Army Green – environmentally that is!

Saving Energy, saving money , becoming a Green Citizen. Ed Begley? HGTV Green House? No – the Army Reserve! Before you scoff, before you decide I’ve definitely lost the few marbles still rattling around my skull – give me a minute of your time to show you what I’m talking about.

From Defense.gov news – an report of the groundbreaking for a new solar micro grid at Fort Hunter Liggett in California. The location is perfect for a solar array – 292 days of sunshine means that the new facility will have plenty of “fuel” to work! This installation of panels is also a “twofer”. The panel array is being set up over an existing parking lot and shades the cars parked underneath it, absorbing all that sunlight and generating power. The personnel who need to park their cars in the area won’t return to that baking hot car, the seat you can’t sit in and the steering wheel that’s too hot to handle – and think of how much gas they’ll save by not needing to let the air conditioning run to cool the vehicle down enough to drive home. The solar array “shade cover” will use all that solar heat and light to generate power for part of the Army Reserve post and if they find that it works well enough, plans are to build phase two and three – this Army Reserve post could actually be a “net zero energy installation”, producing their own energy in a sustainable way.

Saving that much energy isn’t just good for the Reserves – it’s good for the taxpayer! In the long run (and that’s what we need to look at, not just the immediate savings, but savings over the life of the facility) we as taxpayers will save money, the facility won’t need to rely on fossil fuels for power, emissions will be cut (if you don’t burn it, no smoke! No particulates!) and we conserve the limited resource of oil, or coal. No need to build another power plant – if more companies did something like this, we could cut down on the amount of power they need to buy from the power plant, reduce the strain on those plants – allowing the energy to be used by those who can’t rely on such a system.

As  Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment said in a hearing on the Hill – renewable energy investments could save Billions of dollars.  Billions.  These are our tax dollars that could be saved, while conserving energy and preventing more pollution.

Think of those acres of parking lots that just bake in the sun, in the desert states – what do you think? Could they be a source of power as well? Sunlight is still free – the solar cells can be built right here in the US providing new jobs in an industry poised to grow.

For more ideas, and more information about the environment, Clean Air, Clean Water – please go to Mom’s Clean Air Force web site.

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Budget Battles – theirs, ours, mine, yours

The military community had some lousy days last week. Our stress levels were sent skyrocketing by the threatened shutdown, which was going to bite us in the paycheque. Hard.

I’ll be writing a LOT more about that – but I also want to talk to you all about what the entire mess was about. The Budget! The cuts in the Budget that were making the biggest noise were the Planned Parenthood and NPR – but there are other cuts.

Republicans are aiming to curb the Environmental Protection Agency’s reach, especially its role as a regulator of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. GOP lawmakers have proposed riders that would limit the agency’s ability to oversee coal mining and enforce the Clean Air Act.

Washington Post – 4/7/2011

Taking away the EPA’s ability to enforce the Clean Air Act – what a giant step backwards! When we fought for so long to get the Clean Air Act passed, why would we decide to forego all the advances we made? Why would we want to allow more pollution in the air? The Senate has stopped the effort to gut the Clean Air Act,  but I really think they need some encouragement. A thank you and keep up the good work to the fifty that voted against the rider that would have stopped the EPA from continuing to protect our lungs against pollutants; and a request to the other fifty, to ask them to support the EPA, to support Clean Air, to support our children’s lungs and keep us healthy.

If the EPA doesn’t regulate what comes out of our smoke stacks, who will? I doubt the coal companies will self-regulate, or the companies that run the power plants either! When I hear that companies will self-regulate, I usually get a vision of a fox sitting outside the hen run.

If you don’t think that phone calls make a difference – believe me, they do. I’ve talked to some Hill staffers, who told me that the phone logs are given to the Congressman – they listen.

Now besides the calls for the Clean Air Act – while you have them on the phone, ask them to support two acts. HR 1297 and S. 724 would continue pay and allowances for active and reserve component forces in the event of a failure to enact interim or full-year appropriations for the Armed Forces.

Don’t forget to head over to Mom’s Clean Air Force for other ideas on how you can make a change.

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Meet the Mom’s Clean Air Force

Where are my manners!!  I forgot to introduce y’all to the other folks in the room – the other writers at Mom’s Clean Air Force. There are moms, a dad,  a grandma (that would be me) and some truly amazing writers.  I’ve admired so many of these folks, now that my stuff is on the same page with them… I’m really excited!

The link will take you to the site – where there’s a ton of information. I had a friend who asked me why on EARTH I decided to do this, between the heavy study/writing load, the pickup in work from my clients, and of course the countdown to another deployment. Why on Earth? There, that’s the reason.

The Earth. That’s why. I’m worried about the air my granddaughter is breathing, I’m worried about the water I brew my coffee with.

This week, with every tree around in bud or bloom, and my eyes tearing like mad, air quality is very high on my list of concerns. Then of course – there was the water this morning – when I started filling the washer I thought I’d somehow put bleach in (and since this was a red/dark load… that was not a good idea) but then I smelled it when I took a shower. I thought I was in a swimming pool!

Since my granddaughter is very much in my thoughts – she’s down with scarlatina and pretty miserable  – I want to make sure what she breathes is healthy.   Not full of lead which will affect that little clever brain; not full of particulates to hamper those little lungs when she runs and plays.  I don’t want the water she drinks to be polluted by mercury falling  with the rain when it hits the clouds of matter that spewed out of a power plant in Texas or  Minnesota.  I don’t want the crab dinner we’ll eat now that crab season is open, to be dangerous for that little perfect system.

I want to make sure that when she chows down on that spinach salad or the other veggies that she loves, that she’s not eating lead, or mercury or arsenic! The tuna steak that her grandfather grills for her – we want to make sure that eating it won’t hurt that developing brain of hers.

That’s why on Earth I did this!  That 5 year old giggling princess, with her big smile, her blue eyes, her curiosity and questions.  She’s why.  The other children in her preschool class, the other children in the playground – they are why.

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Let’s make some calls, y’all

There are various legislative amendments – and bills, and such that I am  keeping an eye on.  Why?  Because that’s just what I do.  I like to know what my elected officials are trying to do.

This means bills concerning the Clean Air Act and the EPA (and of course ANYTHING to do with military families)  Today, I’m looking at legislation and amendments being introduced, by members of both parties,  that are basically trying to cut the EPA’s ability to keep our air clean.  These include blocking the EPA from enforcing new “cafe standards” for cars – which force the car makers into making our cars more efficient.  When we were car shopping, one of the attributes of cars we were concerned with and that helped us make up our decision, was the gas mileage/efficiency.   NOT just because we want to pollute less, but also, very much – because we wanted to SAVE MONEY! We get 45 mpg in DC/NoVA traffic – that’s pretty impressive! We enjoy not spending a fortune to go on trips. Now, if car manufacturers weren’t forced to make changes, they weren’t going to make them.  I remember the days of seatbelt laws being enforced, the car manufacturers had a fit – it was going to cost too much!  then air bags – it was going to create all sorts of problems.  Standards for gas efficiency – it means there’s more money in MY pocket, instead of a corporation’s pocket.  Now personally, I like that.

Other amendments are trying to stop enforcement of the laws already in place about clean air standards – cutting down on methane and carbon pollution from power plants and other industrial sources.  As you know, I’m also blogging about Clean Air at Mom’s Clean Air Force.

Now, if you can, and if you care, give a call to your Senator and Congressperson – let them know you don’t favor cutting the ability of the EPA to keep our air clean, to keep the money you earn in your pocket, instead of in your gas tank.  The Amendments are being proposed in the  Small Business Bill.  What on earth amendments that will only be beneficial to the top polluters in the country are doing in a Small Business (like mine?) Bill – that’s a whole other topic.

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Clean Air – taking a deep breath

When this Milspouse agreed to mutter about the Clean Air Act with Mom’s Clean Air Force, I had a few reasons for doing so.  The chief reason was the opportunity to write about something I really love – the environment.  Ask anyone who knows me, I’m one of THOSE.   We recycle; we drive a hybrid; we take mass transit when at all possible;  we buy organic and try to support local farmers who raise their crops organically – you get the picture.

Moving around as we do (and as military families, we all do, right?) we have so much to take into consideration.

• Distance to post; check.
• Distance to Metro or bus; check.
• Safety; check.
• Military friendly rental owner: check.
• Pet friendly; check.

As I was househunting, I had my check list.  Then, I found it.  Great place – but then I looked up.  An Incinerator?  Seriously?

So I did some research – called the town and county – did some googling… and found out that this one has a great reputation, that their emissions are very low.  Now I have a couple of reasons for doing a lot of double checking;  My husband, and my granddaughter.

My husband has been around a lot of burn pits in his last three deployments and his lungs are probably already somewhat stained around the edges.   I would rather not expose his lungs to even more particulate and toxins.

Our granddaughter – she’s five, and the best grandchild on the planet, really!  She was born a little early and has had some lung problems in the past.  When she comes to see us, do I want to have her exposed to those particulates and toxins?  Those little lungs, that little brain developing, as a good grandma, they need to be protected, right?

I can’t do this for other particulate emitters – like a power plant that might be twenty or 50 or 200 miles away.  That’s what I want to rely on the EPA to do; to help me make sure that the air my husband breathes when he gets back from his next deployment; the air my granddaughter is breathing when she hurtles down the slide on the playground;  the playground sand she digs in; is as clean as possible, is not toxic.

I’ve always known that the prevailing winds are bearing  particulates and pollution all over the country.  The biggest emitters of mercury, one of the most toxic poisons that contaminate our lakes and rivers, are coal fired power plants.  There are about 450 of them, scattered around the country.   About 55% of the plants in the country are already complying with the new proposed rules, so it’s NOT impossible!  There are all sorts of filters, there are ways to check and test the fuel that is being used.  There is even something called a “baghouse” which is an interesting name for some really big filters – fabric filters that catch most of the  particulate bits that are going out the stack of the power plant, on which the mercury, arsenic, formaldehyde and lead are flying through the air.

The proposed rules are to tighten up emission standards for mercury, acid gases,  and all other particulates that come out of power plants.  They will prevent over 90 percent of mercury from coal burning power plants from being dispersed into the air, and reduce 90% of  those acid gases (like hydrochloric acid!) from being emitted as well.

The welfare of our families is the most important thing to all of us.  Making sure the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat is safe; is crucial.  We can’t do it alone, we need to rely on each other as well.  To keep industries from contaminating our air and water – we need the EPA.  These Clean Air Act proposed changes are an important step for the EPA, for all of us.  Your comments are important.

Here is the place to add your comments – email address: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov

The emails should reference these Docket ID numbers.

Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0044 (NSPS action)
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0234 (NESHAP action)

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Clean Air – Moms Clean Air Force

Clean air! It’s everyone’s right, to have air that is clean and that won’t hurt us to take a deep breath, right? That is the reason we have the EPA and The Clean Air Act. So why should I care about this – it’s the law already, we fought that battle back in the 70s, and in the 80s and even in the 90s. Why are you bothering me with this? We’ve become accustomed to having air we can breathe, safely.

Many years ago, when this Milspouse muttered in Minnesota, I worked for a group of lawyers who worked for the Pollution Control Agency. The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes published an advisory, stating that pregnant women, young children and even women who were thinking of becoming pregnant shouldn’t eat a lot of fish out of any of those lovely lakes. Placards at the lakes told us that all those people who fish should toss them back, not just because of conservation of the fish stock – but because the mercury levels were so high! Mercury? The mercury we used to see in thermometers? Now, you ask, what does this have to do with the Clean Air Act – I should be talking about the Clean WATER Act. No, not this time; this mercury isn’t naturally occurring.  Airborne particles from coal fired power plants are precipitating those mercury levels into the “danger for pregnant women” zone.

The EPA is proposing a ruling and update to the Clean Air Act targeting those toxic air pollutants that are the most harmful – like mercury, arsenic, dioxin, lead, acid gases and other heavy metals. These are usually spewed out by coal fired power plants that don’t have any limits on what they emit. Now this rule has been under consideration and development for 20 years. In that time some power plants have been fitted with the necessary filters, and are online, working efficiently but in a cleaner fashion than those unfiltered.

Opponents to these regulations are trying very hard to prevent the EPA from enforcing these new rules under consideration. BUT on the other hand, those who care about our health are on board with making these new rules the law, like The American Medical Association, the American Lung Association; the American Heart Association; the American Academy of Pediatricians; the American Nurses Association.

I’m part of a new movement – Moms Clean Air Force* – as a mom and grandma, I believe in clean air for our families. I’m combining two passions here, military families and their welfare, and environmental causes. The young children of this country, who are the population most likely to have asthma from “bad air”, who get the constant respiratory illnesses from bad air, and whose little bodies are most likely to be polluted by the dioxins, the mercury and lead that can harm their brain development; those children deserve clean air, deserve to be able to breathe safely. My granddaughter deserves to be able to run around in the clean air, not wheeze and sneeze from pollutants.

Our military children, when they live in this country, deserve to be able to breathe safely. After all, some of us have lived in countries where the air isn’t that clean, where we can’t be sure what they are breathing in. We’ve seen our spouses come back from “downrange” and other places, talking about being able to breathe so much better when they are back. Some of us are seeing the effects of bad air that our service-member breathed in affecting their breathing now. Let’s keep that clean air here in the USA, let’s make sure that the air we all breathe is as clean as we can possibly make it.

The EPA News Release is here

That link will lead you to other EPA links about this new rule. You can get the 900 page proposed rule as well as very helpful interpretation documents if you don’t want to devote your week to reading the whole thing!

Here is the place to add your comments – email address: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov

To make life easier on the person sorting these, and to make sure that your comment gets to the right place, emails should reference these Docket ID numbers.

Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0044 (NSPS action)
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0234 (NESHAP action)

*Disclosure: I am receiving a small honorarium for my time writing, speaking and participating in events as part of the Moms Clean Air Force. But you know I wouldn’t do this, if I didn’t believe in it. I believe, as I always have, in being a good caretaker of the planet while I’m here, and leaving it a better, cleaner place for my child and grandchild.

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