Sunday Patricia Schuba and I represented the Labadie Environmental Organization at an information session held at the administration building in Forest Park. (There is a wonderful room for rent there that holds about 75 people - great for "teach ins.") We were "in solidarity" with the 50,000 people in D.C. for the FORWARD CLIMATE rally.
Our first topic was oil pipelines which was the main focus of the rally in D.C. Stopping the Keystone pipeline expansion is a top priority of people concerned about climate change and the destruction of land and water in the midwest U.S. But the Keystone is not the only pipeline being planned to bring tar sands oil from western Canada to coasts on the Gulf of Mexico, Maine and British Columbia. Question #1: Why going to refineries on coasts???? Answer: to be sold on the open world market and shipped to other countries. So it's a lie to say this new source of oil will lower gas prices in the U.S. And the few jobs it will create are temporary. Compared to the damage being done to earth and water, the jobs are worthless.
I'm not a chemist and didn't understand some of the nitty gritty about tar sands oil, but I learned that it is REALLY nitty and gritty. It takes a lot of energy to get the junk out of the earth, so the only way it's economically worthwhile is for oil prices to stay over $80 a barrel. (I think I see a pattern here !!)
If you haven't already called and emailed the White House, please do so today. We will not sacrifice our crop land and water supply for oil barons and pipeline builders to enrich themselves. White House: (202) 956-1111 president@whitehouse.gov
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Coal was, of course, a big topic at the info session because St. Louis is home to the world's biggest polluters - Peabody, Arch, Patriot to name a few. Peabody is the world's worst offender and is #1 in contributing to changes in the climate. Local environmentalists have been doing "actions" at Peabody headquarters downtown recently. As if the company's hands weren't dirty enough from selling a product that produces the largest concentration of carbon into the atmosphere, they are also shortchanging the miners and workers who were promised health care after retirement. Peabody claims they don't owe those workers anything because that part of the company was "spun off" to Patriot Coal Company. And, of course, Patriot says they never made those promises to the miners so don't owe them anything. You may have seen ads on TV recently by the United Mine Workers. There aren't enough words to describe how morally reprehensible this practice is. And it's happening right under our noses.
Speaking of noses, I learned that the pollution you can't see is even more damaging to health than the pollution you can see. Big particles don't get all the way down into the lungs, but small ones do. And they stay there forever and destroy the elasticity of the lung tissue. St. Louis has one of the highest asthma rates among children in the country. Although medical practitioners know this and try to speak out, the real power is at the top of the medical industry in St. Louis. (Yes, I meant to say "industry," because that's what it is. If they offered "health care," they would concentrate on keeping us healthy rather than waiting until we're sick.) This is personal for me because I live in Franklin County about 15 miles from the Ameren coal-fired plant in Labadie, and COPD rates are highest near coal fired power plants.
We were shown a satellite photo of the Labadie plant on the Missouri River and the difference in water temperature going into and out of the plant. Needless to say, the fish who need cool water to survive don't make it past the plant. And don't even get me started on Ameren's plans to build a 400 acre coal ash landfill in the floodplain. The process by which Ameren has been able to move this incredibly stupid idea through the "deciders" wouldn't even make a good movie because no one would believe it. The Franklin County P & Z Commission held hearings where they didn't allow anyone to talk about Ameren specifically. As if there were any other utility companies wanting to build a landfill in the Missouri River floodplain! I've never seen Kabuki theatre, but I suspect the machinations of the county commissioners to give Ameren everything they wanted would make an excellent production.
Our first topic was oil pipelines which was the main focus of the rally in D.C. Stopping the Keystone pipeline expansion is a top priority of people concerned about climate change and the destruction of land and water in the midwest U.S. But the Keystone is not the only pipeline being planned to bring tar sands oil from western Canada to coasts on the Gulf of Mexico, Maine and British Columbia. Question #1: Why going to refineries on coasts???? Answer: to be sold on the open world market and shipped to other countries. So it's a lie to say this new source of oil will lower gas prices in the U.S. And the few jobs it will create are temporary. Compared to the damage being done to earth and water, the jobs are worthless.
I'm not a chemist and didn't understand some of the nitty gritty about tar sands oil, but I learned that it is REALLY nitty and gritty. It takes a lot of energy to get the junk out of the earth, so the only way it's economically worthwhile is for oil prices to stay over $80 a barrel. (I think I see a pattern here !!)
If you haven't already called and emailed the White House, please do so today. We will not sacrifice our crop land and water supply for oil barons and pipeline builders to enrich themselves. White House: (202) 956-1111 president@whitehouse.gov
**************************************
Coal was, of course, a big topic at the info session because St. Louis is home to the world's biggest polluters - Peabody, Arch, Patriot to name a few. Peabody is the world's worst offender and is #1 in contributing to changes in the climate. Local environmentalists have been doing "actions" at Peabody headquarters downtown recently. As if the company's hands weren't dirty enough from selling a product that produces the largest concentration of carbon into the atmosphere, they are also shortchanging the miners and workers who were promised health care after retirement. Peabody claims they don't owe those workers anything because that part of the company was "spun off" to Patriot Coal Company. And, of course, Patriot says they never made those promises to the miners so don't owe them anything. You may have seen ads on TV recently by the United Mine Workers. There aren't enough words to describe how morally reprehensible this practice is. And it's happening right under our noses.
Speaking of noses, I learned that the pollution you can't see is even more damaging to health than the pollution you can see. Big particles don't get all the way down into the lungs, but small ones do. And they stay there forever and destroy the elasticity of the lung tissue. St. Louis has one of the highest asthma rates among children in the country. Although medical practitioners know this and try to speak out, the real power is at the top of the medical industry in St. Louis. (Yes, I meant to say "industry," because that's what it is. If they offered "health care," they would concentrate on keeping us healthy rather than waiting until we're sick.) This is personal for me because I live in Franklin County about 15 miles from the Ameren coal-fired plant in Labadie, and COPD rates are highest near coal fired power plants.
We were shown a satellite photo of the Labadie plant on the Missouri River and the difference in water temperature going into and out of the plant. Needless to say, the fish who need cool water to survive don't make it past the plant. And don't even get me started on Ameren's plans to build a 400 acre coal ash landfill in the floodplain. The process by which Ameren has been able to move this incredibly stupid idea through the "deciders" wouldn't even make a good movie because no one would believe it. The Franklin County P & Z Commission held hearings where they didn't allow anyone to talk about Ameren specifically. As if there were any other utility companies wanting to build a landfill in the Missouri River floodplain! I've never seen Kabuki theatre, but I suspect the machinations of the county commissioners to give Ameren everything they wanted would make an excellent production.
The court case trying to stop the landfill from being built has gone to the appellate level. Meanwhile, to hedge their bets, Ameren has asked the powers-that-be in Jeff City to change the definition of "infrastructure" to include the farm land near the plant so they can make an end run around the regulations. (Side note: Ameren is a big funder of parties for Missouri legislators who attend meetings of the American Legislative Exchange Council.)
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For those of you who live in St. Louis City, you should be aware that "A foreign company with a lousy record wants access to your St. Louis water." Missouri Coalition for the Environment is urging citizens to call Comptroller Darlene Green at (314) 622-4389, Mayor Slay at (314) 622-3201, and President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed at (314) 622-4114 and tell them to "DUMP VEOLIA." There are lots of good reasons to stop this deal, and they are listed at www.moenviron.org If you are the activist type, there will be a rally this Wednesday, February 20th at 2 p.m. at St. Louis City Hall, 1200 Market Street. Meet in the rotunda at 1:30.
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By far the most depressing segment of the program was about the next "free trade" agreement being negotiated in secret right now. As if NAFTA and CAFTA weren't bad enough, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is even worse. It is a massive new international trade agreement being pushed by the U.S. on behalf of transnational corporations. Countries that will take part include US, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. All the usual suspects are involved - Big Oil, Big Ag and Wall Street Brokers. As with the other trade agreements, manufacturers are looking for cheap labor, cheap natural resources and little or no environmental regulations.
Some of you may have been following the controversy about the Doe Run lead mining and smelting plant in Peru. We were shown a large photograph of the plant and the devastated landscape surrounding it. Of course there is no life in the river, and the mountain in the background is gray instead of green. The company says it is planting trees to replace the ones they've killed. But what they don't say is that no trees can survive in such toxic soil. You can imagine the lead content in the children's blood near that plant.
What was most shocking to me, although I guess it shouldn't have been, is that companies doing business in the "partner" countries can sue the government of those countries for loss of revenue if the people there insist on some environmental protections. So these megacorporations suck billions of dollars every year out of extremely poor countries like Peru and El Salvador as payment for "harming" their investments and lowering their profit margins if the countries don't play ball. And they can't just drop out of the trade pacts because they will be hit with boycotts of their own goods for export. (Are you screaming and tearing your hair out yet?)
So what can we do? Not much. About all we have for leverage is putting pressure on Senators who have to approve the TPP and ask that they:
.....create good jobs in the US and stop offshoring them
.....protect the environment and our climate
.....defend the sovereignty of nations against attacks by corporations.
You can write or call Sen. McCaskill (202) 224-6154 and Sen. Blunt (202) 224-5721 to tell them you aware of what's happening behind closed doors and you are horrified. Lots more good info from the Sierra Club at www.sierraclub.org/trade or www.cwa-union.org/tpp.
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One more thing - - Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) have started a Sustainable Energy ballot initiative petition campaign, and they need people to carry the petition in the City of St. Louis. They want a vote in the City on shifting some of the TIF money from already wealthy developers to smaller companies in the sustainable energy business. www.organizemo.org or www.climateactionstl.com
Despite the seemingly overwhelming task ahead of us, the day was well spent. We not only learned more about climate change realities, we saw how many amazing people are working on their own little piece of the puzzle. Some of these really smart folks are hosting the next teach-in on Wednesday, March 6th at 7 p.m. at Legacy Books and Cafe, 5249 Delmar. Sponsored by Gateway Green Alliance and Universal African Peoples Organization.
The good news is that the public is finally waking up to the climate change reality. There will still be boatloads of money dumped into political campaigns to keep the corpuppets in power. But, with all the devastating storms, the wildfires scorching whole mountain ranges and the disappearing glaciers even the most hard core "deniers" have to face reality. When they can't grow wheat anywhere in the "grain belt" of the US, maybe they'll pay attention. Until then, we just have to keep plugging away trying to get the message out. Letters to editors of papers are actually very effective. Please just do it !!
Susan Cunningham
February 18, 2013
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