By Wendy Bredhold

With Jim Poyser, executive director of Earth Charter Indiana.

Moms Clean Air Force joined a busload of Hoosier Sierra Club folks who testified at the EPA listening session on carbon pollution standards for existing coal-fired power plants in Chicago last Friday. It was so satisfying to tell EPA officials about how air pollution from coal plants affects Indiana — and to express my deep concern about the future if we don’t regulate CO2.

Here’s what I told EPA:

Good afternoon. My name is Wendy Bredhold and I am here on behalf of my two-year-old daughter, Beatrice Rose, and the community where we live, Evansville, Indiana, within 62 miles of 17 coal-fired power plants – including some of the largest and worst-polluting plants in North America.

Beatrice was born at the height of summer, when air quality is typically at its worst. We brought her home on a day when the air was unhealthy for “sensitive groups,” a category that includes the very young, the very old, the sick, and anyone who is active or works outdoors. In effect: everyone. But everyone has a right to breathe clean air. We should not be trapped in our homes because of air pollution.

If Beatrice doesn’t develop asthma and join the area children who attend Camp Nota-Gonna-Wheeze in the summer, effects to her health may not be immediately evident. But we know air pollution from coal plants causes cancer, heart disease, and respiratory illness, and that hospitalizations increase on air quality alert days. All the parents in my circle know these things, but we push them to the back of our minds, not willing to give up homes, jobs, extended family and friends.

I could not come before you today without addressing how coal-fired power plants impact my community, but we are here to talk about carbon emissions, and these plants are also the largest single source of global warming pollution, a threat to all life on our planet.

Because I am here on my daughter’s behalf, I speak today in defense of the creatures she loves. Scientists predict that global warming will cause mass extinctions in the near future.

Beatrice loves birds, insects, and animals of all sorts. I’m so proud of her; she can already identify countless creatures. She is as fascinated by the tiniest snail as she is by the exotic animals she knows from books.

But I don’t feel confident that the world I’m teaching her about is the world that she’ll grow up to live in. Will the Monarch butterflies return every year? Will hummingbirds and herons be a distant childhood memory?

Will there be penguins, polar bears, and reindeer? Or will they be as extinct as the dinosaurs?

Her sense of wonder at the world is boundless, but she has no idea how fragile it is – and how threatened. If she grows up to be a zoologist or a wildlife biologist, at the rate we’re going she may only be able to document the disappearance of species after species.

A world without these creatures is a diminished world. Is that a world we want to pass along to future generations? Don’t our children deserve to inherit the same planet we grew up on?

Please take action and regulate carbon emissions. Protect our communities and the world we love. Thank you for listening.

Now it’s your turn.

TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION

By Lori Popkewitz Alper

 

When my oldest son was born I remember the excitement surrounding furnishing and decorating his nursery. We went to a local baby furniture shop in Boston to search for the perfect crib and mattress. The options were plentiful and as a new parent it was overwhelming.

Over the years I never gave a lot of thought to mattresses. They were solely a place where each of us rested our heads at night-with comfort being the prevailing concern. But the truth is conventional mattresses can contain a whole host of toxic chemicals - from petrochemicals, to dyes and additives and chemical flame retardants.

Infants and toddlers spend close to half of their early life in contact with a mattress and they are far more vulnerable to toxic chemicals than adults.

Retailers Don’t Provide Enough Information

A new report evaluates how infant crib mattress manufacturers meet flammability standards and how well retailers do in providing information to consumers. According to the report:

The good news is that four crib mattress makers have redesigned some or all of their mattresses to avoid chemicals and added barriers. The bad news is that retailers don’t provide enough information for a shopper to identify safer products.

Why Isn’t More Information About Mattress Safety Available?

Unfortunately, the current laws that are meant to protect us from harmful chemicals are weak, outdated and not doing their job. These laws don’t require adequate pre-market safety testing, and disclosure of chemical ingredients in crib mattresses is purely voluntary. A vicious cycle is at work with the manufacturers making unsafe products and retailers continuing to market them.

Become a Crib Mattress Detective!

As with any purchase, it’s important to be an informed consumer. Use your powerful voice and become a crib mattress detective! Traditional crib mattresses come laden with potential toxins including PVC, flame retardants and polyurethane foam.

Don’t be shy. Contact the retailer directly to verify that you’re receiving a product free from these toxins. Not only will this ensure that your product is safe for you and your family, but it will also notify retailers that we, as consumers are informed and care about the products we purchase.

Wondering where to buy a chemical free crib mattress? Here are a few brands that have made a good faith effort to eliminate toxic chemicals. Unfortunately the price point for most are quite high.

• Naturepedic no-compromise™ organic cotton ultra baby crib & toddler mattress
  Naturepedic crib mattresses are made from organic cotton (filling material) which is significantly less flammable then conventional mattress fillers such as polyurethane foam – a highly flammable petroleum-based material. Through extensive research and creative product design, naturepedic has eliminated the need for fire retardant chemicals in their products. The materials they use tend to smolder instead of bursting into flames. This mattress does have a polyethylene (type of plastic) waterproof surface. Their mattresses are organic and Greenguard Select certified which ensures that all components meet a healthy non-toxic standard.
  
• Naturalmat USA the Coco Mat
  The Coco Mat by Naturalmat is filled with organic coir (coconut fiber) made from coconut husks which are supportive and breathable. The coir is wrapped in organic lambswool which is then soaked in a mixture of lavender, lemon and eucalyptus, making it anti-dust mite. This mattress is non-toxic and contains no polyethylene or synthetics.
  
• White Lotus Crib Mattress
  White Lotus claims it takes them 3 days to make one crib mattress! The reason being each mattress is made by hand. The company makes 4 organic and natural crib mattress options (all at expensive price points). The Organic Cotton, Latex and Wool Crib Mattress is handmade and uses USDA certified organic cotton and wool as a natural flame retardant. The outer fabric is 100% Organic Cotton.
  
• Vivètique Organic Cotton Mattress
  Vivètique has 3 different crib mattresses to choose from. Vivètique’s cotton products are made only from unbleached, un-dyed and certified organic cotton fibers, without any synthetic chemicals. The Organic Cotton Mattress doesn’t contain any additional flame retardants (either natural or synthetic) so the mattress can only be ordered with a doctor’s prescription. Steve Carwile, President of Vivètique Sleep Systems, stated that the “mattresses would just smolder not burn” whereas a conventional mattress could potentially burst into flames. There are 2 other Vivètique crib mattresses, both of which use wool as a flame retardant and therefore don’t require a doctor’s prescription to order.

Take action NOW

It’s time to put the pressure on. It’s time to take the burden away from the consumer and place it where it belongs – with the mattress industry. We need legislation in place that will strengthen the way our government regulates toxic chemicals by requiring more thorough health testing of products BEFORE these chemicals end up in the bodies of our children.

Cartoon: Danny Shanahan

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Reverend Mitchell C. Hescox, President/CEO Evangelical Environmental Network:

On September 20, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first uniform national standards for carbon pollution standards for new power plants. This action coupled with the eventual existing source standard provides a historic step in the right direction to defend our children’s health, and limit the already experienced threats of our changing climate.

Children, both born and unborn, are our most precious gift. Each child should be born into a welcoming world, not one threatened by a changing climate. For people like me who are pro-life evangelical Christians and life-long Republicans, defending our children, the unborn, and those yet to be born, is at the heart of who we are.

I live in Southern York County, Pennsylvania. According to the American Lung Association, Central Pennsylvania, including the Harrisburg and York areas, already receives failing marks for high ozone and particulates, leading to over 27,000 cases of pediatric asthma and over 270,000 children at risk. Higher temperatures caused by a changing climate simply multiply the harm. Already York has the same climate as Richmond, VA twenty years ago.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s September 2013 Report stated, “The global land surface temperature was 0.89°C (1.60°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F), marking the sixth warmest September on record. For the ocean, the September global sea surface temperature was 0.54°C (0.97°F) above the 20th century average of 16.2°C (61.1°F), tying with 2006 as the fourth highest for September on record.” Those under the age of 29 have only known a warming world, because every month since February 1985 has been above the 20th Century average.

Isaiah 24:5 (NCV)

5 The people of the earth have ruined it,
because they do not follow God’s teachings
or obey God’s laws
or keep their agreement with God that was to last forever.

“The simple fact is that if man [sic] is not able to solve his ecological problems, then man’s resources are going to die.”[1] Noted evangelical Francis Schaeffer correctly stated those words in 1970 and they remain true today. The earth has a fever,[2] and the fever’s impacts threaten  all of us. Simply put, climate change is the greatest moral challenge of our time.

Climate Change resulting from carbon pollution makes bad things worse. It intensifies natural processes, making natural events unnatural or extreme, and hits the most vulnerable the hardest.

The Climate Change Vulnerability Index 2014 displayed above graphically indicates the great difficulty in scrapping out life for the world’s poorest people. The darker the color on the map indicates those already impacted. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Bangladesh are already some of the most difficult places to survive in the world, and with climate change, they are at the most at risk. These threats are not some future event. They are happening now, and God’s children across this planet cry for our help. The Cape Town Commitment[3] issued by the Lausanne Movement (founded by Billy Graham and John Stott, another internationally respected evangelical leader) recognizes the need for climate  action, as does the global evangelical network Micah Challenge.[4]

The changing climate kills thousands a year, multiplies diseases, and forces millions to flee their homelands, as food and water security simply do not exist. Without basic needs met, conflict ensues.  In October 2009, Burke et. al. published Warming Increases the Risk of Civil War in Africa. They conclude that  for each 1 degree Celsius warming there will be a  49% increase in African civil wars, a 54% increase in conflict, and an additional 393,000 battle deaths within the next 20 years.[5] They are not alone in predicting increased instability. The 2010 United States Department of Defense Quadrennial Review states:

Climate change will affect DoD in two broad ways. First, climate change will shape the operating environment, roles, and missions that we undertake. The U.S. Global Change Research Program,composed of 13 federal agencies, reported in 2009 that climate-related changes are already being observed in every region of the world, including the United States and its coastal waters. Among these physical changes are increases in heavy downpours, rising temperature and sea level, rapidly retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, lengthening growing seasons, lengthening ice-free seasons in the oceans and on lakes and rivers, earlier snowmelt, and alterations in river flows.

Assessments conducted by the intelligence community indicate that climate change could have significant geopolitical impacts around the world, contributing to poverty, environmental degradation, and the further weakening of fragile governments. Climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will increase the spread of disease, and may spur or exacerbate mass migration.

While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world. In addition, extreme weather events may lead to increased demands for defense support to civil authorities for humanitarian assistance or disaster response both within the United States and overseas.[6]

Just a few months ago, my dad, an 87-year-old former coal miner, and I were sitting at his kitchen table and having a discussion. “We just don’t have the winters we used to have,” he said, “Snow used to stay around all winter, and we had a lot more of it. I think it’s time to do something about this climate change stuff before it’s too late.” My dad gets it, and most of us feel it inside. In 2012, Pennsylvania experienced a total of 24 broken heat records, 5 broken snow records, 40 broken precipitation records, and 5 large wildfires. Our weather is more extreme and getting worse.

In addition to my Dad, most of my family worked in coal; and before becoming a pastor, I worked fourteen years designing and supplying equipment to both the coal mining and utility industries around the world. While businesses like Dow Chemical, M&M Mars, and even Wal-Mart spend billions for energy efficiency, big coal spends hardly anything to study how to clean up their act. Only when forced by regulations did the coal industry address mine safety, acid rain, mercury pollution, and all forms of water pollution and land reclamation. My childhood playgrounds near my Cambria County home were un-reclaimed strip mines that spewed sulfur and heavy metal contaminated water into the remaining forests and streams.

Some say coal produces the cheapest electricity. In York County, I could pay around $0.08 per kWh for electricity but thanks to Pennsylvania’s Switch Program, I elected to pay $0.085 per kWh for renewable energy. This is hardly an economic burden that you may hear from some today. However, sustainable energy costs much less when you factor in all the external costs from coal like medical bills, lost lives, property damage, and the like; coal electricity is triple what you pay at the meter, according to one study. It may appear cheap, but each of us pays the price in our children’s health, insurance premiums, and polluted water and air. They are hiding their costs in the bodies of our children and in the changing climate.

Defending our children’s health now and in the future must be a national priority. It’s the greatest moral challenge of our time, one we are all called to do something about. We need creative minds making new energy discoveries, energy efficient cars, appliances, homes, and buildings. We also need state specific plans that will allow each region the maximum flexibility to reduce carbon pollution. Pennsylvania is not Iowa or even New Jersey. State flexibility provides the advantage for local wisdom, industry, and opportunities.

Let’s work together as one nation under God to defend our children, and understand overcoming carbon pollution as an All-American Opportunity.

TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION

[1] Francis A, Schaeffer, Pollution and the Death of Man, Tyndale House, Wheaton, IL, 1970, reprinted 2011, pg. 9.

[2] Jim Ball, Global Warming and the Risen Lord, The Evangelical Environmental Network, Washington, DC, 2010, pg. 39.

[3] http://www.lausanne.org/en/documents/ctcommitment.html

[4] http://www.micahnetwork.org/sites/default/files/doc/library/micahnetwork_statementtoworldleaders.pdf

[5] Warming increases the risk of civil war in Africa (October 2009); Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[6] United States Department of Defense Quadrennial Defense Review Report (February 2010).

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Jennifer McIntyre, MCAF’s Pennsylvania Field Manager:

First, I thank the EPA for holding these listening sessions and giving regular people, regular parents, a chance to air our deepest concerns about our children’s future. I am here today on the behalf of my two young daughter’s, Lily and Frances. Lily has asthma and must travel with a freezer bag stuffed with prescription medications and an electric nebulizer in the event of a flare up. She was diagnosed with asthma at 8 months of age and is now 9 years old. After her diagnosis, we began to educate ourselves about air quality in Philadelphia and, like most regular people, were shocked to learn how much toxic pollution is in a simple breath of air.

Too often, my girls see me with a furrowed brow or biting a nail, worrying and planning for the calamitous future predicted by research findings that I see on the news and read in the daily paper more and more frequently. I took note when recently, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article detailing how climate change and subsequent sea level rise would affect the different neighborhoods in Philadelphia. I do feel grateful that I am lucky enough to live on high ground in the city — from the mapping it looks like our house could stand several decades longer than those in center city. But so many of my favorite places would be submerged in my children’s lifetime if we do not act to limit carbon pollution. So many thousands of family homes will be uninhabitable. This very building would be uninhabitable given its location.

Our most gifted scientific minds have been sounding this alarm for decades. While I am truly heartened that the EPA is moving toward strong carbon standards, I worry that industry voices more powerful than mine, will drown out this call to action. I feel certain that, like other environmental and public health calamities narrowly averted by well informed public outcry, even the most anti regulation of us will look back and say, “What were we thinking?” and “How could the United Sates of America have no limits on carbon pollution?”

As a mom, I run a pretty tight ship. I don’t tolerate a lot of excuses unless my kids have really, really good reasons. So when I hear excuses from the industry about how hard it will be to not pollute the air, I just lose all patience. The EPA should move forward aggressively with a strong standard that addresses climate change and protects public health. I hope we have the courage to tell polluters, just like we would tell our kids, “clean up your mess — and keep it clean.” No laziness. No excuses.

TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Laura MacCleery for Laura’s Rules: 

We ask our kids to be responsible. Brave, even. To venture out into the world with a sense that it is theirs — to explore, to learn about, and also to care for.

So today I asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to do the same when it comes to developing new standards for carbon emissions for power plants. Working with the incredible Molly Rauch from Moms Clean Air Force, I testified at a public listening session downtown.

Here is what I said:

Good morning. My name is Laura MacCleery and I’m a public interest lawyer and blogger. But I’m here today as the mom of a wonderful three-year-old girl to tell you why the EPA should act for her and the other children here and around the world to quickly issue strong rules limiting carbon emissions from power plants.

Forty percent of U.S. emissions – 2.3 billion tons – come from power plants. This rule has tremendous power to address one of the major sources of climate disruption. It is an opportunity not to be wasted. Real leadership from EPA would allow the U.S. to act responsibly to address our role in causing a rapid, incipient change in global temperatures.

We don’t have much time. A study in the journal Nature last month found that by the year 2047 – when my daughter Maya is only 37 years old – Washington, D.C., will have a radically altered climate, in which even the coldest monthly dips will be warmer than over the past 150 years. Oxford researchers recently found the ocean’s rate of acidification is the fastest in 300 million years. An Australian researcher showed that by the time my daughter is middle-aged, large parts of the oceans will have slimy cynobacteria – basically black goop – where coral reefs should be. This is not the world I would like to pass on to my daughter.

I try to be a conscientious parent raising a responsible child. One who picks up after herself, and shares her toys without too many complaints. But I wonder, how will she look at me – how will our children think about any of us – if we don’t do what we can to stop climate change, right now? What will it mean to be human on this altered planet? And how will our children see themselves if we don’t act today: if we don’t do the most we can, using what we know, to curb climate change and to reduce the threat it poses to the systems that sustain our lives?

I’ll be 76 years old in 2047 – assuming I’m still around. Should I just tell Maya, then: sorry, we didn’t think it was worthwhile to even try to save your pleasant weather, or prevent asthma, or help prevent catastrophe to our agriculture, our wildlife and to the millions of people living in the tropics displaced by rising tides and violent weather?

I won’t be able to say we didn’t see it coming. The policy case, the scientific case, even the economic case have all been amply made. So I’m asking the EPA, on behalf of the many parents who couldn’t be here today, to act with real political gumption. To look past industry’s predictable objections and the facile compromises that could weaken a standard.

To make this moment – this rule – transformative, much like the fuel economy standards set in the 1970s that were aggressively front-loaded and ended up weaning the U.S. off its dependence on foreign oil for several decades. There is no progress without some disruption, but we are choosing between reform today and catastrophe tomorrow.

Decisive government action in this area would be smart and responsible, but it would also be – and I’ll just say it out loud – an act of love. Your job on this one is clear, and has high stakes. We always tell toddlers to use their words. So here are mine for you: Be bold. Brave. Creative. Visionary. Carpe Diem. Change our lives, and those of our children. Use your words for good.

Basically, I’m saying, make us proud, EPA. Make me proud. Don’t muddle along. Don’t accept half-measures that cut our future short.

Instead, be a super-hero. Get right to work to save this world for my child, and for all the other children who are looking up to us to do the right thing.

Laura MacCleery is a non-profit lawyer, mom and squeaky wheel in search of a spoke. She is currently Legislative Director for National Nurses United, a national labor organization of bedside nurses. She was the Director of Government Relations at the Center for Reproductive Rights in its DC office from 2009 to 2012. Prior to that, Laura was the Deputy Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, where she oversaw its work on campaign finance reform, worked on the Citizens United litigation, and co-taught a seminar on public policy advocacy.

TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION FROM POWER PLANTS

By Moms Clean Air Force

As I discovered, along with my Moms Clean Air Force colleagues and volunteers, there’s power in “walking the walk,” or strolling a stroller into the halls of Congress to fight for strong toxic chemical reform. I joined New York’s Harlem-based group, WEACT in the offices of Senator Kirstin Gillibrand and Senator Chuck Schumer. Listening to the stories of the members of WEACT, I realized so many parents have been touched by asthma, autism, allergies and cancer — diseases associated with children touching, eating or breathing toxic chemicals. The stories were heartbreaking; emphasizing the heightened presence of disease in vulnerable communities. It was inspiring  to know my elected officials in Congress were listening, and willing to work hard to reform the toxics law. ~ Ronnie Citron-Fink, MCAF Managing Editor, New York

I joined the Mom’s Clean Air Force team in DC to advocate for safer chemicals in honor of my twin boys, Micah and Zachary. After three years of struggling with infertility, my husband and I were ecstatic to have twins on the way. Unfortunately, our boys were born three months early and weighed less than 3 pounds at birth. Zachary came home after three frightening months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. When Micah was six weeks old, he came down with a severe infection, which caused him to go into renal failure. Micah came home after nine long, frightening months in the hospital. Micah was home for less than four weeks before he was re-admitted to the hospital. We lost him a month later. Every day, I celebrate the health of Zachary and grieve the tragic loss of Micah. Working to help ensure a safer, healthier environment is one of the best ways for me to honor both of my boys. I am incredibly grateful to Mom’s Clean Air Force for allowing me to be part of their team. I look forward to continuing this work until we have laws in place that appropriately protect our children’s health. ~ Jennifer Canvasser, Michigan

I am so grateful to have been able to make my voice heard in such a meaningful way. I’ve been concerned about these issues for years and was so excited to learn that this critical coalition exists and is helping us to act! I am not only motivated to recruit others to join our cause, but I now am well-equipped to do so with the help of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and Moms Clean Air Force. I look forward to continuing to advocate for positive change. Thank you ever so much for the opportunity. ~ Joan Spoerl, Ohio

 

It was so empowering and inspiring to be amongst so many smart and passionate women who were fighting for their children’s future. The wisdom, strength and community shared that day will be an inspiration for a long time to come. ~ Marnie Urso, MCAF Field Team, Ohio

 

It was amazing to see so many empowered and enthusiastic Moms (and Dads) fighting for the health of their children on this important issue. As one of the few Dads at the event, it was incredible to see some of the young children meeting with Senate staff and letting them how important this issue is. ~ Shaun Dakin, MCAF Social Media Director, Virginia

 

 

I attended the Stroller Brigade with my two year old daughter.  Having her with me reinforced the urgency in addressing the weaknesses of the current bill. When I heard about the lack of provision for vulnerable populations I only had to look at my toddler snuggled in my arms to understand how profoundly important this moment is. ~ Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, New York

 

While walking through the hall of Congress I felt a great responsibility to be a voice for those who couldn’t be there: my grandmother dying of breast cancer, my daughter’s future daughters, my friend who has had trouble conceiving. This issue is greater than me, greater than my family and the work we were doing is bigger than ourselves, our organization. It was a honor to be the voice of those who are fighting, every day, the silent killer that is our broken system. ~ Gretchen Alfonso, MCAF National Field Manager, Pennsylvania

 

As a first time lobbyist, this was an incredible experience that I will continue to reflect on. I will use this experience and my excitement to influence others to reach out to their Representatives and Congress to demand change not just for safer chemicals, but in all aspects that will protect the future of our earth and children. I loved being surrounded by parents and health professionals from dozens of states, of all ages, many races, and with so many unique stories about why we were there, united together for a common cause: Protect our children from toxic chemical exposures. Pass strong laws that put our children’s health first.~ Trisha Sheehan, New Jersey

It was inspiring to see so many women on the ground — many with children in tow — uniting for such an important cause, and making a true impact through spreading their message and stories to policy-makers on Capitol Hill. ~ Anneka Wisker, MCAF Senior Program Assistant, Washington DC and Rhode Island

 

 

I was struck in Washington by the fact that there is really nothing wrong with our democracy – its just that the people are absent from the process. Our lawmakers should be required to have sit down meetings with regular moms and dads every day to give them proper perspective. ~Jen McIntyre, MCAF Field Manager, Pennsylvania

I loved hearing from actress, Jennifer Beals: “I am tired of having chemical companies’ untested concoctions run through my veins uninvited. Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, you are NOT invited to take up residence in my DNA. Let this serve as an eviction notice-we are all tired of you barging into our sacred homes–our bodies and the bodies of our children.” ~ Molly Rauch, MCAF Public Health Policy and Outreach Manager, Washington, DC

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Annie Leonard. It originally appeared on EcoWatch:

Too many homes are full of icky products with toxic chemicals that can be hazardous to our health and the health of the planet.

Maybe you’re constantly wondering what chemicals are in the products that you put on your body or use in your home. Or how to decode those long ingredient lists. Or, most important, why you should have to figure out what’s safe to use in the first place!

My friend Bev Thorpe wondered all those things—which inspired her to dedicate her life to reducing chemical pollution at its source by helping companies make safer, non-toxic products.

In the latest installment of The Good Stuff, our monthly podcast, you can listen in on a recent conversation I had with Bev about her work to promote “green chemistry.”

Over the past year, The Good Stuff has highlighted solutionaries from around the world: Girl Scouts stepping up to save orangutans from habitat destruction, cooperative worker-owners making business more democratic and kids fighting for more eco-friendly food packaging.

Like all the others, this one’s a must-hear. So have a listen HERE or DOWNLOAD it for later. Either way, I hope you enjoy this episode of The Good Stuff!

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Moms Clean Air Force

On October 23rd, Harriet Shugarman spoke at the Region 2, Environmental Protection Agency’s Listening Session in New York City. Harriet was one of 41 speakers who spoke strongly in favor of the need to stop global warming pollution.

Here is the statement Harriet delivered to the EPA:

Hello, my name is Harriet, I live in Bergen County, New Jersey where my husband and I are raising our two teens, Elliot and Alana. I wear many hats, chair of my town’s environmental commission and Executive Director of ClimateMama, with thousands of parent members around the country. But today I am here, wearing the hat I put on 15 years ago, and never take off. I am speaking as a mother who is desperately concerned for my children’s future and their NOW which is threatened by climate change. You, as representatives of the EPA, have a unique opportunity to have a huge, direct positive impact on my children’s future, by creating strong carbon pollution standards for new power plants.

Just shy of one year ago, on October 29th, 2012, my community in New Jersey was hit hard by hurricane Sandy. Many people in our town were without power for more then 10 days, trees that have stood majestic and strong, on guard for decades became something to fear, as they toppled around us. We were lucky, our home wasn’t seriously damaged and our power came on quickly. We had many friends, family and neighbors who weren’t so lucky and who sought refuge and shelter in our home.

For the past two years, children in my community have had Halloween officially “cancelled” because of extreme weather events. While, inconsequential compared to the real impacts of Sandy, many young children are wondering if this year they will get to experience a Halloween. This is a part of their childhood experiences which has been taken away from them because of extreme weather.

I know that climate change didn’t cause hurricane Sandy, but it did create the conditions, rising sea levels and warmer oceans, that turned Sandy from a storm, to a “super storm’ in our area. These climate impacts, will only get worse over time.

Health impacts from climate change are directly hurting my family. My son has developed asthma this past year. Both my husband and son have severe poison ivy allergies. My daughter has breathing problems, exacerbated by heat extremes. A dear friend on Long Island was stricken with West Nile virus recently, and her daughter, sickened by lyme disease. Last week, the World Health Organization told us that air pollution is a carcinogen, and that power plants are one of THE major contributors to air pollution today. My husband is an oncologist, he is busy enough already.

How many more scientific studies and major reports do we need to see, which continue to confirm with 95% or greater certainty that we humans are causing our climate to change, before we take action? We know that burning fossil fuels is a key reason our climate is changing, and cutting carbon pollution is critical to allow our planet to begin to heal. The September report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has given us a carbon budget, which, if we continue on our current path, we cannot meet. While our government has only recently reopened because of budget “wars” our carbon budget remains a battle that our government doesn’t seem to want to recognize or confront. Yet, for my children and their future, this is a budget that is infinitely more important, and hugely more costly, then the current fiscal crisis.

The EPA has an obligation to our children, to their future and to their now. Limiting carbon pollution from new power plants is key, but so is putting a stop to carbon pollution from existing power plants. Old, inefficient, polluting power plants aren’t something that can be “grandfathered” in as they are a serious contributor to the cost of carbon which we can no longer ignore, nor afford to pay.

We need to recognize and acknowledge the true cost of carbon pollution, which is a huge economic burden on our country. The cost of carbon and it’s impact on our children’s lives is a social, economic, and moral cost, that we are passing on to them; a debt we could begin to pay down now. By not addressing the cost of carbon, we are very possibly creating a future for our children which will not be a viable or easily livable one.

YOU, ladies and gentleman of the EPA, have the power to change the crash course we are on with our planet. I implore you to stand up to the negative and powerful forces trying to make you back down and ignore the realities of our climate crisis. Please, carry out your stated mission, to protect human health and the environment, and propose a strong carbon pollution standard for existing power plants. Our future, and the future of my children, depends on it!

Photo: Sue Barr

TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION FROM POWER PLANTS

By Molly Rauch

Asthma is a major health problem in children. Affecting approximately 10% of US children, asthma is a major cause of Emergency Room visits and hospitalizations in children. It is also one of the leading causes of school absenteeism.

In the school setting, school nurses spend a lot of time caring for children with asthma, coordinating care, helping them administer medication, and educating students and their parents about the disease. School nurses need to work together with students, parents and pediatricians to manage the asthma.

Guidelines for asthma management for school nurses caring for students with asthma are not consistent. That’s why the National Association of School Nurses, a Moms Clean Air Force partner, has launched a project to develop relevant, simple, evidence-based guidelines that school nurses can use to deliver the best possible care to their students with asthma. NASN is reaching out to several major medical associations to put together these guidelines.

They are also reaching out to parents.

They’d like to hear from you.

If you are the parent of a child with asthma, they want to know:

• About how your child’s asthma affects his or her time in school.
• About how you feel about the care your child receives for asthma at school.
• About what’s going well with your child’s asthma care at school, and what could be going better.

Parent voices will help all children receive better care in their schools for asthma. Please fill out this brief survey from the National Association of School Nurses.

The responses are confidential, anonymous, and will be used only by the National Association of School Nurses. Thank you!

LEARN MORE – FREE MCAF EBOOKS

ASTHMA TRIGGERS: A GUIDEBOOK FOR PARENTS, DOCTORS, AND NURSES

ASTHMA GOES TO COLLEGE

TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT NEW LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Jalonne White-Newsome, Federal Policy Analyst for MCAF partner, WEACT. This appeared in emPower Magazine:

The most interesting conversations happen at the dinner table, particularly as I engage with my 6 and 4 year-old daughters. I was preparing to go on a quick trip to New York for work and my 6 year-old says “I know what you do mom, you are a federal political analyst, and you help to keep pollution out of our world.” Before I could respond, my 4 year-old asked her big sister the next logical question, “what is pollution?” So I jump in and tell my youngest that pollution is when the air and water are really dirty and can make people sick. And then my 6 year-old chimes in, “Yeah, like carbon dioxide is pollution…everybody knows that!”

I sat there at the dinner table, with my mouth wide-open, amazed that my 6 year-old knew what carbon dioxide was, this invisible pollutant that comes out of cars and power plants, that can cause serious damage to the earth and human health. If I could only have this much influence on members of Congress…I’d be unstoppable.

Carbon dioxide is one of the most potent greenhouse gases out there because it not only changes the weather conditions over a long period of time, but our daily lives. I’m not sure if you were around for 2012, but the U.S. experienced some of the most extreme weather: extreme heat, drought, hurricanes and flooding as a result of super storms like Sandy and the infamous women of weather. There is no doubt in my mind and thousands of other scientists minds that emissions of carbon dioxide must be reduced to protect the health of our most vulnerable populations — our children. So how does Carbon dioxide impact our health? Well, I’m glad you asked. Carbon dioxide, or CO2,

• Makes it really hard for people to breathe in the summertime, especially children with respiratory concerns. For example, asthma affects more than 7.1 million children per year under the age of 18, with more of the burden on African American children.
• Increases the frequency and intensity of heat waves. While this might not seem like a big deal, extremely hot weather can increase heat stress on our children. Extreme heat can also make “safe places” a health-hazard. For example, schools and homes become serious health hazards because it is harder for children’s bodies to cool as efficiently, or in technical terms their bodies cannot ‘thermo regulate’ when they are overheated.
• Contributes to more intense flooding, per a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and rising temperatures in the ocean can be part of the reason for more hurricanes and storms, like Superstorm Sandy. In addition to the physical damage that can result from extreme weather, there is also psychological stress that results when families are forced to relocate because there home is no longer suitable for habitation. This is a challenge for low-income families that typically live in less resilient housing structures and do not have access to resources to re-build their lives.

So how do we combat such a seemingly insurmountable challenge? Well, we must start by combating the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions: existing power plants that generate the electricity that you and I use everyday.

For the next couple of months, the Environmental Protection Agency (otherwise known as the EPA or the federal agency responsible for protecting our environment) is hosting listening sessions across the country to get advice on what should be a part of the new rules they are writing to reduce emission from plants that produce electricity, currently the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions. I participated in the October 23rd listening session held in New York City. Amidst the testimonies of scientists, environmental organizations, business owners and coal company representatives, the most compelling stories came from members of communities that had been impacted personally by climate change. But I wound venture to say that some of the best advice, came from the mouths of youngest environmentalists, our youth.

The message to the EPA is simple:

• We need more stringent standards on existing power plants to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.
• Carbon dioxide is one of the drivers of climate change and we must shift to cleaner, renewable sources of energy.
• Those that are most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change are typically: communities of color, those that are low-income, the elderly and our children.

I encourage you to share your voice about the impact of carbon dioxide emissions and make sure that we hold our government accountable because it is there job to protect our health. You can attend a listening session, email or mail comments to the EPA echoing the three messages above. (See this link for more information). They are accepting comments up until November 8th.

We all deserve the right to breathe clean air and it’s our obligation to become better stewards of the environment, the place where our children and our children’s children will grow and thrive for years to come. October is recognized as children’s health month. Let’s make sure we take care of our most precious commodity. Because I know if I don’t say something about carbon dioxide pollution, my 6 year-old will.

Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome is WE ACT’s Federal Policy Analyst, based in Washington, DC. Prior to joining WE ACT, Jalonne was the inaugural Kendall Science Fellow with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), engaging in independent research on climate change adaptation and public health. While matriculating through the Environmental Health Sciences Department at the University Of Michigan School Of Public Health, her dissertation research focused on understanding the public health impacts of extreme heat events, specifically related to indoor heat exposure and how the urban-dwelling elderly adapt to hot weather. She spent a lot of her time translating her research into action through community outreach and engaging local policy makers and leaders on related issues. 

TELL EPA TO STOP CARBON POLLUTION

By Ronnie Citron-Fink

At MCAF, we often ask: Do Big Oil, Gas, and Coal CEO’s have children? Do politicians who support subsidies for these dirty energy companies, delay votes and then vote down clean air regulations have children?

Seems daunting to us if they do — and of course, many do!

Earlier this year, Marcia Yerman wrote about a new ad campaign from ExxonMobil Hates Your Children. They ask us to: “Imagine if your government gave a company a sweet deal to build your local playground. Then, that company dumped toxic waste underneath where your kids play everyday, just because it was the most profitable thing for them to do.”

Now imagine that electricity plants running on coal produce more than a quarter of US carbon pollution…and there are absolutely no limits on carbon pollution. That’s what’s happening and we think it’s plain wrong. We think it’s time to clean up this mess by cutting down greenhouse gas emissions. It’s the only way to slow global warming. Fortunately, the EPA has proposed new rules that would place limits on carbon pollution from dirty power plants and they want to hear from you!

3 Things You Can Do:

1. SPEAK UP

The EPA has set up listening sessions around the country to hear – from you – what it should do about our changing climate. It is so important that many of us speak up because it’s one of the most significant ways our President can reduce our nation’s carbon dioxide emissions.

2. SIGN UP HERE for these EPA Listening Sessions:

Dallas, TX: November 7
Seattle, WA: November 7
Washington, DC: November 7
Chicago, IL: November 8
Philadelphia, PA: November 8

3. CONTACT US at climatevoices@momscleanairforce.org to learn more, get help with registering, or get help with preparing your comments.

Cartoon: Danny Shanahan

TELL EPA TO STOP CARBON POLLUTION

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Suzanne Pollak for Washington Jewish Week:

When Randi Abrams-Caras went to her child’s day care center, she asked about her son’s nap mat. Within a short time, she had it checked only to learn “it tested very high for lead and other toxic flame retardants.”

She has been reading about the ingredients in baby shampoo, jewelry, toys and just about everything else ever since, continually learning how many toxic chemicals there are in some common items. She combined this with her knowledge that these chemicals reach a fetus through its mother, infants through breast milk and children through things they touch and eat.

It became clear to her that her tikkun olam, repair the world, project was set, Abrams-Caras said. She currently is a lobbyist with Washington Toxics Collective and was in D.C. Tuesday to join close to 200 parents and their children at the second “Stroller Brigade.”

The families came from 40 states to speak with their congressional representatives concerning what they believe is the need to test and alert the public to the many chemicals in everyday life. They brought their young children, pushing many in strollers, because growing children have the most to lose from exposure to toxic chemicals.

“I am so tired of feeling that I have to have a Ph.D. in toxicology to be a good parents,” said actress Jennifer Beals, who addressed the protesting families gathered in front of the Capitol. “What is good for a tire is not good for a child,” she said.

“Dow, DuPont, you are not allowed to take up residence in my DNA,” declared the actress who is famous for her role in Flashdance and the Showtime drama The L Word.

Many of the participating parents urged their Congress members to tighten legislation limiting toxic chemicals from much of the nation’s food, clothing and electronics. They said the current bill before the U.S. Senate, the first one in almost 40 years, is not strong enough, and they called on the politicians to allow individual states to pass toxic chemical laws.

Toxic chemicals “are in couches. They are in carpets. They are in electronics. They are even in the receipt that I got from the organic food store,” said Sara Chieffo, as she held her 6-month-old daughter. These chemicals are even in a Spongebob Square Pants’ rain ponchos, said Chieffo, legislative director of the League of Conservation Voters.

Katie Huffling of Mount Rainier joined the Maryland stroller brigade with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. As a nurse and a midwife, she is concerned about a rise in young couples experiencing fertility problems. “It’s a complex issue. It seems like the chemicals are a part of the puzzle,” she said.

The current Toxic Substances Control Act is viewed as ineffective, said Dr. Yolanda Whyte, a pediatrician from Atlanta. “Diverse organizations of doctors agree on the urgency of reforming our toxic chemical laws and the critical elements needed for it to be meaningful,” she said as she addressed the crowd.

“The proposal before Congress does not meet that test. We’re here to tell Congress that reform needs to be meaningful and credible with the public health community,” she said.

Lindsay Dahl, deputy director of Safe Chemical Health Families, a national coalition based in D.C. that hosted the event, explained that the idea for a stroller brigade arose when parents in several states addressed their legislators and then posted photos on social media. It was then decided to hold a nationwide protest with children being pushed in strollers and others running freely around the gathering.

“Lots of men and women when they become new parents start asking new questions,” Dahl said. The parents want to know if their child’s car seat is safe but also whether it was made with toxic fire retardant chemicals, she noted.

Toxic chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects, early puberty, asthma and other illnesses and have been found in such everyday products as household cleaners, children’s toys and building materials, according to the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition.

“Americans have woken up to the fact that known toxic chemicals get into our homes and our bodies, often through the products we buy, and that the government doesn’t do a thing about it,” said Andy Igrejas, coalition director. “We need reform that truly protects American families from chemicals that contribute to the rising rates of childhood cancer, learning disabilities, infertility and other health problems. The current proposal before Congress does not meet that standard.”

Photos: Michelle Martin, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Moms Clean Air Force

The Moms Clean Air Force team totally rocked and rolled the successful Stroller Brigade our partner, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families organized last week in Washington, DC. Moms sounded the alarm that we want Congress to pass strong toxic chemical reform. Along with a coalition of diverse groups, we want reform that protects vulnerable populations, ensures the EPA can take action on notoriously toxic chemicals and moves us towards safer chemicals.

I’ll let you in on a little MCAF secret: our team (main image) is virtually spread out all over the country, so we don’t get to see each other often. But we shared the air at our nation’s capital, and we shared our passion for protecting the health of our children when we took to the streets of DC and the offices of Congress with other concerned moms.

Watch MCAF in action in this CBS News clip:

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Representative Marjorie Shepardson (NH Cheshire District 10):

When I was growing up our family spent two weeks each summer camping in the White Mountains, enjoying hikes and swimming in the streams. I looked forward to those times and they instilled in me a love of the outdoors. Later I moved to NH with my husband and two children, and we continued the outdoor tradition. I want future generations to have the same opportunity that we have had to hike in clean mountain air and swim in clean water.

Many of us have learned that we can’t take a clean environment for granted these days. We participate in river clean-ups, carpool to reduce the use of fossil fuels, weatherize our homes to reduce our heating needs, and even get scrubbers put on a coal plant. As a nation we’ve passed laws to clean up our air, water and ground. One successful example that directly affected NH was the reduction of acid rain, something that was ruining our forests and waterways.

We are currently trying to curb carbon emissions from power plants. I’m sure we’ll hear that it will ruin the economy and raise our electric rates to astronomical heights. After all, that’s what we’ve heard many times before – when sulfur dioxide, asbestos, and CFC’s (in car air conditioners) were regulated, each time there were inflated predictions of what it would cost the consumer. The predictions were wrong. Now it’s carbon emissions from power plants. Don’t be surprised if you start to hear how much this will hurt the consumers.

We are fighting to improve the air quality for ourselves and for future generations. We are trying to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and halt the progression of climate change. These are big goals and they will take a sustained effort by many people if we are going to see big results. I am encouraged by past actions that have made a difference. Since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began in 1970 the U.S. population has grown 52% and our energy consumption is up 45% but emissions of 6 common pollutants, regulated by the EPA, are down 68%. Imagine what our country would look like if we had done nothing? So stay informed and stay active. Let me or your local legislator know how you feel about environmental issues here in NH. Let our senators and representatives in Washington hear from you on national issues. Together we can make a difference!

Marjorie Shepardson is a New Hampshire State Representative from Marlborough (Cheshire District 10). She is chair of the Energy Committee Marlborough Conservation Commission and serves on the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee. 

SUPPORT LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION FROM POWER PLANTS

By Marcia G. Yerman

It’s never too early in the political game to get a head start on a primary contest, and that’s exactly what Jill Miller Zimon is doing. Back in the August, Zimon announced that she was throwing her hat into the ring for the Ohio Statehouse race to represent the newly redrawn 12th District.

I first crossed paths with Zimon when we met at an event devoted to the feminist blogging community. She was later a colleague at Moms Clean Air Force, which is devoted to mobilizing women around the impact of air pollution on children’s health.

In a Moms Clean Air Force exclusive interview, Zimon discusses her activism, her concerns for her state, and energy independence.

You have been involved in on the ground activism for many years, coming from a background in law, social work, and journalism. Part of that focus has been in fighting for clean air in Ohio, bringing recognition to the threat of coal ash, and amplifying those issues by writing for Moms Clean Air Force. After four years serving on the Pepper Pike City Council, what has motivated you to run for the Ohio House in District 12?

Taking action at the state level is a must for affecting change when it comes to policy that will preserve and enhance our environment. In Ohio, there is a concept called “home rule” that normally would allow for local control and community standards to govern many environmental matters. But home rule has been, and is continuing to be eroded, by numerous efforts coming out of the Statehouse. I want to be a part of the effort that will not only restore local control but will battle the bills being proposed that will further negatively affect the environment. Currently, concerns over fracking and our water assets—especially the Great Lakes—are uppermost in many Ohioans’ minds.

What do you see as the primary challenges to your district and the state of Ohio in respect to the environment?

We need to be sure that Ohioans’ voices are being heard and that our elected officials are aware of our extreme dissatisfaction with their often reckless disregard that pits economic development and business over and above the environment. This is a seminal challenge to many communities. We cannot fail to take care of our natural resources and our living environments. We must also invest in growing the economy in ways that help us achieve energy independence and efficiency. The alternative path will cost us our health, our families and our future. The Moms Clean Air Force collaboration with Clean Energy Ohio is a great model of how we can amplify our concerns and affect change. A perfect example is how a group of moms in central Ohio expressed concerns about the use of toxic cleaning chemicals in schools. They have mobilized and are now actively promoting the Safe Chemical Act (TSCA) reform.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has written a new book, For the Next Generation. She emphasizes the importance of protecting the future of American’s children, while referencing her role as a mother. How does being a parent inform your point of view?

There is no question that being a parent means that, whether you wish to be or not, you are a role model. You are a role model to your kids, to other parents, and to the community that helps raise your children or otherwise interacts with you as part of a family unit. So, the choices we make as parents deeply affects not only them—but also the world around us.

I don’t think I’ve had any more satisfying experience in terms of being a public servant than in observing my kids, and other children and adults, as they express concern for what affects or interests them. Issues like recycling and clean water are just two examples. My children, who are 19, 16 and 13, have shown incredible knowledge and awareness, often beyond what I knew! It is those moments that make me smile and know that I’m doing something of immeasurable value by being in public service.

Thank you, Jill!

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Moms Clean Air Force

This was re-posted with permission from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families:

Actress and mother Jennifer Beals gave this speech to the Stroller Brigade in Washington DC October 29th, 2013:

It’s a pleasure to be here among such inspiring and energizing advocates. Like many of you, I started my journey in the quest for strong laws on toxic chemicals because quite simply I am a mother and I am tired of feeling like I have to have a PhD in toxicology in order to be a competent parent.

I am tired of being a detective, hunting the Internet for clues as to what product is safe and what product is not safe and why.

I am tired of having to try to shop my way around this problem, deeply aware that not everyone is able to do so.

I am tired of debating school Administrators about artificial turf fields with crumb rubber–those black pellets that get everywhere and anywhere and that contain lead, phthalates, butadiene, styrene, carbon black, a whole host of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and now flame retardants.

I’m tired of reminding school administrators what is good for a tire is not good for a child.

I’m tired of hearing the school say, “well, the company says there’s only a little bit of lead in it…” Repeat after me–there is no such thing as an acceptable level of lead for children. Just ask Dr. Helen Binns from Chicago’s Children’s Memorial or Dr. Phillip Landrigan from Mount Sinai in NYC.

I am SO tired of reading “scientific studies” that say a product is safe only to find the study was funded by the industry it has exonerated.

I am tired of having chemical companies’ untested concoctions run through my veins uninvited.

Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, etc. you are NOT invited to take up residence in my DNA.

Let this serve as an eviction notice-we are all tired of you barging into our sacred homes–our bodies and the bodies of our children.

We look to our government to provide our basic rights of clean air and water and yet right in front of us, in things we may be exposed to everyday, like our couches, household cleaners, toys or synthetic playing fields, lie toxic chemicals that have for the most part gone untested in their effect on human health and certainly have gone untested in aggregate.

For me, and for many of us here today, this is simply not acceptable.

I am proud to stand together with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families for today’s Stroller Brigade.

Together we will send a message to Congress that the time has come for strong laws on toxic chemicals. There is nothing more important than protecting the health of our children and generations to come. No one’s profit margin can justify harm brought to our children and to future generations.

Photos: GroovyGreenLivin, Moms Clean Air Force

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Liza Donnelly

For more than a century, humans have been sending extra greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, from industrial and agricultural activities. We are tampering with the balance of gases in our atmosphere. It is now trapping too much of the sun’s heat, so that our planet cannot properly cool off, and we are beginning to see, feel—and suffer from—the results.

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TELL EPA YOU SUPPORT LIMITS ON CARBON POLLUTION FROM POWER PLANTS

By Judith A. Ross

Brayton Point Power Station – Somerset, Massachusetts.

 

Massachusetts will have one less coal fired power plant dirtying its air. Brayton Point Power Plant, the state’s largest coal-fired power plant is slated to close down in 2017, leaving only one more such plant in Massachusetts. As Jonathan Peress, Vice President and Director of the Clean Energy and Climate Program for Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) said in a recent press release:

“Brayton Point is the largest and most modern coal-fired power plant in New England. If they can’t make a go of it, none of them can. This is a death knell for coal in the region.”

In fact, CLF is working towards a coal free New England by 2020. According to its web site:

“Although widely perceived to be one of the cheapest ways to produce electricity, burning coal exacts a heavy cost on the environment, public health, and, increasingly, New England’s economy.”

Residents of Somerset, the town where the plant is located, have an opportunity to implement a healthier economy. Sylvia Broude, Executive Director of Toxics Action Center, a public health and environmental nonprofit hopes that the plant’s owners

… will join local residents at the table to discuss reuse and cleanup and negotiate a transition plan with power plant workers. Somerset can be a model for other coal communities in New England to shift away from archaic dirty energy and towards clean technology.

Indeed, while going from dirty power to renewables can’t always be a one-for-one transition at a given plant site, Peress said in a recent interview, “We can expect that some of that capacity will be replaced with renewable resources. Renewables are being integrated more than ever.”

For example, Solana, the nation’s first large scale solar energy plant, located in Arizona entered service this month. The new plant will generate enough power for about 70,000 homes.

Closing coal-fired plants doesn’t just make sense in health terms, but in economic terms as well. A report commissioned by the Conservation Law Foundation found that given Brayton Point’s declining revenues, it is unlikely it would ever return to profitability, and its poor financial prospects are indicative of pressure on coal plants in New England and throughout the U.S. — all reasons why the plant’s owners threw in the towel.

Even Warren Buffet, the country’s most respected investor says that it’s time for coal to be put out to pasture. An article on the Sierra Club web site quotes him as saying, “Coal will gradually decline in importance.” Buffett is putting his considerable assets where his mouth is. According to the same article, he owns MidAmerican Energy, which under his ownership has become the country’s top provider of wind power.

The winds of change are upon us. As Dominique noted,

“This isn’t God, changing our climate. This is us. And that is good news—because it means we can do something about our climate changing.”

Let’s keep the pressure on so that we can eliminate plants that are powered by fossil fuels like Brayton Point, and build more like Solana.

Photo: Creative Commons

TELL THE SENATE TO END TAX BREAKS FOR OIL, GAS, AND COAL

By Dominique Browning

One of my life rules is very simple, but not always easy to follow: Just Show Up. Being present — at a friend’s celebration, at a memorial, at a lecture — matters so much, even though many things get in the way, whether scheduling conflicts or sheer exhaustion.

Moms and dads showed up in full force this week at the “Stroller Brigade” in Washington, D.C. to call for movement — and improvement — of a policy that protects our children from toxic chemicals. Our merry band joined members of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition from across the country.

“I am so tired of feeling that I have to have a Ph.D. in toxicology to be a good parent,” said actress, Jennifer Beals.

Moms get tons of practice, every day, saying things certain people don’t want to hear. Ahem. So I wasn’t surprised (but I was thrilled) when one of our moms, Gretchen Alfonso, spotted Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) in a Senate hallway and grabbed the chance to tell him why strong toxics laws matter. She and seven other moms–and one nun–surrounded the Senator, and they had an intense but friendly conversation for ten minutes. McCain talked about the air and health crisis in China–and we countered about crises of our own here in the USA.

We must talk. And we must listen. Just like raising children — politics is never a one-way street. We give a little, we get a little: but it only works if we keep moving in the right direction, towards a safer world.

Now the EPA is asking to hear from us about how to regulate carbon dioxide pollution. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is hosting “Listening Sessions” around the country. Moms, dads, uncles, aunts, sons and daughters have the chance to talk about how EPA should regulate carbon pollution from existing power plants, which contribute 40% of the U.S. carbon emissions that are warming up our planet.

Let’s talk. And not just to those who agree with us. And let’s listen. And not just to those with whom we agree. We will all be the better for it.

TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT US FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS

By Diane MacEachern

Frankenstorm. Hurricane. Superstorm. Whatever you want to call it, Sandy, the extreme weather event that struck the east coast of the U.S. exactly a year ago this week, drove home the devastating impact climate change is having on us and our communities.

Disaster and Devastation

“Superstorm” Sandy, as it became known, was the largest hurricane to ever form over the Atlantic Ocean. It was so massive, it affected several Caribbean countries and 24 U.S. states, including the entire eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine and west across the Appalachian Mountains to Michigan and Wisconsin. It also left behind a clean-up bill totaling more than $65 billion. In all our storm history, only Hurricane Katrina cost more.

As Sandy approached, hundreds of schools were closed to protect children from damaging winds, rain and floods. States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and more. In Washington, D.C., the federal government shut down. Bridges connecting Pennsylvania to New Jersey were shut as well. Over 5,000 commercial airline flights were canceled, along with some Amtrak services.  It was just one extreme storm, but it brought half the country to a fearful standstill.

The rain pounded and the winds howled for nine days, from the storm’s first sightings October 22 off the coast of Nicaragua to the path of destruction it carved through Cuba and the Bahamas until it finally hit Florida on October 27, moved relentlessly up the East Coast, and petered out over Canada. The worst impacts were felt in New York and New Jersey. The Big Apple was somewhat reduced to its core as 150,000 homes across the city’s five boroughs were damaged and lower Manhattan flooded, forcing both the subways and the New York Stock Exchange to shutter their doors. In New Jersey and Long Island, the situation was far more dire as entire beach communities were pounded to smithereens. When even a Ferris wheel gets swept out to sea, you know you’re dealing with something uncommon.

In the end, 160 Americans were killed, making Sandy the deadliest U.S. hurricane since Katrina. Tens of thousands of people were rendered homeless, their houses either burned to the ground, washed away by waves, or so overcome by mold and mildew as to be uninhabitable. The federal and state governments are spending billions of dollars to help rebuild eroded beaches and reconstruct damaged communities, though 26,000 residents just in Ocean County, New Jersey still haven’t been able to return to their neighborhoods. Some individuals are suffering lingering psychological effects similar to post traumatic stress disorder.

Silver Lining?

If there is any silver lining to this terrible cloud, it may be that finally, both people and politicians are taking climate change more seriously.

“What we do know is the temperature around the globe is increasing faster than was predicted even 10 years ago. We do know that the Arctic ice cap is melting faster than was predicted even five years ago. We do know that there have been … an extraordinarily large number of severe weather events here in North America, but also around the globe.

I am a firm believer that climate change is real, that it is impacted by human behavior and carbon emissions,” declared the president.  “And as a consequence, I think we’ve got an obligation to future generations to do something about it.” ~ President Obama, at a news conference two weeks after Sandy struck,

In fact, President Obama’s belief that climate change is happening may have helped get him re-elected to a second term. In the crucial days right after the storm and before the 2012 election, he earned the endorsement of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who cited the President’s quick and focused mobilization of the federal government as well as his belief that climate change must be stopped. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, also strongly praised Democrat Obama for his Sandy response, even though he’d previously endorsed Mitt Romney, the president’s opponent.  Indeed, the storm ignited widespread public debate over whether Mitt Romney had once proposed eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the primary federal agency that oversees disaster response. Romney denied doing so, but the issue cast doubt over voters concerned about getting help in the event another extreme storm occurred.

Sandy seems to have been a game-changer among the public, as well.

In 2010, two years before Sandy struck, psychology Prof. Laurie A. Rudman of New Jersey’s Rutgers University asked 269 students whether they would vote for a fictional “green” politician over one who favored the status quo. The majority of students supported the status quo politician.

After Sandy hit the region, Rudman surveyed a new group of 318 students. This time, students more strongly embraced the “green” politican. They also said that they believed climate change was influenced by human behavior.

“People were more likely to base their decisions on their gut-feelings in the aftermath of Sandy, compared to before the storm,” Rudman reported.

While it could be expected that people directly impacted by an extreme storm would make the climate change connection, what about others who only experienced Sandy from afar?

According to post-election polling conducted by Penn, Schoen and Berland, 60% of American voters agreed with the statement that “global warming made Hurricane Sandy worse.” In the same survey, 73% of respondents concurred that “Global warming is affecting extreme weather events in the United States.” Nationally, the number of people who strongly agreed that climate change is affecting weather increased by 36%.

One Year Later

Today, those attitudes persist, at least among citizens in New Jersey. A poll released by the Edward J. Bloustein School for Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University found that nearly three quarters of New Jersey residents are concerned that climate change may affect the state; two thirds of those say that Hurricane Sandy and other recent storms have changed their views about climate change.

“These numbers are telling me that the distance between the individual resident and the implications of climate change has closed,” said Bloustein professor Michael Greenberg.

“Superstorm Sandy, I really do believe, this is a game changer in the recognition of climate change,” said Bloustein Dean James Hughes.

What Can We Do?

The question is, what should we as individuals and as a nation do about it?

Step number one certainly has to be to drastically reduce our use of coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning these fuels creates carbon pollution, the primary source of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Because power plants are the largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S., Moms Clean Air Force is a strong proponent of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to limit power plant pollution. You can help by telling the EPA you support the new limits on carbon pollution from power plants, too.

At home, do your part to save energy by taking simple but practical steps to insulate your attic and crawl spaces, windows and doors, and even your water heater. Here are the top ten ways to save energy and money at home that we at Big Green Purse recommend.

Added bonus: Anything you do to save energy will save you money, too.

Post-disaster rebuilding to maximize energy efficiency plays another important role. Communities like Greensburg, Kansas are already showing the rest of America how to make saving energy the driving force behind community reconstruction after disaster hits.

Finally, perhaps the most important action you can take is to vote for local, state and federal officials who understand the climate change threat and are willing to support meaningful and measurable policies and programs to stop it. Join Moms Clean Air Force, a national community of over 180,000 moms strong working to make a difference.

TELL EPA TO STOP CARBON POLLUTION