Big Oil and its Republican friends in Congress are determined to win approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, a 2,147 mile channel to transport extremely dirty tar sands oil from Canada to Texas.

     Despite the President’s recent announcement that he would delay his decision on the project for another 12-18 months, in order to fully assess its environmental impact,  Republicans are trying to force his hand.  On December 13, House Republicans included in a bill to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits language that would force the President to make his Keystone decision within 60 days. 

     Very soon, the measure will be voted on by the Senate.  The good news is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has told Republicans he will halt negotiations on another important year-end spending bill unless Republicans drop their insistence on premature action on Keystone.  And President Obama has said that if a measure forcing him to decide on Keystone reaches his desk, he will veto it.

     Even so, we must make sure our Senators know that we citizens strongly reject this carbon-spewing, water-contaminating project.  You can be sure that Senators are all hearing from the big oil companies involved in the project.  As the wealthiest industry on the planet, Big Oil can–and does–spend vast sums of money to ’get the attention’ of our Members of Congress.

     So please pick up the phone and make two calls, one to each of your U.S. Senators.  You can leave a message on the Senate office constituent voice mail.  Or you can ask to speak to the aide who handles energy matters.  I suggest the latter, even if it means leaving a message on the aide’s machine.  I don’t have the feeling that the constituent message line carries much clout.  You can get your Senators’ names and phone numbers by clicking  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm  Or you can call the U.S. Congress Switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask to be connected to your Senator’s office.

     Please call today  (Wednesday) or tomorrow (Thursday).  The Senate may be voting very soon. 

     For more information on the harm that would come from proceeding with the Keystone XL pipeline, click here:  http://www.tarsandsaction.org/spread-the-word/key-facts-keystone-xl/  –April Moore

     This Monday, October 24, is Food Day.  The purpose of Food Day, according to its organizers, is to transform the American diet.   It’s a big task, they admit, but an essential one.  ”We want to inspire a broad movement of people all over the country who want healthful, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way,” explains my old friend Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Food Day’s sponsor.   In other words, Jacobson says, “we want people to eat real.”

     CSPI has worked for decades to educate the public about the importance of building meals around vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.  And the goals of Food Day are to get Americans to cook real food for their families again, to spend less time at the drive-through and more time at the farmers’ market, to celebrate fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and the farmers who produce them. 

     “What we eat should be bolstering our health,” says Jacobson.   ”But it’s actually contributing to several hundred thousand premature deaths from heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cancer each year.”  Just as important, he adds, “the way our food is produced is all too often harmful to the environment, farm workers, and farm animals.”

     Food Day is about all of us making changes in our lives to support healthful eating and sustainable agriculture.  But it’s also about making societal changes, such as federal policies that support small and mid-sized farms, rather than pouring billions of dollars each year into huge farms that produce monoculture commodity crops.  Farmworkers deserve protection from the harmful pesticides used to grow these vast acreages of commodities.  And ‘factory farms’ that hold millions of chickens, pigs, and cows should be replaced with farms that minimize suffering and avoid the pollution of our soil, water, and air, say Food Day organizers.

     Eaters all over America are celebrating Food Day in some creative ways.  Here are just a few of the planned activities:

• In Homer, Alaska, local farmers will provide high school students with a lunch of roasted root vegetables.  The lunch will follow a “sensual journey lab” in which students will focus on reawakening a sense of taste in their writing.
• In Richmond, Virginia, the Uptown Community Garden will host a pot luck.  People are invited to bring a healthful dish prepared from local products, and enjoy meeting others interested in good, local food.  People can also sign up for a plot in the community garden.
• Missouri State University volunteers in Springfield will coordinate a letter writing campaign calling on Congress to support Food Day principles.
• At Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Downtown Growers Market, city folk will have the chance to meet some of the farmers who grow fruits and vegetables in Albuquerque.  Visitors to the Market can also meet representatives of organizations working to conserve local agricultural land and to promote more healthful school lunches.
• Volunteers in Jeffers, Montana will lend a hand in the end-of-season community garden clean-up, plant perennial crops, install signage and bird houses, a toolshed, and more.  Participants are then eligible to attend a community dinner of locally made foods.

     I am heartened by the growing movement to support healthful, locally grown food, sustainable agriculture, and humane treatment of animals.   And I am impressed by the great number and variety of activities planned all over the country in conjunction with Food Day.  To find a Food Day-related activity near you, just visit the Food Day website at  http://foodday.org/participate/  –April Moore

my sister, my niece, and I LOVING lunch at a restaurant in Meadowview, VA, which serves primarily locally grown foods

All over the country, people will be holding events designed to get all of us thinking about the importance of

     The world’s major oil companies, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the notorious Koch Brothers are pushing hard to get President Obama to approve a project that would have a devastating impact on our climate and environment.

     President Obama will decide, in the next month or two, whether to issue a Presidential Permit to allow construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.  If built, the pipeline would transport up to 900,000 gallons of  tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, all the way to Texas coast refineries, 1500 miles  south.  The pipeline would pass through many fragile ecosystems, through farmland, and over the Ogallala aquifer, one of the largest aquifers in the world and a major source of drinking water in the U.S.  

     The decision to allow or disallow the construction of this pipeline through the U.S. rests with the President.  An executive order, in place since the 1960s, dictates that a U.S President should allow a pipeline to cross a U.S. border only if it is in the national interest.  The President can act without Congressional authority.

     Many climate scientists, environmentalists, agricultural leaders, organizations of indigenous peoples, and many, many concerned citizens are calling on the President to say ‘no’ to this pipeline.  And there are many reasons why.  Here are a few :

• Tar sands oil, or bitumen, emits three times more greenhouse gases during production than does conventional gasoline.
• For every barrel of tar sands oil produced, three barrels of water are polluted and dumped into toxic pools.
• Tar sands extraction requires the strip mining of large tracts of pristine forest.  A vast Canadian forest roughly the size of Florida is slated for extraction.
• Oil pipeline breaks are not uncommon.  In the last decade, there have been 2,500 accidents in pipelines, resulting in 161 human deaths.
• Replacing the crude oil currently being used by refineries with tar sands oil will increase our greenhouse emissions by 38 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.  This is equivalent to the emissions of 6 million cars.
• The extraction of tar sands oil is highly toxic to workers and others living nearby.  Higher than normal levels of cancers, renal failure, lupus, and hyperthyroidism are all found near tar sands operations.

     Although there are other oil pipelines in the United States, scientists explain that the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is so large that it would overwhelm our ability to meaningfully address climate change.  NASA scientist Dr. James Hanson explains that we must phase out coal emissions by 2030 and leave tar sands in the ground in order to get back to a stable climate.  “If the tar sands are thrown into the mix,” he says, “it’s essentially game over.”

     Since August 20, climate change activists and hundreds of others have been demonstrating daily in front of the White House.  They are urging President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline.  These people are calling on the President to make good on his campaign pledge that with his election, “the rise of the oceans would begin to slow and the planet start to heal.” 

     Daily protests will continue through this Saturday, September 3.  The protesters are serious.  They have committed to complete non-violence, and they are willing to face arrest.  To date, almost 400 of the demonstrators have been arrested for civil disobedience.  Their illegal act has been standing or sitting still in front of the White House.  On the first day, many people were arrested and held in jail for two nights.  Since then, those arrested each day have been offered the chance to pay $100 in lieu of going to jail, explains my friend Nancy Kelly, of Alexandria, Virginia, one of those who has been arrested. 

     Nancy is glad she is participating in the multi-day demonstration.  “I’ve been so distressed and saddened to see our continuous reliance on oil, even though there are other alternatives available,” she says.  Having signed numerous petitions and donated money to organizations working to halt climate change, she says the demonstrations and arrest have provided her a possibly more effective way to urge the President to avert a climate disaster.

     I urge all who care about the climate and the environment we are leaving our children to join Nancy and all the others who have been arrested.  Please urge President Obama to say ‘no’ to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. 

     You can call the White House hotline at 202-456-1111 and leave your message for the President.  You can also write a letter.  Letters sent through the  mail take longer to write than an email, but for that reason they may carry more weight.   You can learn more about the impact of tar sands oil and connect with many of your fellow citizens who are working to stop it by visiting the website http://www.tarsandsaction.org/invitation/

Day 6 of the demonstration--photo by Joshua Kahn Russell

     Over the last few years, I have learned about invasive plants in our yards and woods and about why exotics are a problem.  Now I am learning about something I never even knew existed–invasive species in our oceans!

     According to David Helvarg, an ocean conservationist and author of Fifty Ways to Save the Ocean, “invasive species have taken up residence in United States waters and have eaten, displaced, spread disease to, or otherwise threatened native creatures and their habitats.”  In San Francisco Bay, a particularly damaged area, more than 130 invasive species are threatening the survival of the entire native ecosystem, Helvarg explains in his book.

     How do all these invasive species get into our waters?  The major way, apparently, is through the arrival of large ships.   Before launch, ships typically take in a large amount of water as ballast, to stabilize the ship.  Then when the ship arrives at its destination, the ballast water is released.  Every day, millions of gallons of ballast water are released into U.S. ports, harbors, and bays.  And contained in this water are many foreign marine species–from plankton to clams to predator fish.

     Commercial ships aren’t the only way invasive species enter our waters.  Small boat operators, fishermen, divers, pet owners, travelers, aquarium owners, even seafood lovers, are also sources of invasive species in our marine waters.  An exotic invasion can occur when people dump plants, algae, or even empty shells, which may contain living larvae, into bodies of water that did not harbor them before.   “Something as innocuous as an outboard motor or scuba tank, if not properly washed first, could transport an invasive species when it it is moved from one ocean to another,” Helvarg explains.

     The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Coast Guard, and other federal agencies are attempting to regulate ballast waters to reduce the introduction of invasive species.  And there are steps the rest of us can take too, to reduce the invasion of ‘exotic critters’ into our waterways:

1. Don’t flush kitty litter down the toilet.  Cat feces contain toxoplasma, a genus of deadly pathogens that, along with opossum droppings, have been found to be one of the causes of sea otter deaths off the California coast.  Kitty litter can also clog the toilet.
2. After eating seafood, don’t dump oyster shells or other shellfish or seafood waste in the water.  They may contain live ’spat’ (shellfish larvae), pathogens, and parasites.
3. Bag unused fishing bait and bait-packing material, and dispose of it in the garbage; do not release it in the water.  Many bait worms and even some of the vegetation they’re packed in are exotic species imported from Southeast Asia.–April Moore

USGS photo by Michael F. Diggles

     It’s time to pick up the phone and call your Member of Congress.

     This week the U.S. House of Representatives will take up an anti-environmental “spending” bill that would destroy many of the nation’s most important environmental protections, while also slashing funding for the Environmental Protection Agency.

     Under the guise of ‘cutting spending,’ the House Interior Appropriations bill is a Republican effort to eviscerate decades of environmental progress supported by a majority of Americans of all political parties.  No, this bill is not about cutting the deficit;  it guts environmental programs, while continuing $4 billion a year to the big oil companies in taxpayer subsidies.

     The bill recently passed in committee, with all Republicans supporting it and all Democrats opposing it, will likely be acted upon by the full House this week.

     Here’s what the House Interior Appropriations bill would do:

• Exempt Big Oil’s massive offshore drilling operations from Clean Air Act requirements designed to protect our health and our environment.
• Prohibit the EPA from using funds to reduce carbon dioxide pollution that leads to climate change; and keep the agency from enforcing Clean Water Act protections for thousands of American streams and wetlands.
• Slash funding for National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund; the Forest Legacy Program and the Legacy Roads and Trails Program.
• Slash the enormously successful and popular Land and Water Conservation Fund by 80% — all but terminating it. The LWCF uses a portion of funds from offshore oil drilling revenues to help conserve federal, state and local open space, outdoor recreation opportunities, trails, and park land nationwide. As states make their own deep cuts to budgets, this program grows in importance.
• Eliminate water pollution laws for logging roads on national forests and allow for expanded off-road vehicle use on national forests in California.
• Overturn a recent Obama Administration decision to prohibit uranium mining at Grand Canyon National Park.

     So please contact your Member of Congress in the next day or so.  Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.  Give your Rep’s name and ask to be connected to his or her office.  Because of all that’s at stake, I recommend waiting to speak to a staffer, rather than leaving a message on a machine that is likely checked once a day at the most.

     Please urge others to call as well.—April Moore

     We can use our household appliances more efficiently, not just by running them less often, but by paying attention to the time of day when we do run them.

     During the summer months, the 3 pm-7 pm period is typically the time when demand for electricity is greatest, according to electricity providers.  Many utilities– municipal, investor-owned, and co-ops alike–urge consumers to avoid running appliances during those hours if possible.  Utility managers are trying to spread the demand for power throughout the day, rather than concentrate it in a single three or four hour period.

     There are two reasons why it is better for us to run our appliances earlier or later in the day to avoid the peak demand hours.  The first is a matter of convenience for ourselves and our neighbors.  The second is an environmental issue.

     By spreading demand for electricity throughout the summer day, rather than concentrating it in the 3-7 pm period, we help avoid power outages that can result from a demand that is greater than the system can handle.

     Since utilities determine the need to provide greater capacity (i.e. build a new power plant) on the utility’s ability to meet peak demand, it makes sense that consumer efforts to reduce peak demand will help avoid the need to build a new plant.  A new coal-powered plant increases the amount of mercury and other toxins in the air, and also means more carbon dioxide emissions.  A new nuclear plant saddles future generations with the burden of containing radiation for a very long time.

     So next time you’re about to run the dishwasher, clothes washing machine, dryer (if you’re not using Mother Nature’s dryer–the clothesline), air conditioner,  automatic swimming pool cleaning sweep, or other electrical appliance, you might want to check the time.  If it’s between 3:00 and 7:00 pm, ask yourself if the job can wait until after 7.  Or even until the next morning.  –April Moore 

     An eco-friendly driveway?  What does a driveway have to do with the environment anyway?

     Well, the answer is ‘more than you might think.’  Here’s a surprising fact:  One inch of rainfall on the typical home’s asphalt driveway results in about 900 gallons of runoff water that enters local storm drains and finds its way into streams, rivers, and ultimately the ocean.

     And what’s wrong with water running off the driveway and into the sea?  “Waters that run off hard surfaces like pavement do not have the opportunity to soak back into the earth,” writes David Helvarg, founder of the ocean advocacy organization Blue Frontier.  “Instead of being absorbed and filtered through the soil, the rainwater pools and floods, picking up debris, oily wastes, and other contaminants and depositing them in local waterways,” Helvarg explains.

     But a driveway made of gravel, crushed seashells, or wood chips is permeable.  Rain water soaks into the ground, and runoff is greatly reduced.  But if you still want a hard surface driveway, says Helvarg, you can still minimize runoff by installing widely spaced concrete slabs or bricks and filling the gaps with sand or grass.  Or you can choose paving blocks called “permeable pavers.”  They look like ordinary bricks but have channels that funnel water between the blocks, allowing it to percolate into the ground.–April Moore

     For a couple of weeks now, two old cell phone batteries have been taking up space on our kitchen counter.  My husband and I got new batteries for our cell phones, but what to do with the old batteries? 

     I knew I couldn’t just throw them in the trash because they contain toxic metals and should be kept out of the environment.   Although tiny and innocuous-looking, they are classified ‘hazardous waste’ by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.   So safe disposal matters.

     I did a little research, and I am happy to report that getting rid of old cell phone batteries safely is actually quite easy.  An outfit known as the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) works with a variety of retailers and organizations to take all types of cell phone batteries:  nickel-cadmium (ni-cd), nickel metal hybrid (Ni-MH), and Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries.  Lowes, Home Depot, Staples, and many other retail chains offer a drop-off program.  Consumers can simply drop off their old cell phone batteries (and other household batteries as well, for that matter), and know that these batteries will be disposed of safely.  They will not be contributing to air pollution through incineration nor to contamination of groundwater through landfill disposal.

     But my research also informed me that while many retail chains have a policy of accepting old cell phone batteries, not all of their individual stores actually do.  To find a
site near you that actually does participate in the RBRC program, just click here:  http://www.ehso.com/ehso2.php?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rbrc.org/consumer/uslocate.html 

     Here, at the Call2Recycle website, you can enter your zip code to find the nearest stores and organizations that will accept your old cell phone batteries for safe treatment.  I live in a rural area, and I was pleasantly surprised that a large number of stores in the nearest big town of Harrisonburg, VA, popped up, along with phone numbers.  So I can check by phone to make sure these individual outlets actually do participate in the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation program.  Then I’ll just take the cell phone batteries (if I can remember!) with me next time I head down to Harrisonburg.  And since outlets that receive cell phone batteries also take AA, AAA, and other household batteries, I can just save up all used batteries to drop off on trips to Harrisonburg.–April Moore

     I used to kind of like these tall, straight, slender plants topped with tiny white blossoms.  I thought they must be some sort of wildflower. 

     But then I took the Virginia Master Naturalist training last year, and I learned otherwise.  This plant is not some benign local flower;  it’s garlic mustard, described on the Northwest Ohio Nature website as “public enemy number one in a native habitat,” a biological disaster.  

     Garlic mustard is native to Europe, and it was first spotted on this side of the Atlantic in 1868, on Long Island.  Since then, the plant has spread across North America, thanks to the movement of humans and animals.  As of 2000, garlic mustard was growing in 34 states and four Canadian provinces, according to the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension Service.  The largest U.S. concentrations are in the midwest and the northeast.   

SO WHAT MAKES GARLIC MUSTARD SUCH A BAD THING?

     “Garlic mustard is one of the few non-native herbs capable of invading and dominating forest understory communities,” according to MSU.  The plant can grow in virtually any type of soil and can thrive in low levels of light.  A single plant can produce thousands of seeds.  And these seeds can lie dormant for up to nine years and still germinate.  Because garlic mustard begins growing very early in the spring, it gets a head start on other flowering plants and tree seedlings.   Garlic mustard “diverts resources from native spring woodland ephemeral plants such as liverworts, toothworts, solomon-seal, trilliums,” and many other wildflowers, according to MSU.  In a forest habitat, garlic mustard displaces native plants, hampers the regeneration of tree species, alters the natural associations between plants and fungi, and even alters soil composition and structure!

     I am beginning to understand that invasive plants are not just weeds, a nuisance because they are not the plants one chose.  I now ‘get it’ that a plant as invasive as garlic mustard can create serious and long-term effects in native habitats.

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT GARLIC MUSTARD?

     The plant can be controlled by homeowners, but it takes a lot of diligence and persistence.  Herbicides like Roundup work well.  Experts recommend using the herbicide on the young leaves.  The larger plants can also be sprayed if they haven’t already gone to seed. 

     Many gardeners and naturalists advocate ‘pulling on sight.”  And they suggest putting the pulled plants into a garbage can or bag because, if left on the ground, the pulled plants can still go to seed.  If a can or bag is unavailable, some gardeners advise gathering the pulled plants into isolated piles to at least limit their growth to a small area. 

WHAT DOES GARLIC MUSTARD LOOK LIKE?

     A biennial plant, garlic mustard looks different during its first year than during its second.  In its first year, the plant is close to the ground and has scalloped, kidney-shaped leaves.  These early leaves have a garlic-like smell when crushed.  This smell fades as the plant matures.  During the second year, the plant grows tall, and its upper leaves are more triangle-shaped.  Tiny white flowers grow atop the stem, and later, slender green fruits appear, radiating outward from below the flowers.

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     So unless you are lucky enough to live in an area that has not been visited by garlic mustard, happy pulling this spring and summer.–April Moore