U.S. vehicle production because right now Honda is the only company producing an off-the-assembly-line CNG sedan, the Civic GX. Fortunately, it’s assembled in Indiana with the engine coming from Ohio. Chevrolet builds a CNG cargo van; everything else has to be retro-fitted.

(By the way, for the seemingly thousands of Subaru owners in Park City, that company currently offers NOTHING in the way of an alternative fuel for U.S. customers: not a CNG, a hybrid, an all-electric or even a diesel powered vehicle. Let’s hope they’re not serious about that 2013 Coal-fired Outback…).

CNG vehicles have their drawbacks including higher purchase cost, larger fuel tank requirements and range limitations due to a lack of re-fueling stations. Kasich’s plan would address these issues through fleet-sized purchase agreements and re-fueling stations set up at centrally located state-run maintenance yards.

Finally, there are legitimate environmental concerns associated with the natural gas industry, particularly in central and western Pennsylvania where, among other things, post-drilling wastewater ponds are fouling the air, groundwater and the landscape. Read ProPublica’s excellent series of articles to learn more.

But replacing oil-burning vehicles with CNG makes both environmental and economic sense. We need to develop a clean and sustainable 21st century transportation grid using something other than a 20th century fuel. Hybrids, electric and CNG vehicles will all play a role in that transition.

There is no such thing as “clean coal.” This statement should be so obvious that I need not spend another 500 words explaining why, but the coal industry along with the advocacy groups they fund, and nearly every republican in congress has spoken the term enough times it’s now part of their “green” lexicon. Basically, the party line is: ‘I don’t support coal, I support clean coal’.

Doublespeak – 1 Reality – 0.

I’ve spoken with people who believe that we are actually mining and burning a cleaner type of coal! Psst, we’re not. It’s still the same old lignite, sub-bituminous and anthracite being combusted within the same inefficient furnaces, resulting in the production and emission of the same pollutants: ash, smoke, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and gaseous mercury, to name a few.

By and large, the concept behind “clean coal” addresses the capture and removal of one compound: carbon dioxide. Coal-fired power plants emit thousands of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each day. And since it is an important greenhouse gas, it’s management is critical to controlling the man-made warming of the atmosphere.

Removing carbon dioxide from the stack gas is technically complicated and expensive. Because it’s a gas, you can’t filter it out like smoke or ash. Instead, it has to be separated, turned into a fluid, pumped to a geologically-suitable location and finally injected deep underground where it will remain – hopefully – in perpetuity.

This process is called Carbon Capture and Sequestration, or CCS. With a name like that you can understand why coal marketers and politicians prefer the much easier to pronounce “clean coal.” It voids the need for Americans to learn a four-syllable word, while promoting such a vague term that it sounds like the entire process – mining to burning to ash management – has become more environmentally friendly. Genius.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) has a slick, flag-waving campaign that promotes coal as “America’s power.” In one commercial, it predicts a future in which coal will generate power “with even lower emissions, including the capture and storage of CO2. It’s a big challenge, but we’ve made a commitment, a commitment to clean.”

Well, they’ve certainly made a commitment to advertising; tens of million of dollars worth over the past three years. It would be admirable if they took that funding and instead of promoting their Orwellian-world of energy, do something instead to actually reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and mercury being emitted from their stacks.

Because the truth is this: CCS technology has been around for over a decade, but the coal industry has currently ZERO full-scale CCS systems operating in the U.S., and none planned for at least the next ten years (their estimate). “Clean Coal” and “Commitment to Clean.” It’s now Doublespeak – 2 Reality – 0.

Those who live in Haverhill, Ocean Ridge, and Atlantis, Florida can now cash in on new energy conservation rebates online. We speak to Dave Thatcher, grant administrator for the Municipal Energy Conservation Coalition and Lantana town official, about the three towns offering energy conservation money for homeowners.

And on this week’s show, we cover the interior of Florida, where some of the largest cattle ranches in the nation are home to the many problems that affect the Everglades. We’ll find out what they’re doing to clean the water, conserve it, and slow the pollution buildup downstream.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM and Thursdays at 6 PM on Seaview Radio 960 AM, 95.9 FM and 106.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

We’ll be taking a tour of Pine Jog Elementary School, located on the west of the Pine Jog/Florida Atlantic University property. This school is unique in that it is that is primarily outdoors and the principal, Fred Barch, will explain to us how this special design aides in a strong environmental education.

We’ll also be talking to author and surf fishing father, Richard Louv, on the beach in California about his thoughts on getting kids out of the house and in touch with nature. At the conclusion to this special kid-centered broadcast, we’ll be welcoming David Misjewski of the National Wildlife Federation on to the program to talk about the “No Child Left Inside Act of 2011.”

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Hosted by Florida Atlantic University/Pine Jog Environmental Education Center and The School District of Palm Beach County Division of Facilities, the conference is all about “greening” our schools. It’s not just about building green school facilities, though. Conference-goers from around Florida gathered to share cutting edge ideas about how to “green” schools’ daily operations through programs such as recycling and gardening, and updating the curriculum to educate students on sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Look forward to next week, when we’ll be bringing you a special show titled “no child left inside” which will feature some of our country’s leading experts talking about why kids should be outside more often – and ways to get them outdoors.

So, this week, join us for an hour of environmental news, a rebroadcast of our feature show on the Learn Green Conference, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

For more information on the Learn Green Conference or the Green Schools Recognition Program, go to http://www.ourgreenschools.com/

To Radio Green Earth Listeners:

We have decided to end our relationship with Classical South Florida/WPBI (90.7 and 101.9 FM) effective immediately. Tonight’s scheduled broadcast can be found at www.radiogreenearth.org. Radio Green Earth can still be heard each week on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2 and live on our website on Thursday mornings from 9-10 am. You can also access all of our broadcasts at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

We are currently working on finding a new home for Radio Green Earth in the Palm Beaches and will let you know shortly where that will be. We continue our commitment to providing the highest quality environmental education to our communities.

Thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter.

Sincerely,

John Poggi

Executive Producer

When it comes to consuming imported foods, I am guided by the following: If it comes from China, don’t put it in your mouth.

Whether shrimp or tilapia, pharmaceuticals, pet food, apple juice or even rice, consumables imported from China have time and again been suspect – to say the least – in quality and safety. In fact, the U.S.D.A. released a report in 2009 summarizing the litany of health and safety issues associated with Chinese-imported food (usda.gov/publications/eib52). The photos alone should convince you of the problem.

Now add another item to that list of suspects: honey. A comprehensive article in Food Safety News (FSN) last week (foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey) provides strong evidence that Chinese honey is not only being ultra-filtered to remove all it’s pollen, but it’s being sold to countries like India who in turn re-package, re-label and sell it to the U.S. as being a product from this country.

Yes, the Chinese are laundering low-quality, subsidized honey through complicit intermediaries. The result? The U.S. apiarian industry can’t compete, putting both bees and beekeepers out of work.

So why are the Chinese laundering their honey? Well, Chinese honey has long had a poor reputation for quality in the U.S., where – in 2001 – the Federal Trade Commission imposed stiff import tariffs to stop them from flooding the U.S. with cheap, low quality, subsidized honey.

To avoid these tariffs, the Chinese began shipping honey to several other countries, where the shipping drums were switched, and fake documents and labels produced indicating a tariff-free country of origin for the honey.

And why are they ultra-filtering it? Because that not only removes the dirt and bits of wax and wood from the honey (which is good), but it also removes the pollen. And the pollen, besides being nutritious, acts like a fingerprint for the honey, allowing the identification of it’s point of origin. What remains after ultra-filtration, is both unsourceable and nutrition-less. In fact, the U.S. FDA doesn’t even recognize ultra-filtered honey as such.

The American Honey Producers say that more than 60 million pounds of Indian honey was imported to the U.S. in the first half of 2011 and that much of it is believed to have been first produced in China. What’s more, FSN tested numerous brand name honey and found no pollen in them. This includes some honey sold under the Kroger’s, Western Family and Thrifty Bee brands.

I know we can’t trace the origin of everything we eat. But for the same reason that we visually inspect fruits and vegetables before we put them in our cart, and check the expiration date of perishable products, we should pay more attention to where our food and drink originates, particularly if it’s for your children. If it comes from China, perhaps it’s better to put it back on the shelf and let the store know that you will not purchase that product any further.

Yes, locally produced honey always cost a couple of dollars more per “bear”. But the upside is this: you know the source, it’s healthy, real stuff and it benefits local economies.

And finally this, U.S. honeybees pollinate nearly one-third of the fruits and vegetables grown annually in this country. In fact, most of California’s fruit and vegetable industry would suffer dramatically if it wasn’t for the prodigious pollination performed by genus Apis. So support your local beekeeper and keep the U.S. honeybee busy!

Hosted by Florida Atlantic University/Pine Jog Environmental Education Center and The School District of Palm Beach County Division of Facilities, the conference is all about “greening” our schools. It’s not just about building green school facilities, though. Conference-goers from around Florida gathered to share cutting edge ideas about how to “green” schools’ daily operations through programs such as recycling and gardening, and updating the curriculum to educate students on sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

For more information on the Learn Green Conference or the Green Schools Recognition Program, go to http://www.ourgreenschools.com/

Community-wide Get Your Hands Dirty Day and Children’s Garden Activity
to take place Saturday, November 19; Fun for all ages

WHO: Abacoa Community Garden

WHAT: Get Your Hands Dirty Day and Children’s Garden Activity

WHEN: Saturday, November 19, 9 a.m.

WHERE: 1022 West Community Drive, Jupiter, FL 33458 (West side of Central between Dakota Drive and Indian Creek, next to LifeSong Community Church)

DETAILS:
-Abacoa Community Garden’s once a month meet-up to tend the “all for one, one for all” Sharing Garden.
-Activities for children will include a fun, fall harvest craft and story time (plus exciting opportunities to harvest the Children’s Garden and enjoy the fruits of their labor-literally!).
-Great opportunity for first-timers to learn about Jupiter’s first community garden and how they can participate, and check out what’s growing.
-No green thumb required.
-Upcoming Get Your Hands Dirty Days and Children’s Garden activities will be held at the Garden on the third Saturday of every month. Due to the holidays, December’s event will be held Saturday, December 10.

CONTACT: c_hanna@bellsouth.net; www.facebook.com/abacoacommunitygarden; www.abacoa.com; or 561-624-7788

The Abacoa Community Garden is a club under the auspices of the Abacoa Property Owners’ Assembly (APOA) and is affiliated with the Partnership for Environmental Education (PFEE), an organization founded to provide funding for the Jupiter High School Environmental Research and Field Studies Academy. The Garden, which grows fruits and vegetables using organic and sustainable gardening principles, features a community sharing garden, individual plots and a children’s garden. Everyone is welcome-residency in Abacoa is not required. Children 17 or younger must have a Liability Waiver signed by a legal guardian. Children 13 or younger must have a responsible adult with them at all times. Special thanks to LifeSong Community Church for providing a home for the Garden.

Mercury is one amazing element. A metal that is liquid at room temperature, it also turns to a gas when warmed. It has been used for industrial and medicinal purposes for centuries. Mercury helps light and warm our homes, kill pests and fill our cavities. I even found it once in the bottom of a beer I was drinking while in college (party; “friends”; you know, college).

The following is a brief description of mercury’s chemical forms, a few examples of it’s many uses and how it travels through the environment, potentially ending up in us (my experience aside).

Mercury comes in three forms: elemental, inorganic and organic. Elemental mercury is that silvery liquid used in thermometers (sales phasing out), thermostats (still on my wall), dental fillings (still in my teeth) and compact fluorescent bulbs (a pencil-tips amount).

Inorganic mercury is found in some pesticides and vaccine preservatives. Remember mercurochrome? It’s topical antiseptic that contains inorganic mercury. Growing up, my mom would practically paint me with it to address my daily cuts, scrapes and scratches. It left a blood-red stain, but I always preferred mercurochrome over the dreaded stinging iodine.

Organic mercury is both naturally-occurring and man-made. Chemically, it’s elemental or inorganic mercury with an array of hydrogen and carbon atoms attached. But it is these molecular structures that make organic mercury the most harmful and toxic form of the three.

Mercury resides naturally within the earth’s crust and can be emitted into the atmosphere by volcanoes and forest fires. But it is also found in coal, and when coal is burned the mercury within it turns into a gas. At coal-fired power plants, that gaseous mercury exits the smoke stack, enters the atmosphere and drifts about. It eventually cools, reverts back to a solid state and slowly settles back to earth within dust, soot, snow or rain (USGS Fact Sheet FS-095-01).

The mercury that settles into lakes, rivers and wetlands can then be transformed into organic mercury by certain types of bacteria that live in those waters. These anaerobic bacteria gobble up the metal and, through a process called methylation, convert inorganic mercury into it’s organic form, also referred to as methylmercury.

Methylmercury can then make its way into the food chain by either direct consumption of the bacteria by larger organisms, or absorption of the chemical directly out of the water column. And because it takes a while to breakdown, methylmercury can bioaccumulate, meaning it gets passed up the food chain in increasing amounts and concentration.

This is why apex predators like tuna, swordfish and shark have the highest concentrations of mercury in their system (particularly their fatty tissue and organs). Even lower order fish like Chilean Sea Bass are known to have high levels of mercury (www.edf.org).

We, of course, are also “bioaccumulaters”, and when we eat these fish we start packing on the omega-3’s and, potentially, the methylmercury. And since methylmercury is a known neurotoxin, in large enough concentrations and rates of consumption, it can do serious damage to us including our kidneys and central nervous system (www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/mercury.html).

That is why many state health and environmental protection agencies have developed advisories for the types, frequencies and amount of freshwater fish you should consume caught within state waters (www.fishadvisories.utah.gov). To learn more about mercury in salt water-based fish, visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s fantastic website (www.montereybayaquarium.org).

EcoSummit is hosted by EcoWeek, which is an initiative to host educational events that celebrate environmental preservation while highlighting the diversity of the Florida Keys. EcoWeek’s goal is to promote environmental initiatives that create global change and leave visitors empowered to incorporate sustainable practices into their core philosophy.

During EcoSummit, participants showcased the integration of environment, economics, equity and energy concepts – known as E4 – while addressing how to integrate the missions with real life in practical, affordable ways. Attendees also viewed an airing of “The Story of Stuff,” Annie Leonard’s landmark film about the lifecycle of material goods, consumerism, and sustainability.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes. Visit http://ecoweekfloridakeys.com/summit/index.php to learn more about EcoSummit and EcoWeek.

There have been many stories about wind turbines killing thousands of birds, even top-of-the-food-chain raptors and migrating ducks and geese. The truth about these stories, however, is far more complicated. In a massive incident at a wind farm in Laurel Mountain, West Virginia, for example, the avian fatalities resulted from birds flying into the lights at an electrical substation associated with the wind farm. We’ll separate the facts from fiction as we talk to Pierre Bull, energy policy analyst from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

With wind farms as at the center of the “wind power” controversies, we’ll also be updating a story we did last year about a potential wind farm project in Nantucket Sound off the coast of the Massachusetts peninsula, the project of which is called Cape Wind – and the resistance the project is receiving. Also, we’ll be talking with Robin Saiz of Wind Capitol Group and hear about the construction of a wind farm in the Everglades Agricultural area in Western Palm Beach County.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Focusing on energy efficiency retrofit projects and business and community alterations in energy management, the MECC has developed both educational and outreach components, a transportation strategy, an energy conservation strategy (ECS), and a building code. The MECC’s educational and outreach components include a website program and essential materials to be given to residents and businesses to assist in their personal energy efficiency upgrades. Both the ECS and transportation strategies focus on greenhouse gas reduction strategies. The building code includes modifications to the local government’s land development regulations in assurance to commercial and residential construction and also major retrofits abiding by new energy efficiency targets.

All five towns have specific plans detailing how this sizeable grant money is helping them achieve these goals. The MECC’s focus is on proven energy conservation measures in order to produce concrete energy and effective cost savings, such as building and lighting upgrades. Without the State Energy Efficiency and Conservation grant, it is possible that MECC would have been unable to take these steps down the road towards energy management.

The TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline (Keystone) controversy is at full pitch, with both sides arguing either it’s benefits to the economy or potential harm to the environment. I’ve read and listened to both positions regarding the planned conveyance of refined Canadian Tar Sands from Alberta to Houston, and at times I wondered if they were discussing the same pipeline.

So I loaded up on coffee and sat down with the U.S. State Departments (DOS) Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the project. This is an important document since the DOS, along with eight other government agencies, will use the FEIS to guide their final decision to approve TransCanada’s permit application.

I focused my reading on the planned design and engineering aspects of the project. Here’s a few things I found interesting along with some thoughts.

The total length of the pipeline would be 1,711 miles, beginning in Hardisty, Alberta and ending in both Port Author and Houston, Texas. It would enter near Morgan, Montana and travel south through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The length of line to be constructed within the U.S. is 1,384 miles, and the portion running through Kansas is already in place.

The pipeline would NOT convey raw Canadian Tar Sands, but rather a refined version of this material called Diluted Bitumen (or “Dilbit” – honest). Bitumen is an asphalt-like substance processed out of the sandy, oily mess that is Canadian Tar Sands. The bitumen is then diluted with a light hydrocarbon like naptha, rendering it liquid enough to pump; hence Diluted Bitumen.

This dilbit would be pumped through a 36-inch diameter, single-walled steel pipe. Assuming an average of 500,000 barrels per day, and 42 gallons per barrel, the continuous flow of liquid through that pipe would be about 15,000 gallons per minute. Yes, that’s a lot. But the U.S. consumes an average of 580,000 gallons of crude oil per minute. Now THAT’s a lot!

Thirty new pump stations would be required to pump and re-pump this mixture, and the friction generated by the pumping would keep the temperature of the stuff between 80 and 120 degrees F.

The system is designed to deliver between 500,000 and 800,000 barrels per day to processing ports in both Oklahoma and Texas. Dilbit isn’t the high quality crude we get from the Gulf of Mexico or Saudi Arabia, so it has to undergo additional refining. But, if it remains here in the U.S., it will reduce our foreign imports by about five percent.

Keystone has calculated that, on average, less than one release event of dilbit would occur each year. However, this calculation does not include pump or valve stations. The existing Keystone Oil Pipeline System in the U.S. has experienced 14 releases of crude oil since it began operation in June 2010. All of these occurred at pump and valve stations. Most were less than 500 gallons, but the largest was 21,000 gallons.

The FEIS states that construction would employ between 5,000 and 6,000 workers, and is expected to take about two years to complete. The document also states that “between 10 and 15 percent of these workers are expected to be local hires”, depending on the pipelines location.

Once completed, “The permanent operational pipeline workforce would comprise about 20 U.S. employees strategically located along the length of the pipeline in the U.S.” (page 2-51 of the FEIS).

There is plenty more information in the FEIS including greenhouse gas analysis, alternative pipeline routes, and impacts to ecosystems and habitats.

Go to www.keystonepipeline-xl.gov to learn more. The final decision to permit this project will likely come sometime in January 2012.

From an engineering perspective, this project appears to be fairly straightforward. However, two things I find curious: 1) There appears to be no plan to encase piping that runs under the dozens of creeks, streams, rivers and wetlands scheduled to be traversed; and, 2) There are no plans to confine any spills or releases which might occur at the dozens of pump and valve stations.

I acknowledge that encasing a 36-inch diameter pipe can be expensive and complex, particularly with a pipe that large. But, based on Keystone’s own experience, the 30 pump stations and 100 or so valve stations are the vulnerable points when it comes to handling a semi-corrosive liquid like this under such high flow and pressure.

Some form of barrier or secondary containment beneath these pumps and valves would reduce the potential for this hot liquid to migrate out and away from the stations in the event of a release. As most of these stations are in remote locations, it’s not necessarily the flow rate of the release that is a problem as much as the time it takes to first notice and then respond to it. Therefore, protecting the environment while adding a few more jobs to install leak control systems is a win-win for both sides of the issue.

At the end of the day, if this system is built, assuring that 15,000 gallons per minute of refined tar sands remains in the pipe is TransCanada’s and Keystones biggest challenge. They will be watched like hawks – as well they should. But at the same time, let’s not forget about our 580,000 gallon per minute demand for crude oil in this country. Perhaps we need to watch – and do something about – that too.

Dr. Sylvia Earle is a key marine conservationist.

We’ll also be accompanying some conservation-minded Girl Scouts to the Loxahatchee River Center, getting their feedback and insights on this amazing ecological resource, as well as visiting the Palm Beach Sate College 4th Annual Green Expo. Ed Russo, environmental advisor to Donald Trump, will also be on the program to talk about the upcoming Eco Summit in Key West. To cap this coverage of local and globally minded conservation, we’ll talk to “100 Plus” author Sonia Arrison about what the world, both economically and ecologically, will have to do to prepare for the fact that it will become increasingly common for people to live well past one hundred years.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

U.S. officials are trying to make sure the American coastline will be protected as Cuba begins drilling a deep water oil well later this year about 60 miles off the Florida Keys.

Administration officials will tell nervous congressmen this week that the U.S. will inspect the China-made drilling rig before the Spanish energy company in charge of the project, Repsol YPF SA, moves the rig into Cuban territory.

But it remains unclear whether the U.S. government or American companies could respond if there were a disaster like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, which fouled beaches along the Gulf Coast, government and industry experts say.

Shutting off the Deepwater Horizon well took nearly three months, during which an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. If Repsol’s Cuba well, which is in slightly deeper water, experienced a blowout, the well could gush oil into the Straits of Florida, where it would be carried by the Gulfstream currents up the East Coast. The U.S. controls coastal waters as far as 200 miles from its shores, but in the narrower Straits of Florida it and Cuba have agreed to split the region equally.

Cuba has little experience with offshore oil exploration. In 2004, Cuba drilled its only other deep water well, which received little notice. Since then, the U.S. Geological Survey has said there could be a substantial amount of untapped oil off the Cuban coast. Cuba could sell the oil or use it to reduce imports from Venezuela.

The Repsol well is much closer to Florida than any other well in the region. The Gulf of Mexico is home to a big concentration of oil-industry support vessels and equipment, including new technology designed after the Deepwater Horizon spill to cap deep out-of-control wells, but because of a longstanding trade embargo, little of that could be used to fight a spill in Cuban waters.

Neither of the two companies that developed capping capability has U.S. government permission to operate in Cuba.

Marine Well Containment Co., a consortium of major oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. that plans to use some equipment developed to stop the Deepwater Horizon spill last year, hasn’t applied for a permit to work in Cuba, a spokeswoman said. The company is “currently structured to only provide services to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico,” she said.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc., a Houston-based oil-field-service company, has developed its own deep-water capping system. It is “exploring options” to use its spill-containment system in Cuba, spokesman Cameron Wallace said.

A U.S. official said the government is reviewing applications from companies to provide oil-spill services but wouldn’t provide any more details.

Even if U.S. companies receive licenses, getting needed equipment and personnel from the U.S. to Cuba will be slow and bureaucratic, warned Jorge Piñon, a visiting research fellow at Florida International University, who will be appearing along with administration officials at a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

“The whole process of getting the bureaucracy in place will take valuable time,” he said, in part because the U.S. and Cuba haven’t had diplomatic relations for decades.
Repsol, which does a lot of business in the U.S., has not only agreed to let federal regulators inspect the rig before it enters Cuban waters, it has agreed to share detailed exploration and operational plans, something standard for oil companies operating in U.S. waters. It has yet to turn over any documents.Describing Repsol as “extremely cooperative and forthcoming,” a senior U.S. official said, “I have a high level of confidence that if we found a deficiency, they would do everything they could to remedy it.”

U.S. government and energy industry officials said they expected continuing contact with Repsol while the well was being drilled.

Lee Hunt, president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, a trade group of offshore drilling companies, applauded that agreement progress but said he would like to see some form of blanket authority from the White House to allow any available U.S. ship or equipment to help if there was a spill.

Some in Congress have preferred to focus on trying to scotch the Cuban drilling altogether. A bipartisan group of approximately 30 members of the U.S. House, including Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, an ardent anti-Castro Republican from Florida, sent a letter late last month to Repsol urging it to “abandon collaboration” with the Cuban government, and warning that Repsol’s oil leases and other commercial interests in the U.S. could be jeopardized if it goes ahead.

Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix said the company planned to proceed with its plans to drill one well in about 5,500 feet of water, and more wells are expected to follow. Every conceivable step has been taken to ensure safe operations, he said, adding, “We have a modern piece of equipment and are confident our staff is competent to operate at the very highest level.”

Robert F.Hopper, RLA (Palm Beach, FL) – Water Efficient Landscaping

Robert Hopper is a botanist and registered landscape architect, who has worked in both the private and public sectors of South Florida and is an enthusiastic supporter of the Florida Native Plant Society. He serves as the landscape chair for the Palm Beach County chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. His native plant garden designs for the Mounts Botanical Garden, Grassy Waters Preserve and the Choko Lochi Learning Garden, which is part of the ecoart project Elders’ Cove in West Palm Beach’s Dreher Park, are models for the creative use of native plants in landscape designs for parks, residences and businesses. Currently Rob is employed by the South Florida Water Management District as a Senior Environmental Analyst focusing on wetland and storm water management issues.

Bert Lichen (Boca Rato, FL) – Solar Energy

Bert Lichen is highly involved in local community outreach for several sustainability initiatives. Bert founded the South Florida Solar Energy Network in 2009 to promote solar energy and provide outreach for sustainable development. The group currently has 180 registered members through Meetup.com, a social networking/media portal. Originally the focus was renewable energy technologies, but was later expanded to include the wide array of topics that fall under the umbrella of sustainability.

Bert is also the co-founder of the Green Living Alliance of Boca Raton which is an outreach effort aimed at promoting sustainability. The group formed as a result of over a year of planning by the Boca Raton Green Living Task Force which consisted of a group of volunteers appointed by city council to create a strategic plan for sustainability within the city of Boca Raton. Bert served on the Task Force until it s sunset date back in June 2010.

Holly Andreotta (Lake Worth, FL) – Saving Water with Rain Barrels

Owner, RainLife Rain Barrels, (352) 302-9072,
Board of Directors, Florida Association of Environmental Professionals (FAEP), 2009-2011
Board of Directors, Snook and Gamefish Foundation (SGF), 2011

Holly has 10 years of experience working with a variety of governmental agencies in the environmental field. Holly earned her B.S. in Marine Biology and Zoology from Florida Atlantic University.

In her free time, Holly is also owner of a small family run business called RainLife Rain Barrels out of Lake Worth, FL. RainLife Rain Barrels gives educational workshops and presentations to local municipalities, colleges and schools, garden clubs, environmental organizations and foundations, and at local green events and expos on the importance of water conservation and how rain barrels can help in your effort to conserve water. RainLife Rain Barrels builds and sells rain barrels using recycled barrels, working with local dairy farms and water utility departments, in order to keep the costs low and affordable. RainLife Rain Barrels also works with local artist for display models, and on commission, to bring awareness to water conservation efforts.

Florida Power & Light Representative – Energy Savings Basics

A review of FP&L’s “Energy Savings Tool Kit,” explaining how to save money & energy in your home.  Being “Green” doesn’t have to be expensive, in fact, the first steps to being green is to save green!  There’s a reason the 3 R’s of green living starts with “Reduce.”

According to researchers reporting in the most recent issue of the journal Nature (www.nature.com) an ozone hole, unprecedented in both size and occurrence, opened up over the Arctic during this past Spring 2011. Ozone plays an important role in protecting plants, animals and us, so this comes as unsettling news. Why did this occur and what does it mean?

Why Did This Happen?

First a little background on ozone. Ozone is a simple compound consisting of three oxygen atoms combined in an uneasy alliance with each other. I say uneasy because the oxygen molecule we breathe comes in a stable pair (O2). But under certain conditions a third oxygen atom can come along and turn that O2 molecule into O3, or ozone. This oxygen triplet becomes, in chemistry terms, “unstable”. No one’s happy, threes a crowd, and we’ll get to the consequences of that arrangement in a bit.

Depending on where it is in the atmosphere ozone can either be good or bad for us. In the troposphere (that’s the layer of air we breathe and where most of our weather resides) it’s bad for us. Our lungs like O2 but dislike ozone. In fact, long-term exposure to ozone can damage our lungs, inviting a host of respiratory problems.

But, at higher levels of our atmosphere (stratosphere) ozone plays an important role in protecting our planet by: 1) Absorbing ultraviolet radiation, like UV-B rays; and 2) Converting that radiation into heat, which keeps that part of the atmosphere warm.

Ozone’s unstable bond can be broken when it comes in contact with chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC’s. CFC’s are man-made chemicals that were once used as, among other things, coolants and propellants “back in the day” (Remember aerosol deodorants? CFC’s where in those cans; hope you’re happy…).

Their production was finally halted beginning in 1987 with the signing of the Montreal Protocol, but because CFC’s are so chemically stable (they can last up to a century before breaking down), a significant concentration of them still remains throughout both the troposphere and stratosphere.

So why do holes in the ozone only occur at the poles? What’s interesting is that the ozone destruction process prefers cold environments. And the process is greatly accelerated when the atmosphere is cold enough to make clouds in the stratosphere (we’re talking 60,000 feet up!). These polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) act like ozone destruction factories, by providing convenient surfaces for the chlorine in CFC’s to be released and, to paraphrase NFL ref Ben Dreith start “giving ozone the business”.

Since the early 1980’s, researchers have been well aware that ozone depletion occurs each year in the Antarctic. They also recognized that ozone losses in the Arctic where always much less than that of their colder southern cousin, with concentrations decreasing by only 5% to 30% on average. But last winter, cold air became trapped above the Arctic in something aptly called the Arctic Vortex. This vortex allowed PSC’s to form, setting the stage for CFC’s to break ozone’s weak bond.

And did it ever, because this past spring, ozone concentrations above the Arctic dropped by nearly 80%, resulting in the first known case of twin ozone holes, one over each pole. What’s more, during late March and portions of April, the Arctic ozone hole was positioned over populated areas of Western Europe, allowing greater than normal levels of damaging ultraviolet rays (UV-B) to reach the earth’s surface. By the way, the ozone hole lessens and closes over the summer as the atmosphere warms and the CFC-based reactions decline.

Left: Ozone levels in Earth's stratosphere at an altitude of approximately 12 miles in mid-March 2011. Right: chlorine monoxide--the primary agent of chemical ozone destruction --the same day and altitude.

What Does This Mean?

Since we live at 7,000 feet, we all know that the Sun’s UV-B radiation can cause sunburn, skin damage and sometimes cancer. We get that, and make sure we’re all adequately covered up when outdoors, both summer and winter. But researchers have also observed that UV-B rays can harm a plant’s chemical processes and reduce crop yields in agricultural settings, including rice and wheat.

Ozone within the stratosphere is therefore critical in protecting the earths plants, animals and humans from harmful UV-B radiation, and every one percent loss of ozone will allow one percent more UV-B rays to pass through the atmosphere. One important note: ozone holes do not contribute to global warming. Visit the Union of Concerned Scientists website for a good explanation of this (www.ucsusa.org).

So, connecting the dots, a cycle of continuous destruction is potentially created as less ozone in the stratosphere results in a colder stratosphere, which allows more PSC’s to form during the winter and spring, which sets the stage for more ozone destruction, and so on and so forth.

The good news is that, except for black market production and trade, CFC manufacturing is no longer allowed. We can thank the Montreal Protocol, industry’s begrudging compliance and whoever developed stick deodorant for that. As a result, the levels of CFC’s are slowly decreasing over time, but only by about one-half of one percent a year. So the chances for more ozone holes will likely remain for decades to come. So if you find yourself at either pole during the Spring, I suggest SPF 600.

Last week, we visited the Electric Vehicle Stakeholder Summit that was held in Coral Springs, Florida. The recent progress in the electric vehicle industry was a focal point of the summit, but we also got to hear many myths concerning electric cars being busted. We also took a ride in the new Chevy Volt. Our coverage is capped with an interview with Mark Smith, Vice President of Strategic Consulting for General Electric’s Capital Fleet Services, about their upcoming landmark electric vehicle fleet purchase. General Electric is not only marketing and buying electric vehicles, but they’re also working on creating charging stations for personal, commercial, and governmental use.

In addition to this feature coverage of the Summit, we’ll also be chatting with Christine Heshmati who works for both the South Florida Regional Planning Council and the Clean Cities Coalition. Christine will share with the show what we need to do as a region to promote the upcoming electric vehicle revolution.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

We’ll head out to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Indian River County, Florida, a unique place of history as the first amount of land set aside by the Federal Government for the sake of wild life in 1903, and take a tour of the refuge. We’ll be learning about the newly proposed refuge that could link wildlife habitats from the headwaters of the Kissimmee River to Everglades National Park.

We also talk with Dylan Gavagni, park manager at Savannah’s Preserve State Park in St. Lucie County, about the growing movement to bring forests to inner cities. Forests are a source of many things of which our lives depend. As forests dwindle, so does our wildlife. The U.S. loses an average of 530,000 acres of primary forest a year, ranking us seventh worldwide on the deforestation list. We’ll also learn about urban forestry from the president of the South Florida Urban Forestry Council.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Thursdays at 9 AM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

John and Nancy Marshall founded and currently run the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, one of the most important nongovernmental agencies involved in Everglades Restoration. The Marshall Foundation’s mission originates from the principles of John’s Uncle, Arthur R. Marshall, Jr.. As Stewards of the Environment, they are the only non-profit agency in South Florida offering hands-on experiential learning opportunities in the Everglades restoration and preservation. The work that they are doing today, educating students and families about the importance of the Everglades, will have a lasting impact on the future of Florida…it’s growth, it’s economy, it’s sustainability!!

We’ll visit the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife refuge near Boynton Beach, Florida to talk to Dr. Tom Poulson, chief scientist for the Marshall Foundation. He’ll give us a tour of the new visitor’s center and talk about the service of our two honorees, John and Nancy Marshall. We also chat with Michael Wallander, a member of the Board of Directors of the Marshall Foundation.

In addition to our special profile of this dynamic team of Everglades Restoration Warriors, we’ll also receive advice from environmental lawyer Erin Deady. She’ll be talking about your property rights and other legal rights from an environmental standpoint.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

You can contact your local representative by following the link below and typing in your address or zip-code to find who represents you. Let your voice be heard!

http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find

Looking for a quick, inexpensive and totally satisfying way to help out the wildlife in your neighborhood? Plant a few native plants in your yard, or put a few in pots on your balcony, and you’ll soon have butterflies and birds to admire as well as blossoms.

Florida wildlife needs Florida plants for food, nesting and habitat, but many areas have few of them left. Some of the exotic plants that are commonly used in South Florida are not only useless to our birds and bugs (the fact that nothing eats them is one reason some are so popular) but take over the spaces that native species used to occupy. Mexican petunia, or ruellia, is a tall, bright purple flower that blooms in thick patches all year round. It’s pretty, but it is also is highly invasive, quickly crowding out anything else growing nearby. Check the leaves of this plant and most likely you’ll find them virtually untouched — few of Florida’s creatures can use it for food.

Numerous commonly used landscaping plants are highly invasive, including sword fern, lantana, and coral ardisia, just to name a few. Many others, however, while not invasive, provide little or nothing of value for our wildlife. Florida plants and animals have evolved together through millennium, developing unique relationships that enable them to survive. While a plant may have a defense against predation, such as a toxin, over time a particular insect or bird may have developed a tolerance to that toxin that allows it to digest and extract nutrition from that plant. “Urban and suburban areas heavily planted with exotics may have little to offer Florida creatures,” said Karina Veaudry of the Florida Native Plant Society. “We are starving our bird and butterfly and wildlife population,’’ she said, noting that many widely used exotics are “completely, 100 percent ecologically sterile, with zero value for habitat and wildlife.”

Douglas W. Tallamy, an entomologist and wildlife ecologist at the University of Delaware, has written a wonderful book about how we have changed the flora that surrounds us, and the crucial role native plants in our own backyards can play in preserving biodiversity. Bringing Nature Home: How you can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants makes it clear that finding half-eaten leaves in your flowerbeds is a good thing. I recently ripped out my begonias and Mexican petunias and put in a bunch of native flowers and shrubs — salvia, partridge pea, beauty berry and wild coffee, among others. They are attracting all kinds of butterflies, bees, caterpillars, and lately, a few hummingbirds. I’m not much of a gardener, but all that action out there, and the fact that these plants are very low maintenance, is making work in the yard a lot more fun.

There are numerous native plant nurseries in the area. Check out Floridanativenurseries.org to find those near you, and ask your local nursery or garden store to stock more native plants. Visit the following sites for more information: Florida Native Plant Society: www.FNPS.org, Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council: www.fleppc.org, Florida Wildflower Foundation: www.flawildflowers.org, Florida Association of Native Nurseries: www.floridanativenurseries.org, and Mounts Botanical Garden: www.mounts.org.

Increased weather extremes caused by climate change

 We will also be taking our listeners to two local events related to the Climate Reality Project. West Palm Beach held a town meeting and rally concerning the reality of climate change. The rally featured many speakers, including Jeri Muoio, Mayor of West Palm Beach, and Lou Crampton, CEO of the South Florida Science Museum. Radio Green Earth will take the opportunity to talk with Jeri Muoio about the city’s sustainability efforts and interview Lou Crampton about his support of The Climate Reality Project. Captain Dan, a self confessed climate warrior, also presented a program about climate change at Miami Dade College. We chat with Dan and find out about what drives this “climate warrior.” 

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and 101.9 FM, and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

The reality of climate change shows the snow of Kilimanjaro melting

This worldwide event will present the reality of the climate change by creating an understanding of climate-related events, such as recent extreme weather conditions and manmade pollution, while also revealing snapshots of the climate crisis. Also, Al Gore, the founder of The Climate Reality Project, will present his new multimedia presentation.

People from New York to New Delhi to Seoul will share the impacts of climate change on their everyday lives. The Climate Reality Project provides facts about the climate crisis and ways to solve it.

You’ll also hear from a number of South Florida climate experts about what’s happening and predicted for South Florida.

To find out more, visit http://climaterealityproject.org

We’ll visit the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Florida, which is dedicated to the protection of the Florida panther and its habitat. We’ll talk with Larry Fitzerald, senior wildlife biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Florida Panther Refuge, about the rescue mission at the Refuge and some great news, including a recent upsurge in the panther population.

We’ll also be getting an update on our beloved chimps at Save the Chimps. Committed to the safety, privacy, care, and freedom of the chimpanzees that live at their sanctuary, Save the Chimps provides homes for the animals that have been rescued from research laboratories, entertainment, and the pet trade. We’ll be touring the sanctuary, getting the latest news, and hearing about the upcoming arrivals.

We visit the Florida Power and Light Company’s Riviera Beach, Florida fleet operations, where this pilot project is underway. FPL staff are testing the efficacy of using hybrid and electric vehicles in their commercial fleet. Our hosts get a chance to test some of these hybrid and electric vehicles, including (believe it or not) a “green” bucket truck.

FPL's Green Fleet

As one of the nation’s largest producers of electricity by renewable means, it’s not surprising that FPL is taking a new step to reduce the carbon footprint of their fleet. We’ll also be talking to some of the members of the program, and learn about how the results of the pilot program could forever affect the make-up of FPL’s commercial fleet and further cement their commitment to protecting our environment.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

We’ll be meeting with Gillian Thomas, President and CEO of the Miami Science Museum, to talk about their past and the future. The museum was actually started back in 1949, but didn’t have its first building until 1960 when it moved to a three acre parcel near Biscayne Bay. During the last decade, the Museum has expanded to provide space for over 4,000 member families, 250,000 visitors and one of the largest summer science camps in the nation. Within the next few years, the Museum will be further confirming its mission to environmental and scientific education with a move to a reclaimed brownfield and LEED-certified campus.

Miami Science Museum

Radio Green Earth host, Jim, will also take a tour of the museum with Fernando and some friends, and learn about their exciting exhibits and their local initiatives. We’ll finish out our program with an enlightening chat with Paul Gilding, author of The Great Disruption, a book that predicts the end of our unsustainable culture of consumption and waste within the next century.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

According to a 2 year study performed by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), every 24 hours, indoor plants can remove up to 87% of dangerous (VOCs) found in common products like paints, plastics, tobacco smoke, dry cleaning fluid, carpet glue, printer inks and other air pollutants.

Dr. Bill Wolverton, former NASA scientist, authored the book How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office. In his book, Wolverton rates plants on four criteria: effectiveness in removing the three main indoor pollutants (formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide); ease of growing; resistance to insect and disease; and ability to release moisture. Based on those criteria, the 10 plants are the most effective all-around in counteracting off-gassed chemicals and contributing to balanced internal humidity are:

• Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa)
• Gerbera Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
• Janet Craig (Dracaena “janet craig”) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• Marginata (Dracaena marginata) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• Rubber Plant TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• Mass cane/Corn Plant (Dracaena massangeana) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• Mother-in-Law’s Tongue (Sansevieria laurentii) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• Pot Mum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• English Ivy (Hedera helix) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS
• Warneckii (Dracaena “warneckii”) TOXIC TO CATS/DOGS

The top three houseplants were the Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa), Rubber plant (Ficus robusta), and English ivy (Hedera helix).

Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa)

The study recommends placing at least one houseplant for every 100 square feet of living space for optimum effectiveness, assuming average ceiling heights of 8 to 9 feet. When positioning plants, try to strike a balance between light and ventilation because their effectiveness can be reduced if they are set in a draft. And try to position them in the breathing zone of 3 to six feet.

If you have house pets, always check to make sure the plants you are adding to your house are not toxic to them. Visit the ASPCA’s Poison Control website to check out the toxicity of many common house pets.

Click here for Poison Control Website

We talk with Lisa Roberts from the Florida Wildflower Foundation about how wildflowers and other native plants have been displaced by exotic landscaping plants. We’ll be learning about their initiatives to restore Florida’s natural flora, including sources for seeds and educational resources for gardeners.

Radio Green Earth host, Jim, will then take us on the tour of the Mounts Botanical Gardens in West Palm Beach to see just how impressive (and less expensive) it can be to maintain a native plant landscape in your yard. We’ll learn about alternatives to exotic plants and how to incorporate them into your current landscaping.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Horizontal hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is a drilling technique used to extract natural gas from underground deposits throughout the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania and New York. While the natural gas industry is an excellent source of income and jobs in this economically-strapped region, fracking is fraught with multiple environmental issues. We talk to scientific experts and residents with personal experience with the “fracking” industry to see if the potential wealth is worth the environmental fall-out.

Image Courtesy www.celsias.com

We’ll then hone in on another fuel harvesting method that has environmentalists concerned – the proposed “tar sands” pipeline. Canada is home to huge deposits of bituminous sands (also referred to as oil or tar sands), a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Canadian authorities are currently planning to build a pipeline to carry tar sand to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Anthony Swift from the Natural Resources Defense Council speaks with Radio Green Earth concerning the dangers involved in this process.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

We’ll be touring the Edge Recycling Company in Pompano Beach where they are using a new technology to revolutionize how we get rid of all of those ubiquitous packing peanuts. We also check out the grand opening of a new retailer in Lake Park, Florida that caters to people who want to make their homes greener and cleaner. This store’s shelves are filled with products that they’ve deemed to be the best to make your home more sustainable and affordable.

The financial sector is seeing “green” in the sustainability movement as well and we’ll talk to some bankers who have started specializing in programs to finance retrofitting. We’ll then head up to Indian River College to talk to some students who are developing a marketing plan for their school’s green curriculum.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, a special green tip-of-the-week from Paul Sugrue – the green pest guy, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM.

Climate Change and the Grand Canyon

Missy gives us an inside look at the changing Grand Canyon ecosystem. She talks with a number of Grand Canyon experts including Deanna Greco, the park’s Physical Science Program Manager; Ellen Brennan, Chief of Cultural Resources; and RV Ward, Wildlife Biologist, and Kevin Dahl, Arizona program manager from the National Parks Conservation Association. You’ll be surprised to see how climate change is affecting one of our country’s most famous landmarks.

You don’t have to travel all the way to the Grand Canyon to see the impact of climate change, however. Host Jim Jackson wandered down our beaches this week with Mark Perry, Executive Director of the Florida Oceanographic Society, and learned about the affects of climate change in our oceans.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

We’ll speak with Rob Clift from the National Parks Conservation Association who shares safe fishing practices that won’t harm the Florida Bay environment. He also joins Radio Green Earth Host, Jim, on a sunset paddle through the keys. Kayaking in Florida Bay may be the fastest growing segment of eco-tourism in the Keys.

Marine adventures for kids abound in the Keys as well. The Florida National High Adventure Sea Base, a Boy Scout sailing camp, is located on lower Matacumbe Key. Captain Keith Douglas of the Boy Scouts of America will talk about the camp – and the importance of teaching the scouts about sailing, an aquatic pastime that doesn’t pollute the seas or consume fossil fuels.

For those who prefer dry land to the water of the Keys, we’ll also take you on a tour of the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail, which is perfect for both cycling and hiking.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

John Marshall, co-founder of the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, asked that question of readers in a recent June 28th letter to the editor entitled, “Blame the Loss of the Everglades for South Florida ’s Drought.” His foundation, the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, champions outreach and education programs vital to the restoration of the Everglades and the “River of Grass” – and interestingly enough, its namesake, Arthur Marshall, coined the term “man-made drought” in 1982 to describe the way that encroaching civilization was destroying the historic sheet flow of the Everglades and affecting local weather patterns.

We’re lucky enough to talk to John Marshall about his theories behind our “man-made droughts” and what we can do to help restore our natural climate system. A few bright, young interns at the Marshall Foundation will share with us how they are studying the drought over the summer, a time when most of the other kids are out at the beach. We’ll also be talking to Time Magazine’s Michael Grunwald, author of the Swamp, about his own research on the Everglades and our local climate systems – and how everything we have done to our South Florida environment has damaged our water supply.

So, are restoration efforts moving fast enough to help resurrect our water supply? Radio Green Earth host, Missy Strauss, will visit the Kissimmee River Basin at the very source of the Everglades and report on one of the best developed restoration projects in the area. We’ll see how aggressive efforts are already under way to restore the Everglades and surrounding waters – and we’ll also make sure that you, our listeners, learn about what you can do to help support these projects.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Thursday at 7 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

This week on Radio Green Earth, we’ll bring you the latest news on the organization that monitors the health and welfare of our national park system. Join us to explore the National Parks Conservation Association’s efforts to advocate for the protection of our national parks.

A report released last week by the National Parks Conservation Association under the title “The State of our National Parks” details the environmental issues facing our national parks. Page after page of this report describes the ongoing environmental damage from air and water pollution, changing climates, proposed fossil fuel extraction, and adjacent land development.

We’ll talk with Regional Director of the National Parks Conservation Association, John Adornato, to learn more about the Association’s efforts with regards to this new report. Then we’ll travel to the swampy waters of the Everglades to hear from Dawn Shireffs, program manager for Everglades National Park Restoration.

South Florida is home to four National Parks: Biscayne, Everglades, Big Cypress, and Dry Tortugas. Let’s make sure that we are doing our part to understand how we can preserve these wonderful places.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

This week on Radio Green Earth, we’ll explore the benefits and challenges of living “off-the-grid”. Off-the-grid-homes are typically independent from public utility services like electricity, natural gas, water, wastewater and solid waste. We’ll talk to Keith Thompson, a New Yorker who now lives off the grid in the desert Southwest. He’ll share his experiences and perspectives of the off-the-grid lifestyle. We also hear about actors and activists, Ed Begley, Jr. and Daryl Hanna, who chat about their experiences with living off the grid.

In addition, Radio Green Earth Host, Missy gives us an inside look into DPR Construction, a company in California that designs and constructs buildings with low environmental impacts, otherwise known as “net-zero living”. Learn all about the company and the netzero concept through an interviewed tour of their corporate headquarters.

We’ll also peer down the hallways of Unity College, where they are taking energy saving initiatives to a new level. This includes the presidents’ residence, which is a Platinum LEED certified home, and the Terra Haus, the first college residence hall built to “Passive House” standards. We’ll talk to Dog Fox about the presidents’ home, and Mark O’Malia, the designer of Terra Haus.

Finally, Drew Martin of the Loxahatchee Sierra Club drops by to update us on the clubs’ current activities. Missy recently joined the Club on one of their many outings at Du Bois Park in Jupiter, Florida.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. You can livestream us at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Ages ago, four different species of sea turtles flocked to the Florida beaches each summer to rest and lay their eggs. Now tourism dominates our beaches and all of these species of sea turtles are either endangered or threatened with extinction. Luckily, there are a number of conservationists and researchers trying to learn all they can about the turtles, including how we can best help protect them. We’ll talk with many of them and get a first hand update on their findings.

We will talk to personnel of the Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management Team, some of South Florida’s leading sea turtle experts, and learn all about these critical conservation efforts. An important part of Palm Beach County’s turtle conservation program is a beach lighting regulation, aimed at keeping sea turtles from becoming confused by the lights of civilization. Radio Green Earth host, Jim Jackson, joins local county workers as they scour the beaches at night and try to enforce the lighting regulation.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

We’ll also take you on a nighttime turtle walk expedition with the scientists and volunteers at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida to hear about Missy’s encounter with an egg laying female sea turtle as she performs her life’s mission. You won’t want to miss this!

We’ll also say bon voyage to celebrity sea turtle – “Clark” who has been rehabilitating in Martin County. Released back into the wild just this week, Clark had been educating and entertaining children at the Environmental Studies Center in Martin County for the past two years. He is being fitted with a tracking device and will be reporting his location back to us via the internet.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Radio Green Earth will visit a one of a kind holistic pet shop where we learn about the movement towards “holistic” pet cuisine. Once considered “premium”, holistic pet cuisine is quickly becoming mainstream as more and more consumers become interested in feeding their pets organic, wholesome diets. We’ll also learn some surprising facts about the pet food sold at your local grocery store.

Radio Green Earth Correspondent, Chris Cherniak , then gives us an inside look at holistic, pet therapies when he brings his dog, Reilly to an acupuncture treatment. Later in the show, we’ll visit the Loggerhead Marine Life Center , where Equine Vets are using alternative therapies, including a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, to rehabilitate a sea turtle back to health.

Whether it’s purchasing an organic diet, following holistic preventative health plan, or choosing alternative treatments, a sustainable lifestyle for your pet can reap substantial benefits on their health and well being.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Junior Marine Biologist Summer Camp

This week on Radio Green Earth, we bring you our great summer guide to exciting, educational and environmentally-conscious activities around the South Florida region. Join us to learn about the multitude of fun camps and centers designed to get you and your kids off the couch this summer!

We’ll be featuring the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center,  Smithsonian Marine Station, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center,  Loxahatchee River Center , and Loggerhead Marine Life Center . Each of these centers creates a hands-on experience with our ocean systems while also teaching kids about the importance of the environment and the ecosystem.

We talk to Oceanographic Society Executive Director, Dr.Mark Perry, to hear more about the interactive summer activities taking place at the Florida Oceanographic Center . We then hop over to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center to hear from Rebecca Scarborough about the rewarding experience at their one-of-a-kind “Junior Marine Biologist Summer Camp.”

Learn about these and more local nature centers that offer opportunities for youth to become involved as well as regional sailing camps, surf camps, and community service opportunities and make sure the learning doesn’t stop even though school is out!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

by Bruce W. Fraser, Director of the Center for Media and Journalism Studies at Indian River State College

Imagine that you are an investigator tasked with solving a serious crime, say the theft of an expensive sports car, a Bugatti, from a wealthy New England collector. The car was parked in a locked garage, one of several on the collector’s palatial estate, and disappeared sometime over a long holiday weekend when the owner was out of town. The alarm had been set and there was no sign of forced entry. The dogs on the grounds — two German Shepherds, Fritz and Heike — were on duty, and none of the neighbors heard barking or anything out of the ordinary as far as they could remember. The video surveillance system had been inoperative for several weeks prior to the theft and was to be repaired a few days after the robbery took place. None of the staff of twelve reported anything unusual, but they were preoccupied with preparations for the wedding of the estate owner’s daughter the coming weekend; the missing Bugatti was to be a wedding gift to the young couple.

The facts incline you to believe that someone with intimate knowledge of the estate was involved, a person who had access to the alarm code and knew the dogs well enough not to incite alarm. You would proceed carefully, methodically, interviewing potential witnesses and suspects, identifying motives, and coming up with hypotheses — educated guesses that can be checked against the facts on the ground. You wouldn’t take a suspect’s testimony at face value, but would corroborate or refute it through the testimony of others and other sundry details. You would build a case, using logic and observation, interpreting what you find in a manner consistent with reasonable assumptions about human motives and behavior — greed being one of them.

Imagine further that after careful investigation, you deduce that the prime suspect in the case is the owner of the Bugatti. The recent phone call to his insurance agent to verify that the policy on the car was up to date, his lack of an alibi, his letter to a friend revealing his ambivalence about the impending nuptials of his only daughter, and his financial troubles all point to insurance fraud. The facts in the case point to a specific conclusion, not with absolute certainty (as nothing is absolutely certain in this world), but beyond a reasonable doubt. The owner is arrested, and the jury is convinced by the facts and your testimony. Case closed.

Under these circumstances it would be puzzling to have your case thrown out because you were once a member of the Communist Party or because you spend your weekends carousing with people of questionable character. If you were the prosecutor, questions about your political affiliation, sexual preference, or religious beliefs would clearly be out of place in the courtroom. The merits of the case stand or fall on their own; they are convincing or not, the observations are correct or not. The personal characteristics of the investigator are beside the point.

The hypothetical case of the stolen Bugatti is virtually identical to the very real scenarios played out in environmental journalism on a daily basis. Environmental reporting is an application of good scientific methodology, just like detective work. Its central aim is to determine the truth, to interpret the evidence and draw reasonable conclusions about reality. It is not mere story-telling, just as science cannot proceed by the use of myth or mysticism. Our greatest scientific advances — modern medicine, technology and space exploration, among others — are a testament to the power of a method that brought humanity out of the dark ages and into the light of the modern world. It is not for us to pick and choose the results of science that suit our fancy, just as it is not for us to determine what is or is not real. Recalcitrant reality stands on its own, and the scientific method is the best shot we have understanding it.

It is this idea of a scientific pursuit of truth that should serve as a backdrop to the modern preoccupation with bias in the media, and with the tendency to categorize environmental reporting as promoting some sort of political agenda. The charge that the media are biased is now so deeply engrained in the popular psyche that it has had the effect of inoculating the public against any intrusion by reality on popular preconceptions, myths, and prejudices.

Good thinkers know the name for this kind of inoculation; it’s referred to as poisoning the well. Whether intentional or not, the effect of labeling the news media ‘biased’ — environmental news in particular — serves to discredit any story that might otherwise be recognized for its merit. It is no different than dismissing the case against the owner of the Bugatti because the investigator doesn’t like rich people or doesn’t attend church on Sundays. Poisoning the well is a matter of prejudicing the listener, of turning his attention to irrelevancies rather than evidence.

Part of the problem responsible journalists face today is the common failure to distinguish between bias and perspective. Bias is a distortion of the facts, intentional or unintentional, as a result of subjective preferences or interests. It can take many forms: one can leave out important information, one can exaggerate or lie; one can cast evidence in a positive or negative light depending on the kind of commentary one uses, and so on. In contrast, perspective is a matter of the viewpoint from which a story is told – from the standpoint of labor, small business, corporate interest, government, or the environment.

Every story must be told from some point of view or another; the world is too complex to capture all the relevant facts in a single basket. What matters is the degree to which that perspective is grounded in the evidence, and whether the author draws defensible conclusions based on good reasoning and a thorough understanding of the issues. It is equally important that the public have access to a diversity of perspectives, so that different points of view can be weighed and evaluated. Ultimately, the public must decide — on the weight of the evidence — what issues are most important and how to respond to the facts on the ground. Good citizenship demands no less.

The case of the missing Bugatti could have been told from a different point of view, and in the context of a trial the defendant’s attorney would develop one such perspective in the interest of getting his client acquitted. There is no question of bias here, only a question of what story is more compelling, what version of reality is most rational. Our system of jurisprudence is based on the idea that a competent jury will decide a case on the facts and a standard of what constitutes ‘reasonable doubt’; science and journalism are similar in that regard.

There are instances of journalistic bias, to be sure, but there is also a lot of first-rate reporting available for public consumption. Evidence-based news about how our environment is impacted by business practices, government policies, or consumer behavior is an important part of the national conversation, a crucial perspective in the public debate (as is the perspective on how environmental regulation impacts businesses). To dismiss an important perspective by poisoning the well is to toss the baby out with the bathwater.

The centrepoint of this week’s show is a roundtable discussion on environmental issues featuring three local religious leaders: Rabbi Yaron Kapitulnik from Temple Judea in Palm Beach Gardens; Siddiq Abdullah, an imam from the Islamic Center of South Florida; and Rev. David Franklin from Spanish River Church in Boca Raton. Our hosts and guests will share perspectives on multiple faith-focused conservation issues, including the religious perspective on environmental stewardship and the individual parishoner’s call to action.

The Green Bible

We’ll also be talking to Calvin B. DeWitt, an environmental science professor at the University of Wisconsin about the Green Bible which is designed to equip and encourage readers to see God’s vision for creation and actively engage them in healing it. We’ll also visit with Rev. Mitch Hescox, President and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network to discuss how his group has dedicated itself to helping others understand the concepts of “creation care”.

If you’re interested in hearing more of what Calvin DeWitt has to say, we invite you to access the sample chapter of the upcoming third edition of his book, Earthwise: A Guide to Hopeful Creation Care, at the following link:

http://www.faithaliveresources.org/Content/Site135/FilesSamples/80703151167pdf_00000008577.pdf

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WPBI 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Today we live in a world full of natural and renewable resources; provided b the sun, the core of the Earth, wind patterns and more. These resources are readily available to us today, but instead we rely on nonrenewable resources like oil and coal. Why? Some people are ignorant and don’t pay attention to the world around them. This can be changed, however, with the help of big businesses. Some businesses, like Florida Power and Light have already gotten a head start, but just one company won’t do it. In order to help, businesses could start making eco- friendly products, promote helping the environment, and investing in other businesses that are trying to help. Read on to see in detail what businesses can do to help our world when it needs them most.

The first way businesses could help improve the environment has already been achieved by some companies, and that’s producing eco-friendly products. For example, Chevrolet has started by making chargeable, fully electric car. So has Nissan, with the “Nissan Leaf”. Products like these help cut back on nonrenewable resources, which reduces green house gases. If other companies start making products, they, they would be contributing to stopping our impact on the environment. Even if companies don’t have the time for creating a new, eco-friendly product, they have other options, which I will mention next.

Another way businesses can help reduce our carbon footprint is simply by promoting ways to help the environment. For instance, businesses can have fundraisers having to do with helping the environment, or maybe make banners and posters that promote it. These banners can be posted around the community and possibly change some of society’s ways. Another way for promoting it would be arranging public presentations available for people to go to and watch. By doing this, these businesses can educate the public on the subject, and spread the word that our environment needs help.

One last way large companies can help the environment is simply bu investing in other companies that are eager to help. For instance, some businesses may find fundraising and presentations too costly and time-consuming to consider, but even these companies can chip in to saving the environment simply by investing in a company like FPL, which spends time working with solar energy and other alternative resources. This helps fun FPL and their research in new energy and resources.. By doing something as simple as that, a business can help make a big difference.

To sum things up, big businesses can improve the environment in many different ways. A business can create an ecological product, or promote activities such as recycling and saving energy. Even if that’s too much, businesses can help investing in other businesses that are willing to help. By doing any of these, big businesses can help support a greater cause, that being making our Earth a clean healthy and safe place to live in.

Marshall McLuhan once said, “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.” A simple statement could not hold more truth, for all have the responsibility to care for the earth. Some, however, hold more responsibility than others. Business leaders in particular are in a position of responsibility like no other because they impact so many people: their employees their customers, their competitors. Because of this pedestal of responsibility on which business stand, they can make a huge positive difference in reducing mankind’s impact on the environment.

A crucial way in which businesses can have a positive impact upon the environment is through their employees. When hiring new staff members, businesses should emphasize environmental consciousness in their job requirements; this would gradually result in potential employees feeling a need to embrace environmental friendliness and knowledge. Additionally, exposing employees to an array of environmentally conscious practices (green cleaning supplies, recycling, etc.) and educating them about their benefits is a subtle, but efficient, way to introduce green practices to multitudes of people who, upon seeing their benefits, will implement them on a smaller scale in their home lives.

Another tremendously cooperative step that businesses can take to become greener is exposing their consumers to the advantages of environmentally friendly products. Successful marketing is essential to increase consumption of green products and inform the public about benefits of green products and green living. Advertising can be geared toward the display of these benefits; it is certainly apparent that this is a tried and true method. Campaigns of all sorts throughout previous times have been successful because of catchy advertising. Providing financial incentives, whether occasional or permanent, for customers who purchase environmentally friendly goods is another significant way to increase interest in such products because a large argument against environmentally friendly goods is that they are too costly; the competition created by one company incentivizing green products will cause their prices to decrease, which will also increase their consumption. IN addition, investment companies and investors could empower the growth of environmentally conscious businesses by investing in businesses that pledge to make a significant, positive difference for the environment. This would also arouse competition among companies to increase their green involvement – a crucial step toward a greener society.

All the aforementioned can create a ripple effect which will lead the general populous to live more green lives, but it is necessary for a few businesses to step out of their comfort zone in order to eradicate the misconception that the economy must be compromised to achieve environmental protection. In fact, the suggestions presented are “laissez- fair” approaches, which illustrates that businesses truly are capable of being environmentally conscientious while flourishing economically. Thus, businesses are capable of fulfilling the responsibility of being the leaders of the crew of humankind which must cooperate with and care for “spaceship Earth.”

Our future depends on our actions. What would our world be if we kept using precious land as landfills for garbage? What if we burned all of our fossil fuels? I believe businesses should go green and help the environment so we can live in a happy, healthy world. Businesses should recycle, go paperless on anything possible, and provided bus or train transportation for employees! These are just a few ways for businesses to go green!

Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator! A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can in as little as sixty days! A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water! These are all facts about recycling. If we recycle, we can save money and energy. We would also prevent the destruction of our natural resources. Recycling is the first step in going green.

Did you know that approximately one billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the United States? If we recycle paper, we can save over 25,000,000 trees per year! If we can go paperless, or digital, we can save even more. Businesses can save by using email instead of faxing or mailing documents.

If businesses provide carpool contacts and bus or train transportation for employees, we can reduce the fossil fuels being burned. This would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the air and help stop global warming. It would also help cut costs on gas. Another way of saving the environment during your daily commute is by driving a hybrid or electric-powered car. China and the United States alone produce close to half of the world’s carbon dioxide pollution. Fossil fuels don’t last forever!

In order to live in a happy, healthy world, we must recycle, reduce, and reuse. If businesses recycle, go paperless, and provide greener transportation for employees, they will play a big role in saving the environment. If businesses advertise that they recycle and are going green, they will most likely get more business, which means more cash! Remember, our future depends on our actions.

Three numbers when rejoiced create a harmony like none other. A harmony that doesn’t receive even one drop of hatred, these numbers being 57.2 and in that order. What is this immaculate harmony you ask? The answer to your question is the average worldwide temperature (Fahrenheit) on Earth. However, because of the neglect our race provides, we are adding what is equivalent to one extra watt of solar energy from the sun each year! Which doesn’t seem like much but here is an example of relativity: Imagine one match added to heat the world no damage done. Now imagine enough matches to cover the entire planet, well you do the math, how much damage is done now. Consequently we need to do something to fix our mistakes and this is where I come in. So read on if you would like to know three easy ways businesses could go green.

Initially, one way businesses can go green is to recycle. Imagine how much garbage would be reduced and reused if every business recycled. Allow me to elucidate: One time a man who works with Waste Management came to my school to inform us about the results of all of our garbage. He told us that at our rate all landfills in Palm Beach County would be filled in 2012. So if we can reduce our trash output than not only will we benefit ourselves by allowing more time to use up our landfills, but it will also help our hurting planet, and animals as well. After all if there is less garbage, than less animals could get caught or eat the wrong things.

Secondarily, another way businesses can go green is to switch to florescent light bulbs. Want to help the Earth and your wallet, well then florescent light bulbs is the way to go. Ponder this: if you replace just one light bulb in your house with a florescent one you could watch 216 DVD’s from all of the saved power. Now think about what would be the result of every American changing one normal light bulb to a florescent one. Trick question because there is more than just one result, but here are a couple: it would prevent 90 billion pounds of green house gases going into the atmosphere, which would be equivalent to the output of 7.5 million cars. Also it would save enough energy to light up 2.5 million homes. Now that’s a lot of saved energy!

Conclusively, my last step to offer to businesses wanting to go green is switching all Styrofoam products to paper and plastic products. Now I know Styrofoam keeps your coffee at it’s hottest but have you ever stopped to think about the consequences? Allow me to elaborate: Do you know how many years it takes Styrofoam to decompose? Once again another trick question because Styrofoam NEVER decomposes. So basically Styrofoam is just pure waste, and I don’t know anyone who likes waste. After all how hard is it to buy paper plates and plastic cups versus Styrofoam plates and cups? Probably the easiest switch you could make.

So care for our mother just like she has for us, and make a change. GO GREEN!

You can see it everywhere now-a-days-everybody wants to start going green to save money, as well as to reduce our impact on the environment. Although the average person today consumes twice as much as fifty years ago, we have become aware of issues like global warming from fossil fuels and wastes. One of the most important acts businesses can do is to reduce energy consumption. An average of thirty percent of energy in buildings is used inefficiently or unnecessarily. Forty five percent of green house emissions come from commercial buildings and industrial facilities in the United States alone. If these buildings and facilities would improve their energy efficiency by just ten percent, it would reduce enough green house emissions equal to thirty million vehicles! Here in the United States we only account for five percent of the population, yet we are responsible for twenty percent of the global green house emissions. To help reduce our impact on the environment, businesses should use green thermostats or energy monitoring systems. These devices would allow businesses to set up when and for how long they would use power for certain areas of the building or certain machines. It could be set to fit a business’s unique schedule. For example, only powering the lights, air conditioning, and electronics like computers, copiers, etc. in the buildings from eight in the morning to six in the evening when the building is in use. With over five million commercial buildings and industrial facilities in just the United States, this small change could immensely help our impact on the environment.

Due to technical difficulties the May 28 show will now air June 4.

This week on Radio Green Earth, the 2011 Florida Green, Energy and Climate Conference. For two days regulators, environmental advocates, scientists, government officials, and the public converged on the Palm Beach County Convention Center to hear from experts on new developments in clean energy and environmentally-friendly technologies. We bring you complete coverage of this capstone event.

Although the Expo started out on a sour note, with a summary of the disappointing legislative opposition to the environmental movement, Radio Green Earth was lucky enough to hear about successful efforts that are continuing to make exceptional strides for the preservation of our environment. Some notable voices were Dr. Margaret Leinen, Executive Director of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Broward County Commissioner Kristen Jacobs, and Nancy Byrne, Assistant Director of Development and Sustainability Coordinator for the city of Boynton Beach .

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Rachel Carson pictured beside her novel, Silent Spring.

Friday May 27th was the birthday of Rachel Carson, a celebrated marine biologist and author of Silent Spring, a book describing the devastating effects which the over application of pesticides was having on wildlife – particularly birds.

Rachel Carson was born in 1907 in a rural Pennsylvania town just outside of Pittsburgh. As a child she fell in love with nature and immersed herself in the meadows, streams and wildlife that surrounded her home. She graduated from a small womens college, received an advanced degree in zoology and took a job with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, studying and writing about marine life.

She produced a trilogy of excellent books about the marine environment that brought her much critical fame within that field. But it was the release of Silent Spring in 1962 that brought her to the front page of many newspapers and the nightstands of many politicians and industry executives.

Silent Spring described in great detail how the growing use of man-made pesticides like DDT was becoming a double-edged sword: great for farmers by eradicating insects, and producing more fruits and vegetables in the process, but harmful to those insects beneficial to those same crops like bees, butterflys, mantis and ladybugs.

What’s worse, the over-application of these chemicals was finding its way into the fish, reptiles and songbirds who fed on the insects contaminated with DDT.

DDT is a powerful poison that kills by destroying the chemistry which controls muscle movement within the body. The result is an involuntary and constant twitching of those muscles, which in the case of birds, renders them unable to fly or feed, leaving them to a slow, agonizing death due basically to exhaustion and starvation.

Silent Spring drew much criticism from the chemical and agricultural industry, citing that, among other things, a marine scientist like Carson had no expertise in this area and her findings were a threat to the economic survival of the agricultural and chemical industries. In fact, the Secretary of Agriculture at that time suggested that, because Carson was both attractive and single, she must obviously be…. a communist; remember this is the early 1960’s.

One man who believed in Carson and her works was President John F. Kennedy who supported additional government studies after reading her book. The findings from these studies eventually led to the strengthening of pesticide policy and regulations.

Carson died at the age of 57 from breast cancer, just two years after the release of Silent Spring. But her legacy lives on in something greater than just a book. For She was an inspiration to many of us who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s including myself to pursue careers within the environmental field.

Rachel Carson is proof that one book, and the strength to stand behind the message in that book, can make a difference. And for that, all the birds sing.

May 17 — The Green, Energy and Climate Conference in West Palm Beach this week had its share of bright spots, but Tuesday morning’s Legislative Panel on Energy Policy sure wasn’t one of them.

A few choice quotes:

“We’re going in the wrong direction,’’ said U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton.

“Frankly, we don’t have a real energy policy,’’ said state Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth.

“We need a plan. We need a short-term plan and we need a long-term plan. Without a clear plan, you’re just going to hear a lot of talk most of the time,’’ said state Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Wellington.

Close to 150 city managers, public works directors, green business representatives and others gathered in the Grand Ballroom at the Palm Beach Convention Center to listen to their elected officials talk about energy in the Sunshine State.

They heard pointed criticism of Gov. Rick Scott’s lack of leadership in energy matters, and particularly of his rejection of $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money to develop high-speed rail.

“That rail system was going to become one of the most advanced forms of transportation in the nation,’’ lamented Abruzzo.

Lost opportunity was the recurring theme of the morning. This year’s legislative session ended with virtually no progress in energy-related issues on the state level. On the federal level, there are major cuts in scientific research, transportation and infrastructure, programs linking green entrepreneurs with investors, and loan guarantees from the Department of Energy for businesses trying to bring new technologies to market, Deutch said.

“Now, the reason for these cuts? We can’t afford it, is what we’re told, ‘’ Deutch said. “There is nothing affordable about our addiction to foreign oil, and a budget that slashes capital for start up small businesses, but retains $40 billion in tax expenditures for multinational oil companies doesn’t enhance our free market, it doesn’t create jobs, it doesn’t help us to move forward in this new green sustainable economy.’’

Despite the setbacks, State Rep. Clay Ford, R-Gulf Breeze, chairman of the subcommittee on Energy and Utilities, had a list of things he hoped to tackle next session: tax credits for businesses that create green jobs, expanding solar and other alternative energy efforts, waste to energy projects, and conservation initiatives.

What can Florida citizens do to get things moving?

Show up at your legislators’ offices, said State Rep. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton. “Email, call,’’ she said. “It really makes a difference.’’

To gain more insight on the disappearance of sharks, we travel to the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute to meet with Dr. Mikki McComb-Kobza, a postdoctoral shark researcher. We’ll also talk to Zack Bradford, a policy analyst at Monterey Bay Aquarium, who discusses the benefits of a “shark fin soup” ban in California . Radio Green Earth then checks in with Dr. Bob Heuter from Mote Marine Labs, a world-class shark expert. We’ll talk with him about the Guy Harvey World Shark Challenge as well as his work with whale sharks in captivity. Read More

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Wednesdays at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

We’re chomping at the bit for next week’s show, so stay tuned!

Whale Shark

Colony collapse disorder is the name for a mysterious phenomenon plaguing our vanishing working bee population in Florida. At the same time, Africanized bees are becoming more aggressive, prompting more and more Floridians to choose destructive methods to deal with invasive bees on their property. This week, we meet with a local beekeeper, Jim Chapman, to learn about how he is working to save the bees by relocating problem hives from South Floridian properties. We’ll also get to check on the status of a recently transplanted hive.

Siproeta Stelenes, a rare butterfly at Butterfly World

Bees, however, are not the only insects that are in danger of disappearing. Habitat loss and pesticides are threatening endangered butterfly species, making these already rare and exotic insects even rarer. We’ll take our listeners on a rare butterfly hunt to learn all about these special insects – including a visit to one of the largest collection of butterflies in the world, Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, Florida.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Situated in the heart of the Florida Everglades, Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. The park boasts rare and endangered species. It has been designated a World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, and Wetland of International Importance, significant to all people of the world.

Biscayne National Park is found within sight of downtown Miami. This national park, comprised of a series of islands and waterways, protects four primary ecosystems: mangrove forest, Biscayne Bay, the northernmost Florida Keys, and a portion of the world’s third-longest living coral reef. The park is home over 10,000 years of human and natural history, including several preserved shipwrecks.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Everglades National Park

Yesterday: Remind the public about the history of the environmental movement in this country; how and why it started; its seminal moments and its champions.

Today: Educate the public as to why clean air, water, land, food and energy is critical to not only the planet’s wellbeing, but also the health and welfare of our economy and our children’s future.

Tomorrow: Identify and promote ways in which the public can become more involved and engaged in environmental awareness, causes and advocacy.

That’s it. Remind, Educate and Advocate. Yes, easier said than done, but that’s what we believe Earth Day is all about.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the 16th annual U.S. greenhouse gas inventory. The final report shows overall emissions during 2009 decreased by 6.1 percent from the previous year. This downward trend was attributed to a decrease in fuel and electricity consumption across all U.S. economic sectors.

Total emissions of the six main greenhouse gases in 2009 were equivalent to 6,633 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.

The report indicates that overall emissions have grown by more than 7.3 percent from 1990 to 2009. Emissions in 2009 represent the lowest total U.S. annual GHG emissions since 1995. These numbers reflect the most up to date data at the time of publication.

This inventory, prepared in collaboration with federal agencies, is the latest submitted by the United States to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC sets an overall global framework for nations to address climate change. The final report takes into consideration comments received from stakeholders across the country.

More information on the greenhouse gas inventory report can be found here.

Earthman

In addition to the special coverage of the Earth Day festivities, Radio Green Earth has a fascinating Earth Week show planned for our listeners! We will be talking to a spokesperson from the Earth Day Network about Earth Day’s humble beginnings and how it has become a year-round environmental movement. John Walke, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, will also be joining us to talk about the state of the environment. And of course, an Earth Week show would not be complete without chats with the King of the Turtles and Earthman!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Deepwater Horizon. Pictures Courtesy of the US Coast Guard.

It’s been a year since a semi-submersible floating oil drilling platform known as Deepwater Horizon exploded, killing 11 people and sending oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. The effect on the surrounding community was immediate: oil-fouled wildlife, the closure of the Gulf to commercial fishing and shellfishing, the destruction of the fragile Louisiana shoreline. This week on Radio Green Earth, we take a look at the recovery of the Gulf environment and economy – and the lasting effects of that devastating day at Deepwater Horizon.

We check back with Dr. Ed Overton of LSU, an expert scientist we consulted last year as the disaster unfolded. Ed will discuss the environmental impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil release. We also talk with Mark Schrope, a journalist and former oceanographer. Schrope has been scouring the Gulf for the past year and is preparing to publish an exhaustive work detailing the science behind the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.

Last year, we heard how Pensacola Captain Wes Rozier’s charter fishing business collapsed following Deepwater Horizon. This year, we have the opportunity to speak with him again and see how the people of the central gulf coast have been faring.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes

My family, which includes our dog, uses our deck a lot, and I had a few concerns. I knew from a show on Radio Green Earth that, left undisturbed, the bees would stay and the hive would get larger. I was also worried that if the bees were “Africanized,” they could pose a serious threat.

For us, killing the bees was not a palatable option. So instead of calling a pest control company I called our friend, Jim Chapman, who is a beekeeper He was ready and willing to help, and mapped out several possibilities of what might happen. His first choice would be to try to relocate the hive and colony. If there weren’t enough bees to support a relocated colony, he said he might be able to take the worker bees and introduce them to an existing colony, but in that case the queen would have to be killed. If the bees swarmed, he would have no choice but to kill them, as that would be an indication that they were Africanized or otherwise posed a danger.

Jim showed up with his equipment, bee suit and know-how, attracting the attention of several neighbors, who wondered what on earth we had going on in our yard that required a guy with a Haz-Mat suit! Once suited up, Jim ignited his smoker, which he said would mask the warning pheromones that the guard bees emit when the hive is disturbed. And lo and behold –Jim pried and banged and generally made a racket as he removed the deck board, revealing a good-sized hive, but to my amazement the bees remained calm, hardly seeming to notice. There was no swarming, no stinging, no trouble at all. The hive covered three deck boards; Jim said it contained five 5,000 to 7,000-honey bees. We asked how long it would have taken the bees to make a hive of that size, and were surprised by the answer. “Less than a week if they have nectar sources such as your garden, the bottlebrush tree and the clover in the lawn,’’ Jim said. I could only imagine how large the hive would have gotten if we didn’t call Jim right away.

To my delight it looked like these bees would have a good shot at surviving relocation, and Jim got to work. He slowly separated the combs and placed them into a special box created just for this purpose. Saving the comb sections is best, he said, as because it is their home it increases the chances that the bees will survive in their new location.

The whole process took between two and three hours, as he took several breaks – even though he was working in the shade of an oak tree, that suit got hot! We also waited for the return of foragers, which he added to the box using a vacuum cleaner (yes, a vacuum cleaner!).

While we waited we learned quite a bit from Jim. He explained that a queen bee and colony can remain in place for years; workers clean the cells, circulate air with their wings, feed larvae, receive pollen and nectar from foragers, guard the hive and forage. We loved how he described the drones: “These bees sit on a couch and drink beer and go out and mate with lots of queen bees.”

Jim eventually brought the bees back to Jupiter Farms. How successful was the relocation? We won’t know for a couple of weeks. Jim said he would check the hive once a week. If they are happy with their new environment they will stay and produce honey. If not, the bees will begin to leave. Is this a Queen Bee decision? He said NO! The colony acts as one, so the workers, the drones, and the queen all have to agree that this new location is OK. How wonderful is that?

by Karen Meyer, Radio Green Earth Correspondent

So the national park service is looking into using rangers and other park service employees to better explain and educate the public on global warming and the effects which global warming and climate change will have on South Florida’s national parks, and fish & wildlife refuges.

Read and learn more about the park service’s efforts to educate the pubic on climate change by visiting their website at http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/climatechange.htm.

Dr. Valerie Paul, COSEE Florida PI

This week on Radio Green Earth, we’ll introduce the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE), an initiative to connect scientists conducting ocean research with citizens in exciting and meaningful ways. With over 1,250 miles of coastline, it’s only natural that this organization to come to Florida. Backed by four major educational and research institutions, Indian River State College, Florida Institute of Technology, Ocean Research and Conservation Association, and the Smithsonian Marine Station, COSEE’s mission is to increase public awareness and make sure that teachers are better prepared to help their students understand the oceans.

We will meet Dr. Ed Massey, principal investigator for COSEE and the president of Indian River State College, home of COSEE Florida. We also get the chance to talk to Dr. Rick Tankersley, lead investigator for Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and the programs he is running for COSEE.

We then take you to two vital parts of the COSEE initiatives, a little known research gem in St. Lucie County: the Smithsonian Marine Station; and the Ocean Research and Conservation Association, ORCA, a research lab housed in an old Coast Guard post. The Marine Station is staffed by Smithsonian scientists focused on exploring the Indian River Lagoon and local coastal waters. ORCA specializes in one of the most important aspects of all these scientific endeavors, data collection, and we are lucky enough to talk to ORCA founder, Dr. Edith Widder, about ORCA’s role in the COSEE initiative.

Edie Widder, COSEE Florida PI

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Residential recycling

We’ll be featuring several businesses that turn our “raw” waste back into useful raw materials, and, in the process, reducing energy requirements and conserving natural resources. Our first stop is a recycling plant in Pembroke Pines that processes all of those bottles, cans and paper that you stuff in your recycling bins each week. We learn just how they separate and bundle the recyclables, and the fascinating news of what they DON’T want to see in your recycling bin!

We also visit a garbage plant in Broward County that isn’t interested in dumping your trash into a landfill. Instead, they burn as much as they can to generate electricity to power homes and businesses throughout South Florida.

Warehouse at the Resource Depot

Of course, residential garbage is only part of the waste clogging up our landfills. Construction and demolition debris makes up 30-40% of our waste.  Luckily, businesses exist that thrive on turning this “trash” into treasures. We tour one such facility in West Palm Beach that turns this debris back into useful materials for the construction industry. We also check out a local non-profit that collects business cast-offs, transforming them into safe and creative classroom materials to educate our kids.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Our culture has made traditionally seasonal or exotic foods, particularly fruits and meats, commonplace. Those out-of-season tomatoes and the Brazilian beef on our plates, however, come at a steep environmental price: a massive carbon footprint. To get a clearer look at the ecological impact of our dietary choices, Radio Green Earth talks with Rick Hawkins, of Localecopia, about the growing movement away from imported and convenience foods to more sustainable, locally-sourced foods.

Did you know you could get food delivered straight to your door from a local farm?

We’ll also be exploring ways to eat “more sustainably”, whether you’re a vegetarian or an omnivore. We’ll take you to a new vegan restaurant in South Florida where the chefs don’t cook anything. Its menu is not only vegetable-based, but also raw!

Nutrition experts at Whole Foods, one of the nation’s largest natural food grocery chains, school our hosts in what home chefs can uncover in their grocery aisles. We also talk to a local fishmonger about sustainable fisheries and how to pick the best seafood for your family & the planet.

If you’re like many Americans, however, you blame a good portion of your processed food diet on lack of time, particularly when it comes to shopping for food. Did you know that there are ways to get locally-grown food right on your doorstep? We visit a community-supported farm that delivers fresh produce to members on a weekly or bi-weekly basis!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

The Center for Media and Journalism Studies was founded to help educators, journalists and the public make sense of the influence of new technologies on communication and public life, and to provide quality reporting on local issues using the resources of new media. For institutions both public and private, the influence of new technologies on communication, economics and public policy requires the frequent reappraisal of how information is acquired, analyzed, and shared. This need is particularly pronounced in education and journalism, since the concept of critical reasoning at the heart of both fields is being challenged, and in some cases redefined, under the influence of digital media and the Internet. As the methods of information management and exchange supporting public discussion and critical reasoning change, education and journalism must keep pace.

We debut a new segment of the show called Sustainability Champs, organizations and people who “walk the walk” in sustainability. Our first Sustainability Champ is JM Family Enterprises, a family-owned business employing thousands of people and recognized as one of the top one hundred workplaces in the country with sustainability as a vital part of its mission. Radio Green Earth visits their headquarters in Deerfield Beach, Florida, to learn more about this socially and economically successful “Sustainability Champion”.

Habitat for Humanity's first "Green" home in St. Lucie County

Next, we’ll hear about St. Lucie County Habitat for Humanity, the organization known for building homes for disadvantaged families through its extensive network of volunteers. The St. Lucie County branch of Habitat for Humanity has added environmental responsibility to their community activism message; they are building sustainable, “green” homes for families. We’ll be visiting one of these newly constructed homes and talking to those involved including some high school students who participated in its construction.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM and Monday at 8 PM on WQCS 88.9 FM HD2. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and on iTunes.

Coral reefs, however, are more in danger than ever. A recent study from the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute found that as carbon dioxide levels continue to rise in the atmosphere, reefs’ survival depends on human management of “local impacts…like fishing and runoff.” If local impacts are not minimized, coral reefs will be unable to maintain their resiliency and will be overtaken by algae.

Yet, despite the economical and ecological significance of the coastal reefs, Florida is poised to continue to allow the discharge of domestic wastewater into the waterways. In 2008, then Governor Charlie Crist signed into law a bill ending the practice of discharging wastewater from ocean outfall pipes into coastal waters. The measures would most likely require revamps of counties’ out-dated wastewater treatment infrastructure, projects that could bring hundreds of jobs to the state. A bill, SB 796, recently introduced in our current Legislature, however, will delay the implementation of the 2008 wastewater measures.

Why delay a bill that appears to be both economically and environmentally sound? SB 796 recognizes that the discharge of wastewater is potentially detrimental to the environment. One of the primary arguments of SB 796′s proponents is that the overhaul that would be required to implement the 2008 bill is too costly. The fear is that already strapped state, county and local governments will be unable to meet the requirements without cutting already bare-bones budgets further. This argument, however, neglects to take in account the long term economic damage that the decay and eventual loss of our coastal reefs will cause. While the investment in a new wastewater system would dampen the budget in the short term future, the loss of tourism and all the associated jobs and revenue would put a much greater damper on the budget for many years to come.

If you are interested in learning more about this issue, how you can help, and other topics impacting our coastal reef systems, visit http://reefrescue.wordpress.com/.

This week, March 12, 2011, Radio Green Earth will be tackling the question of how and when to adapt to climate change. We’ll talk with Jay Gulledge, Senior Scientist and Director of the Science and Impacts Program at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change about the science of climate change as well as “sure signs” of global warming that are already out there. Stephen Seidel, vice president for policy analysis at the Pew Center, will also be joining the program to clue us in on federal climate change policies already in place or soon to be finalized.

Two Earth Hour 2010 supporters, advancing climate change awareness © WWF / Nina Munn

And from the front lines of the fight against climate change, we’ll be talking with Doug Gregory and Mark Hertsgaard. Doug Gregory is a marine biologist with the Monroe County Sea Grant project and will discuss what Monroe County and the Keys are doing to address climate change. Mark Hertsgaard is the author of “HOT”, a book that chronicles climate change impacts for future generations through the eyes of a concerned father.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

On Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 8:30 PM, millions of people around the globe will join together to take a stand against climate change. For one hour, they will shut off their lights and stand in darkness, contemplating and celebrating the one thing that they all hold in common – Earth.

Earth Hour 2010 was the biggest Earth Hour ever with the global display of solidarity encompassing over 128 countries and territories and including the symbolic darkening of iconic landmarks such as the Colosseum. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the organizer of Earth Hour, intends for Earth Hour 2011 to not only surpass previous years but to extend the mission of Earth Hour beyond that limited span of 60 minutes. This year, after the lights come back on, WWF wants their participants to think about what they can do the rest of year to protect the environment.

If you are interested in learning more about Earth Hour or signing up, visit the official website at http://www.earthhour.org. The website also lets you practice turning off a virtual light switch and make your own virtual lantern!

Earth Hour 2010: Two French volunteers holding each a candle amongst the 1600 candles, symbols of the 1600 pandas, forming the number 60 on place Jacques Rueff, located under the Eiffel Tower Credit: © WWF / Nina Munn

2011 brings with it many new governmental players, including a new Governor and a new Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, Hershel Vinyard. Hershel Vinyard is, among other things, an “environmental” lawyer with 20 years experience. Many of his cases were protecting alleged polluters. Most recently, Vinyard served as director of business operations at BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards where he was responsible for strategic planning, business development and regulatory and government affairs. He also served on the boards of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers Association of Florida, and the Jacksonville Port Authority.

Like Governor Rick Scott who appointed Vinyard, he has no government experience, as opposed to the prior two DEP secretaries who both had 17 and 19 years with state agencies. As with all newly elected officials, no one will know if his policies will balance the environment and business or sway more towards one direction.

Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, said in a press release in January that, “Vinyard recognizes both the ecological and environmental value of Florida’s remarkable natural resources.” He also stated, “Vinyard understands the tremendous significance of protecting and restoring America’s Everglades. He recognizes that one in three Floridians rely on the Everglades for their water supply…”

Vinyard has also served as chairman of the Shipbuilders Council of America, which among its other goals, was attempting to have the EPA lighten regulations regarding its members.

Recently, some environmental groups have been complaining that the appointment of Vinyard is in conflict with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program, which oversees surface water pollution in state waters. Federal law states that anyone overseeing water polluting permits cannot have received a “significant portion of his income directly or indirectly from permit holders or applicants for a permit.” BAE Shipping Systems, Vinyard’s last employer, holds federal permits allowing them to dump treated waste water into Florida waters.

We all need to keep an eye out for the new Republican congress. Many of them are pro business and anti EPA. Oftentimes, they preach for  the federal government to keep out of their business affairs, especially when it comes to clean air and water. On a national level, the billionaire Koch brothers are the latest threat to the EPA. The Koch brothers made their fortune from oil and are now lobbying players such as chairmen of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee Fred Upton to help release the “EPA chokehold.“ Apparently having safe drinking water is not a top priority for some (more than I would like to imagine), but that is for another blog…

Teaching this subject in  a way that is educational and engaging to students can be even more challenging, but in Ft. Pierce, there’s a group of world-class scientists and researchers that want to help middle and high school science teachers tackle this salty subject.  It’s called “COSEE” – the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence. Our correspondent, Chris Cherniak, visited a recent  COSEE workshop and you can hear all about it below.

Check out their website for more information!

Picayune Strand

We’ll also hear about proposed legislation that if passed will allow the continued discharge of billions of gallons of sewage daily to the Atlantic Ocean and our reef system. And we discuss the high levels of mercury in the air and water from emissions from cement kilns with David Guest, managing attorney of Earthjustice’s Tallahassee office, about the importance of regulating these facilities.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Dear advertiser, solicitor, or catalog mailer,

Please remove our name from your mailing list.
The mailing label is attached below.

[tape mailing label here]

If you purchase or rent your mailing list from another firm, please provide us their name, address and phone so that we may contact them directly. Please use only responsible mailing list vendors who honor opt-out requests.

We wish to preserve scarce forest resources and lessen problems of
waste removal by not receiving unsolicited mailings.

Since this will save you money, you will be doing something good
for both of us as well as for the environment.

Some environmental facts about unsolicited mail:
• The majority of household waste consists of unsolicited mail.
• 100 million trees are ground up each year for unsolicited mail.
• It wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year.
• More than half of unsolicited mail is discarded unread or unopened; the response rate is less than 2%.
• The result is more than 4 million tons of paper waste each year.
• It is difficult to recycle, as the inks have high concentrations of heavy metals.
• $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year.
• Scarce landfill space disfigures rural areas and pollutes ground water.

Some positive things you can do to help the environment:
• Respectfully honor and process opt-out requests.
• Provide clear and accessible opt-out instructions on your mailings.
• Urge postal authorities to provide opt-out service on “resident” mailings.

Thank you!

Green Investing

This week on Radio Green Earth, we’ll be learning how to make our money work for both our future and the future of the planet. Financial experts join us to discuss building a “green” portfolio by investing in environmentally conscious industries and companies. We’ll also be visiting an LED lighting start-up on the Space Coast as we explore investing in up and coming “green” businesses.

Financial expert and local radio show host, Steve Pomeranz, will be joining us in the studio to discuss “green” funds and how including them in your portfolio can satisfy your sustainability goals while still reaping healthy returns. He will also give us his thoughts on how green stocks and mutual funds measure up to “non-green” varietys. Finally, we’ll talk to Robert Wilder who developed the WilderHill Clean Energy Index, which tracks solar, wind and other low-carbon energy technology companies and a fabulous tool for building an environmentally friendly portfolio.

Radio Green Earth also visited a local green start-up, Lighting Science Group in Satellite Beach, Florida. Lighting Science Group designs and builds LED light bulbs and fixtures. This growing industry leader and designer of the LED ball that dropped in Times Square this past New Year’s Eve is an investment opportunity to consider when expanding your environmental stock portfolio.

Times Square New Year's Eve Ball designed by Lighting Science Group

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Marcellus Shale Region Protest

This week on Radio Green Earth, February 19, 2011, we look into the controversy surrounding horizontal hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.  We’ll explore the science behind the process; the environmental impacts it’s creating; the regulations that need to keep pace; and, the potential wealth it’s bringing to landowners leasing their property.  Is fracking, and the shale gas boom, worth the risk?  Find out this week on Radio Green Earth.

‘Fracking’ is a controversial drilling technique used to extract natural gas from the underground deposits throughout the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania and New York. While the natural gas industry is an excellent source of income and jobs in this economically-strapped region, fracking is fraught with multiple environmental issues.

Drilling Rig

To dive into these issues, our resident engineer, Christopher Cherniak, will be joined by Dr. Tony Ingraffea, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, and Kate Sinding, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to discuss the science and regulatory framework surrounding fracking. We’ll also be talking with two landowners who took two opposing actions. Jackie Root welcomed the opportunity offered by the natural gas industry, leasing her land for drilling. Josh Fox, who declined the industry’s offer to drill on his land, put together a documentary about fracking called Gasland which is now up for an Academy Award.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org.

]]> http://radiogreenearth.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=2732 0 This week on Radio Green Earth, February 19, 2011, we look into the controversy surrounding horizontal hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.  We’ll explore the science behind the process; the environmental impacts it’s creating; the regulations that ne... This week on Radio Green Earth, February 19, 2011, we look into the controversy surrounding horizontal hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.  We’ll explore the science behind the process; the environmental impacts it’s creating; the regulations that need to keep pace; and, the potential wealth it’s bringing to landowners leasing their property.  Is fracking, and the shale gas boom, worth the risk?  Find out this week on Radio Green Earth. 'Fracking' is a controversial drilling technique used to extract natural gas from the underground deposits throughout the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania and New York. While the natural gas industry is an excellent source of income and jobs in this economically-strapped region, fracking is fraught with multiple environmental issues. To dive into these issues, our resident engineer, Christopher Cherniak, will be joined by Dr. Tony Ingraffea, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, and Kate Sinding, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to discuss the science and regulatory framework surrounding fracking. We'll also be talking with two landowners who took two opposing actions. Jackie Root welcomed the opportunity offered by the natural gas industry, leasing her land for drilling. Josh Fox, who declined the industry’s offer to drill on his land, put together a documentary about fracking called Gasland which is now up for an Academy Award. Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org. Radio Green Earth no 58:00 http://radiogreenearth.org/blog/?p=2724 http://radiogreenearth.org/blog/?p=2724#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:27:16 +0000 admin http://radiogreenearth.org/blog/?p=2724 Support the Everglades at the Annual Everglades Day Festival – Feb. 12, 2011, 8 am to 4 pm at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

Click on the picture to get the full size image!

And check out the winning t-shirt design!

Click on the picture to download the full size!

The Faka Union Canal Groundbreaking will kick off a $79 million-dollar effort to once again allow wildlife to thrive in their natural habitat!

Watch the video above for more information or click on the ‘Youtube’ icon on the video screen to watch it in full HD on youtube!

Giant Tortoise

This week, February 5th, 2011, Radio Green Earth takes a closer lookat one of the most fascinating archipelagos in the world, the Galapagos Islands. This “little world within itself” was the epicenter of much of Charles Darwin’s landmark research on evolution, and to this day, strange and wondrous creatures still inhabit these small series of islands.

Our very own Hilde Hartnett will be reporting on her visit to the Galapagos. She will share stories about the people and animals she encountered. Listen as our reporter comes face to face with the impressive natural beauty of the Galapagos, its people and its unique animal inhabitants. Some of these organisms, such as a lizard whose skeleton shrinks when food gets scarce, can be found nowhere else on the face of the Earth.

Progress, however, is threatening life on the Galapagos. For the past five hundred years, humans have been introducing new species that threaten the islands’ current inhabitants. Some of these introductions were intended,

Sunset on the Galapagos

such as pigs, goats and other livestock, and others were inadvertent, such as fire ants and weeds. Even tourism itself impacts the delicate ecosystem that the Galapagos depends on to survive. We’ll be talking with Johanna Barry from the Galapagos Conservancy about how the conservancy is working to protect the Galapagos Islands from both a local and global standpoint.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Check out some extra pictures below and visit our Facebook page for even more!

Many pet foods are produced using the waste products from the production of human foods. These by-products (such as animal carcasses or leftover grain) are then rendered into a form suitable for pet food preparation. By-products, on their own, are not necessarily bad for pets but the source of many of the by-products is questionable. An FDA study showed that some of the by-product meats found trace quantities of the drug commonly used for euthanasia, suggesting that the meat may come from recently euthanized livestock. “4D” animals (dead, dying, diseased and disabled) are also still considered legitimate by-product sources for pet food. To top it off, these highly processed meat and protein ingredients are rarely locally sourced and are often imported from other countries. The wheat gluten, for example, in the melamine recall that killed over 4,000 pets came from China! Doesn’t sound very sustainable, does it?

Fish in pet foods is another concern for the environmentally conscious pet owner. The degradation of the oceans by the fishing industry is a common concern, but few consumers realize that the canned cat food industry alone requires over 2.4 million tons of fish annually! So, while you might have sustainably-sourced fish on your plate, you’re continuing to contribute to the destruction of our oceans each time you crack open a can of “seafood delight” for Fluffy

Fortunately, the pet food industry is starting to realize the desire of consumers to feed their pets food that is just as safely and sustainably produced as the food they are feeding their own families.

Mars Petcare—makers of Whiskas and Sheba brand cat food—announced its commitment in Europe to introduce petfood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council by the end of 2010. The company is working in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to develop its fish sustainability program which will roll out across all its petfoods by 2020. Mars also built the first sustainable pet food manufacturing plant in 2008, focusing on reducing environmental impact through recycling, energy conservation and avoiding light pollution & land erosion. The facility was also rewarded LEED certification.

Premium pet food manufacturer, the Honest Kitchen, launched a cat treat that consists of 100% Icelandic haddock, which is much more sustainable than the traditionally used US haddock. The Honest Kitchen is also an approved member of Green America, an organization that emphasizes sustainability, “green” business and fair-trade.

Pet food industry experts are also advocating the use of “pulse” crops such as beans and lentils which derive their own nitrogen fertilizer from the air, requiring less fossil fuel to grow and also releasing less carbon dioxide into the air. The use of “pulse” crops as opposed to traditional corn, rice or soybeans is just one step towards making the agricultural ingredients in pet food more environmentally friendly.

So, what can we do to fill Fido’s bowl with more sustainable and environmentally friendly food?

The most important task for the eco-conscious pet owner is to be educated about the food they are buying. Look at the ingredients and research the sources of the products used in the food. While some of the companies mentioned in this article are great starting points, there are a multitude of other pet food companies with sustainability commitments and organic product lines. The organic pet food industry had record sales of $84 million in 2009, despite the economic climate, and numbers are expected to grow. Pet food companies are enthusiastic about the growing consumer interest in organic and sustainable pet food and have either updated their websites to answer common questions or are happy to field questions from concerned pet owners. Fellow pet owners are also great sources of information since many of them have already done the “legwork”, so to speak. Community sites such as Dogster.com have sections devoted to selecting pet food and many knowledgeable members who are happy to answer any questions.

Homemade food is another option some pet owners pursue, allowing them to purchase and use locally sourced and organic ingredients. Veterinary supervision is recommended for pet owners who wish to prepare their own food, however, to ensure that recipes meet the pet’s nutritional needs. Cats, for example, require a very specific nutrient called ‘taurine’ and its deficiency can cause a multitude of health problems, including blindness and heart failure. Veterinary practices also have access to databases of recipes specifically formulated for species and life-stage.

Fido doesn’t have to be eating free-range chicken and organic potatoes, but most eco-conscious pet owners will be happy to know that sustainable pet food is a realistic and often affordable option, whether you prepare pet food in your kitchen or purchase a commercial brand.

The Sustainability Champion's Guidebook

This week, we’ll invite Bob Willard, sustainability expert and author of The Sustainability Champion’s Guidebook, to Radio Green to talk about just how crucial sustainability is to a company’s survival and success in this economic climate. He’ll explain how the current business models are unsustainable and what practices need to put in place before wasteful business spirals downward into economic turmoil.

We’ll also being chatting with three sustainable businesses to find out their secrets to success.

Radio Green Earth will talk with Seventh Generation to learn about their strong sustainability program that has made them a gold standard against which other companies are measured.

Office Depot is another nationally recognized name that is becoming force for sustainability. Office Depot now offers over 6,500 environmentally friendly products to offices around the country. They also provide sustainable solutions for customers, including recycling programs and a “green” product guide. Radio Green Earth gets a chance this week to tour their corporate headquarters in Delray Beach and discuss Office Depot’s green business plan with the company’s Director of Environmental Strategies, Yamet Sadiki.

Corporate Sustainability

You don’t have to be a big, profit-earning company, however, to find the value in going green. Even non-profits can become sustainable – and the Palm Beach Zoo proves that point. The Palm Beach Zoo has pioneered non-profit sustainability, using community partnerships to create a more sustainable zoo. Our reporters get the inside scoop on this innovative sustainability program when we tour the zoo with its Director of Education and Sustainability, Kristen Cytaki.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

The Symposium’s goals include characterizing the health of the Loxahatchee River watershed, prioritizing restoration needs, improving communication within the research community, improving collaboration within the watershed, creating new research and restoration partnerships, and improving public wareness.  Better communication among scientists, managers and the public will improve the stewardship of the Loxahatchee River.

The Evening Session on March 29th is for general audiences and is being held at the Jupiter Community Center from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The daytime session for Scientific Presentations (8:00 am to 5:00 pm) will be held at the same location the following day, March 30th. All sessions are free and open to the public.

The registration deadline is March 18, 2011 so be sure to register as soon as possible to reserve your spot! To register visit www.loxahatcheeriver.org/symposium.

Download the Save the Date flyer!

Guests will have the unique opportunity to experience Lionfish, Jupiter’s newest delicacy! Lionfish hors d’oeuvres will be prepared on site by chef Tommy Williams, along with a savory selection of Caribbean-inspired appetizers provided by Foodshack.

The event will feature local marine themed art, live music, a silent auction, and much more.  All proceeds from the Night on the Loxahatchee will benefit the River Center’s educational programs and events.

In addition, special guest Zack Judd of Florida International University will enlighten guests with a brief presentation regarding lionfish and their impact on the Loxahatchee River estuary. Randy Jordan, founder of Lion Tamers USA, will provide tips on catching, spearing, and filleting these invasive fish. Children’s art from the River Center’s Lionfish Coloring Contest will be on display and guests may vote for their favorite picture. Winners will be announced during the event.

Sponsors of the evening include Radio Green Earth, Lion Tamers USA, U.b.U. Creative Design Group, and Exceptional Services Event Planning.

Tickets are available for a $50 per person donation, or $40 for Friends of the Loxahatchee River members. They may be purchased in advance at the River Center, by mail, or over the phone. Gold, Silver, and Bronze event sponsorships are still available.  For more information about the Night on the Loxahatchee, Lionfish Coloring Contest, or sponsorship opportunities please contact the River Center at 561-743-7123 or send an email to RiverCenter@Loxahatcheeriver.org.

Lionfish: Lionfish, native to the Indo Pacific region, are increasing in tropical and subtropical Atlantic waters, including our own Loxahatchee River, at an alarming rate. Popular as a decorative aquarium fish, lionfish received their name from the “mane”-like spread of fins used to herd and corner smaller prey fish. This invasive species has no known predators in the area, and feeds voraciously on essential native fish. Lionfish are particularly problematic to marine animals and people alike because of the potent venom found in their dorsal fins.

The River Center: The River Center, which is located at Burt Reynolds Park in Jupiter, traces the Loxahatchee River from its pristine freshwater reaches to a teeming estuary, and eventually to the Jupiter Inlet where it spills into the Atlantic Ocean.  The center presents some of the largest aquatic exhibits in the area with an interactive exploration of the river, diverse wildlife and its majestic environmental value.  In addition, guests learn where their water comes from, how it is consumed and recycled back into the community.  There are multi-media and live aquatic exhibits, and a touch tank teeming with aquatic life.

BACKGROUND: Cletus, an endangered green sea turtle, was caught in the intake canal at the Port St. Lucie Power Plant. It sustained trauma to the head and several corneal ulcerations. During the sea turtle’s 62-day stay at LMC’s Gordon & Patricia Gray Veterinary Hospital in Juno Beach, it received antibiotic injections; topical antibiotics to treat its corneal ulcers; and medication for pain. The sex of Cletus is unknown due to its age. Having received medical clearance by Staff Veterinarian Dr. Nancy Mettee, Cletus will be the first sea turtle to be released by LMC in 2011. View a video of Cletus pre-release here. Photos below.

LOCAL GREEN TURTLES: LMC biologists recorded a record 1,119 green sea turtle nests in Juno Beach in 2010, compared with the prior record of 964 Juno Beach green sea turtle nests set in 2002; There were a total of 1,926 green sea turtle nests counted along 9.8 miles of shoreline in Juno Beach, Jupiter and Tequsta in 2010; Of the 172 sea turtles admitted to the LMC hospital last year, 124 were green sea turtles.

GREEN TURTLE FACTS: Listed as Endangered under the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act; Become herbivorous when they reach adulthood; Named for greenish color of body fat; Medium to large sea turtle, nesting females in Florida average 3.3 feet in length and 300 pounds in weight; Hatchlings are two inches long; Nest in Florida from June through late September; Survival in Florida threatened by beach lighting, habitat alterations and drowning in fishing gear.

WHEN: Preparations to release Cletus will begin at LMC (14200 US Highway One, Juno Beach) at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 22, 2011. Cletus will be released into the wild on the beach at Loggerhead Park at 12:00 p.m. Media and the public may attend one or both events.

CONTACT: Brittany Jo Miller, Sr. Coord., Marketing & Communications, 561.627.8280 extension 115 or 561.889.6649, millerb@marinelife.org

When Cletus arrived at LMC on November 21, 2011, the sea turtle had head trauma and several corneal ulcerations.

During Cletus' 62-day at LMC, the sea turtle received medical care including topical antibiotics to help it heal.

Now Cletus is a healthy turtle, ready to be released into the wild on January 22, 2011 at 12 PM, beachside at Loggerhead Park.

About Loggerhead Marinelife Center:
Loggerhead Marinelife Center, a non-profit organization, is committed to the conservation of Florida’s coastal ecosystems through public education, research and rehabilitation with a focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles. The center features an on-site campus hospital, learning exhibits and aquariums. Situated on the world’s most important sea turtle nesting beach, Loggerhead Marinelife Center is open daily and plays host to over 200,000 visitors each year. For more information, visit www.marinelife.org or call 561-627-8280.

Missy Strauss will take us to a fascinating home to more than 300 chimps who live in families on 12 separate 3 acre islands! Save the Chimps is located in Ft. Pierce, Fl and rescues chimps from research laboratories, entertainment and pet trades.

Jim Jackson will travel to Zolfo Springs to the Peace River Refuge and Ranch where over 200 animals, from tigers to bears and everything in between, are loved and cared for by a highly trained staff.

Fonda Frisby will tour Panther Ridge Conservation Center in Wellington, Fl. She’ll meet 7 exotic felines who are all cared for by one woman with a serious concern and passion for these majestic creatures!

An in depth look at what happens to unwanted and abused animals and the heroes who restore their dignity, this week on Radio Green Earth.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

What can $700 million buy you these days?

The hopes are in the environmental community, is that it will purchase or lease 150,000 acres of land in the “northern Everglades,” north of Lake Okeechobee, which are vital to restoration.   US Department of the Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, made this exciting announcement on Friday, January 7th at the 26th annual Everglades Coalition Conference, which was held January 6 – 8, 2011, in Weston, Florida.  The Obama administration made this proposal in hopes of restoring “one of the great grassland and savanna landscapes of eastern North America.”

As you may know, water once naturally flowed from north of Lake Okeechobee, south, all the way to Florida Bay.  The water was clean, the wildlife flourished, and the aquifer plentiful.  Over the last century however, development, highways, and agriculture, misdirected so much of the natural sheet flow that today almost 7  billion gallons of fresh water can be diverted from the everglades and eventually the aquifer, and lost forever, by being dumped into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.  Not to mention the many species of wildlife lost due to habitat destruction.

Everglades

The goal of the conference is to provide a platform where people from all over the Everglades spectrum, such as 53 Coalition members, South Florida state and national organizations, local governments, state and federal government, scientists, engineers, and lay people, can come together and analyze the current state of the Florida Everglades.

Some of the speakers at the Conference you may recognize, such as, Florida Department of Agriculture Secretary, Adam Putnam, Senator Bill Nelson, former Senator Bob Graham, and US Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.  Of course there were also representatives from the Army Core of Engineers, Everglades Foundation, Sierra Club, Arthur Marshall Foundation, just to name of few, as well as representatives of farmers, agriculture, ranchers, and land owners.  I felt the love from all sides.

When I am fortunate enough to attend events through my affiliation with Radio Green Earth, I feel a sense of calm knowing that I am not the only one who sees problems with the way our natural environment is treated.

Mother Nature can sleep a little more soundly tonight knowing so many people are on her side.

Get your hands dirty!

Be part of the Abacoa Community Garden, Jupiter’s first community garden, and get your hands dirty!

Join us on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 10 a.m. as we spend the day at the Garden preparing the land for planting by building raised beds. The Abacoa Community Garden, which will focus on organic fruits and vegetables, is located on the west side of Central between Dakota Drive and Indian Creek next to LifeSong Community Church in Jupiter.

From digging in the dirt to growing a community interest in gardening, the Abacoa Community Garden depends on you to be a success.

For more information and to get involved, email the event organizers at c_hanna@bellsouth.net.

BRING A SHOVEL AND COME PLAY IN THE DIRT—NO GREEN THUMB REQUIRED!

You’ll hear from Senator Bill Nelson, former Senator Bob Graham, Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, and a very special announcement from US Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. We’ll also bring you updates from US Fish and Wildlife, US Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida Water Management District, Audobon, Sierra Club, and much more.

Don’t miss this important show on what’s happening with Everglades restoration, where the money is coming from, and what we’ve recently learned about the Everglades systems. Our correspondents were all over this conference and we’ll bring you fully up to speed on this week’s show!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

The Green Earth Environmental Education Foundation and Radio Green Earth teamed up to test the drinking water available throughout  Palm Beach County. What we found astounded us and no doubt, will astound you as well.

Our in-depth  investigation incorporates cutting edge technology and laboratory analysis from Jupiter Environmental Labs of Jupiter, Florida and knowledge of the dedicated environmental scientists at Eco Advisors in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

We’ll compare our findings with similar results from a study of the water from the  Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District in Park City, Utah.

What were our conclusions and what can we do about this serious issue? Tune in to this very important week on Radio Green Earth.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Happy New Year!

We’ll meet Terrence Kelleman, maker of the Mighty Wallet and we’ll hear from an attorney who will explain all about “green washing”.

Don’t miss this week on Radio Green Earth! Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

We’ll visit the Panther Habitat, Barley Barber, and a Magical Garden.

You’ll learn all about the whooping cranes migration, and the pollution of the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers.

Don’t miss this  week on Radio Green Earth! Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Don’t miss this adventurous week on Radio Green Earth! Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

The automobile is the largest investment most of us make outside our homes, and its the largest piece of our carbon footprint on the planet. It is also our best opportunity to have a positive impact on that footprint, by changing the way we travel, using more public transportation, or foot or pedal power, and by buying a more efficient, greener vehicle. For these reasons, and because we all enjoy driving around a brand new car, Radio Green Earth announces its second annual car show.

We’ll review several hybrid and clean diesel vehicles. We’ll also compare and contrast the latest technology and take you along for the ride. We will drive the latest small medium and large size vehicles at South Florida dealerships and talk to the experts. Plus we will bring you some news about revolutionary cars coming on the market in the next year. Its the 2010 Radio Green Earth Car Show.

Make sure you tune in to find out which cars made it in the line-up! Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Radio Green Earth takes you on a tour of the swamp, we’ll have special conversations with the Education Director, Jean Passolano and Executive Director, Chuck Barrowclough. We’ll also talk with locals about the Barley Barber legend, and we’ll meet Boy Scout, Geoffrey Yatsko, who built an interpretive historic kiosk for the swamp.

Don’t miss this exciting week on Radio Green Earth! Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Gdetting you in the giving spirit, we bring you fresh idea of Green Saturday rather than Black Friday. Simply tune in for gifts for everyone on your list! We’ll present you with some unique, sustainable ideas from electric bicycles, locally grown produce delivered to your door step, Smencils, The Green Bible, and so much more!

Radio Green Earth correspondent, Chris Cherniak also will bring us the story of the new protective stand that the EPA has approved to help reduce water pollution that causes harmful algae blooms that are toxic to humans, animals, and eco systems across the state of Florida.

Don’t miss this exciting week on Radio Green Earth! Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Hank has been deemed a non-releasable due to a buoyancy issue. Turt also has a buoyancy issue for which he takes medication.

Hank will be fenced off from the others in the tank until the staff and Hank have been acclimated. At that point, Hank can join Turt and the others in his new home , the FOS 750,000 gallon salt water lagoon.

Both turtles can be visited at Florida Oceanographic Society Mon-Sat 10-5 or Sunday 12-4.

More than once this prehistoric River could have been destroyed by developers but has been saved time and again. We’ll talk with Jim Snyder about her history.

We’ll have a discussion with biologist, Mr. Dick Roberts, to learn more about how the River was saved and the perils it currently faces.

We’ll visit the Loxahatchee River Center and learn what they do and what you can do with them. We’ll learn about the many animals who live in the River and all about their habitats.

Don’t miss this adventurous week on Radio Green Earth! Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Missy Tancredi Strauss and Hilde Hartnett head into the Naked Hair Salon to discover their sustainable design and to try their “naked” products!

You’ll meet a mother of 5, grandmother of 15,  author and photojournalist, who in her spare time (WOW!) is helping women artisans in Mexico.

You’ll also visit a “Magical Garden”, a project at the Benjamin Lower School, that gets young people growing their food!

Also, you’ll hear about a sustainable charity and their work for the Quantum House.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Americans Need Straight Talk About Climate Change

John Poggi, Radio Green Earth

The latest Gallup poll on the environment includes some highly disconcerting data on Americans’ attitudes toward global warming, including the fact that almost half of those polled (48%) believe that the portrayal of climate change is “generally exaggerated” and only 32 percent see it as a serious potential threat to their lives.

The long-term warming trend over the last century has been well-established, and scientists studying the climate are predicting substantial disruption in water supplies, agriculture, ecosystems and coastal communities. Activists at both ends of the argument are pushing ever harder for or against rapid action. Government sponsored polls show the public locked durably in three camps — with roughly a fifth of American voters eager for action, another fifth aggressively rejecting projections of catastrophe and most people tuned out or confused.

Scientists learned long ago that the earth’s climate has powerfully shaped the history of the human species — biologically, culturally and geographically. Scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world’s climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from unregulated burning of fossil fuels and the razing of tropical forests. Such activity adds to the atmosphere’s invisible blanket of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping “greenhouse” gases.

Recent fluctuations in temperature have further intensified the public debate over how urgently to respond. A string of large snowstorms in the Washington area and freezing weather here in Florida last winter were seized on by climate change skeptics. But the combination of flooding, heat waves and droughts this past summer were taken by most scientists and climatologists as evidence that weather extremes are getting worse.

The debate over climate questions pales next to the fight over what to do, or not do, in a world where fossil fuels still underpin both rich and emerging economies. Recognizing that climate treaties were proving ineffective, all of the world’s industrialized countries except for the United States accepted binding restrictions on their greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, which was negotiated in Japan in 1997. The United States signed the treaty, but it was never submitted for ratification in the face of overwhelming opposition in the Senate.

In many ways, the debate over global climate policy is a result of a global “climate divide.” Emissions of carbon dioxide per person range from less than two tons per year in India, where 400 million people lack access to electricity, to more than 20 in the United States. The richest countries are also best able to use wealth and technology to insulate themselves from climate hazards, while the poorest, which have done the least to cause the problem, are the most exposed.

Here in the United States, Democrats in the Senate in July 2010 gave up on reaching even a scaled-down climate bill, in the face of opposition from Republicans and some energy-state Democrats. The House had already passed a broad cap-and-trade bill in 2009.

In the meantime, a recent dip in emissions caused by the global economic slowdown is almost certain to be followed by a rise, scientists warn, and with population and appetites for energy projected to rise through mid-century, the challenges of climate and energy will only intensify. Americans must now tune in and become informed. We need to lead these global efforts, not hinder them.

The environmental community needs to align on how we talk to Americans about climate change and its solutions. We need to speak about climate change as an American issue, in context of visible and tangible affects and solutions. We need to communicate that, if solved now, climate-change solutions will provide immediate and long-lasting economic, personal and national benefits. And we need to communicate that we can solve this climate crisis — not only because we can prove that we can, but also because Americans need to believe we can solve it in order for them to shift their attitudes and behaviors and ultimately support its solutions.

Today we can begin by enacting an effective cap and trade bill, seriously funding alternative energy projects and having meaningful and productive discussions on replacing the current path of our energy future and replace fossil fuels with renewable and clean energy alternatives.

President Lincoln summed it up over 150 years ago: “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.”

Now, more than ever, we must focus on engaging Americans in the support for climate solutions, particularly going into 2011 when the next Congress and the international community will come to a fork in the road.

We’ll either choose one of two paths: one that will reverse global warming while creating a new, more prosperous economy; or one that will make us increasingly dependent on a dwindling supply of dirty sources of fuel. Let’s talk about this.

Besides the beauty of the product, Florida TopShell lasts 2 to 3 years!!

You can hear  the interview with our executive producer, John Poggi who had Florida TopShell installed at his home, on our podcast page.

Enjoy!

We’ll have a conversation with John and Patricia Ford, founders of the NRDC, about their new book.

It’s Manatee Month , so there will be a bit of “Manatee Insanity” also a visit to the Florida Oceanographic Society.

You’ll learn all about a fun happening in Lake Worth, the International Trade and Cultural event,and meet one of it’s stars!

All this and so much more this week on Radio Green Earth!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

Awards are given to those who are leading the way in raising awareness and have made significant contributions to improve and protect South Florida’s oceans, beaches and wildlife.
The winners were judged by a distinguished panel which included: Greg Marshall-National Geographic; Gary Adkison-US Shark Foundation Director; Dr. Edie Widder-O.R.C.A; Jim Harvey-Guy Harvey Foundation; Ricardo Zambrano-FFWCC and Sally Murray, daughter of Loggerhead Marinelife Center Founder Eleanor Fletcher.

We look forward to the exciting things that are to come for Radio Green Earth! Make sure to tune in every Saturday at 5pm on 90.7 WXEL!

We’ll have a conversation with Bridgette McDonald from GLEE. No, not the television show but the Green Living & Energy Education. They’re planning four green expos to take place throughout The Keys during Eco Week.

We’ll introduce you to Ruth Schrader Grace and Christi Allen, the founders of Eco Week and NFL star turned ecovisionary Syd Kitson!

Don’t miss this week’s Radio Green Earth!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes!

This week on Radio Green Earth, Oct 23, we visit the north side of Indian River Lagoon. Because of the Lagoon’s geography, climate, and the development, the north and south sides vary greatly. We’ll experience the different perspectives. as well as discuss how the pollution of the lagoon is effecting the large dolphin population. We’ll also hear how millions of gallons of storm water runoff  is impacting the Lagoon. We’ll introduce you to Troy Rice who runs the National Marine Estuary Project on the Lagoon for the St. John’s River Water Management. We’ll meet the new Chairs of the US Green Building Council for Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

Don’t miss our interview with Disney Channel star Anna Margaret about the “Rock This Planet Out” concert she will be performing at the Wyland Green Living Fair in November!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes

I’ll be assisting the RGE team with some news coverage, web maintenance, show editing, and being the one to catch those things that may fall in the cracks .

I look forward to getting to know our listeners and learning along the way. Feel free to contact me anytime and let me know your ideas!

Sunshine Forever,

Fonda Frisby

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

We’ll hear about the Green Mile, a strip of sustainable green industries cropping up in St. Lucie County.

You don’t want to miss this week’s show for all this and to find out why MIT is interested in what Sun Coast High School students are inventing!

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

This week, October 2, Radio Green Earth is exploring the holistic and organic pet care industry. People want their pets to be healthy and happy – and as society moves towards a more sustainable lifestyle, it’s not surprising that pet owners are interested in leading their pets in that direction as well.

Our hosts and a special correspondent, Lilly the Weimaraner, will be visiting a holistic pet store, Holistic Pet Cuisine, in Boca Raton, Florida that specializes in green and natural pet foods, toys, treats and supplements. We’ll learn about the organic and natural pet foods out there, how to use them and the benefits over the commercial products.

Lilly and our hosts will then stop by a near-by veterinary practice which claims to be the most advanced holistic pet care center in South Florida. Their vets and staff will be discussing the holistic approach to veterinary medicine while we tour the Calusa Vet Center’s state of the art facilities.

We are also pleased to welcome Wyland, world famous mural painter and conservation voice, to our program this week. He’ll be sharing the inside scoop on the upcoming Wyland Living Green Fair in Mizner Park, Boca Raton, Nov 5-7.

We’ll also be chatting with Mallory McDuff, author of “Natural Saints – How People of Faith are Working to Save God’s Earth.” Learn about this upcoming book and her perspective on the faith-based environmental movement.

Paul Sugrue from Nozzle Nolen visits the Radio Green Earth studios and tells us all about bed bugs, where they are, how to know if you have them, and how to eco-responsibly eliminate them.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

This week, September 25, Radio Green Earth is hosting a wine extravaganza. We’ll be taking you on a tour of an organic vineyard and winery in Sonoma Valley, courtesy of our host, Missy’s honeymoon and then talking with Paul Dolan, a pioneer in the sustainable wine industry. Paul Dolan will be chatting from his home in Healdsburg, the heart of wine country in the Russian River Valley of California. Sustainable grape growing has been going on for a while in California and Paul will be sharing his inside information on what “organic” wine really means.

And if that wasn’t enough, we will also be visited by Mark Spivak and Merritt  Rathje, the hosts of “Uncorked!”, a wine related talk show that airs here on WXEL-FM. Mark is an experienced sommelier, holding the Certificate and Advanced Diplomas from the Court of Master Sommeliers. We’ll be bringing several choice organic vintages for our on-air tasting and critique.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

Coming up this week on Radio Green Earth, we’ll be talking about a revolutionary idea, an idea that promises to truly change the way we consume fossil fuels. Scientists at the Scripps Florida Research Center in Jupiter, Florida are pursuing a way to make the most of our limited fossil fuel supply. Visit the Scripps Center with us and meet the top scientist on the project who is currently working on an alternative to combustion.

We’ll also hear about some excellent tips on where to go and who to see to enhance your sustainable lifestyle: everything from good books to local tours and symposiums that will inspire and educate you and your entire family.

For our musically-minded listeners, we’re also presenting the US Army Corp of Engineers hip-hop invitation to visit the Everglades. This rap tune was produced by an amazing group of inner-city youngsters after visiting the Florida Everglades for the first time.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

Radio Green Earth pays a visit to the Florida Natural History Museum in Gainesville, home to one of the world’s largest butterfly gardens. The museum houses one of the finest butterfly gardens in the world, as well as perhaps the world’s largest butterfly collection – plus a walking history lesson about Florida’s natural life from pre-history to present.

And we will take you to Sarasota County to sample homegrown caviar at the Mote Marine Laboratories Sustainable Aquaculture Research Center.

We’ll also talk with the authors of “Polluters,” Benjamin Ross and Steven Amter. The two spent ten years researching the history of the growth of the chemical industry in this country. They found that the industry used its incredible economic and political clout for decades to stop the creation of an effective system of environmental regulation.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

Well, actually, we’re going on a lionfish hunt! Named for their “mane” of fins and stinging spines, this group of exotic  predatory reef dwellers are exploding in population along South Florida and the Carribbean Reefs.

Originally from the South Pacific, these fish have spread throughout the globe from the warm coral reefs of the Caribbean and Florida coasts to the Mediterranean. Some fish have even been spotted in the waters off of Long Island, New York.

Lionfish prey on a wide variety of smaller fish and crustaceans. With few natural predators, their introduction into local waters has been devestating to the diversity of our reefs. We’ll be talking to experts about how the lionfish got here and why it’s so important to stop the exponential growth of species before angelfish, juvenile snapper and other small fry on the reefs disappear.

Radio Green Earth also visits a lionfish rodeo where local divers spear, cook and eat the fish for pleasure and conservation.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

We’ll also bring you an expert from the National resources Defense Counsel that tells us what she testified at Congressional hearings last week on where all the oil went and whether seafood in the gulf may yet be affected. And finally, we’ll bring you an inspiring story on how inner city kids are spreading the word on the Everglades through music.
Join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and our environmental events calendar Saturday at 5 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM. Also available live at www.radiogreenearth.org and iTunes.

Flagler SIFE is part of an international organization that teaches students the positive power of business through service learning. Each year the team completes community service projects which they present at regional, national, and international competitions. Conservation Cadets is one of their newest projects. Their goal is to expand this project by making it available to environmental and energy businesses such as yours.

Below is the first one (water) of the four part series…check this video out and the other three on our blog!

CHEJ Offers New Guide to Help Parents Make Safer Choices for Back-to-School Shopping

Falls Church, VA - The Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) is releasing a new Back to School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies to help parents choose safer, PVC-free school supplies.  The guide is being released just in time for tax-free back-to-school shopping.  Parents across the country are stocking up on binders and lunchboxes.  But while it’s easy to know the healthiest foods to pack in those lunchboxes, many parents are not aware of the toxic plastic used to make them.  In fact, the average child’s character-themed backpack is filled with supplies and materials made from the most toxic plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl).

Children are particularly vulnerable to the harmful health effects of toxic chemicals, such as dioxin, that are released by the PVC lifecycle.  A new analysis by the

 Environmental Working Group found Americans are exposed to up to 1,200 times more dioxin than the EPA considers safe, and the amount of dioxin infants are exposed to is up to 77 times higher than the level the agency has defined as harmless to the endocrine and immune systems.  Chemicals released by the PVC lifecycle are linked to chronic diseases on the rise in children including learning and developmental disabilities, asthma, obesity and cancer. 

 ”We strive to make our homes a healthy and safe environment for our children to grow up in.  But what about the eight hours they spend in school each day?” said Mike Schade, PVC Campaign Coordinator for the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ).  “Unfortunately, many school supplies are composed of PVC, the poison plastic.  This plastic can contain a toxic stew of phthalates, lead, cadmium, and organotins-it’s a recipe for disaster.  Thankfully parents can now find safer products for their children with our 2010 Back to School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies.”

 Although PVC, the toxic plastic, is found in many name-brand products, many safer PVC-free products are available.  CHEJ is releasing the expanded 3^rd Annual Edition of their popular Back to School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies to help parents make informed shopping choices.  Over twenty categories of school supplies, from backpacks to art supplies, are covered in the guide.  An iPhone app of the guide will be released later this month.

A few of the top tips for avoiding toxic PVC school supplies are:

1.        Avoid backpacks with shiny plastic designs as they often contain PVC and may contain lead.

2.        Use cloth lunchboxes or metal lunchboxes.  Many lunchboxes are made of PVC, or coated with PVC on the inside.

3.        Used cardboard, fabric-covered, or polypropylene binders.  Most 3-ring binders are made of PVC.

4.   Avoid purchasing any school supplies made in China  (mine).

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) contains dangerous chemical additives such as phthalates, lead, cadmium, and/or organotins, which can be toxic to a child’s health.  Federal law has banned the use of phthalates in toys even as it is still used in children’s school supplies.  Both Congress and the President’s Cancer Panel have called for greater regulation of such toxic chemicals in consumer products, but parents can act now to protect their children’s health by making smart shopping choices. 

PVC-Free Back-to-School Guide available at: http://www.chej.org/publications/PVCGuide/2010/PVCFree.pdf. 

To arrange an interview with a CHEJ expert on PVC and toxic threats to children’s health, contact Moira Bulloch at 703-237-2249 ext.19 or by email at mbulloch@chej.org

Radio Green Earth joined marine scientists, government officials, local media and interested public today to watch two manatees be released back into their natural habitat within the backwaters of Jupiter.   

One of the manatees, the male, was rescued near Hutchinson Island last month, and the other, a female, was found near Jupiter in April.   At the time of their rescue, the male was having intestinal difficulties and the female was showing signs of cold stress.  Both were sent to the Miami Seaquariam for diagnosis and rehabilitation.

 At noon today they were released into the brackish waters behind Rio Vista Condominium in Jupiter.   Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists, together with Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management and Jupiter police, worked to safely release and re-acclimate the two adult manatees. 

Both were tagged to monitor their progress back in the wild.   

Video, pictures, and interviews live from the release site soon!

First noted by scientists in the 1960s, marine-based dead zones are formed when huge amounts of nutrients, such as phophorous and nitrogen –overload a water body incapable of absorbing or diluting it, leading to explosive algae growth that ultimately robs oxygen from marine life within.  These nutrients are typically found in agricultural fertilizers, municipal sewage and other organic wastes such as diary, hog and poultry farms.

A 2008 study found more than 400 dead zones around the world, and the Gulf of Mexico’s is one of the largest. Snaking along the Louisiana and Texas coasts, the expanding Gulf Dead Zone has drastically reduced seafood stocks and pushed fisherman further out to sea.

With increased levels of nitrogen and phosphorous comes increased blooms of algae.  Although, this algae extracts carbon dioxide out of the water while they are alive, when the algae die they sink to the bottom of the water column where they are consumed by bacteria which require oxygen to assist in decomposing the algae. 

As the bacteria proliferate, the levels of oxygen in the water begin to decline.  Eventually, the concentration of oxygen becomes too low to support normal marine life.  The fish, crabs, shrimp, etc. abandon or die off within the area, leaving behind a watery environment void of oxygen and life.   

Fall weather brings cooling air and churning waters that dampen algae growth, but scientists are now seeing a “legacy” effect where lingering decomposed organic matter continues to steal away oxygen. This means that even if nitrate and phosphorous levels hold steady or decline, past pollution can still cause dead zones to expand in the future.

Now add the BP disaster. Gushing oil is the most immediate threat to marine life, but scientists see another looming danger: methane, which BP itself has estimated constitutes 40 percent of what’s flooding out of the Deepwater Horizon drill site.

Researchers out of Texas A&M University have measured methane levels at 35 different locations near and far from the BP disaster, and found levels of methane in deep ocean waters near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 10,000 to 100,000 times higher than normal.”

What’s wrong with methane? Like nitrates, it stimulates the growth of shallow-water life-in this case, feeding microbes-that respirate and remove oxygen and kill off deeper-water animals like seabed shellfish. In some places, researchers found “depletions [of oxygen] up to 30 percent.”

While BP’s spilled oil has already killed much marine life, a growing threat to the health of gulf waters comes from another energy source further up the Mississippi River: ethanol.

Most U.S. ethanol comes from corn; in fact, ethanol accounts for more than a third of U.S. corn production. And corn is one of the worst crops when it comes to dead zone-causing pollution runoff, because it depends on higher concentrations of nitrates to grow.

That problem will only grow worse as the U.S. ramps up production of ethanol fuel. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 set a goal of the U.S. using 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, including 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol-triple the current amount. President Obama affirmed the country’s commitment to ethanol in a directive last year.

The result would be “a disaster for the Gulf of Mexico,” says Simon Donner, a geographer at the University of British Columbia. A study that Donner wrote along with scientist Chris Kucharik, which was published by the National Academy of Sciences on March 18, 2008, showed that:

“[S]caling up corn production to meet the 15-billion-gallon goal would increase nitrogen loading in the Dead Zone by 10-18 percent. This would boost nitrogen levels to twice the level recommended by the Mississippi Basin/Gulf of Mexico Water Nutrient Task Force, a coalition of federal, state, and tribal agencies that has monitored the Dead Zone since 1997. The task force says a 30 percent reduction of nitrogen runoff is needed if the Dead Zone is to shrink.”

Groups like the American Farmland Trust are pushing for solutions: Their Best Management Practices contest pays farmers to reduce fertilizer use and therefore nitrate runoff. But these are still small-scale answers to a national problem that demands a federal response.

At 11am this morning (July 13, 2010) a telephone conference call was held between the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the Florida Wildlife Federation (FWF)  to announce a joint lawsuit against FEMA in response to turtle habitat destruction.

According to the two agencies, FEMA, which subsidizes flood insurance of developments in Florida, has inadvertently encouraged development along the coastlines of Florida, destroying the habitat of the sea turtles, a species already listed as endangered.  Ninety percent of the world’s sea turtles build their nests on the coastlines of Florida, and the abundance of new development is severely damaging the survival of the older generation of turtles that return to their natal nesting site, as well as hindering the survival rate of the new hatchlings.

Although the two agencies state that there is no direct link between their law suit and the BP oil spill, indirectly the spill is yet another obstacle for the sea turtles and one that is not as easily fixed.   The NWF and FWF are hoping that by restricting FEMA’s encouragement of development in Florida, it will reduce the immense hardships sea turtles are facing.

 The terms of the law suit include requiring that FEMA consult with the NWF and FWF prior to subsidizing flood insurance on new Florida development.  In addition, new policies must be put into action for the construction of new development in Florida (i.e light fixtures must not interfere with the turtle hatchlings ability to recognize moonlight to reach shore). Also, the two agencies are requiring that FEMA develop a sea turtle conservation program if they are found to be in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

 The suit was filed this morning and FEMA will have 60 days to respond to the complaint before it goes to court. The NWF and FWF reported that a copy of the law suit filed will be available later today on both their websites.

The US Environmental Protection Agency today released peer reviewed results from the first round of its own independent toxicity testing on eight oil dispersants. EPA conducted testing to ensure that decisions about ongoing dispersant use in the Gulf of Mexico continue to be grounded in the best available science.

 EPA believes BP should use as little dispersant as necessary and, on May 23, directed BP to reduce dispersant usage by 75 percent from peak usage. Over the next month BP reduced dispersant use 68 percent from that peak.

 Before directing BP to ramp down dispersant use, EPA directed BP to analyze potential alternative dispersants for toxicity and effectiveness. BP reported to EPA that they were unable to find a dispersant that is less toxic than Corexit 9500, the product currently in use.

 EPA then began its own scientific testing of eight dispersant products on the National Contingency Plan Product Schedule (NCP-PS). Those dispersant products are: Dispersit SPC 1000, Nokomis 3-F4, Nokomis 3-AA, ZI-400, SAF-RON Gold, Sea Brat #4, Corexit 9500 A and JD 2000. Today’s results represent the first stage of that effort.

 EPA tested these eight products for endocrine disrupting activity and potential impacts on small fish and mysid shrimp. The testing found:

• None of the eight dispersants tested displayed biologically significant endocrine disrupting activity.
• While all eight dispersants alone – not mixed with oil – showed roughly the same effects, JD-2000 and Corexit 9500 proved to be the least toxic to small fish, and JD-2000 and SAF-RON GOLD were the least toxic to the mysid shrimp.

 The next phase of EPA’s testing will assess the acute toxicity of multiple concentrations of Louisiana Sweet Crude Oil alone and combinations of Louisiana Sweet Crude Oil with each of the eight dispersants for two test species.

 To view the first round of test results please visit: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/dispersants

 After an extremely wet dry season in Florida that launched the South Florida Water Management into a series of meetings on whether to open the lock gates or not, it seems there may be some relief from such decisions for the time being. Meteorologists reported today a dry start to the 2010 wet season.

 The rainfall for June, which typically tends to be the wettest weeks of the year, produced only 68% of the normal rainfall, creating a deficit of 2.52 inches. The deficit in rainfall is expected to help some areas recharge and recover from an extremely wet winter. It also may improve storage capacity in the regional system in time for the most active part of the hurricane season later this summer. The latest rainfall deficit follows a 2009-2010 dry season that produced 5.88 inches above normal rainfall. The excessive surplus of water presented challenges not only for the wildlife but also for the SFWMD that had to make the tough decision of opening the gates of the water locks and release billions of gallons of water. Not having to discharge any more water could mean wonders for the habitat surrounding the water locks. For example, it will stabilize the salinity of the estuaries in the surrounding areas, there will be significantly less disturbed habitats, the oyster repopulation project won’t be completely destroyed, and there will be less pollution entering the waters (For more information refer to the May 22nd “Water Woes” show).

 Since forecasters are predicting above normal tropical activity later in the current hurricane season, the current deficit is not sending SFWMD into a nervous frenzy. However, in the event that the deficit is short lived and the wet season picks up the SFWMD has taken precautions to handle flood control and also educate the public on their role in flood control. The SFWMD launched a website with information on the shared responsibilities of flood control and in addition conducted a series of “rainy season readiness” presentations across the region to inform and educate the public.

 If you’d like to learn more visit  www.sfwmd.gov

Fireworks are no longer just for the fourth of July.  Nowadays, every holiday, homerun and grand opening seems incomplete unless half a barge of pyrotechnics is sent skyward.  Last year alone, over 300 million pounds of colored explosives lit up the night sky around America. 

Increasingly ornate, loud and long, firework displays remain fun and exciting, no matter your age.  But there may be a hidden cost to all the flash and boom: And that’s the smoke, chemicals and heavy metals that accompany them. 

While inhalation of smoke and ash may be the most obvious concern, it’s whats in the smoke that is a bigger issue.  Metals like barium, cadmium, antimony, copper and strontium are used to provide the colors green, blue, purple and red.  In addition, metals like aluminum, magnesium and titanium are used to make the explosive burn hotter and brighter. 

Then there is the chemical perchlorate – an oxygen-rich molecule that allows the fuel in fireworks to burn.  Recent studies have linked perchlorates to thyroid problems.

Now scientists are working on a new generation of kinder, gentler pyrotechnics. While still explosive and dramatic, these fireworks produce less smoke and use fewer toxic metals that end up in soil and groundwater. 

Disneyland provided the initial impetus to start investigating cleaner burning fireworks. Night after night, as the theme park put on end-of-evening displays, workers and neighbors began to complain about smoke that was enveloping the park and their homes, irritating their lungs and in some cases triggering asthma attacks.

In the last few years, scientists have come up with some “greener” alternatives. One has developed fireworks that burn nitrogen-based fuels instead of carbon-based versions, making perchlorate unnecessary. The result is a cleaner burn, and with less smoke to obscure the color, these fireworks also contain 10 times less barium than the standard kind.

Rest-assure, occasional exposure to firework ash, smoke and metals shouldn’t cause any more harm to your system than the deep fried corndog and 32 ounce coke you’re consuming while enjoying the show (probably less). 

It’s those that work in the industry or amusement parks that are exposed on a regular basis that are most at risk to particulates and metals in the smoke.  The best a worker can do is stay aware and educated on the matter.  For the rest of us, stay upwind – and put the corndog down…

Draft plan will help advance Administrator Jackson’s seven priorities

 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comment on its draft FY 2011-2015 strategic plan, which helps advance Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s priorities and the mission to protect human health and the environment. Administrator Jackson’s seven priorities are; taking action on climate change, improving air quality, protecting America’s waters, cleaning up our communities, assuring the safety of chemicals, expanding the conversation on environmentalism and working for environmental justice, and building strong state and tribal partnerships.

 The draft plan identifies the measurable environmental and human health benefits the public can expect over the next five years and describes how EPA intends to achieve those results. The draft plan proposes five strategic goals and five cross-cutting fundamental strategies that aim to foster a renewed commitment to accountability, transparency and inclusion. The plan is prepared in accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993.

 The public comment period begins June 18 and closes July 30. EPA will use stakeholder feedback to prepare the final strategic plan, which will be released by September 30. Comments on the draft strategic plan may be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov. The Docket ID number is EPA-HQ-OA-0486.

 For the first time, EPA is using a discussion forum to solicit ideas and feedback on the cross-cutting fundamental strategies, a new element of EPA’s strategic plan. The agency will use the feedback provided through https://blog.epa.gov/strategicplan as it implements the cross-cutting fundamental strategies and takes actions to change the way EPA does its work. 

Information about the draft plan: http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm

A withering heat wave of unprecedented intensity and areal extent continues to smash all-time high temperatures in Asia and Africa.

 Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Chad, Niger, Pakistan, and Myanmar have all set new records for their hottest temperatures of all time over the past six weeks. The remarkable heat continued over Africa and Asia late this week.

 The Asian portion of Russia recorded its highest temperature in history last week, when the mercury hit 108°F at Belogorsk, near the Amur River border with China.

 Also, last week, Sudan recorded its hottest temperature in its history when the mercury rose to 121°F at Dongola.

There have now been seven countries in Asia and Africa, plus the Asian portion of Russia, that have surpassed their all-time hottest temperature record during the past two months.   This includes Asia’s hottest temperature of all-time, the astonishing 128.3°F mark set on May 26 in Pakistan.

 According to Chris Burt, author of Extreme Weather, setting six national heat records in one month is unprecedented. The only year which can compare is 2003, when six countries (the UK, France, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein) all broke their all-time heat records during that year’s notorious summer heat wave.

 Last week’s heat wave in Africa and the Middle East is partially a consequence of the fact that Earth has now seen three straight months with its warmest temperatures on record, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. It will be interesting to see if the demise of El Niño in May will keep June from becoming the globe’s fourth straight warmest month on record.

Based on a 1996 study by the Mineral Management Service the east coast of florida may see oil wash up on its shores before the southwest coast does. 

 The MMS released and tracked 194 floating probes within the Northeast Gulf of Mexico over the course of one year and discovered that none of the probes came within 30 to 40 miles of the southwest coast, an area stretching from Tampa Bay down to the Everglades. 

 The probes remained far offshore due to several factors including the shape of the coast, bottom configuration, and prevailing winds which act to create upwelling and surface currents that tend to take water away from the coast.  

 The study implies that the greatest risk of land impacts by surface oil caught in the Loop Current is along the ocean side of the Florida Keys, and along the coast of Southeast Florida from Miami to West Palm Beach.   Eddies breaking away from the Gulf Stream could also bring oil to northwest Cuba and the western Bahamas.

 Southwest Florida cannot rest entirely, this protective zone is only true for surface waters under prevailing conditions.   Subsurface oil plumes may still wash ashore and tropical storms can dramatically change prevailing conditions.   .

http://www.incidentnews.gov/entry/529762

 ”The offshore trajectory maps … have been temporarily suspended because the northern end of the Loop Current has been pinched off into a large eddy, so there is no clear path for oil to enter the Loop Current from the source,” a NOAA news release said.

The news release also stated that there has been no reports of surface-related oil observed within either the Loop Current or the associated eddy. 

NOAA said it would continue to monitor the threat with aerial surveillance, vessel surveillance and satellites.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is considered the “greatest environmental catastrophe of our time.” The explosion 67 days ago took the lives of many crew members, has affected many including the family of crew members, people whose livelihood depends on clean waters, and of course it has affected the environment greatly. And while many are aware that the effects of this spill will be seen in the future, few are aware that the spill is already causing extreme changes to our delicate ecosystem.

As of today, June 25^th, it was reported by Dr. John Kessler of Texas A&M University, that levels of methane in the gulf are “astonishingly high” reaching up to one million times the normal level. Although methane is naturally present in water, excessive amounts could create deadly consequences for the already disturbed marine life. Concentrations of methane that exceed normal amounts could encourage the growth of microbes that would severely deplete oxygen levels for the surrounding marine life. As it is oxygen levels in the gulf have already been reported to drop to 1 to 2% below the normal level daily, and they continue to drop. The lack of oxygen in the water and excessive concentrations of methane could create a dead zone in the gulf.

 Unfortunately, this will not be the last of reported environmental changes this disaster has and will cause. With each passing day 60,000 barrels of oil are being released into the waters of the gulf, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to end any time soon. The oil is slowing creeping up to United States shorelines, and on its course is altering not only the species present in the water, but all life that is sustained by a healthy, functioning marine life.

Imagine for a minute a world filled with no flowers. Imagine driving along a local road and not seeing a single splash of color amongst the vast amount of green pasture. Imagine going through childhood without ever picking up a dandelion and blowing on it only to watch the seeds disperse all around you. Not exactly the most delightful picture, right? Unfortunately, with each year that passes the wildflower population of Florida struggles to flourish. Most people tend to over look, that although aesthetically pleasing, the wildflower population has many benefits and is important to the functioning of many Florida ecosystems.

Since the discovery of Florida, the native wildlife population has struggled to survive under the pressures of progress.  Florida contains over 4,200 different species of native or naturalized seed plants (Florida Plant Atlas), however with the abundance of the construction that emerged over the years many of these and other wildflower species were either severely depopulated or wiped out completely, and many of the species still growing in Florida today are listed as either endangered or threatened.

Although most people consider the destruction of the native wildflower species to be disheartening because of the aesthetic loss, many do not take into consideration the devastating environmental impact that the loss of wildflowers have on Florida’s ecosystem and culture as well. Throughout history flowers and plants have been used for medicinal purposes, climatic control, erosion control, and to sustain the fish and wildlife habitat in the surrounding areas. Ecosystems tend to be very delicate, with even the slightest disturbances disrupting the way it works. The significant loss of wildflowers would be a severe disturbance to the delicate ecosystems found in Florida, fueling other environmental issues present today.

Because of the importance of the wildflower population to Florida’s ecosystem, and their natural beauty, many conservation efforts are in affect state wide. The Florida Wildflower Foundation provides millions of dollars to fund projects for research, education, and planting projects. Through the sale of the Florida Wildflower license plate the foundation funds numerous projects all aimed to protect and increase the population of wildflowers. In addition the Florida Wildflower Foundation, groups such as Florida Federation of Gardens, Florida Department of Transportation, the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and many more work with the Florida Wildflower Foundation as partners.

The wildflower population has provided beauty, environmental support, and ultimately a feeling of unconscious happiness in people since the beginning of time. It is now, when faced with the slight chance that the wildflower population will one day vanish, that everyone should work to keep the majestic fields of color alive. Whether it be by planting native wildflowers in your own garden or buying the state wildflower license plate to donate to the Florida Wildflower Foundation, any small action will contribute immensely to keeping the beauty of the wildflower around for following generations.

By: John L. Fiveash

No one is certain whether today or tomorrow will be the day the oil from the Deepwater Horizon makes landfall.  We know only that it has arrived in areas and is near in others.  We are told, and have seen, that it arrives in the form of tar balls, floating pads, sub-surface plumes and quilts of heavy crude.  Whatever the form, local governments are the front line of defense for Floridian’s way of life, local economies and natural resources.

It is not a good time for this to be happening.  The coastal local governments and residents in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas are arguably the world’s most efficient and effective responders to natural disasters.  But the finances and reliable information sources needed to create those efficiencies are not with them now.  Florida communities are just coming out of a housing crisis and recession, and local government budget surpluses do not exist.  Many coastal governments are still owed millions by the Federal government for disaster responses that took place years ago.  Hurricane season has begun.  Despite the obstacles, local governments in Florida have to prepare, respond and deal with the short and long term effects of the BP spill.  At one time or another we have all taken solace in the adage that “it could always be worse”.  But when a community is living in the far reaches of the worse situation imaginable, how do they respond?

 Some things are certain.  Here are a few of the most noteworthy:

• There are no oil spill seasons or predictions and we were all painfully caught off guard by this disaster.
• The Federal government was caught off guard as well, and had no effective plan to deal with a disaster of this complexity.
• With no real plan, the Federal government will be even less effective in dealing with this situation than a hurricane event.
• There are no assurances that the BP relief wells currently being drilled will be completed on time in August or that they will be successful.
• Taking the existing oil spill delineation (pick any that are available), multiply it by two, three or four, and squeeze it in the area that is the Gulf of Mexico. By forcing it into those confines, some amount of oil will naturally be caught up in the Loop Current and will move up the East coast of Florida and beyond.
• Unlike weather forecasting, there is no accurate system for forecasting oil spill landfalls, or the nature and extent of those landfalls. The currents are variable.
• In many ways, the culprit BP controls the speed and process of the cleanup.
• The Federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) is facilitating BP’s involvement in the cleanup and local government decision making. 

 Actually, things could be worse.  As certain as these factors may appear, local governments in Florida have to accept the realities, prepare for the uncertainties, and learn from mistakes being made in Louisiana.  Unlike Louisiana today and Alaska in the 1980′s and 1990′s, state and local governments in Florida have had time to think, debate and prepare.  It is the only advantage Florida coastal communities have.

 Some things we need to learn.  In Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spill occurred in the pristine waters of the Prince William Sound.  Involved was a ship, a captain, some alcohol, some rocks and one company, Exxon.  OPA had yet to be enacted, and only one state was involved in making claims for natural resource damages.

The Federal Clean Water Act was the controlling legal regulation when the Valdez spill occurred.  After the public relations niceties surrounding the spill ran their course, Exxon aggressively litigated the claims for ten to fifteen years.  And that was without needing to litigate any complex liability issues under the Clean Water Act.

So what should we learn from Valdez and the continuing BP spill and response off the coast of Louisiana? 

The Gulf of Mexico does not contain those pristine waters and unblemished ecosystems found in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.  The Gulf has experienced hydrocarbon influences for years.  A few weeks ago, BP’s CEO Tony Hayward told reporters that the spill will have a “very, very modest” impact on the Gulf.  He drew future battle lines with that statement.

 Lesson one:   Coastal communities should have a comprehensive baseline of environmental conditions completed before any oil arrives.

Collection of existing data is critical.  Louisiana is ground zero for information on preparation, remediation, OPA claims, and the interaction and protocols of local governments with BP, the Coast Guard and the rest of our Federal government.

Lesson two:  Florida local government officials should establish relationships and communicate with their Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama counterparts.

Lesson three:  Experience with hurricanes creates no doubt that time is of the essence.   While we can somewhat watch and predict current and wind movements now, we will not be able to do so once a hurricane enters the Gulf waters.  Wave, storm surge and wind action may only exacerbate this disaster and increase the unpredictable nature of where and how the plumes of oil will move.

Lesson four:  The oil is better recovered offshore before reaching wetlands, mangroves and coastal areas.

The Everglades, beaches, wetlands, river and spring systems, coral reefs, fisheries and mangroves are important to Florida’s economy and way of life.  Louisiana has taught us that once the oil reaches critical natural assets, there is little that can be done to mitigate harm to resources and species.

Lesson five:  Large areas of heavily impacted shoreline in Louisiana are not being promptly cleaned up by BP contractors.  Local governments should be prepared with enough additional manpower. 

Lesson six:  Claims filed in Louisiana by local governments, businesses and individuals are only being partially paid or delayed by BP.     

 Lesson seven:  Federal litigation under OPA will go on for years and we must seek alternative methods of recovery.  Local governments cannot wait.

Not only will the claim recovery and litigation process take years, in the end, there will be a limited pot of money for thousands of individual, government and class action claimants.  And in months and years to come there will be much attention placed on the attempted recovery of natural resource damages by the state governments.  We are already seeing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection collecting and administering funds received from BP.

If Florida recovers a large sum (say a billion or more) for natural resource damages, where will that money go? And will the State see the wisdom of quickly getting much of that money into the hands of the local communities?  They should.  Coastal local governments are the front lines for the clean-up efforts, and most of the natural resources that would be the subject of any such claim are located within the boundaries of the local governments.  Many of those natural resources are the drivers of the local economies and tourism.  Furthermore, in any such settlement or award to the State, it would be wise to reserve the right of the State to come back in ten years or so and assess the health of our citizens and ecosystems, and make additional claims if warranted.

Beyond Florida, some plume models indicate impacts of the spill may be felt along the Eastern seaboard, into the North Atlantic, and on to the United Kingdom (BP’s home)-just like the track of a hurricane that could accelerate it all.

John L. Fiveash is a water resources attorney with the Florida-based law firm Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A.  He can be contacted via email at jfiveash@llw-law.com or via phone at 850-222-5702.   

The lead author of this study is John Wargo, Ph.D., professor of Risk Analysis and Environmental Policy at Yale University. Wargo summarized the study, “Although the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program has effectively encouraged energy efficiency in buildings, tighter buildings often concentrate chemicals released from building materials, cleaning supplies, fuel combustion, pesticides and other hazardous substances.”

“The underlying problem is that thousands of different chemicals, many of them well recognized to be hazardous, are allowed by the federal government to become components of building materials,” Wargo added. “Very few of these chemicals have been tested to identify their toxicity, environmental fate or the danger they pose to human health. Although the primary stated purposes of the Green Building Council are to promote both energy efficiency and human health, even the Council’s most prestigious Platinum award does little to ensure that hazardous chemicals are kept out of the certified buildings.”

Opinion: LEED Needs to be Amended

Dr. Philip Landrigan, Ethel H. Wise Professor and chairman, Department of Preventive Medicine, at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, reviewed the report and commented, “This is a lucid, well reasoned and balanced critique of the LEED certification process. The authors argue on the basis of carefully assembled scientific data that LEED needs to be amended to better account for the potential health hazards of the toxic chemicals used in modern building materials. Energy efficiency and sustainability are laudable goals and LEED has done much to advance them. But health is important, too, and now it needs to receive careful consideration in building design.”

Dr. Mark Cullen, chief of Internal Medicine at Stanford University Medical School, reviewed the report and concluded, “Dr. Wargo and colleagues warn us now of the potential for green building technologies-even while they bring important energy benefits-to jeopardize the indoor air we breathe, the water we drink and the overall safety of our habitats. This is a timely lesson from a very sage group.”

EHHI discovered that LEED standards have been incorporated into numerous federal, state and local laws by way of legislation, executive orders, resolutions and tax credits. Many corporations and other institutions also have adopted LEED standards without fully understanding that energy conservation efforts often reduce the exchange of indoor and outdoor air, which can cause synthetic chemicals to concentrate within buildings. EHHI is especially concerned that the LEED program is now providing the false impression that the buildings it certifies protect human health. LEED’s highest rating, “Platinum,” is attainable without earning any credits for indoor air quality protection.

Dr. Peter Rabinowitz, director of Clinical Services at Yale School of Medicine’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine, said, “This groundbreaking report provides clear and disturbing evidence that a ‘green’ building does not necessarily protect human health. There is an urgent need to include human health in the definition of what it means to be ‘green’ or ‘environmentally responsible,’ and this important report will help policymakers, health care professionals and the public recognize and address this need.”

EHHI Recommendations

EHHI is recommending that numerous changes be made to the Green Building Council’s LEED program that will encourage it to become more health protective. The recommendations include:

• The Green Building Council should simplify the LEED scoring system within categories. Rather than issuing awards of “platinum,” “gold” and so on, the Council should require performance within each category (health, energy, sites, neighborhoods, etc.) on a 0-100 scale.
• The Green Building Council should expand its board expertise to include people in the area of human health. The board is now dominated by developers, engineers, chemical and materials manufacturers, and architects.
• The government should categorize building products to identify: a) those that contain hazardous compounds; b) those that have been tested and found to be safe; and c) those that have been insufficiently tested, making a determination of hazard or safety impossible. This database should be freely available on the Internet.
• The chemical content and country of origin of building materials should be clearly identifiable on building product labels.
• The Green Building Council should support federal efforts to require the testing of chemicals used in many building products for their toxicity, environmental fate and threat to human health.

Is a Certified Green Building Supposed to be Responsible for Protecting Human Health…or are our Federal Regulatory Agencies?

I was e-mailed the above article by a friend of mine very involved in the Green Lodging Program here in Florida and there are a few misconceptions here that I would like to comment on. First, this was an interesting article and I agree on a few statements of fact such as, “Although the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program has effectively encouraged energy efficiency in buildings, tighter buildings often concentrate chemicals released from building materials, cleaning supplies, fuel combustion, pesticides and other hazardous substances.”; however, the report neglects to mention that increased ventilation is fully encouraged in LEED. Increased ventilation can also be hazardous in humid climates because of the potential for mold growth, so all standards have to be weighed by their feasibility which truly is site specific.

The focus of this article appears to be trying to make the USGBC somewhat accountable for things that should fall under the US EPA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). Quite frankly, I wonder how it is that the toxicity of materials is not addressed more stringently by those two organizations to begin with. I have no doubt after being so involved with the USGBC for several years now that if and when these parameters exist, not only will the USGBC support them, but will incorporate them into the Referenced Standards of the applicable credits.

The report states that the USGBC LEED rating system should support the government’s efforts, I submit that they already do, big time. The VOC limits addressed in LEED is doing exactly that as is the Energy Star specifications, green cleaning specs, integrated pest management, etc. However, the article is really putting heat on the USGBC to create parameters that don’t currently exist by our own Federal Standards…why don’t the authors make a list for the EPA and CPSC to add to their criteria of materials and toxicity levels being tested for? Some of the concerns alluded to in this article came out of the Chinese Drywall debacle… materials imported from China never tested for their toxicity levels or potential health hazards, just like the toys and other household products we had coming over here with asbestos and lead content. Who was testing those products? It’s very difficult if not impossible for a non-profit org, to enforce their own standards when the federal regulatory bodies don’t have proper toxicity standards in place, or refuse to regulate those things that that fall under the industries of their biggest financial contributors.

I think the writers miss the mark on what they would like to see achieved, healthier building materials and healthier buildings. We would all like to see healthier building materials…when are federal regulations going to be applied? And healthier buildings…that is what LEED is all about, reducing impacts for a healthier effect on the environment, and improving indoor quality for healthier effect on occupants. Of course it is up to the building owner as to how the components of the LEED rating system will be prioritized in their LEED project…perhaps Energy use reduction will be most important, or occupant health, or water use reduction…either way, isn’t a healthier, building with environmental quality concerns being addressed better…well, better than a building that wasn’t addressed for these things at all? So, as I said interesting article, but not entirely accurate or properly focused…where’s the article exposing the inadequacies of the Federal Regulatory Standards and what should be tested…that’s the article I want to see. And, no doubt the USGBC will run with the improved standards and toxicity level requirements for products as soon as they are published.

The extent of sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere during May 2010 was the 9th lowest since satellite records began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.  

 Ice extent was near average at the beginning of May, but thanks to the fastest rate of decline ever observed during the month of May (50% faster than average), ice extent reached a record low by the end of May.

 Ice extent has remained at record low levels throughout the first half of June, as well.  Ice volume was also at a record low at the end of May, according to University of Washington Polar Ice Center.

The planet recorded its warmest May since record keeping began in 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

 The average global temperature during the month of May was 1.24 degrees F above what is typically recorded.

There has now been three consecutive “warmest months” on record, the first time that has happened since 1998.

 Finally, both NOAA and NASA rated the year-to-date period, January – May, as the warmest such period on record, and the last 12-month period (June 2009 – May 2010) as the warmest 12-month period on record.

Also recorded by NOAA, Florida experienced it’s second warmest month of May on record (i.e., since 1880).

Hello, my name is Joseph Brooker and I am the new intern here at Radio Green Earth. This year I graduated from Jupiter high school and I’m excitedly heading off to college next August. But as a new part of this Radio Green Earth Program I wanted to briefly discuss the program that I just completed at Jupiter Community High School. For the past four years I have been a student in the Jupiter Environmental Research and Field Studies Academy (JERFSA) at Jupiter Community High School. This four year program requires students to take at least two high level science classes each year and apply what they have been taught in class and take it into the field. As the name implies, the environmental academy requires students to get dirty and hands on by making them get out into the field to learn from professionals at a variety of different organizations. Students are also required to complete at least 200 hours of community service and complete a senior project.

The past four years of school have been an incredible and enlightening experience for me. I have gained a deep understand of our nature, and feel confident that I will be able to contribute to society environmentally. Going through the environmental academy have taken me to more beautiful and spectacular places than others have been to and seen in the entire lives. From local areas such as Jonathan Dickson State Park and the Everglades National Park, all the way to the mountains and valleys of Yellowstone National Park and the marine sanctuaries of Panama, I have witnessed the majesty of nature, and at times the cruelty of man. The Jupiter Environmental Academy sparks a passion in every one of its graduates to excel wherever life takes you, and always be conscious of your only mother earth, and I hope to do just that.

This week (June 5^th) on Radio Green Earth we will give you up to the minute details on the worst environmental disaster of our generation, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil has been spreading in the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded six weeks ago, killing 11 workers and eventually sinking. The rig was being operated for BP, the largest oil and gas producer in the Gulf.

We’ll bring you exclusive interviews you’ll hear only on Radio Green Earth. You’ll hear from BP representatives and get the latest on the response, a Pensacola charter fisherman about his woes in getting BP to pay a “legitimate claim”, LSU Professor Dr. Ed Overton on the short and long term ecosystem effects, environmental attorney John Fiveash on the legal issues, and a representative from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on what’s happening here in Florida and what’s being done to minimize the spill’s impact both environmentally and economically.

Don’t miss this important broadcast of Radio Green Earth. The facts surrounding this spill are fuzzy and our environmental scientists and experts will dispel rumors and corporate propaganda and give you the “real story” on what’s happened and what should be expected going forward.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes!

This week (May 29^th) on Radio Green Earth we’re live from the 2010 Florida Green, Energy and Climate Conference/expo! This year’s conference included  a one-of-a-kind program focusing on education and networking helping businesses in today’s new green economy. Speakers, intensive sessions, panel discussions and workshops targeted building socially responsible and sustainable enterprises. It provided a unique opportunity for radio Green Earth to bring you personal dialogue with leading industry, government, consumer and academic experts. You’ll hear directly from our special guests as we interview them one on one on a wide variety of green, energy, and climate topics. We’ll also bring you live audio from exciting presentations given at the conference.

 We’ll also have the latest news on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

By: Christopher Cherniak, P.E

What follows is a summary of the Ixtoc I Well Blowout event that occurred in the southern Gulf of Mexico in 1979.  The event lasted approximately 10 months and released nearly 140 million gallons of oil into the Bay of Campeche – the largest spill associated with a drilling accident on record.   There are more than a few similarities between this event and the Deepwater Horizon (DH) disaster. 

The Event

On June 3, 1979, the 2 mile deep exploratory well, IXTOC I, blew out in the Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico, 40 miles off the Mexican coast and 600 miles south of Texas. 

IXTOC I was being drilled by a semi-submersible platform on lease to Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX).  A loss of drilling mud into fractured rock and openings at the drill bit set the initial stage for the blowout.  Without the heavy mud providing weight and backpressure, gas and oil made their way up the pipe. 

The Blowout Preventer (BOP) was activated but did not seal the well because well joints prevented the shearing ram from sealing the pipe (10 % of each pipe length has extra thick joints which BOP’s can not shear; a possible reason why the DH BOP failed).  The oil and gas blowing out of the well ignited, causing the platform to catch fire.

The burning platform collapsed into the wellhead area hindering any immediate attempts to control the blowout.  PEMEX hired blowout control experts and other spill control experts including the famous oil rig disaster cowboy Red Adair.  

A submersible attempted to find a safe approach to the Blowout Preventer (BOP).  The approach was complicated by poor visibility and debris on the seafloor including derrick wreckage and 3000 meters of drilling pipe.  Divers were eventually able to reach and activate the BOP, but the pressure of the oil and gas caused the valves to begin rupturing.  

The BOP was reopened to prevent destroying it.  Two relief wells were drilled to relieve pressure from the well to allow response personnel to cap it.  Norwegian experts were contracted to bring in skimming equipment and containment booms, and to begin cleanup of the spilled oil.  

In the initial stages of the spill, an estimated 30,000 barrels of oil per day were flowing from the well. In July 1979 the pumping of mud into the well reduced the flow to 20,000 barrels per day, and in early August the pumping of nearly 100,000 steel, iron, and lead balls into the well reduced the flow to 10,000 per day. Mexican authorities also drilled two relief wells into the main well to lower the pressure of the blowout. PEMEX claimed that half of the released oil burned when it reached the surface, a third of it evaporated, and the rest was contained or dispersed.

PEMEX contracted Conair Aviation to spray the chemical dispersant Corexit 9527 on the oil. A total of 493 aerial missions were flown, treating 1,100 square miles of oil slick. Dispersants were not used in the U.S area of the spill because of the dispersant’s inability to treat weathered oil.

The IXTOC I well continued to spill oil at a rate of 10,000-30,000 barrels per day until it was finally capped on March 23, 1980.

The Impact

Prevailing northerly currents in the western Gulf of Mexico carried spilled oil toward the U.S. A 60-mile by 70-mile patch of sheen containing a 300 foot by 500 foot patch of heavy crude moved toward the Texas coast. On August 6, 1979, tar balls from the spill impacted a 17 mile stretch of Texas beach. On August 26, most of North Padre Island was covered with moderate amounts of oil.

As of September 1, all of the south Texas coast had been impacted by the oil. A storm lasting from September 13-15 removed the majority of the oil. For the remainder of the response and subsequent study period (through August 1980) only tarmats were observed on the beaches. Some oil escaped around boom barriers protecting three major inlets. During the September storm, there was washing of oil over the Barrier Islands.

During this time, an emphasis was placed on coastal countermeasures protecting the bays and lagoons formed by the Barrier Islands. Impact of oil to the Barrier Islands beaches were ranked as second in importance to protecting inlets to the bays and lagoons. This was done with the placement of skimmers and booms.

Economically and environmentally sensitive barrier island beaches were cleaned daily. Laborers used rakes and shovels to clean beaches rather than heavier equipment which removed too much sand. Ultimately, 71,500 barrels of oil impacted 162 miles of U.S. beaches, and over 10,000 cubic yards of oiled material were removed.

The Consequences

The oil slick surrounded Rancho Nuevo, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which is one of the few nesting sites for Kemps Ridley sea turtles. Thousands of baby sea turtles were airlifted to a clean portion of the Gulf of Mexico to help save the rare species.

On August 8, the United States Fish and Wildlife service implemented beach patrols on South Padre Island. Bird cleaning stations were set up on Mustang and South Padre Islands. An overall decrease in bird population densities due to movement from their regular habitats along the oiled shoreline may have accounted for the fact that only a few dead, oiled birds were ever found.

After the beaches were cleaned, population densities increased, but not to expected levels. Contamination of food supplies caused many birds to leave their habitats for the duration of the spill. One thousand four hundred twenty one birds were recovered with oiled feathers or feet. The species suffering the most incidents of oiled feathers were the Royal Terns, Blue-faced Boobies, Sanderlings, Willets, and Plovers. Great Blue Herons, Black-Crowned Night Herons, Noddy Terns, Cattle Egrets, and Snowy Egrets had tarred feet.

The U.S. had two months to prepare for the impact of this spill on the Texas shoreline. During this time the government mapped the coastline to determine which areas would be most sensitive to oil. This resulted in the first Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) prepared for NOAA. Priority placement of containment boom and absorbent was done as a result of the ESI.

Finally, officials reported that tourism along the Texas beaches dropped 60% during the course of the spill.

The Responsibility

The IXTOC I well blowout was an unusual situation with regard to responsibility for, coordination of, and control and cleanup of the spilled oil. The U.S. government publicly requested the compensation from Mexico for damages associated with the spill without first entering into negotiations with the Mexican Government. Incredibly, Mexico denied being financially responsible for the damages incurred, and refused to help pay cleanup expenses to the U.S.

 By: Christopher Cherniak, P.E

So how much oil are we talking about?  Not in terms of barrels or gallons per day.  I mean in terms of volume.  What is the total volume in cubic feet that’s been released to date?  And how best to visualize that?  Is it the size of Lake Okeechobee?  Clear Lake in West Palm?  Lake Worth?

Well, first, let’s agree that the assumption of 5,000 barrels per day is an underestimate.  Based on some new research a better estimate might be 25,000 barrels or roughly 1,050,000 gallons per day emanating from the two wellhead sources.  If this has been going on for 25 days then lets assume 26,000,000 gallons of sweet crude oil has been released. 

This is almost 2.5 times the amount released from the Exxon Valdez, but only about one-fifth the amount released by a blowout of the Ixtoc I well in the Bay of Campeche in 1979.   That well released approximately 140 million gallons of crude oil into the bay over the course of ten months.  (More about that event in a future blog).

So how much volume and area does 26,000,000 gallons of oil take up?    

Well, there are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot.  So:

            26,000,000 gallons = 3,476,000 cubic feet of oil

That means a lake of oil 10 feet deep would cover an area 348,000 square feet or about 8 acres.

To help put that in perspective, Lake Okeechobee averages a depth of about 10 feet, and the lake covers 730 square miles or 467,000 acres.    

Wait a minute, 8 acres at 10 feet?  That’s it?  Why that’s really nothing more than the size of a large stormwater pond or small borrow lake along the turnpike.  How can a seemingly trifling amount of oil contaminate thousands of square miles and, who knows, trillions and trillions of gallons of seawater?

Well, when it comes to petroleum in water, the general rule of thumb in the environmental remediation industry is that one gallon of oil will contaminate 1,000,000 gallons of water to a point where it is harmful to plants and animals.  So, taking that assumption:

            26 million gallons of oil will contaminate 26 trillion gallons of water.

Which equates to about 12,500 square miles of oily

water at a depth of ten feet.    

That’s about 17 Lake Okeechobees.   And at the assumed rate of 25,000 barrels per day, that’s one oily Lake Okeechobee every one and a half days.

By: Christopher Cherniak, P.E

The USEPA began analyzing the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) on April 30th.  They have performed sampling on seven separate days within the near shore waters of the gulf and its estuaries.  They’ve analyzed the water for dozens of organic and inorganic compounds including petroleum-related chemicals like benzene, toluene and xylene.   

And their findings?   Basically, according to the EPA, everything is okay!  In fact, here’s the actual quote from their webpage regarding the seven sampling efforts to date:  (http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/water.html) :    

“As of May 6, 2010, water sampling results off the Gulf Coast still indicate that water quality does not pose increased risk to aquatic life.”
 

Really?  You really want to say that?  Three million gallons of crude oil covering about 9,000 square miles of the GOM (as of May 6th) and billions if not trillions of gallons of water contaminated with oil beneath it, and the largest federal agency charged with protecting our air, water and land concludes that the quality of the gulf coasts water poses no increased risk to aquatic life?   Really?

First of all, what Gulf Coast are you talking about?  The one off of Pensacola?  Tampa? Corpus Christi?  Or are you talking about the one south of the Mississippi River Delta?  The one off Grand Isle?  Or the one surrounding the Chandeleur Barrier Island?  Because if you’re talking about those last three, I know more than a few scientists, shrimpers and shellfish who would beg to differ.

And what “aquatic life” are you referring to?  Plant and animal?  Fish, birds, crabs and mollusks?   Adult, adolescent and larval stages of marine life?  Wetland, benthic and pelagic-based species? 

And finally, what risk are we referring to?  Short term?  Long term? Carcinogenic?  Mutagenic?  Teratogenic?   
What a wreckless and misleading statement to post.  Rush Limbaugh and His Drill Baby Drill Squad thank you.  “No problem here”, he’ll say.  “Says so right here on EPA’s website.” 

Here’s the results of all the sampling performed through May 6th http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/water.html    The concentrations are indeed low (parts per billion), but there are petroleum-related compounds detected in some samples.  Chemicals like napthalene, xylene, fluoranthene, and a grouping of compounds listed as “diesel range organics”       

But what’s interesting is that, based on the maps provided, not a single sample has been collected within or even near the oil slick itself.  Don’t we want to know what the water quality is within or beneath the slick?  Isn’t that the area most impacted, at risk, and the reason many fisheries are closed?  At a minimum, don’t we want to collect data on the water quality within the slick for research purposes?  To get a baseline of degraded conditions?  And then monitor these areas over time as they do, or don’t, recover?

Its one thing not to analyze the water where it’s most degraded, but its another thing to analyze water that’s 20 to 30 miles away from the slick and post a statement like the one above.  It’s kind of like declaring the water in Lake Worth Lagoon clean based on a sample you pulled five miles offshore of the inlet. 

As an environmental consultant I would never, ever, make such an over-generalized conclusion on such a sensitive issue impacting such a broad and diverse area.  Because sometimes it’s okay to NOT boil everything down into a bumper-sticker-length conclusion that every sixth grader could understand.  There are, in fact, times when science is complicated and requires big boy words and certain qualifications and caveats to explain itself.  How about this as an alternative:

“With respect to those locations analyzed, chemicals related to crude oil have been detected within certain samples.  But at this time, these chemicals are not present in such concentrations that would be considered a risk to the majority of aquatic life exposed.”   
 

Sure, it sounds mush-mouthed and something EPA’s legal team would write up.  But it’s far closer to the truth, and more representative of what EPA actually did, and more importantly, actually found. 

And, frankly, isn’t it better that a statement as important as that read like it’s written by EPA’s legal team than BP’s?      

                                                                                         Painting by Eydi Lampasona

This week (May 15th) on Radio Green Earth we will be discussing Green Art. Eighteenth century society exemplified the phrase “Art for the sake of art”, considering art to hold no true value other than being aesthetically pleasing to the eye. While that phrase has quickly faded into the distant history of art philosophy, art today is often considered an influential educational and political tool. With twenty first century society focusing its attention towards becoming more environmentally conscious and aiming towards sustainable lifestyles there’s no doubt that art is once again redefining itself.

We’ll hear from Bill Nix, the Vice President of Marketing and Government Affairs of the Cultural Council, which promotes, finances, and sustains art and culture groups in Palm Beach County. Also on this week’s broadcast is Eydie Lampasona, an artist and teacher at the School of Art at the Boca Raton Museum of Art who creates art from things we all throw away on a daily basis. Last but not least we’ll hear from Casy Eckles, Founder and Executive Director of Broward County’s Trash to Treasure program which aims to reuse, reduce, and recycle in the name of art and education.

 Also don’t miss the latest comprehensive review of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster as we speak to three experts on their opinions of where the oil may go, the effect of the disaster on the sea floor eco systems, and the long term consequences on ecosystems. 

 Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events, this Saturday starting at 5:30 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM, NPR for South Florida.  We’re also live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes! 

 Please note we are back to our regularly scheduled time from 5-6 PM.

One week later that number was adjusted by BP to 5,000 barrels per day (bbl/day), or 210,000 gallons/day (gpd) which is a much more realistic value given the amount of oil appearing on the surface.

The 210,000 gpd, however, might also be an underestimation.  Consider this:

•    210,000 gpd equals 8,750 gallons per hour (gph).
•    8,750 gph equals 146 gallons per minute (gpm).
•    146 gpm equals about 2.4 gallons per second.

Really?  2.4 gallons per second?  That’s it?  Doesn’t seem like much (I picture two and half gallons of milk popping out of the well each second).  That’s what’s creating an oil slick 10,000 square miles in size?

To put that in perspective, most fire trucks have pumps capable of applying water at a rate of 250 gpm or roughly 4 gallons per second.  Most bathtub faucets fill a tub at a rate of 3 gpm or approximately 0.05 gallons per second.

Finally, in BP’s emergency response plan, prepared for this drilling event, they estimated a worse case scenario release of 112,000 barrels per day.  Recently, Tony Hayward, BP CEO revised that number to 60,000 barrels per day – or 2.52 million gallons per day.  If Hayward’s revised number is used, the results indicate a discharge rate of approximately 26 gallons per second.  Now that’s a gusher!

So the question is: iff this is essentially an open well (and I haven’t come across any statements from officials saying that the Blowout Preventer is restricting flow in any way) then were does this 5,000 barrels per day value come from?    And why is it one-twelfth of the worse case scenario predicted by BP?

Government agencies and environmental groups are monitoring seagrass, coral reefs and mangroves, and keeping track of vulnerable animals so they’ll know where to find them if the oil hits.  They are checking water quality, organizing beach clean-ups, training people to clean oil-soaked coastlines, and holding car washes to raise money for supplies.

It is highly likely that some of the oil will make it into the loop currents that pass by the Keys before joining the Gulf Stream off Florida’s eastern coast, said Chris Bergh of the Nature Conservancy.  But questions abound about what that will mean.  When is it coming? Will it be a sheen or a slick? What will it do to the coral?  The turtles?  The drinking water? The economy? What can people do now?

“I have a lot of questions myself,’’ said Robert Clift, senior marine outreach  coordinator for the National Parks Conservation Association.  Everglades National Park, Key Biscayne National Park and Dry Tortugas National Park are all at risk, he said.

He is particularly concerned about Florida Bay, the shallow, blue-green waters between the Keys and the Florida mainland.

“We like to call it `the nursery of the Keys,’ ’’ he said.

The bay’s mangroves and sea grass are critical habitat for spawning and juvenile fish, nesting birds, pink shrimp, stone crabs and other creatures, many already threatened or endangered.  If the oil gets into the mangroves, getting it out is ‘’just about impossible,’’ Clift said.

One way people can help now is to get out to beaches and mangroves and remove fishing line and other trash.  Once debris is contaminated with oil it becomes a hazardous waste, and will be much more difficult to remove and dispose of.

The four national wildlife refuges on the Keys – –National Key Deer, Great White Heron, Key West and Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuges. Key West National Wildlife Refuge – are home to endangered turtles, birds, crocodiles and other  species.  There is great apprehension about what may happen, said Alison Higgins of Friends and Volunteers of Refuges (FAVOR), an organization that supports the refuges. Everybody know how to deal with a hurricane, but no one knows how to deal with an oil spill,’’ she said, adding that people are working together to do what they can.  “Everybody recognizes that we are all in this together, and we are all in a steep learning curve.’’

The Florida Keys Environmental Coalition   web site with volunteer sign-ups and lists of meetings, activities, and donation requests at:  http://keysspill.com/

- Hilde Hartnett, Radio Green Earth Correspondent

If I was Lamar McKay, BP Plc’s head of U.S. operations, I’d forget about booking a hotel room in Washington, D.C. next week and go straight for renting an apartment for the month instead.

Because if the House and Senate have their way, he and the CEO’s of Transocean, Cameron and Halliburton will be spending the rest of May testifying in front of every committee, subcommittee and ad hoc blue ribbon panel that has the word environment, energy, oil or natural resources in their title.

Such is the clamor and race to see which committee can get to (and grill) these companies first over the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.

Originally, the Senate had scheduled their hearings for later this month, with Henry Waxman’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce getting first dibs on May 12.
Now McKay is scheduled to answer questions at a morning hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENRC) on May 11, according to the committee’s website. Two panels are scheduled, and right now include the following guests:

ENRC Panel 1
Dr. F.E. Beck , Associate Professor, Texas A&M University
Mr. Danenberger , Former Chief, Offshore Regulatory Program, Minerals Management Service

ENRC Panel 2
Mr. Lamar McKay , President and Chairman , BP America, Inc.
Mr. Steven Newman , President and Chief Executive Officer, Transocean Limited
Mr. Tim Probert , President; Chief Health, Safety and Environmental Officer, Halliburton

Then, later the same day, Mssrs. McKay, Newman and Probert will appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (led by Sen. Barbara Boxer), which is examining the environmental and economic impacts of the spill. The guest list for this event is as follows:

EPWC Panel 1
Mr. Lamar McKay , President and Chairman , BP America, Inc.
Mr. Steven Newman , President and Chief Executive Officer, Transocean Limited
Mr. Tim Probert , President; Chief Health, Safety and Environmental Officer, Halliburton

EPWC Panel 2

Dr. Steve Bortone, Executive Director, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council

Garret Graves, Director, Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, State of Louisiana

Keith Overton, Chairman, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Assoc; CEO Tradewinds Islands Resort

Dr. Eric May, Dept. of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Meg Caldwell, Director Env and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program, Woods Institute

Lt. General Thomas G. McInercey, US Air Force (Ret.)

On Wednesday, the 12^th, BP, Transocean, Halliburton and the CEO of Cameron, Int. the maker of the Blowout Preventer, will be appearing in front of Waxman’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (SOI). This committee requested all data and inspections related to the blowout preventer, rig operations, risk management and emergency response operations.

Expect lively conversations, strong accusations and more than a few moments of finger pointing at this event. All of the SOI’s letters of invitation and requests for information can be found here.

And don’t expect the grilling and inquiry to be limited to just industry representatives. The Senate ENRC will reconvene on May 18^th to discuss the administrations role in all this. Government agencies like the Minerals Management Service, USEPA, US Coast Guard, DOI, NOAA and Homeland Security could all be “invited” to attend. This is the chance for Republican Senators to highlight yet another example of big government ‘asleep at the kill switch’.

CSPAN will be covering portions of these hearings live, and will post re-plays of them on their website www.cspan.org later each day. REAL reality TV.

- Christopher Cherniak, P.E.

There is much discussion and controversy surrounding the use of chemical dispersants on the leaking oil and accompanying slick caused by the Deepwater Horizon explosion.  At present, approximately 300,000 gallons of dispersants have been applied to the oil floating on the surface, and approximately 6,000 gallons of dispersant has been introduced to the plume of oil emitting from the wellhead, 5,000 feet below the surface.   The aerial release of dispersants is being limited to waters greater than three miles offshore and deeper than 30 feet.

Dispersants have two main components: a surfactant and a solvent. Surfactant molecules are made up of two parts: an oleophilic part (with an attraction to oil) and a hydrophilic part (with an attraction to water).

When dispersants are sprayed onto an oil slick, the solvent will transport and distribute the surfactants through the oil slick to the oil/water interface where they arrange themselves so that the oleophilic part of the molecule is in the oil and the hydrophilic part is in the water. This creates a reduction in the surface tension at the oil/water interface and small oil droplets will break away from the oil slick with the help of wave energy.

These droplets will be of varying sizes and although the larger ones may rise back to the surface, some will remain in suspension, drift apart, and become degraded by naturally occurring bacteria.  Some of the droplets may also eventually settle out to the bottom of the water column.

If dispersion is successful, a characteristic brown plume will spread slowly down from the water surface a few minutes after treatment.  They work best in waters greater than 30 feet deep and with a moderate chop.  Calm water will not provide proper mixing and agitation, while rough seas will do just the opposite.

NOAA’s description of oil dispersants can be found by clicking here.

The dispersant being used in the cleanup efforts goes by the name of Corexit 9500.  It is manufactured by a company named Nalco out of Illinois.  Information on the physical and chemical properties of Corexit 9500 can be found here.

Interestingly, one of the main components of Corexit is a compound by the name of 2-Butoxyethanol.  This compound is found in many cleaning products including the in-home cleaner “Simple Green.”

This dispersant is being applied not only on the surface via aerial spraying, but also at the point where the oil is discharging from the pipe and wellhead.  This is something that has never been done before and its efficacy and environmental effects are completely unknown.

So what part of the marine system benefits from dispersants?  Wetlands, mangroves and other surface based plants and vegetation do, as well as wading birds, ducks and gulls that rely on the surface for rest, refuge and food.  Sea turtles, otters and other sea dwellers that live and forage at or near the surface also benefit from oil that breaks apart and sinks with time.  Finally, beaches and shorelines benefit immensely with the reduced likelihood of oil washing ashore.

But there is plenty of marine life that remains at risk, including plankton, shrimp and larval stage species within the water column that are exposed and can’t simply swim away-or swim away fast enough-from the oil/dispersant mixture.  Adult sized fish are also at risk, but they at least have the capability of swimming away from the exposure.  And the bottom dwellers, whether plants, fish or mollusks, are at risk if the mixture settles out amongst them.

Finally, once the chemical is within the water column it will eventually find its way into the food chain, and there has been some research to suggest that chemical dispersants, at high enough concentrations, are toxic to fish and other marine life.

The Material Safety Data Sheet for Corexit 9500 cites an LC 50 concentration of 50 mg/l level for turbot (a type of flounder or halibut).  That means that 50 percent of the fish exposed to 50 mg/liter of Corexit 9500 died within 96 hours.

“You’re putting something into the water, it’s less toxic than the oil, so it’s a trade-off,” said Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, national incident commander for the BP spill, in an interview.

But this trade-off, and the question as to whether these compounds will damage fish, shrimp, oysters and other members of the marine system over time, remains unanswered.

Five years ago the National Academy of Sciences issued a nearly 400-page study on oil dispersants, which cautioned, “In many instances where a dispersed plume may come into contact with sensitive water-column or benthic organisms and populations, the current understanding of key processes and mechanisms is inadequate to confidently support a decision to apply dispersants.”

Clean beaches and happy hoteliers versus dead turbot and unhappy shrimpers.  Take a guess at who’s winning this one.

We’ll hear from Frank Alcock, Director of the Marine Policy Institute at Mote Marine Laboratory and author of “Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Explorations in the Gulf” about what this means for the oil industry and drilling in Florida’s offshore waters. Also on this week’s broadcast is Sara Chasis, Senior Attorney for the National Resources Defense Council. Her work focuses on promoting the protection, maintenance and restoration of healthy ocean ecosystems, including healthy ocean fish populations and habitats.

Join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events, this Saturday starting at 5:30 PM on WXEL 90.7 FM, NPR for South Florida.  We’re also live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes!

Please note this week we will air at 5:30-6:00 PM. Next week we are back to our regularly scheduled time from 5-6 PM.

MEDIA ADVISORY: WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010    CONTACT: PUBLIC INFORMATION (ESF 14): (850) 921-0217 

TALLAHASSEE – The State Emergency Response Team, in support of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as the lead response agency for the state of Florida, is actively monitoring the Deepwater Horizon response.

The following is a summary of state and BP response actions to date, as well as tips for residents and visitors to take precautions both pre and post-landfall.

Landfall Predictions:

·         Deepwater Horizon continues to discharge an estimated 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) per day.

·         BP has completed construction of a dome, expected to be in place as early as next weekend, which will be used in an attempt to contain the oil discharge. BP has also begun drilling a relief well to eliminate the discharge.

·         Currently, there are no impacts to the state projected in the next 72 hours. The loop current is far south of the oil and there is no imminent threat that the oil will be picked up by the loop current. However, Florida continues to make preparations to safeguard the state’s shoreline.

·         The state of Florida reminds its residents and visitors that the state’s coastline has not been impacted at this time and remains open for public enjoyment.

State Actions:

·         On May 5, 2010, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector St. Petersburg, DEP, and BP set up an Incident Command (in support of the Area Command) at the USCG Sector St. Petersburg offices in St. Petersburg today.  The Incident Command will be largely geared toward planning and will grow if it becomes necessary.  Sector Key West has set up a virtual Incident Command and is looking to establish a physical Incident Command in the next few days which will focus on planning.

·         Governor Charlie Crist confirmed that Florida will receive a $25-million block grant from BP for initial state and local preparation and response costs.

·         The State Emergency Response Team has dozens of team members deployed throughout the anticipated impact region to assist with Deepwater Horizon preparation and response.

·         The State Emergency Operations Center remains activated at a Level 2 or Partial activation.

·         On April 30, 2010, Governor Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency (Emergency Order 10-99) for Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf Counties.

·         On May 3, 2010, Governor Charlie Crist extended a state of emergency declaration (Emergency Order 10-100) for the coastal counties of Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota.

·         Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Congressman Allen Boyd, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink were briefed at the Emergency Operations Center on the state’s Deepwater Horizon response efforts on Monday, May 3.

·         DEP conducted water and sediment sampling to use as a baseline for ongoing monitoring.

·         DEP is continuously monitoring air quality data. The public can view this data at http://www.airnow.gov/ or http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/.

·         DEP, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), county governments, water management districts and several federal agencies continue to conduct pre-impact assessments, including sampling of water, fish, shellfish and habitats along the Florida coastline and into the Gulf of Mexico.

·         Statewide monitoring is ongoing in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Panhandle-specific data is expected to be completed early this week

·         Emergency Support Function 15, Volunteers and Donations, successfully spearheaded pre-impact beach cleanups over the weekend of May 1-2.  More than 1,200 volunteers participated in cleanups in Escambia, Santa Rosa and Wakulla counties to minimize the effect of the Deepwater Horizon incident. Volunteer Florida offers guidance for conducting safe pre-impact beach cleanups at www.volunteerflorida.org.

·         Florida residents are discouraged from signing any documents provided to them in return for money from BP or anyone else until they know the extent of their loss, which may be significantly higher than the money being paid. These may be fraudulent or premature.

·         The Attorney General’s fraud hotline is open to receive any reports of fraud or price gouging. The hotline is 1-866-966-7226.

·         The Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner gas price-gouging hotline is also operational.  The toll-free hotline number is 1-800-HELP-FLA (1-800-435-7352).

Boom Placement:

·         There is approximately 118,200 feet of boom placed along Florida’s Panhandle in the Pensacola region.

·         An additional 30,000 feet is expected to be placed today.

·         Currently 45,000 feet of boom is staged in Pensacola. An additional 45,000 feet is staged at Panama City and additional booms are on order.

·         The Panama City staging area is now fully operational.

·         Placement of boom will be based on tides and where the oil is threatening and according to the Coast Guard Sector Mobile Area Contingency Plan. To view the plan visit Plan, visit http://ocean.floridamarine.org/ACP/MOBACP/StartHere.html.

·         The booming strategy focuses on identified environmentally sensitive areas.

o   Estuaries and inlets are at the top of the list, not the beach areas.

o   This is to protect sensitive habitat that support wildlife and fish.

o   If the oil washes on the beach, the sand can be cleaned.

o   Note that booms are not a failsafe solution.

o   They can become ineffective in high seas, strong winds, or currents over one knot.

·         Florida’s counties are working through the State Emergency Operations Center. Each county provides input, but the operational decisions are made through the Unified Command. The State Emergency Response Team is working with the counties, BP as well as the federal agencies to maximize protection and minimize impacts.

Health Effects:

·         At this time, there are no indications of any health risks to Floridians due to the Deepwater Horizon incident. The Department of Health (DOH) and DEP are closely monitoring health and environmental impacts to Florida’s beaches and will notice an advisory if conditions become unsafe.

·         Consider the following tips for avoiding negative health impacts from an oiled shoreline: o   Avoid entering areas where oil can be seen or smelled. o   Avoid direct skin contact with oil, oil-contaminated water and sediments.

o   Do not swim or ski in areas affected by the oil spill, and if traveling through the area by boat, take precautions when hoisting the boat anchor. If oil makes contact with skin, wash it off with soap and water. o   Do not fish in oil spill-affected waters.

o   Do not harvest or eat dead fish, fish with oily residue or fish that have a petroleum odor. o   Avoid boating through oil slicks or sheens.

o   Young children, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, and individuals with underlying respiratory conditions should avoid the area.

o   Prevent pets from entering oil-contaminated areas.

·         Impacts to Florida’s coastline could include tarballs – fragments or lumps of oil weathered to a semi-solid or solid consistency. Tarballs feel sticky, and are difficult to remove from contaminated surfaces. Impacts could also come in the form of an oil sheen or tar mat – a sheet of oil that is thicker than a sheen. Should individuals observe tarballs or other evidence of oil on Florida’s coastline, they should leave the area and report the incident to (866) 448-5816.

·         Those near Florida’s Gulf Coast may detect an odor because of the oil spill. Some people are more sensitive to these odors and may experience nasal irritation and feelings of nausea. In combination with seasonal allergies, such as sensitivity to pollen or pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, some people may experience more severe symptoms.

·         Individuals experiencing symptoms that are aggravated by the odors from the oil spill should consider:

o   Staying indoors, in air conditioning, and avoiding strenuous outdoor activity.

o   If symptoms do not improve, contact a primary care physician or other health care provider for medical advice.

o   Individuals who have pre-existing medical conditions, such as asthma or other respiratory illness should contact their health care provider if feeling symptomatic.

Fisheries & Seafood:

·         The fisheries, wildlife, and seafood off of Florida’s coast in state waters are safe and there are no alerts at this time.

·         On May 3, 2010 NOAA restricted fishing for a minimum of ten days in federal waters most affected by the BP oil spill, largely between Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River to waters off Florida’s Pensacola Bay. Details can be found here: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

·         Fishermen who wish to contact BP about a claim should call 1-800-440-0858.

·         FWC is working with DEP, county governments, water management districts and several federal agencies including NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct pre-impact wildlife assessments.

·         These assessments include samples of water, sediments, fish, shellfish and habitats along the Florida coastline and into the Gulf of Mexico. Assessments are needed to provide baseline information prior to the anticipated impact.

·         Examples of the assessments include the following:

o   FWC and the University of South Florida College of Marine Science are designing a multi-day scientific research study to obtain information on fisheries resources and plankton in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle.

o   Aerial surveys also are planned to identify locations of marine mammals.

o   Groups are marking the location of bird and sea turtle nesting sites along the beach. Nests are marked to help prioritize response with real-time information.

o   FWC urges citizens to report oiled wildlife to the Joint Information Center by calling 1-866-557-1401.

·         For the safety of the public as well as the safety of animals, rescues should be conducted by trained responders. Untrained rescuers may cause more harm than good.

·         Anyone involved in volunteer efforts to clear trash from the beaches should be careful of shorebird nesting areas. If birds in the area are acting agitated, calling or swooping at people, there is a good possibility it is a nesting area. The FWC asks the public and oil spill responders to retreat the way they approached and leave the nesting area. Anyone involved in volunteer efforts to clear trash from the beaches should be particularly careful.

o   Avoid working in areas where shorebirds are nesting; never enter or approach a posted shorebird area.

o   When near nesting areas, stay below the high tide (wrack) line. Shorebirds nest on the open beach above this line. Nests are scrapes in the sand and the eggs are small and camouflaged. They easily can be crushed by pedestrians and vehicles.

o   Remove only manmade trash. Seaweed and other natural debris are critical to shorebirds.

o   Even though the wrack line is important to wildlife, if it becomes oiled it then becomes a death trap for birds and other wildlife and makes removal of oil from the beach more difficult. Timing for removal of beach wrack in oil spill response is critical. It should be left on the beach in areas of active nesting as long as possible but removed immediately prior to beaches becoming oiled. In areas distant from active nesting, cleanup of wrack and other natural debris can be performed to better facilitate future oil removal.

o   On some Panhandle beaches, the FWC has installed short, white, PVC tubes in the dunes to track endangered beach mice, and on Perdido Key, small aluminum boxes also are being used. This important equipment should not be removed from the beach.

o   Also, sea turtle nests are marked with stakes and orange tape – do not remove these items because they help protect the nests from disturbances.

o   Do not place litter above the tide line; this can also interfere or cause harm to nesting birds.

o   Do not use equipment such as rakes, shovels or tractors.

o   Do not bring dogs onto the beach.  Dogs, even when leashed, are very threatening to birds and cause them to panic.

o   Seabirds and shorebirds are protected by law. Report anyone harming or harassing these birds or nest disturbances to 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).

Closures:

·            Currently there are no Florida State Park or beach closures. For more information about Florida State Parks, visit: www.floridastateparks.org.

Tourism:

·            Florida’s pristine beaches and famed fishing grounds remain open to residents and visitors. Currently, there are no impacts to Florida’s 2,276 miles of tidal shoreline and 663 miles of beaches. Florida’s shores are clear and open for business.

·            If you are planning a trip to the Sunshine State and are concerned about any potential impact from the Deepwater Horizon Oil incident, VISIT FLORIDA encourages you to check with local destinations in order to get the most up-to-date information.

·            The following webpage provides helpful local links to check on the status of your planned Florida destination:  http://www.visitflorida.com/florida_travel_advisory/

Volunteer Opportunities:

·         The Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service is encouraging Floridians and visitors to watch for oiled wildlife, vegetation, and beaches by becoming a Coast Watch volunteer.

·         The “Coast Watchers” will assist BP, the state of Florida and partnering organizations in identifying beaches that need attention.

·         Coast Watchers will work within the coastal communities where they live or visit and commit to do the following:

·         Report injured or oiled animals to the Wildlife Distress Hotline: 1-866-557-1401.

·         Report oiled shoreline to: 1-866-448-5816.

·         Report a change in Air Quality to: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/.

·         For information on scheduled beach cleanups and other volunteer opportunities, visit www.VolunteerFlorida.org.

·         BP has established a volunteer program and set up a toll-free number for those interested in volunteering. When calling, interested parties should communicate what activities they are volunteering and locations in which they are available to work.  In addition, potential volunteers may call this line to learn about the training that is required to work in oil spill clean-up operations. For information on assisting with the response efforts, please contact BP’s community information line at 1-866-448-5816.

Learn More:

·         DEP launched a Twitter account, @FLDEPalert, dedicated to providing updates on Florida’s response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Visit www.Twitter.com/FLDEPalert.

·         On May 3, the Florida Emergency Information Line was activated in response to deepwater horizon incident. The hotline, which provides Floridians information regarding the Deepwater Horizon Response, will operate from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. until further notice. The number for residents to call is: 1-800-342-3557.

·         For more information DEP established an email sign-up for information alerts on its website as well as a resources page containing fact sheets and tips pertaining to health, safety, wildlife, and pre and post-landfall preparations. To view tips and sign up for email updates, visit www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon.

·         The following is a link to the State Emergency Response Team Situation Report for Tuesday, May 5, 2010:  http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/files/situation_report7_050510.pdf.

Joint Information Center Public Information Resources and Hotlines:

·         Environment/community hotline: to report oil on the beach or shoreline or other environment or community impacts and access the Rapid Response Team – 1-866-448-5816.

·         Wildlife: to report and access care for impacted wildlife 1-866-557-1401.

·         Volunteers: to request volunteer information 1-866-448-5816.

·         Services – to register as a consultant, contractor, vendor, or submit information on alternative response technology, services, products or suggestions 1-281-366-5511.

·         Vessels of Opportunity – to report and register boats available to assist with response 1-281-366-5511.

·         Claims – All claims regardless of amount should be routed through the Claims line for assignment of Claim Number. Claims will be tracked so status can be provided. 1-800-440-0858.

·         Twitter: http://twitter.com/RobertLAJIC.

·         Facebook: Deepwater Horizon Response.

·         Joint Information Center website: www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

So these guys head out into the Gulf of Mexico for an all-night fishing trip.  And because their boat doesn’t have any radar (among other things), they decide to spend the evening fishing for blackfin tuna next to this drill rig called the Deepwater Horizon.  And, oh yeah, it’s April 20^th, around 11pm….

This story comes from a guy with the web handle “Aandryiii” off of a discussion forum named “Mud in My Blood,” a website about outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing in Louisiana.  I can’t verify this piece, but in addition to the story, he includes photos and even a brief video of the burning rig, with a radio distress call playing in the background.  It’s convincing – and amazing enough – for me:

……Went to bed at 1am Tuesday morning and rose again @ 7am to head out. We loaded up and headed South from Mandeville. We caught a flat on the trailer in Belle Chase and replaced it with a smaller tire to make do to get us to Venice! We launched and went to head out and starboard motor wasn’t getting fuel…

Soooo, we found the problem, which was a broken, corroded, elbow connecting the fuel line to the gas tank… We went to a local parts place and made do with $80 of misc fittings and hose and replaced that fuel separator ($10) for the fun of it. We fixed it and left the dock @ 3pm headed down river to BP 109 offshore rig. We stayed there until we landed enough blackfin tuna and make it to our sleeping destination before dark!

We left there in a hurry to make it to Deep Water Horizon before dark. The water was like glass.  My radar got stolen off my bought before this trip so we planned on getting to a floater before dark and staying/fishing till sun up the next day. We got to Deep Water Horizon at sunset and began catching more tuna.

These jelly fish were floating everywhere. When we drove at night the jellyfish would glow as they passed under the boat by the thousands. The tuna bites were starting to slow down so we drove right up to the rig to try to catch bait. No bait, but we found more tuna under the floating rig.

Around 10pm the entire center of the rig started rushing water downwards over all the pipes… I’ve never seen such an event take place. I looked at my friend who previously worked offshore, and he said that’s BOP something another and the rig took a ‘kick!’

I thought the rig was sinking and that was their way of bilging… But nope! Methane gas began BLOWING out of the West side of it and the noise of the thrust was louder than anything I’ve ever herd (except for a sonic boom I herd once, and what I’m about to tell you next)

My eyes began to burn and that friend I was telling you about earlier began to SCREAM, “GO, GO, GO, GO, GOOOOO!” I positioned my compass North and put the gears in WOT! At approximately 100 yds from the rig it Exploded! Puts a new meaning to explosion. We hit the deck and continued North @ WOT, Blind because the moon was at quarter crescent and I had no radar.

The switch board went black for unknown reasons; therefore I had no running lights either. The flood lights in the rear did work. The rig continued EXPLODING. A very large crew boat was tied to the rig as it blew and the ppl began rafting to that boat as it floated away slowly.

I got on the radio to try to help and they told me to stay away for safety. The rig blew a few more explosions after that and began to burn down. Some of the rig began dripping into the water and the platform tilted in and turned RED HOT. As bad as we wanted to save ppl, it wasn’t the case here. I tried going in to be a hero and my posse wasn’t having it! Maybe they were right…

The guy who predicted the explosion was terrified of what would happen next and would not allow for us to get any closer than a mile. He told me things about air rising from the pipes below, and how the pipes could be below us since they run at angles under water, and how the explosions would continue. I think he knew what he was talking about and made us all worry…

We stayed a mile off the fire and searched/listened for missing ppl for 4 hours. We saw nothing. 20 or so commercial liners eventually brought Medics and oxygen for survivors. Helicopter came for search and transport. All the other facts you probably already know about; via News.

The 11 missing people in ‘mind’ I hope slipped away in a safety boat, but in reality I doubt they are alive. This is a sad thing to say, but if you would have seen the explosions you wouldn’t believe anyone of the 126 would have survived it! I pray for all of them and their families! We left at morning to make our way in, we were 60 miles offshore and gas was running low. We stopped at Elf on the way in and filled the ice chest.

And then this interesting response Aandryiii made to someone’s question within the follow-up thread:
When the gas started blowing out the side of the rig they turned off the power to prevent electrical spark which would ignite the gas, but when they shut power the generator kicked on and thats all she wrote!

Full text, photos, videos and responses to comments (including the ridiculous number of problems they had just getting the boat in the water!) at:  http://www.mudinmyblood.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6104

Christopher Cherniak is a registered professional engineer and Director of Sustainability Program Services for Eco Advisors, LLC. He’s also a correspondent for Radio Green Earth, specializing in coverage of Walmart’s Sustainability Index, EPA’s Climate Leaders Program and Federal Energy Policy legislation. Contact him at: ccherniak@ecoadvisors.net

NASA satellite image of the oil sheen

The NOAA is also mapping out forecasts of the spread of the oil sheen, which can be seen by clicking here.

Investigations continue, but most experts believe that what occurred at the Deepwater Horizon rig was a “blowout,” an event during which a pocket of oil or gas under extreme pressure and temperature is encountered without warning. The sudden rush of liquid and gas up the riser pipe can cause great damage to the piping, valves and appurtenances on deck, or, in this case, result in a catastrophic explosion.

The best summary and analysis that I’ve come across on what exactly may have occurred is from Christopher Helman, Associate Editor at Forbes in Houston (http://blogs.forbes.com/energysource/2010/04/30/bps-deepwater-disaster-what-happened-and-why/ ).   It reads in part:

First of all, it’s likely that BP knows precisely what occurred. According to this 2002 article in Offshore, the Deepwater Horizon was set to be outfitted with a system called E-drill, which continuously beams data from rig operations to a monitoring center in Houston. This data is certainly logged. Until BP and Transocean show what they know, we’re left with a lot of speculation.

We know with some certainty that workers were in the final stages of setting the final sections of pipe (production liner) in the hole and cementing it in place. The plan was to set cement plugs in the well, temporarily abandon it, and move the Deepwater Horizon off to a new drilling site within a couple days.

Instead, it appears that a gas bubble got into the well bore, causing what’s called a “kick,” as it traveled up the riser. Even a relatively small amount of gas can cause big problems because a gas bubble will expand massively as it moves from high pressure at the seafloor to lower pressure at the surface. The friction caused by the gas bubble pushing up the pipe and displacing the drilling mud used to control the pressure could have created a static charge that ignited the gas into a fireball.

Blowout preventers (BOPs) are designed to deal with bubbles. Different control valves and rams can close in the well to various degrees. Why wasn’t the BOP engaged at the time of the “kick?”  Perhaps there wasn’t enough time to act. Even then, the big mystery is why the BOP still can’t be activated now by the robotic submarines (ROVs) sent to the scene.

Here are some scenarios that might have occurred: Assume the workers did try to engage the BOP, but it didn’t work. Why? One analyst I spoke with suggested that it could be that the kick pushed newly poured cement out of the casing, gumming up the controls. I ran that idea by a subsea engineer who has been responsible for BOPs in deepwater drilling offshore Brazil, and he felt it could be within the realm of possibility.

Another possibility: they tried to engage the BOP’s shear ram (which is supposed to slice through the riser and seal off the hole) but there was something too big to shear. That could have been a solid steel joint between two sections of drill pipe. These joints come along about one foot in every 30 feet of pipe, so it would have been very unlucky for such a joint to be sitting right where the shear ram would try to cut, but it’s still possible.

Video shot by the robotic submarines seems to indicate that oil is leaking from three spots in a pipe that is laying on the seafloor. The pipe would have to be a portion of the riser, which would have to still be attached to the BOP, but crimped and bent over. An uncuttable piece of joint lodged in the shear ram would perhaps explain why the ROVs haven’t been able to subsequently engage the ram.

Something else to consider:  it’s been said that the workers were in the final stages of casing and cementing the hole and that within a couple days the Deepwater Horizon was to leave that spot to go drill a new prospect. My deepwater engineer source explains that the closer a rig gets to the end of a job like this, the more pressure there would be (from supervisors, etc.) to not take a drastic step like engaging the BOP’s shear ram. If they had suddenly disconnected the rig from the well at that point in the cementing process, “they might have lost the whole thing.”  On a well that cost BP and its partners $100 million to drill, none of the nine ill-fated Transocean and two Smith International employees on the rig floor would want to make that call, especially if they couldn’t even imagine the scope of the disaster that unfolded.

It’s been 40 years since a blowout of this magnitude occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. None of those 11 workers who died on the rig floor could have imagined that this would happen to them. “We train people to cope with the unusual, but they very seldom see it,” says the subsea engineer. “The equipment is designed to cope, but it very seldom needs to.”

Finally, I’ll end this post with an interesting comment from Steven Ellis, stock analyst for Morningstar in an April 23^rd post: http://quicktake.morningstar.com/stocknet/san.aspx?id=333938

“The loss of the rig is unfortunate for the firm, as it was one of Transocean’s most advanced and recently set a world record for drilling depth in the Gulf of Mexico.

The cost to replace the rig will be in the $600 million-$700 million range, but we expect insurance to cover the bulk of the rig’s cost. We also do not anticipate significant changes in the regulatory environment or fines for Transocean.

The contractor is one of the industry’s most safety-conscious and experienced deep-water drillers. As well, the rig won a safety award from the Minerals Management Service last year, and the agency found no safety violations during three routine inspections of the rig earlier this year.”

Mr. Ellis posted this comment the day after the rig sunk.  At that time, Transocean’s stock price was around $90 per share on April 20^th.  It now hovers around $72.  A 20 percent decline in roughly 10 days.

6.5 million.  That’s not the amount of oil that has been released to the Gulf of Mexico since the April 20^th explosion and subsequent sinking of the mobile drilling rig Deepwater Horizon.  No, that’s the number of articles, videos and blogs that have been posted on the story in the past 10 days.

So, to avoid repeating what’s already been presented and covered a thousand times over, our attempts in these postings will be two-fold:  1) To summarize and discuss the science and engineering behind the disaster(s), both above and below the waterline; and 2) Describe the short and long-term impacts which this disaster will have on the gulf coast’s environment and economy, as well as the shaping of our future oil and energy policies.

The fact that this rig sunk on April 22^nd, Earth Day, should also not go unnoticed.  And the photo above should also serve as a reminder that we still have a long way to go preserving, protecting and conserving our natural resources.  From his grave, Senator Nelson shakes his fist….

The owner of the rig, Transocean Ltd, and the manufacturer of the blowout preventer that failed, Cameron International, are partly responsible for this disaster.  Even Halliburton could be called on the carpet for their roll in cementing in the well casing.  However British Petroleum (BP), who was leasing the rig and crew from Transocean, will shoulder the brunt of the blame and responsibility for what happened.  BP would like to think that their letters stand for “Beyond Petroleum”, but “Bayou Polluter”or “Buh-bye Profits” may be a better fit.

The Main Event – The April 20^th Explosion

The Deepwater Horizon on its way...

Transocean’s website (http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Deepwater-Horizon-56C17.html?LayoutID=17) offers design information for the Deepwater Horizon. The rig was built in 2001 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard.  This drilling water vehicle was a semi-submersible rig capable of operating in up to 8,000 feet of water and drilling down 30,000 feet into the earth.  At the time of the explosion, the rig sat in 5,000 feet of water (deep by GOM standards) and was nearing completion of drilling activities at a depth of 18,000 feet below the water surface.

The Deepwater Horizon platform was fixed on the surface by large pontoons, but also anchored to the sea floor.  The pontoons held approximately 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and there was also a reported 8,000 barrels of crude oil on the platform.   If these numbers are correct, approximately 1 million gallons of crude oil and diesel were either burned or released to the gulf during the initial explosion and efforts to save the rig.  This doesn’t include the oil spewing up through the riser pipe during the same time.   So, as much as 1.4 million gallons of oil may have spilled into the gulf between April 20^th and April 22^nd.

Christopher Cherniak is a registered professional engineer and Director of Sustainability Program Services for Eco Advisors, LLC. He’s also a correspondent for Radio Green Earth, specializing in coverage of Walmart’s Sustainability Index, EPA’s Climate Leaders Program and Federal Energy Policy legislation. Contact him at: ccherniak@ecoadvisors.net

Airing this Saturday, May 1st, at 5:30pm on WXEL 90.7FM

and live on RadioGreenEarth.org

This week Radio Green Earth returns to the Whole Foods Market, but this time in Palm Beach Gardens, to talk to fellow stakeholders in a sustainable future as part of our Earthweek celebration.

As you may remember, Whole Foods and Radio Green Earth presented an award-winning film series at the Cobb Theaters at Downtown at the Gardens.  Before the movies started each night, we took some time to talk to industry experts and non-profit leaders.  Some of our guests this week are:

• Palm Beach Gardens Mayor David Levy
• Bob Nichols, President and CEO of the Grassy Waters Preserve Nonprofit
• Josette Kaufman, Executive Director of the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation
• John Szerdi and Alain R. Dezii of the US Green Building Council, South Florida Chapter
• Stan Bronson of the Florida Earth Foundation
• Brenna Bertram from Whole Foods Markets
• Christopher Pruitt of  HOPcities
• and more!

Join us for this week’s celebration, environmental news, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events, this Saturday starting at 5:30 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes.  Please be aware of the time change, which will occur THIS SATURDAY ONLY: We will air at 5:30pm – 6:00pm rather than the usual 5:00pm – 6:00pm.

from the Whole Foods Market in Ft. Lauderdale

Airing Saturday, April 24th at 5pm on WXEL 90.7FM and live on RadioGreenEarth.org

Celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day with us.  40 years ago the first Earth Day in 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. That first Earth Day turned into a massive protest in which millions of Americans took part demanding government action to help stop environmental degradation. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

This Saturday, April 24, 2010, Radio Green Earth will be airing a very special broadcast recorded on Earth Day at the Whole Foods Market in Ft. Lauderdale.  We’ll hear from some Whole Foods Market food specialists, community leaders, some of Broward County’s greenest organizations, and we’ll be getting to know YOU!

If you can, come by Whole Foods Market at 2000 N. Federal Highway, Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday April 22^nd from 11 AM to 1 PM and celebrate with us. You’ll get a chance to meet Missy and Jim and the staff of Radio Green Earth, and who knows, you might even wind up on the radio!

People all over the world know that there are problems we need to continue to work on and Earth Day is our special day to look at the planet and see what needs changing. Isn’t it great?

Join us for this week’s celebration, environmental news, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events, this Saturday from 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at ww.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes.

Here are our featured guests (click on the names to visit their website):

Whole Foods Market

Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation

Kids Ecology Corps

Slow Food

Trash to Treasures

United States Green Building Council

Museum of Discovery & Science

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

The Electric Bicycle Store

Want to know more about sustainable food and agriculture? Don’t miss this week’s informative broadcast on Saturday, April 17th to hear some expert tips for everyone who shops for food, cooks it up, and loves eating well as much as we do!

Not many people actually know what sustainable food means.  Its name implies that sustainable food is self-sufficient and capable of being produced continually, which it is.

Freshly harvested tomatoes at Green Cay Farm

But unlike organic food, which is now regulated by the FDA if it is to have such billing, sustainable food is more a philosophy about the way a food is produced and eaten.  This week on Radio Green Earth, we will take an in-depth look at sustainable and locally grown foods and practices for sustainable farms.

Deep Creek Ranch Cattle

Join Missy and Jim and hear from experts on sustainable foods and farming.

We’ll hear from Rick Hawkins and Jeff Sagrens of Localecopia as we dine on sustainable eats at “The Breakers” resort, Dr. Nancy Roe of Green Cay Farms, a Community Supported Agriculture farm, and Trish Strand of Deep Creek ranch, who raises natural beef and lamb.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at ww.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes.

“The Birds and the Bees”

While “the birds and the bees” may be a romantic springtime term, both species play important roles  in a balanced ecosystem.  From controlling insects and other pests to supporting the food chain by pollinating flowers, plants, and vegetables, birds and bees are vital parts of healthy ecosystems which we rely on.  However loss of habitat, combined with various man-made chemical and biological contaminants within their air, water, and food has resulted in diseased and declining populations of each.

This week join Missy and Jim to take a look at two examples where this is occurring:  the whooping crane and the honey bee, two species with environmental and man-made challenges confronting their very survival as a species.

In an exclusive report you’ll hear only on Radio Green Earth, we present Mark Chenoweth’s “White Ghosts of the Wetlands,” a  piece from Radio Green Earth’s newest correspondent and five years in the making, that is about the efforts being employed to bring the whooping crane, the largest crane in North America, back from the brink of extinction.

Jerry Hayes

Tune in to hear from the University of Florida’s Dr. James Ellis and the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Jerry Hayes about how colonies of honey bees are mysteriously abandoning their hives, and how this rapidly expanding phenomenon threatens the US honey, vegetable, and fruit industries.  You’ll also hear what researchers are doing to pinpoint the cause, or causes, behind colony collapse disorder.

Whooping cranes learning the migration path from an ultralight aircraft

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes!

Moving away from traditional energy sources

The United States currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable, that is, they draw on finite resources that will eventually dwindle, becoming too expensive or too environmentally damaging to retrieve. In contrast, renewable energy resources—such as wind and solar energy—are constantly replenished and will never run out. Renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are key to creating a clean energy future for not only the nation, but the world. On our Saturday, April 3rd broadcast, Radio Green Earth will look at renewable sources of electricity including the wind, sun, ocean, and the earth. We’ll visit FPL’s Martin Solar Facility, FAU’s Gulf Stream Current research, hear from the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Laboratory for a discussion on geothermal and wind power. We’ll also visit with an entrepreneur investing in research on wind power proposed right here in South Florida.

Join Missy and Jim and our special guests Bruce Green of the National

Towards renewable energy

Renewable Energy Laboratory, John Gnecco of Florida Power and Light Company, Dani Torcolacci of World Wide Wind Development, and Camille Coley of FAU. You’ll hear why the more we use renewable energy, the more we benefit the environment, strengthen our energy security, create jobs locally, and help improve our economy.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes!

Ever wonder if you could travel South Florida with a smaller carbon footprint and without the almighty automobile? On our Saturday, March 27th broadcast, Radio Green Earth will see just how feasible it is to “get out

Pedaling Revolution by Jeff Mapes

of the car” and travel South Florida using bikes, trains, buses, and our feet. We’ll look at sustainable methods of transportation, development that is conducive to these, talk with city planners, bicycle advocates, commuters, and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). We’ll also take you on a trip to see what we encountered when we traveled 75 miles to Ft. Lauderdale Beach using only bikes, trains, buses and our feet. You’ll be surprised with what we encountered.

Join Missy and Jim and our special guests Kathryn Moore, Executive Director of the South Florida Bike Coalition, Raphael Clemente, City of West Palm Beach’s Assoc. Director of the Downtown Development Authority, author Jeff Mapes (Pedaling Revolution), bicycle advocate Jeffery Lynne, and representatives from FDOT and Tri-rail for this informative broadcast.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, this feature story, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes!

Join Missy and Jim and our special guests, attorney Kerri-Ann Baker, marketing specialist Marty Rogol, and Radio Green Earth’s Chris Cherniak for a lively discussion on who’s trying to greenwash us and who’s marketing passes our panel of experts. Tune in to hear some entertaining examples of today’s green marketing advertisements.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes.

Is this “greenwashing”?

The movie screenings will be during the week of “Earth Day” on April 19th, April 20th, April 21st, and April 22nd at the Downtown Gardens location of Cobb Theatres (click here for directions and information) at 5 pm each evening.  Stop by the Whole Foods Market next door to the theater before the movie and attend our reception where you’ll get a chance to participate in our in-store broadcast and hear from some very special guests and meet the hosts and staff of Radio Green Earth starting at 4 PM .

The films that will be playing are:

April 19th

Food, Inc. – You’ll never look at dinner the same way again. (Click here for a full plot summary courtesy of imdb.com)

April 20th

What’s on Your Plate? – a documentary about kids and food politics.  (Click here for a full plot summary courtesy of imdb.com)

April 21st

Fast Food Nation – The Truth Is Hard To Swallow.  (Click here for a full plot summary courtesy of imdb.com)

April 22nd (Earth Day)

The End of the Line – Where have all the fish gone? (Click here for a full plot summary courtesy of imdb.com)

and

King Corn – You are what you eat.  (Click here for a full plot summary courtesy of imdb.com)

Come out and celebrate Earth Day with us and benefit Radio Green Earth and the Green Earth Environmental Education Foundation with your donations. We hope to see you at the movies!

You may also make a tax-free donation to the Green Earth Environmental Education Foundation by sending your check or money order to:

Green Earth Environmental Education Foundation

3932 RCA Boulevard, Suite 3204

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl 33410

If you know anything about Whole Foods Market you’ll know that we love food and we love the environment.  As part of our celebration of Earth Month, our Coral Springs, Ft. Lauderdale, Plantation and Aventura stores will be hosting the Let’s Retake Our Plates Film Series on April 17 and 18.  The series, which will be at Cinema Paradiso in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, will focus on films that help people understand their food choices, the inside story on our food, and people who are in support of the food movement.

The films we’ll be showing are:

Saturday, April 17

• 2:30pm: King Corn/Big River
  • In King Corn two friends move to the heartland of America in order to learn where their food comes from. They plant and harvest corn and then try to follow their crop into the food system where they find answers that in return raise questions. Big River, the follow up to King Corn, has the friends returning to Iowa to find out the environmental impact that the acre of corn they raised has had on the people and places downstream.
• 4:30pm: Fast Food Nation
  • Fast Food Nation traces the birth of a hamburger through a variety of human stories from the immigrant couple who works in a meat plant to the corporate rep who discovers something about his latest burger invention. As the film goes through a variety of avenues, it reveals a portrait of what America is biting into.

Sunday, April 18

• 12pm: The Garden
  • A 14 acre garden in South Central Los Angeles that was formed after the 1992 riots is at risk of being bulldozed. Watch the struggle between these urban farmers and the city and powerful developer that wants to evict them and build warehouses.
• 2pm: Food, Inc
  • A revealing look at our country’s food industry, this movie discovers the underbelly of the American food system that has been hidden from consumers with the consent of federal agencies. It also shows how a handful of corporations in control are putting profits over customer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, and the safety of workers and the environment.

The cost to attend each film is $7 and proceeds will be donated to Slow Food Glades to Coast, a non-profit organization that has a pleasure for food along with a commitment to the community and the environment.  A local chapter of Slow Food USA, Slow Food Glades to Coast holds workshops, talks and dining events that focus on local sustainability, gathering with family, and better eating for children.

On our Saturday, March 6^th broadcast Radio Green Earth will take a look at how our community is preparing our planet’s future caretakers, a new generation of environmental stewards, for the global challenges that lie at our doorstep.  Join Missy and Jim as well as our expert guests to find out about progressive efforts being made to prepare children and adults right here in South Florida for the challenges of the next century: to compete and succeed in the new global and local “green” economies.

Bubli Dandiya

First we will hear from Bubli Dandiya, the passionate Turtle River Montessori School founder who has created an incredible “green” environment that embraces environmental stewardship as a framework of education for students from two to twelve years old. We will also talk to John Szerdi and Alain Dezii of Living Designs Group, the company that constructed the school.

Pine Jog students hard at work with their strawberries!

Next we will learn how a class of students at Pine Jog Elementary are developing business plans to market their own hydroponically grown strawberries with help from Bruce Loren, a local practicing attorney who specializes in green and sustainable construction.

Then we will talk to Palm Beach State College’s Green Institute founder and director, Sandi Barrett, about PBSC’s new programs that are helping students-both undergrads and those seeking continuing education-prepare for green jobs.

Allan Phipps

Finally we will hear from Allan Phipps, the award-winning Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher at South Plantation High School who has recently been awarded “Teacher of the Year” from Broward County Public schools, and he will telling us all about the “green” things his students are learning, and taking with them after they graduate.

Don’t miss this important broadcast and see how there are so many efforts in environmental education going on at multiple levels in our own community!

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes!

Nozzle Nolen goes GREEN - click here to see how!

This week on Radio Green Earth…

On the Saturday, February 27^th broadcast we will learn about three “I Can’t Believe They’re Green” industries: pest control, lubricants, and cleaning products.  On this edition of Radio Green Earth we’ll take an in-depth look at how environmental leaders in these industries are transitioning from the past practices to cutting edge technologies and processes that not only are more eco-responsible, but are superior industry performers at competitive prices.

Click here to visit the Green Concepts website!

Join hosts Missy and Jim along with some expert guests to learn about exciting new breakthroughs that are enabling these traditionally “brown” industries to reduce their environmental impacts.

This week we’ll talk with Gil Oren of EcoConcepts, Paul Sugrue of Nozzle Nolen Pest Control, and Michel Cordeau of BioLub USA. You’ll hear from these industry trendsetters about the products they produce that provide us with truly green eco-responsible alternatives to products we use in our everyday lives. Don’t miss this important broadcast!

Click here to visit the BioLub USA website!

We will also discuss the upcoming legislative session and predict odds of proposed environmental legislation with our regular guest, environmental attorney Erin Deady.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM, live at www.radiogreenearth.org, and also on iTunes!

Eco Advisors, LLC

The next time your “Global-Warming-is-a-hoax”  friends, family members and Senators break into a happy dance about how cold it is in the northeast this winter and how all the record snowfall in Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore is final, frigid proof that this global warming nonsense is just that,  kindly extend to them the following retort:

Brazil is currently experiencing a record heat wave :

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35338116/

Vancouver is experiencing one of its warmest winters on record.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/02/15/bc-lower-mainland-record-warm-weather.html

Tibet just recorded it’s warmest year on record (2009).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/05/tibet-warming-china

And February’s temperatures in northern Utah (home of climate deniers) are averaging four degrees above normal (http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14427469 )

Next, remind them that although the I-95 area from DC to NY may represent 90% of this country’s ego, it only represents about 2% of the continental U.S. landmass.  About the same as northern Utah.  Point?  Two-percent of anything does not represent the remaining 98% of something – no matter what side of the argument you’re on.

No doubt, the eastern Atlantic is experiencing record snowfall, but the temperatures have actually been average for the winter time.  So it’s not a colder winter their experiencing, just a wetter one (which actually is suggestive of climate change, but that’s probably too “sciencey” for them, so let’s save that for another time).

The figure below shows the range in global temperatures for January 2010.  Purples and blues mean that its colder than average, while the tans, yellows and reds means its above average.  Embrace or scoff at this figure as you see fit.  (Source:  http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/ )

Finally, one of the most compelling pieces of information suggesting warming trends that deserves more air time is this:  Over the past decade, the U.S. has experienced twice as many record high temperatures as record lows.  This data compiled by, and news release from, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Basically, the graphic above shows the ratio of record daily highs to record daily lows observed at about 1,800 weather stations in the 48 contiguous United States from January 1950 through September 2009.  Specifically, during the 2000′s there were 291,237 record highs recorded across the U.S., and only 142,420 record lows.

Two other items of note with respect to this study:  1) The western U.S. has a greater ration of highs to lows than the eastern U.S., and, 2) The increasing ratio is due more to fewer record nighttime lows than more daytime record highs.  So while we are witnessing warmer days, we’re also observing warmer nights.  For some reason, the U.S. is not cooling off at night as much as it used to (sunspots anyone?).

The proof behind climate change and global warming will not be determined by some Senator’s igloo in the front of the U.S. Capitol.  Rather, it’s the daily numbers of land and sea surface temperatures, and the long term trends developed from those numbers, that will tell the ultimate story on the planets warming.  In fact, it looks pretty “telling” right now.

Christopher Cherniak is a registered professional engineer and Director of Sustainability Program Services for Eco Advisors, LLC. He’s also a correspondent for Radio Green Earth, specializing in coverage of Walmart’s Sustainability Index, EPA’s Climate Leaders Program and Federal Energy Policy legislation. Contact him at: ccherniak@ecoadvisors.net.

You can see more on our YouTube channel here.

This week on Radio Green Earth, we will be highlighting the environmental effects of Florida’s second largest industry: agriculture.

According to the USDA, Florida ranks number one in the nation’s orange, grapefruit, tomato, watermelon, sugarcane for sugar and seed, and sweet corn production, and number two in strawberry production.   Florida has almost 4 million acres of producing crops, and more than one million cattle graze on Florida pastures.  Half of the nation’s winter tomatoes are grown in Florida, and more than 400,000 people directly depend on Florida agriculture for their livelihoods.

But this abundance comes at a price.  Draining Florida’s interior to reach the fertile soil under the flooded swampland was a long process that was not only costly, but as we are beginning to find out, has also threatened our drinking supply and native ecosystems.  Many of Florida’s crops are produced with the help of large amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides which can have dangerous affects on the environment as well as on us and our water supply.  The soil that was exposed when the wetlands were drained is disappearing, in some places at an alarming rate, indicating that Florida’s plentiful pastures may not be so plentiful in the years to come.

Due to these environmental hazards, Florida’s farmers face increasing financial, regulatory and ethical pressures to be good stewards of the land.  Many are finding innovative ways to decrease their environmental impact so that agriculture can continue as a prosperous, but not hazardous, industry.  In a two part series, Radio Green Earth participates in a discussion on the environmental impacts and stewardship practices in the cattle, citrus, sugarcane, and row crop industries of Florida’s agriculture.

In Part 2 of this series, airing Saturday, Fenruary 20th, we will hear from Rick Roth of Roth Farms and Rich Budell of the Florida Department of Agriculture.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events this Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM and at www.radiogreenearth.org.

Radio Green Earth’s Jim Jackson had a great time out on the farm with Mr. Rick Roth!

Environmentalists have predicted the corals — found near Florida, Hawaii and U.S. territories — could be wiped out by midcentury if the government does not take steps to protect them under government regulations.

The U.S. government currently lists only two Atlantic coral species, elkhorn and staghorn, as “threatened” due to disease, warming sea temperatures and hurricane damage.

Yet, all of the species under consideration have seen population declines of at least 30 percent over the past 30 years, according to researchers.

In addition to warming water and acidification, additional threats to coral include: dredging, beach re-nourishment, pollution from agriculture and wastewater effluent, reef fishing, invasive species, aquarium trade, and damage from boats and anchors.

If the corals are protected as endangered species, it would be illegal to harm or kill the species. That could open commercial fishers, farmers and other industries to federal regulation or lawsuits from environmentalists.   Listing the coral as a “threatened” species could be less restrictive.

The announcement last week launches a formal review by federal biologists.  The fisheries service will accept public comment before deciding some time in 2011 on whether to list the corals under the Endangered Species Act.

Click here to read the Federal Register announcement.

Contact: Patricia Behnke, 850-251-2130

FWC: Help wildlife beyond the cold snap

The figures are astounding and unprecedented. More than 4,500 sea turtles were rescued from the cold water in January. Manatee carcasses continue to appear, putting the deaths for 2010 at more than 200 after only one month. For comparison, the highest number of manatee deaths for a single calendar year is 429.

Massive efforts by the state’s wildlife agency, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), to rescue, save and recover the cold-stressed animals saved the lives of at least 80 percent of rescued sea turtles. Since the beginning of the year, biologists have rescued more than a dozen manatees statewide and transported them to rehabilitation facilities as needed, and transported manatee carcasses to the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s lab in St. Petersburg for examination. Volunteers, other government agencies and partners from the corporate world all assisted in the efforts during this unprecedented event.

The public can help efforts to conserve and fund research for both sea turtles and manatees by purchasing a specialty license plate or decal. The extra fee for the sea turtle tag helps fund the Sea Turtle Grants Program. Approximately 30 percent is distributed to the grants program, which is administered by the nonprofit Caribbean Conservation Corporation. Visit www.helpingseaturtles.org for more information. The other 70 percent of tag revenue goes to the FWC’s Marine Turtle Protection Program to support research and management activities related to sea turtles. License plate funds were an important source of money used to support the rescue of the sea turtles during the January cold snap.

The money generated from the extra fee for manatee plates goes to the implementation of the FWC’s manatee management plan. This comprehensive, strategic plan aims to manage the manatee population into the future by securing habitat and minimizing threats.  The manatee plan includes key research, rescue and management conservation measures necessary to maintain manatees throughout the state.

The sea turtle and manatee also are featured on decals. The funds collected for the decals also help fund research and conservation efforts. The decals are on sale for $5 each at Florida tax collectors’ offices, or as a voluntary add-on to boat registration fees. Decals from previous years are available from MyFWC.com/SeaTurtle and MyFWC.com/Manatee.

Specialty license plates are available at all county tax collectors’ offices, as well as online at www.buyaplate.com. For more information on the impacts of the cold snap on Florida’s wildlife, visit the “Quick Clicks” area of MyFWC.com.

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Dr. Tom Reinert, a guest on our Endangered SpeciesUpdate show, has provided these links to learn more about research done on sea turtles, manatees, and panthers, as well as how you can do more to help these endangered creatures:

Sea Turtle Grants Program promotes research and conservation of Florida’s sea turtles. More information can be found at www.helpingseaturtles.org.

Specialty license plates also help in research and conservation of other imperiled species.  The FWC Wildlife Plate, Panther Plate and Manatee Plate are examples and can be viewed and purchased/renewed here:  www.buyaplate.com.

More information on FWC’s manatee research:  http://research.myfwc.com/features/default.asp?id=1001

More information on FWC’s panther research: http://www.floridapanthernet.org/

More information on FWC’s sea turtle research: http://research.myfwc.com/features/category_main.asp?id=1289

Report wildlife violations or emergencies, including injured or dead manatees, sea turtles, and panthers to:

1-888-404-FWCC (3922) or Cell phone users can reach us at *FWC or #FWC, depending on your service provider.

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration on Monday proposed a new agency to study and report on the changing climate.

Also known as global warming, climate change has drawn widespread concern in recent years as temperatures around the world rise, threatening to harm crops, spread disease, increase sea levels, change storm and drought patterns and cause polar melting.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced NOAA will set up the new Climate Service to operate in tandem with NOAA’s National Weather Service and National Ocean Service.

“Whether we like it or not, climate change represents a real threat,” Mr. Locke said Monday at a news conference.

Ms. Lubchenco added, “Climate change is real, it’s happening now.” She said climate information is vital to the wind power industry, coastal community planning, fishermen and fishery managers, farmers and public-health officials.

NOAA recently reported that the decade of 2000-2009 was the warmest on record world-wide; the previous warmest decade was the 1990s. Most atmospheric scientists believe that warming is largely due to human actions, adding gases to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.

Researchers and leaders from around the world met last month in Denmark to discuss ways to reduce climate-warming emissions, and a follow-up session is planned for later this year in Mexico.

“More and more people are asking for more and more information about climate and how it’s going to affect them,” Ms. Lubchenco explained. So officials decided to combine climate operations into a single unit.

Portions of the Weather Service that have been studying climate, as well as offices from some other NOAA agencies, will be transferred to the new NOAA Climate Service.

The new agency will initially be led by Thomas Karl, director of the current National Climatic Data Center. The Climate Service will have its headquarters in Washington and will have six regional directors across the U.S.

Ms. Lubchenco also announced a new NOAA climate portal on the Internet to collect a vast array of climatic data from NOAA and other sources. It will be “one-stop shopping into a world of climate information,” she said.

Creation of the Climate Service requires a series of steps, including congressional committee approval. But if all goes well, it should be finished by the end of the year, officials said.

In recent years, a widespread private weather forecasting industry has grown up around the National Weather Service, and Ms. Lubchenco said she anticipates growth of private climate-related business around the new agency.

While most people notice the weather from day to day or week to week, climate looks at both the averages and extremes of weather over longer periods of time. And understanding both weather and climate, and their changes, are vital to much of the world’s economic activity ranging from farming to travel to energy use and production and even food shipments and disease prevention.

Atmospheric scientists have long joked that climate is what you expect and weather is what you get. But greenhouse warming is changing what can be expected from climate, and researchers are seeking to understand and anticipate the impacts of that change.

Each week’s show will be uploaded both ot our site and to iTunes after it airs, and if you have missed any past shows, you can find them both on our site and on iTunes as well.

This week on Radio Green Earth, we will be highlighting the environmental effects of Florida’s second largest industry: agriculture.

According to the USDA, Florida ranks number one in the nation’s orange, grapefruit, tomato, watermelon, sugarcane for sugar and seed, and sweet corn production, and number two in strawberry production.   Florida has almost 4 million acres of producing crops, and more than one million cattle graze on Florida pastures.  Half of the nation’s winter tomatoes are grown in Florida, and more than 400,000 people directly depend on Florida agriculture for their livelihoods.

But this abundance comes at a price.  Draining Florida’s interior to reach the fertile soil under the flooded swampland was a long process that was not only costly, but as we are beginning to find out, has also threatened our drinking supply and native ecosystems.  Many of Florida’s crops are produced with the help of large amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides which can have dangerous affects on the environment as well as on us and our water supply.  The soil that was exposed when the wetlands were drained is disappearing, in some places at an alarming rate, indicating that Florida’s plentiful pastures may not be so plentiful in the years to come.

Due to these environmental hazards, Florida’s farmers face increasing financial, regulatory and ethical pressures to be good stewards of the land.  Many are finding innovative ways to decrease their environmental impact so that agriculture can continue as a prosperous, but not hazardous, industry.  In a two part series, Radio Green Earth participates in a discussion on the environmental impacts and stewardship practices in the cattle, citrus, sugarcane, and row crop industries of Florida’s agriculture.

In Part 1 of this series, airing Saturday, February 13th, we will hear from Sonny and Wes Williamson of the Williamson Cattle Company, Pete Spykes of Arapho Citrus Management, Rich Budell of the Florida Department of Agriculture, and Dr. Paul Gray of the Florida Audubon Society.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events this Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM and at www.radiogreenearth.org.

I have lived in Florida my entire life, and have never seen a panther except at Lion Country Safari, where one lone panther lives in a cage much smaller than the expanse of a natural habitat would be.  However my elementary school mascot was the Florida panther, and I believe my first school projects about this critically endangered big cat is probably what planted the seeds of my love for this creature.

I have spent a lot of time on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website dedicated to panthers, Florida Panther Net.  Learning about the history and habits of panthers has only made me feel a bigger sense of admiration and urgency, so I am very glad that Radio Green Earth has been able to share vital information on this noble cat to the public.  Knowledge truly is power, and in this case, may be the difference between extinction and survival for the last species of puma in North America.

Larry Richardson, a wildlife biologist for the National Panther Wildlife Refuge in southwest Florida, has spent twenty years helping panthers bounce back from the brink of extinction.  His work has also fostered a great love of these creatures, and he has also devoted his time to capturing their wonder, as well as the wonders of the other creatures that share the panther’s habitat, on camera. He has shared some photos with me which I wish to now share with you, in hopes that a love for these beautiful and unique animals may help save their species (click for larger images).

You can see more of Larry Richardson’s photography at RichardsonNature.com.

To learn more about Florida panthers, visit these websites:

Recent NY Times article on Florida Panthers

Wildlife Foundation of Florida – Help Injured Panthers Return to the Wild

Buy a Florida Panther License Plate

Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge

Florida Panther Society

Florida Panther Protection Program

National Park Service:  Species Profile

National Park Service: Florida Panther – In Depth

National Park Service: What You Need to Know about Florida Panthers

News Release

February 4, 2010
Contact: Jenny Tinnell, 850-528-2433

If you have an exotic pet you can’t care for anymore, please don’t just open the front door and set it free. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) offers a solution for you.

In an effort to keep unwanted exotic pets out of Florida’s native ecosystems, the FWC and Miami Metrozoo will host the third Nonnative Pet Amnesty Day Feb. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the zoo. It’s free and open to the public. You can surrender nonnative animals to the FWC free of charge with no questions asked and no penalties incurred. Staff will accept exotic reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and invertebrates, but not domestic pets (dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, etc.).

“Our main purpose is to give pet owners an alternative to releasing nonnative animals into the wild,” said Jenny Tinnell, FWC biologist. “It’s illegal to release a nonnative animal into the wild in Florida, and it could be detrimental for the animal and the environment.”

People can surrender exotic pets they can no longer care for, free of charge, with no questions asked, at this one-day-only event.

“A licensed veterinarian will examine all surrendered pets, and if the pets appear healthy, we will try to place them with willing, qualified adopters,” Tinnell said.

Pet Amnesty Day is also a family event featuring live animals on display, live animal shows and fun activities. Experts will be on hand to talk about proper care of exotic pets, so people who are thinking about purchasing one can learn from credible sources before they buy. The event provides the opportunity for people not only to see exotic animals, but to get up close and even touch them.

Nonnative pet amnesty events help increase awareness of nonnative species prob­lems. People have observed more than 400 nonnative species in Florida, and more than 130 have reproducing populations.

For more information on nonnative species in Florida, visit MyFWC.com/Nonnatives.

Florida is home to more than 100 species of endangered animals and plants, most of which you will never see except for maybe in a zoo. On this week’s show our expert guests will update us on three of Florida’s most well known endangered species, the manatee, Florida panther, and sea turtles.

A panther watches from the trees

Larry Richardson

We will hear from Wildlife Biologist Larry Richardson at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in SW Florida, who has been played a vital role in panther research and managing the refuge for the past twenty years. He will tell us the status of the panther and what is being done to enhance and protect the panther population.

Tom Reinert

Dr. Tom Reinert, a marine biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute who supervises the manatee carcass recovery and rescue program on the east and southwest coasts of Florida, will be telling us about the status of Florida manatees.

Dr. James “Buddy” Powell, Executive Director of Sea to Shore Alliance, will also be discussing manatees with us.  His non-profit foundation is dedicated to reducing threats to endangered aquatic species all around the world.  Buddy will be sharing information on Florida’s manatee tracking and counting program, as well as how the species has been affected by this year’s unseasonably cold weather.

Finally we will speak with Nanette Lawrenson, Executive Director of the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, FL. Nanette will share with us the status of five endangered species of sea turtle which visit the beaches of South Florida every year and what we can do to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events this Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM and at www.radiogreenearth.org.

and other US Landmarks to “turn out” for the planet at 8:30 pm on Saturday, March 27

WASHINGTON, DC, January 19, 2010 – World Wildlife Fund announced today that Earth Hour 2010 will take place on Saturday, March 27 from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, with many of the nation’s most iconic landmarks dimming their lights for one hour in what is expected to be the largest call for action on climate change in history.

The initial list of US landmarks taking part in this global climate event includes Mount Rushmore, Empire State Building, the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas,” Harrah’s Caesar Palace and the MGM Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. New Earth Hour participants in 2010 will include Montezuma Castle National Monument in Arizona and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. Other local landmarks taking part include Atlanta’s Bank of America building and the Pike Place Market sign in Seattle, with many more expected to sign on in the days ahead.

WWF officials said they are hopeful of Earth Hour participation in all 50 US states, as Americans from every walk of life, in communities large and small, symbolically dim their lights in solidarity for climate action with hundreds of millions of people around the world.  The event will have special significance to Americans in the wake of a US government report from June 2009 which found that every region of the nation is experiencing significant, adverse impacts from climate change including droughts, floods, heat waves and wildfires.  A study released in November 2009 by WWF and the insurance company Allianz SE warned that by mid-century, rising global sea levels caused by climate change could increase risks to more than $7 trillion in buildings, transportation infrastructure, and other assets in major U.S. coastal cities, including Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

“Climate change is real and it’s happening right now in the US, impacting our water resources, energy supplies, transportation, agriculture and health, putting our livelihoods and economic future at risk in every part of the country,” said WWF Climate Director Keya Chatterjee. “Earth Hour is a way for people across the US to join together with people from throughout the world to signal their concern about climate change and send a message about the urgent need for action.”

“Earth Hour directly links with Department of Interior and National Park Service priorities,” said Mount Rushmore National Memorial Superintendent Gerard Baker. “Our stewardship mission is to manage this country’s most treasured landscapes unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.  This mission is being challenged particularly by climate change.  As stewards of our national parks, especially considering the challenges of climate change, we must be visible leaders to demonstrate commitment to energy and water conservation… and to use our parks to teach the public about climate change and the ways citizens can reduce their carbon footprints.”

A number of organizations have also pledged their support for Earth Hour and will encourage their supporters and the public to take part including Goddard Systems, Inc., HandsOn Network, American Federation of Teachers, NAACP, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. National Park Service’s WebRangers, American Bird Conservancy, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, Focus the Nation, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of Student Councils, National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Science Teachers Association, National Association of Neighborhoods, Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington and Reverb, a non-profit organization that greens concert tours.

“We want children to think about how we all impact the environment in our daily lives and how each one of us can make a difference. Earth Hour provides a great opportunity to accomplish that.” said Joseph Schumacher, CEO of Goddard Systems, Inc., a national childcare franchise and national supporter of Earth Hour 2010. “As educators and as parents, we want to help children understand that how they care for and protect the earth will affect future generations”

“Climate change is the most urgent issue facing our planet today, and we need to unite the world around meaningful action,” Chatterjee said. “With a simple flick of the switch, Americans will not only be sending a signal that they want solutions to the climate crisis, but they’ll be helping to turn the lights out on our nation’s dangerous dependency on foreign oil, and an unsustainable economic future. That’s a powerful message that everyone around the world will be able to see bright and clear on March 27th.”

Note to Editors:

Footage and photographs of Earth Hour 09 being observed are available upon request.

Photos and footage: https://www.myearthhour.org/news/for-media

Logos: https://www.myearthhour.org/tools

Earth Hour 2010 Video: https://www.myearthhour.org/earth-hour-video

Follow Earth Hour on twitter: www.Twitter.com/EarthHourUS

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ABOUT EARTH HOUR:

Since its inception three years ago, Earth Hour has captured the world’s imagination becoming a global phenomenon. Last year, for Earth Hour 2009 nearly one billion people in 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents turned out. In the U.S. alone, 80 million Americans and 318 cities officially voted for action with their light switch. These people and municipalities were joined by iconic landmarks including: the Las Vegas Strip, the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings in New York City, the Space Needle in Seattle, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the National Cathedral in Washington DC.  International landmarks that turned off their lights included the Great Pyramids of Giza, Parthenon in Athens, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament in London, Paris’ Elysee Palace and Eiffel Tower, Beijing’s Birds Nest and Water Cube, Symphony of Lights in Hong Kong, Sydney’s Opera House and Christ de Redeemer status in Rio de Janeiro.

About World Wildlife Fund:

WWF is the world’s largest conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, stop the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.

To view the assessment, click here.

On Saturday January 30th Radio Green Earth presents our “Green Auto Show,” a broadcast focused on “green” cars.  The Radio Green Earth team visited several manufacturers’ dealerships in local South Florida to learn about hybrid and electric technologies as well as to test drive some different models.

Tune in for our reviews of the Honda Insight, Honda Civic, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Smart Fortwo, and the Ford Fusion hybrid.  We reviewed each model for handling, looks, safety, gas mileage, price, availability, warantee, and most importantly, sustainability!  We also interviewed Chevrolet Executives at this month’s Detroit Auto Show on the new Chevy Volt due out later this year.

Also joining the discussion is our Radio Green Earth expert team to give you the very latest and most comprehensive coverage on green cars, including an informative discussion on miles per gallon vs. gallons per mile and “hypermiling.”

Please join us for an hour of environmental news, these feature stories, our green tip-of-the-week, and a look at upcoming environmental and green events. Saturday 5-6 pm on WXEL 90.7 FM and at www.radiogreenearth.org.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

News Release

January 20, 2010