Raleigh's Unsustainable Water Supply

In my home town of Raleigh, North Carolina, and the areas surrounding (collectively known as the Triangle), there have been recent issues with providing water for residents at a sustainable level. Presently, there are two lakes that provide all of the water for the three major counties that make up the Triangle area, Jordan Lake and Falls Lake. Jordan Lake was built in 1967 and Falls Lake was in 1981, with no new water supply sources being created since then. While the water supply has stayed constant, the population has skyrocketed. In 1970, the population of the Triangle was about 419,000 and as of the most recent census in 2000 (nine years ago), the population of the Triangle was about 1.11 million. With the Triangle being the fastest growing region in America, this number is bound to have increased astronomically.

In 2007, the lack of water finally caught up to the area. When drought hit, the huge reserve that would have easily carried the area in 1970 proved to be insufficient. Falls Lake dropped to 8.88 ft below the normal level and came within 100 days of running out of water. Raleigh was forced to enact strict water regulations, such as no watering lawns, no washing cars, and so on. But as soon as Falls Lake filled back up, Raleigh canceled all regulations, setting themselves up for the same problem to happen again.

Plans have been place to build a 6-mile lake along the Little River, located about 8-miles from Raleigh, which could supply 17 million more gallons per day; however, this project has been on hold for a while and cannot be finished until 2017 at the earliest. Beyond that, there are no other plans to increase the Triangle’s water supply.

The Triangle is walking a fine line with disaster right now. It would only take one broken dam or one more major drought to completely rid the area of all water. Imagine the causalities that could result if a whole city woke up one morning and there was no water to come out of the faucet. With potential areas of improvement, the Raleigh area needs to act soon. They need to create more and diversify their water supply. They also need to create permanent regulations that will cut down on wasteful water practices. With America using more water than any other country in the world, averaging 69.3 gallons per person per day (twice as much as other industrialized countries), cutting down our water use is a realistic goal. No matter what, something must be done soon before disaster strikes.

Green Jobs Could Help Save the Economy

In case you haven’t heard, green jobs are paying big nowadays. With the economic strife facing our country, there has been a trend to shift focus to the Green workforce in order to bump employment numbers, while at the same time addressing environmental concerns. Renewable energy, Green Building and Organic Agriculture are all areas of employment that are proposed as being the saviors of our economy and unemployment figures. Specific suggestions for creating jobs include an expanded public transportation system, creating tax and subsidy policies that favor green business, and all around integrating environmental goals with business procedures.

I think that tapping into the green workforce is a great idea for helping to improve our economy. The number of job opportunities working for the environment is huge, and keeps growing. The United States has over a million jobs in the recycling industry and 300,000 in the wind power industry alone. There is job potential in dealing with climate change problems including building flood barriers and rehabilitating wetlands. 

Green jobs are only increasing in number. Labor unions see green jobs as replacing jobs lost to overseas manufacturing, states are mandating more energy come from alternative resources, and the American Solar Energy Society predicts the nation at having 8.5 million jobs in renewable energy. 

The Center for American Progress released a new report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists that proposed a $100 billion dollar plan that over two years would create 2 million jobs that will in particular help out failing manufacturing and construction industries. Organizations like the Blue Green Alliance, an alliance of labor unions and environmental groups that seek to promote green employment, are advocating for this issue as well, seeing the potential good it could bring. 

All in all, with the way seems to be going with the economy, investing in the green market seems like an industry that could really provide jobs, help the economy, and be part of a real solution. To say it’s the sole savior of our economic troubles would be too simple, but could it really hurt to try? 

VA Coal Fired Power Plant

VA Coal Fired Power Plant

St. Paul in southwest Virginia, an area greatly known for its coal and coal fired power plants, is an area proposed use for another Coal Fired Power Plant. The power plant is a 585 megawatt plant and will be capable of supporting almost 150,000 homes is the surrounding area when operational. This decision was approved unanimously by the Air Pollution Control Board in Wise Virginia. Dominion Power is the company that owns the power plant.

To help pursued the Air Pollution Control Board members, made several amendments to the permits proposed by Dominion Power. The permits restricted the proposed amount of sulfur-dioxide by more than two-thirds, and also reduced the amount of mercury that the power plant would emit. And one of finals permits Dominion Power agreed upon was to convert one of their existing coal fired power plants in central Virginia, to a cleaner burning, natural gas fired plant. These limitations are curial to reducing the environmental impacts of the power plant. Mercury, a heavy metal, can get into the soil and local water systems were bioaccumulation can occur, disrupting the entire food chain, and having dire health consequences of the fish, mammal, and even human populations. Sulfur-dioxide emissions get into the atmosphere and are a main contributor to acid rain, which can be dumped across neighboring county lines, and also has significant environmental cost to crops and water systems.

Dominion Power also pledged to only use Virginia coal. While creating jobs, and increasing our states Gross Domestic Product, Virginia has many environmental impacts. Virginia coal is mostly mined through mountain top removal methods. This area covers many of the existing streams and creel beds that support much wildlife. It also requires clear cutting large amounts of forest, or just exposing a large area of earth. This leads to great quantities of soil erosion from the area and increases the turbidity of local water ways, which limit the amount of animals and plant life that any certain water ecosystem can support.

Even with stricter emissions on coal fired power plants, many environmental impacts are inevitable. Besides reducing our electrical consumption, ‘greener’ and renewable substitutes for coal are the best cases to further eliminate these negative environmental impacts.

Virginia Supreme Court, Blacksburg successful in thwarting construction of local Wal-mart

In March of 2007, Fairmount Properties, a Cleveland, Ohio based residential development firm released project information to Blacksburg about a potential $40 million dollar, 175,000 square foot (40 acre) "First and Main" project that would include a plethora of new clothing, food, and other name brand retail stores (including Wal-Mart) on South Main Street. Concerned Blacksburg citizens and city council members were immediately up in arms about the development and in April, shortly after the initial announcement, they proposed Ordiance 1450, which would require any retail store of 80,000 square feet or more to obtain a special use permit. In addition to this, petitions in suppport of the ordiance were spread all over town. Disputes brought on by "big box" retailers such as Wal-Mart included the washing out of independent local business competition, the preservaton of local culture, community appeal, and poor location were all of large concern.

On May 6th, 2007, after weeks of debate and controversy with the Blacksburg Town Council Members and Blacksburg Planning Commission (who review issues on community growth, development, zoning, and land development policies), the Blacksburg United for Responsible Growth (BURG) organization was formed to mobilize public support for Ordinance 1450. Four days after this, Fairmount filed a lawsuit against the city of Blacksburg, in particular its zoning administration, in response to the overwhelming support of the ordinance, claiming that it had the "vested rights" to build such a retail structure, as well as protection from what they called "retroactive government interference". Shortly after this in late May, Blacksburg Planning Commission passed Ordinance 1450 after a lengthy public hearing and a unanimous (7-0) Town Council vote of approval. A Blacksburg councilman commenting on the issue said the Ordinance would help,"protect the town from the gross excesses of overexuberant growth." On May 31st Blacksburg responded to the suited filed against the city claiming to the courts that they required more time to "exhaust the administrative remedies available" in order to review the site plan, in addition to noting that the rezoning did not allow the developers to hold "vested rights" to the property. Within these reviews the council would "determine if the retailer could meet regulations on light and noise pollution, pedestrian accessibility, traffic density and a myriad of other standards."

After multiple court appeals over zoning regulations and months of legal disputes between parties, the issue was taken to the Virgina Supreme Court on January 15th, 2009. On February 27, the Supreme Court released thier decision to uphold Ordinance 1450, and in effect impede Fairmount Properties from constructing a Wal-Mart that may have had detrimental impacts relating to economic sprawl, transportation, local environmental pollution, and a variety of other social issues.

As for my feelings on the issue, I believe it was in Blacksburg's best interest to hold the feelings of it's residents in the highest regard. Wal-Mart is known to be quite a dubious company and uses many techniques as America's largest Fortune 500 company to undermine both its workers, and suppliers for mere economic gain. Blacksburg is not the kind of town that needs a Wal-Mart, besides, there's one not five minutes down the road in Christiansburg, so the real question here is: What are the real aims of companies like Fairmount and Wal-Mart - true local economic growth and stability or the opportunity to exploit huge profits from a thriving university town? I believe the latter holds true.

Smart Grids

Wouldn’t you want to only use electricity when you knew it was at its cheapest price? Wouldn’t it comfort you to know that the power grid knows instantly where and when a blackout occurs, and immediately works to fix the problem? How convenient would it be to know exactly how much your electricity bill is at any given time, and how your actions are affecting the cost? These are only a few of the things that are being proposed as part of “smart grid” technology, a new technology in testing stages. It is currently being supported by the Obama administration in the new stimulus package and by other government officials in proposed legislation. The hope is to update our current system with this new, smarter grid.

The power grid that is being used today can do none of the above mentioned things, which is a disappointment to many consumers who are trying to cut costs and be environmentally conscious. It is an old, patchwork system that is expensive and incredibly inefficient, because it is not nationally connected. The smart grid technologies will change almost everything about the current grid. It will become a modern, efficient, and cheaper way for electricity distribution, and it will put consumers in control of their energy use. Many experts argue that a new system is badly needed within our economy, our environment, and our homes.

Personally I feel that an overhaul of the current system is necessary. It became obvious to me with the blackouts that occurred in New York recently that electricity availability is an issue, and it is not necessarily the fault of the companies, but the dated system being used. I also think that Americans are becoming more conscious of their energy consumption and they want to do something about it, but when they don’t see a significant decrease in cost they are discouraged from reducing their energy consumption. Many people currently have electricity bills that are not in proportion to their actual electricity use. I think the smart grid has powerful implications for changing the way this country uses and manages electricity as well as our use of natural resources. This has potential to also reduce our emissions also, which will be accomplishing another objective that the Obama administration is focusing on.

For more information, check out any of the links posted within my blog, or this great video.

Asphalt Plant Seeks Roanoke area Home

Roanoke County is considering building an asphalt plant just off of U.S. 11/460. They plan to use an old water treatment plant that is already located along the road as the location for the plant (site seen in photo). they said that there is a lot of storage there and it would save money because they would only have to update and adjust the location instead of having to build an entirely new infrastructure. The citizens and environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, are opposed to the asphalt plant because they are worried about the environment implications, smells, and particles that may be caused by this industry.

Adams Construction Co., the company who wants to build the plant, is doing their best to talk to the public about their concerns. They say that most of their fears are very stereotypical. They say that the design will use an up-to-date bag house, a technology that is 99.5 percent effective in reducing particles, to there is no need to be fearful. They also say that an oxygen scavenger mixes in and neutralizes the asphalt scent and leaves a hint of pine smell. They hheld a community meeting in the Glenvar Middle School auditorium where the public was able to come and have thier concerns adressed by planners and industry experts. The supporters of the asphalt plant assure that the new plant will create at least 600 jobs for the citizens of Roanoke. This idea is supported by the Roanoke County Planning Commission. They put it to a vote and the result weas 3 to 1 in favor of the new asphalt plant. Although the Commission does not have the final say, their position is influential to decision makers. They say that not only will it utilize the forgotten water treatment plant, but the company will also be responsible for planting trees in the area to act as a sound barrier. They are concerned about what is best for their town, people, and of course their economy, which is hurting just like everywhere else. The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors voted on the matter in February which resulted in a tie, further postponing any disision on the project.

In my opinion, the people of Roanoke have the right to be concerned about the risk of dangerous air pollutants coming from the factory. Although bag houses are very effective they are not 100 percent effective. In the past, bag houses have malfunctioned causing pollution to be released into the atmosphere. However, with the advances that have been made in technology, I think if they keep it closely monitored at all times and constantly check to make sure it is running properly, they should not have a problem. I think it is responsible to plan to reuse a site that has already been built and could be cost effective to adjusted it to fit their purpose. I do however think they need to be careful in doing that and make sure they do not cut environmental safety features.

The United States is currently going through not only an economic crisis, but also a job crisis, and this does not exclude Roanoke. The new asphalt plant would help boost their economy and create new jobs, which are badly needed, for the locals. All over the country jobs are being slashed. Id this project goes through, they would have to employ people not only to run, maintain the plant, design, and build it , but they would also receive revenue from companies wishing to buy the asphalt. Although I feel as though the asphalt plant has some very negative environmental impacts, I think that it might be just what the R oanoke evonomy needs.

Dominion's Proposed Third Reactor

In my hometown of Louisa County, Virginia there has been an ongoing debate concerning the county’s largest employer. Dominion Power, which owns and operates a nuclear power station in the county applied for a permit to build a third nuclear reactor unit at its current plant. The reason for building the third reactor at the plant according to Dominion is due the increasing growth of Virginia and is demand for more energy. The proposed reactor is estimated that it will provide an additional 375,000 homes with power throughout Northern and Central Virginia.
The plan has however met opposition from some residents of Louisa County. Many people have a fear of anything that involves nuclear energy or radioactive material. According to a Daily Progress article, some of the concerns that have been expressed by the general public involve the addition of more hazardous waste and its effects on the environment and possible water and air pollution. Also, a large fear is that the addition of another reactor will decrease the water level and increased temperature of the lake that the plant uses to cool its original two reactors.
Although these are ligament concerns, many of these fears come from an informed public. Before a third nuclear reactor can be built, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must first come and evaluate the situation. According the commissions finding, they stated that there would be little to no affect on air and water quality from the proposed third reactor and that because this new reactor would not depend on the lake for cooling, water levels under normal conditions would only be affected slightly. Because of the lack of negative effects on the environment and the people around the power plant, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stated that it believes that the project will benefit residents of Louisa County.
Even after scientific studies conducted by the NRC prove safe, people still have concerns about the project. I feel that these concerns are misguided due to not understanding how nuclear energy is produced. Nuclear energy is an extremely clean and efficient method of producing energy. There are no emissions of greenhouse gases and water used to cool these reactors never comes in contact with radioactive material. Radioactive waste is the only “pollution” that is generated by nuclear energy, and is probably the most controversial. Even still, the amount of nuclear waste generated by nuclear reactors is minuscule. To put this into perspective, if all the nuclear waste ever generated in the U.S. was stacked up together it would only cover the area the size of a football field 10 feet deep. This example also includes nuclear waste from defense related uses, so the real amount generated from nuclear reactors is even less. It’s hard to argue that nuclear energy isn’t the best method of creating power.

2008 Farm Bill

The legislation for the 2008 Farm Bill entails a diverse set of agricultural, environmental, and energy policy goals. The 2008 Farm Bill as every other farm bill provides subsidies for farmers dependent upon the type of produce grown on the farm. However the 2008 Farm Bill takes a new approach particularly in the area of environmental and energy policy.

Provisions from the 2008 Farm Bill led to the implementation of a guaranteed loan for the creation of a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. Range Fuels Inc. will receive an 80 million dollar loan from the USDA to begin production of cellulosic ethanol from wood chips, to help initiate successful research and production of cellulosic ethanol in America. Although a step in the right direction towards alternative energy, cellulosic ethanol is still not a viable or productive energy source. Fossil-fuel energy particularly that of coal will be used to work the Range Fuels plant and petroleum will be used to ship wood chips across the country to them. The bill also has cellulosic energy tax credits worth about 400 million and gives incentives for farmers in the form of subsidies to produce energy crops. Even more money is provided for research and development of biomass facilities. Once again the net energy gained from cellulosic ethanol, much like corn based ethanol is significantly diminished by the inputs required to make it. The focus of this bill, as it has always been in America, is on innovation and changing the problem as opposed to incentives to lower energy usage.

The simplified process of wood chips to usable energy.

For most of the history of the farm bill the debate has raged about the incentives for land conservation and its allocation of funding. The debate between conservationists and agribusinesses continues as both argue over the importance of natural resources conservation and productive agriculture. The Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) and the Conservation Security Program (CSP) are two controversial and debated parts of the new Farm Bill. The Grassland Reserve Program added an additional 1.22 million acres to its conservation efforts. It allows third parties to more accessibly reach an agreement with the USDA to hold environmental easements with landowners. The Conservation Security Program increased funding by 1.3 billion for the next five years but gives much discretionary authority to third parties and the state. The CSP will give up 7.2 million acres under its protection but third parties may purchase lands to go under CSP authority. There is a serious debate about the new amendments to the CSP. Conservationists fear that the newly released lands will be bought and used for agriculture production and abuse resources in unstable areas. The GRP is under scrutiny from agribusinesses for its huge increase in land protected from cultivation.

One of the biggest problems with agriculture, energy, and environmental policy is that too often conflicting interests battle with uneducated politicians about how to set up agricultural subsidies. The focus of the Department of Agriculture and the USDA is very undecided. Never is there a clear message that they are trying to improve agricultural production or environmental protection. Until Americans pay the true costs of food and energy, energy resources will always be depleting. The subsidized food industry allows people to have a greater quality of life in that they can spend more of their income on non-necessities. American's only spend 10-15% of their income on food. The growth problem in a lot of the world would slow down as food becomes more expensive and more scarce. Environmental quality will improve because there would be less petroleum fertilizers and dangerous synthetic pesticides running off into our waters and streams. Until the farm subsidy system rewards organic produce and promotes conservation, the fight over natural resources will continue to ensue in an ugly and wasteful battle.

Can we provide food for the well being of America while still protecting our natural resources?

Endangered Species Violation

The Ocelot one of many cute creatures endangered by the U.S./Mexican border wall

With the changing of the guard in the Oval Office, the Obama administration will be dealing with the environmental neglect that festered during the Bush years. Refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocols as well as massive deforestation legalized by the interior department smeared the president's environmental legacy, but his construction of the American Mexican border fence will be one of his more lasting environmental marks.

The U.S./ Mexico border wall will span across the edge of the Rio Grande to the Pacific Coast of California. Although politically the lines dividing the U.S. and Mexico separate citizens, the wildlife knows no boundaries and the wall's separation will foster inbreeding and artificial genetic isolation. Species with significantly low populations will be affected most greatly by the wall because of divided food resources and decreased numbers of available breeding partners.

Species like the Jaguar, which once roamed freely from Appalachia to Monterey Bay, California are currently on the endangered species list and inhabit the Southern Arizona and New Mexico regions. The construction of the border wall will cut this rare animal from its necessary resources and push it further towards extinction. Even land from the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge has been given up in order to build this fence. Other species likely to be harmed by the border wall include the ocelot, the jaguarundi and the Sonoran pronghorn antelope. Migrating species not currently endangered are expected to undergo difficulties adapting to their newly isolated environments.

One of the biggest problems of American environmental policy is that economic growth and urban sprawl trump the importance of resource protection. I feel that often times revenue brought in by new businesses coerces local governments to relax on the importance of land use planning. If governments at both the local and national level continue to support environmental degradation in order to improve local economies the external costs of environmental damage will continue to add up for future generations.

The Department of Homeland Security's push for the border fence is to cut back on illegal immigration and prevent the hemorrhaging loss of funds that go to medicare for those who are not taxpaying citizens. However the true cost of environmental degradation through an unnecessary loss in biodiversity surmounts that of tax dollars lost to illegal immigrants.



The American/Mexican Border Wall dividing people, destroying species.