Stivers, R-Columbus, voted to delay two Clean Air Act standards that would limit soot, smog, mercury and other pollutants. Mercury and its compounds are particularly toxic to fetuses and infants. Women who have been exposed to mercury in pregnancy have sometimes given birth to children with serious birth defects.

Ohio is the third highest emitter of mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants in the nation and tops the NDRC's 'Toxic 20' list as the most polluted state. [http://www.nrdc.org/media/2011/110720.asp]

Lonnie Thompson, OSU Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences and Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center will be the featured speaker of the Columbus Natural History Society monthly meeting on Monday, December 6, 7:45 p.m. at the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity, 1315 Kinnear Road on campus. Professor Thompson will present "Climate Change: The Evidence and Our Options".

Includes 17-minute video showing a research team actually drilling an ice core.

Rolling Stone magazine says that there is no person in the world that has spent more time above 18,000 feet than Lonnie Thompson.

Also featured, two short documentaries: Core Catchers filmed by Ryan Vachon on a 2009 Cordillera Blanca, Peru expedition and a recent May/June 2010 ice core drilling in New Guinea. Don't miss this opportunity to meet Professor Thompson, and learn about his world renowned work.

Pretty cool when progressives and libertarians agree on protecting the commons --- Reason is on-board with fishing caps and quotas.  Watch it.

A disaster, not a spill:

"A 'spill' is what you get when you tip over a glass"

Environmentalist Dennis Henize, an Ohio native who has lived in Florida for decades, gives insight into the BP oil situation. A hurricane expert, he retired as station chief of the NOAA weather station in the Florida Keys. His report:

I'm trying to be objective, but I cannot help some of my cynicism escaping -- this whole thing has been characterized by lying and more lying. The honcho from the Coast Guard STILL sounds like his scripts are written by BP.

Here's a web blog by a non-professional scientist who has been doing an excellent job of tracking oil using satellite imagery ( http://www.skytruth.org/ ). His analyses early-on gave the first indications that oil was getting close to, and then some entrained in, the Loop Current. And his analyses yielded the first estimates, later validated by other scientists and eventually admitted by BP and the government agencies, that the amount gushed was far greater than first admitted. (I don't call this disaster a spill; a "spill" is what you get when you tip over a glass.)

This is an excellent response to the furious and unfounded assertions of the right-wing denialists that have followed from the release of private email by climate change scientists.

Popular Mechanics has a good review of Climategate. The final page sums up what we know about global warming.

And here's a concise explanation of what the scientists at East Anglia were grappling with.

Upper Arlington 

Clean Energy Forum

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Hastings Middle School Auditorium

1850 Hastings Lane, Upper Arlington

Join the discussion with panelists:

Ohio State Representative Ted Celeste (D-24 District)

Chairman of the Alternative Energy Committee

Samantha Herd

District Director for Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy (D-15 District)

Caleb Bell, Bricker and Eckler

Justin Milam, Upper Arlington City Planner

Wendy Patton, Policy Matters

Mary Flint, Community Affairs Manager, American Electric Power

Introduction by Eric Zimmer

Tipping Point Renewable Energy

Get the answers to these questions:

• How will federal and state legislation

affect energy use in our city?

• What alternative energy sources make sense?

• What is Gridsmart?

• Will clean energy really bring green jobs?

Sponsored by

 Sustainable Upper Arlington

For more information, contact Diane Sturges at 486-3046.

Please join U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and Battelle Memorial Institute for an informational summit on alternative energy opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  

Date: April 15, 2009  
Time: 10:30 a.m. 
Location: Center of Science and Industry (COSI), 333 W Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio

Speakers will include:
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Jeff Wadsworth, CEO of Battelle Memorial Institute
Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Representatives from the Office of Governor Ted Strickland

This event is free and open to the public. Parking is available at COSI.

To RSVP, click here.

Please join the Wickliffe Progressive School community, UAPA  and Sustainable UA for an Earth Day Event on Saturday, April 25, 2009, at Wickliffe School, 2405 Wickliffe Road. These groups will be working together to get volunteers, Ohio-native plants and monetary donations for a community beautification event in celebration of  Earth Day.   

This is a great way for residents to provide community support for the school, for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to earn merit badges, and for high school students to fulfill community service requirements. Volunteers will be planting trees and plants, pruning old trees, and spreading mulch.

Two shifts are available for volunteers: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon, and 12:00 noon – 3:00 p.m.

To volunteer, send an email to either Kris Rojas at krisrojas@sbcglobal.net or Robyn Harper at robynharper@sbcglobal.net to let them know you're coming, or just simply show up!  Bring a shovel, spade or hand trowel marked with your name, and work gloves.

If you would like to make a monetary donation, please send a check, made payable to Wickliffe PTO, with "Earth Day event" written in the memo line, and send to Wickliffe Progressive School, 2405 Wickliffe Road, UA, 43221.

Mother Earth thanks you!   

Franklin County voters will have the opportunity to approve a 0.75-mill property tax on May 5, 2009.

Why now?
Metro Parks’ current 10-year levy expires at the end of 2009. Central Ohio residents have enjoyed the benefits of the previous 10-year levy. This levy will allow Metro Parks to continue to operate clean, well-maintained, safe parks that are open daily throughout the year and are free to the public while continuing to acquire and manage natural areas to protect wildlife and water resources.

Did Metro Parks fulfill all of its promises during the last levy?
Yes. During the current levy period, Metro Parks added five new parks, acquired more than 7,500 acres of land, built 80 miles of trails, provided educational programming for more than 50,000 school children and thousands of visitors each year, developed programs for senior citizens and urban youth, enhanced protection of wildlife habitat especially in the Darby Watershed, and increased yearly visitation by more than a million people. Each year more than 6 million people enjoy a visit to a Metro Park.

How much will the levy cost?
The cost to the owner of a $100,000 home would be about $23 a year or about six cents a day.

How long will the levy last?
The ballot issue is a proposed 10-year levy, so it would run until 2019.

How much money would the levy provide?
The 0.75- mill levy will provide about $21.5 million a year.

How will Metro Parks use the money from the levy?
Metro Parks will:

• Maintain existing park grounds, trails and other facilities, as well as provide programs and activities throughout the 15 Metro Parks
• Expand programming for school children, senior citizens, and special populations and continue the urban youth initiative
• Build a nature center in the Darby Watershed and develop programs and exhibits to highlight the importance of this valuable water resource to the community
• Acquire land and build 50 miles of trails and manage more of the Greenways Trail system
• Expand the Scioto Audubon Metro Park on the Whittier Peninsula near downtown Columbus
• Open three new parks: 1. Within the Rocky Fork Headwaters in northeast Franklin County in Plain Township near New Albany 2. Along Little Walnut Creek in Madison Township near Canal Winchester and Groveport 3. Along the Scioto River in southern Franklin County near Grove City
• Acquire land and restore habitat to further protect the rare species of Big Darby Creek as a partner in the Darby Accord
• Restore 1,000 acres of wetlands to attract wildlife and improve water quality, continue programs to enhance the forests and prairies at existing parks

How can you help?  The levy committee needs phone bankers, people to display yard signs, letters to the editor, and financial support.

For more information, visit the Metro Parks Levy website.