In light of the recent environmental tragedy in Japan, awareness of the growing threat of environmental toxins and pollutants has undoubtedly risen. When toxic materials enter our air and water supply, the consequences can be dire. Because the risks can be so severe, the Environmental Protection Agency has been tasked with the job of protecting the public health from these potential threats. Unfortunately, such a job is not too easy when some of the leading polluters are backed by corporate lobbyists who possess nearly endless funds. Proposing a legislation that limits greenhouse gas emissions throws a mighty wrench into the well-oiled machinery of corporate greed.
Posts tagged ‘environment’
Found Objects for a Friday Afternoon: Green Jobs in the Fox Valley
by n0madic, posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 pmDeKalb County in a Fight to Stop a Mega-Dump
by dkenney, posted on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at 9:49 pmKendall and Kane counties have had their fights and won, and now it is DeKalb County who is in a battle to defend their land, water, and air from Waste Management Inc’s (WMI) attempt to expand the DeKalb county landfill. There are many sides to this attempted expansion that is the latest in the attempts of international corporations to push around small rural counties that are struggling in the present economic climate
The present landfill
that Waste Management is operating is 88 acres. It takes in about 100,000 tons of solid waste each year, 70,000 tons from DeKalb County and 10% from outside the county. The expansion would allow Waste Management to take in 2,000 tons per day or over 500,000 tons a year. They want to expand the landfill an additional 500 acres, turning prime farmland and several eco-systems into a ugly landfill. When completed there will be a mountain of garbage nearly a 100 feet high running for 2.5 miles along route I-88 just east of DeKalb. The garbage will be trucked in from 16 northeast Illinois counties. There will be a truck load coming in every five minutes.Ultra-Efficient Green Buildings –- One Solution to Global Warming
by John Laesch, posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 pmMost scientists, supported by concrete data, agree that the earth is heating up. Over the last ten years the average temperature has climbed about 1 degree Fahrenheit around the globe. And, even if you choose to reject science and the assessment that global temperatures and sea levels are rising, it would be difficult to ignore the economic recession. Rising gas prices compound the economic crisis caused by the mortgage meltdown and rising unemployment numbers
So, what do we do about it?
Do we all put solar panels on our roofs? Is it enough to replace our light bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs)? Do we have what it takes to start carpooling to work, turning the thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer? I started asking myself all of these questions after being laid off from my last job as a carpenter at the LaSalle Nuclear Power Station (a touch of irony) in January of 2009.
Initially I came to the conclusion that we should focus our efforts on conserving energy or producing energy from non-carbon emitting sources like windmills or solar panels. It turns out that solar panels are actually a poor return on investment and wind only makes sense in rural areas. Nuclear invites controversy while we try to develop a better way of disposing of nuclear waste.