Environment Ohio recently released a story congratulating (former) Governor Taft for signing HB 251 which creates standards for new state funded construction to be of an energy efficient design which includes lifecycle analysis costs and renewable energy sources. Also included is language requiring all state vehicles to be purchased having the ability to operate on alternative fuels and an allocation for advanced energy ("Such energy includes, but is not limited to, wind power; geothermal energy; solar thermal energy; and energy produced by micro turbines in distributed generation applications with high electric efficiencies, by combined heat and power applications, by fuel cells powered by hydrogen derived from wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, landfill gas, or geothermal sources, or by solar electric generation, landfill gas, or hydroelectric generation") research and implementation which includes access to funds for research and development.
There has been quite a bit of press about how an advanced energy such as wind power can double the efficiency of farms and ranches, how the agricultural community is learning to embrace the possibilities of adding wind energy to their communities and how even utilizing small power generators can just be used to power individual farms.
Ohio sits in a pretty convenient location to harness some wind power and I know I am starting to sound like a broken record when I repeatedly advocate for Cleveland especially to persuade some alternative energy manufacturing companies (wind, solar, etc) to re-locate here, especially by using the region as a physical demonstration of what alternative advanced energies can do but I don't mind. I will just have to keep talking until someone listens. Or get a company to move here on my own.
Ohio Citizen Action, Ohio's "largest environmental organization" called out Mittel Steel for what can be construed as creative emission accounting. Basically Mittel is using historic industry averages as reported values for pollution emission instead of measuring output from it's blast furnaces. Ohio Citizen Action states that these blast furnaces are "the facility’s biggest sources of fine and coarse particle pollution, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and organic chemicals."
Mittel is using a "loophole" in Federal Air Pollution reporting rules, claims OCA, which is also claiming that the historic average of industry pollution emissions contains samples of steel plants that utilize improved control equipment. You can read more about it in Smoke and Mirrors: Mittal Steel's Playbook to Cover Up Their Pollution (4 Megs Word .doc).
While the area here is indeed murky and one could well point out that it is the Federal Air Polluting reporting rules that are at fault and Mittal is complying to the letter of the law (perhaps not the intent). I want to attempt to put in my opinion that while I do see Mittal's reporting technique indeed shady and perhaps dishonest I don't believe that the problem rests on their laurels as greatly as it does on our own for not demanding change in Federal Regulation. I am disappointed that it takes the poisoning of our communities to drive people to action instead of more altruistic means but perhaps that is what it takes to spur our society into action.
The question remains, how do we change this? How can we affect the Federal Regulation? Can we catch the ear of Congress in an attempt to create more stringent regulations? I hope so.
Whilst perusing a Richters 2007 Herb Catalogue (US edition) I (re)stumbled upon a rather nifty device with the Google-unfortunate name of Potmaker. While really nothing more then a small altered wooden pestle and mortar type mechanism this rather simple and pretty dang neato device allows you to make your own biodegradable plant pots from newspaper strips. Now you can start your seedlings and easily transplant them into larger garden beds without using any plastic garden pots. They usually run about $10-$15 a pop.
Many companies have their own "potmaker" licensed for their own sale, hence the Richter link and the Burpee link. Just Google "Potmaker" to find more prices, etc.
A while back I had posted about how "Voices and Choices" had started an online survey called "Choicebook". Well the tallies are in.
The final report, viewable in a .pdf format HERE, breaks down who contributed data, the concerns raised/collected, and what those surveyed listed as priorities and goals.
I don't want to ruin the surprise, mostly because repeating all the information here in a text format without all the pretty colors seems rather idiotic. Instead I will suggest that you take some time and check out the Challenges, Goals and Solutions yourself. Heck, you took the time to fill out the survey, you might as well see what the results were.
-edited to add image. Check out how I have become "Captain Follow-up"!
Sometimes I do think that I am rather naive. There has been much in the news about ODOT's recent problems and the possibility of a how a new direction in government could force a turnaround for Ohio's transportation public image. Fine, I don't want to argue about goofy spending and fund raising tactics. I also don't want to get into any argument about what political party does what.
However, the shift (or predicted shift) in the governor's mansion seemed to be just the thing to stall the innerbelt bridge project which allows us, as a city, to sit back, breathe a bit and think about exactly what we want to accomplish here.
The whole reason I bring this up is because I was recently made aware of David Beach's exchange with ODOT about putting a bike path on the innerbelt bridge to allow easier access to the city via non-auto transportation. There are some questions and arguments poised here that we should all consider. First from the prospect of ease of access to the city if only to make it more friendly to those that actually want to get there. Secondly from a health standpoint, more people biking should lead to a healthier community (barring ingesting auto exhaust). Thirdly there is the opportunity to create a more community driven image for the city by accentuating the interaction between people on the street (pedestrians, cyclists) and the areas through which they pass.
The prospect of getting around Cleveland without a car excites me. Not only because making the city more accessible to its inhabitants increases the sense of independence and freedom, but also because it allows us this independence at a low cost that is not directly tied to "international happenings" nor to a manner of transportation that has proven itself unhealthy as a lifestyle and as a producer of pollution.
One would hope that ODOT would understand this and either plan for better pedestrian/cycling traffic routes or would attempt to make better arguments against said alternative transportation routes if only to better appear that the considerations were made.
Oh, yeah, Happy New Year. Get out and bike more.
This last Christmas I had received some salsa and taco seasonings that came from the Cleveland Botanical Garden Green Corps.
Similar to the New Agrarian Center Green Corps is a community outreach program for urban youth that acts as a seasonal employment program. The goal of the program is to introduce "youth (ages 14-19) to horticulture, environmental stewardship and basic entrepreneurial skills".
Green Corps utilizes 3 local learning gardens to practice these skills and then sell their produce at area farmer's markets. The youth also take part in the production of "Ripe from Downtown" salsa (the gift package that I received) which is available at Cleveland Botanical Garden Store, Mustard Seed Market, Zagara's Family Marketplace, the Flavor of Ohio and others.
Programs like this strengthen community ties but also can help supplement and develop a local/regional diet. I am excited to try out my salsa basket and find it so very easy to help support programs like this (I do love to eat).
Environment Ohio recently released a story congratulating (former) Governor Taft for signing HB 251 which creates standards for new state funded construction to be of an energy efficient design which includes lifecycle analysis costs and renewable energy sources. Also included is language requiring all state vehicles to be purchased having the ability to operate on alternative fuels and an allocation for advanced energy ("Such energy includes, but is not limited to, wind power; geothermal energy; solar thermal energy; and energy produced by micro turbines in distributed generation applications with high electric efficiencies, by combined heat and power applications, by fuel cells powered by hydrogen derived from wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, landfill gas, or geothermal sources, or by solar electric generation, landfill gas, or hydroelectric generation") research and implementation which includes access to funds for research and development.
