The 2011 National Affairs Legislative Meeting in Washington, DC was attended by Chris Nicols and Urling Searle. They compiled this report for our members.
Gardeners are optimistic people….they’re not naïve and they literally understand the concept of reaping what you sow. How we treat our environment both around our homes and around our nation expresses much about our society. We need to help business grow and create more jobs while developing sustainable standards for clean air and water.
Small Steps Change The World
Inside Your Home
۰Use green cleaning products. (Remember vinegar has many uses. You will breathe easier and please no phosphates!)
۰Lights off when not using rooms
۰Unplug when not in use, avoid phantom power drain.
۰Change some bulbs to fluorescent or LED.
Outside Your Home
۰Say no to pesticides (Take a moment or talk to somebody to educate yourself. Reach out to your friends!)
۰Lessen your lawn (An easy way to reduce chemical use and add beauty)
۰Give your lawn a treat (Don’t blow away all your grass clippings and add some to your leaf and/or compost pile.)
۰Go Native (Use native plants and encourage biodiversity. Your garden needs variety just as much as you do. More local color and flavor creates a more beautiful place to live.)
Transportation
۰Take the train; use public transportation
۰Raise the gas mileage of your car. There are many options!
۰Drive with a friend. Its much more fun and easy to arrange.
What we learned in D.C. and want to share with you
National Arboretum http://www.usna.usda.gov/
۰70% of total 12 million dollar budget is research.
۰Developing cultivars that can deal with changing climate and find quick solutions to stem plant disease growth. Are we planting trees that will deal well with current climate?
۰Industry is asking arboretum to do more fundamental research they will then develop for their needs.
۰Educate public using their arboretum and gardens for programs, garden installations and outreach. Equally important……..inspire children to think.
‘Green’ Republicans
۰The EPA was founded in 1970, the Clean Air Act in 1970, and the Clean Water Act in 1972, all under President Nixon!
۰Remember when the rivers were burning, harbor waters were dying etc…
۰There is huge emphasis from all of our representatives in office: any new bills, modifications or ideas have to translate to jobs and helping the economy. If you study budgets you will see where changes are taking place. As John Broder, Energy and Environment writer for the NY Times says “Economics drive Politics and Policies!” Right now, the environment is considered a “luxury” concern within our more important issues of the US economy, unemployment, national security and energy issues.
American Farmland Trust - 30 years old
۰ Protect farmland and help economic viability of farms.
۰Why is farm bill important?
۰The biggest conservation efforts by our country: about 50% of our land is under private management, and the USDA helps people deal with this “responsibility”.
۰A stable agriculture promotes domestic security and helps to stave off risky situations– weather being a big variable in global food production.
۰USDA biggest expenditure is 182 billion to health and nutrition programs. It provides funding (aprox. 5 billion/year) for programs to support conservation.
۰Apply economic principles to environmental efforts (again: economic factors drive policy!). Right now our farm economy is pretty strong: we have record demand from China and India for US exports and more education will create a demand for better diets.
۰1st time in a century number of farms has increased instead of decreased.
Land & Water Conservation Fund
Lesley Kane Syznal and Sen. Lindsey Graham
۰ Uses oil profits to fund outdoor parks and provide recreation. Projects range from large tracts of forest to small community gardens. Funds are acquired through permitting and not taxation.
۰Established in 1965. In 1977 Congress approved annual funding of 900 million. They have never once allotted full funding – it has always been diverted. This is something we ask our legislators every year. The closest we ever came to full funding was when Bill Clinton was in office.
۰ Outdoor recreation creates enormous profits and jobs. Look at Patagonia, EMS, the NorthFace models!
Oceans
Sandra Whitehouse – Phd. Marine Scientist – Advisor to Ocean Conservancy
۰The realization of the importance of healthy oceans. Currently developing a baseline assessment of coasts. Efforts are underway to control invasive species on land and sea. Little regulation exists for the thousands of tankers (who discharge foreign ballast waters and critters) arriving in our harbors daily.
۰International Coastal Cleanup Day – volunteers around the world clean the beaches and assess what they find.
۰Studies of biodiversity are ongoing for pharmaceutical purposes. New pain medications derived from the kelp beds and are like species from the Rain Forest. Experts think that only 1/3 of marine species have been discovered and these habitats need to be protected.
۰We have comprehensive Land Use policies in place but we need comprehensive ocean conservation policies. Currently there are too many groups operating independently of one another.
۰ Possible future harnessing of wave energy.
۰Oceans are 30% more acidic than 30 years ago. Shells are thinner than in the past and may have trouble absorbing carbon.
There is shrinking sea ice and species are shifting with the warmer waters. More water makes for a darker earth’s surface which then absorbs more heat and melts more ice.
۰Sandra Whitehouse called the storm intensification from the rising water levels “global weirding,” with a huge connection between our waters and our lands.
۰The new National Ocean Policy hopes to develop a policy similar to land use planning to help protect our seas by: 1) protecting and maintaining our oceans; 2) supporting economically sustainable uses; and 3) creating ecologically/scientific and economically sensitive management organizations and policies and keep them funded!
Natural Gas Hydraulic Fracturing
Safe Water Drinking Act
Gretchen Downs & Jane Whitaker
۰Drilling process – 1) shoot a water/sand/chemical mix at high pressure through a perforated tube 2) break apart the shale 3) pull water/chemical solution (many of which are on the lists of hazardous substances) from the ground, and 4) the gas is removed and you are left with millions of tons of a dirt/chemical (possibly toxic)/water mix.
۰High levels of sodium and radioactive agents have been found in local streams.
One well may use 1-7 million gallons of water and be fracked 18 times. Currently there are 500,000 wells in the U.S. – over 1 million sites have been hydraulically fractured.
۰Pennsylvania has so much water it now sends it through sewage plants.
۰ The 2009 FRAC Act (Fracking Responsibility Awareness of Chemicals) is supposed to allow the EPA to review and regulate safe standards.
۰Legislation needs to be aimed at: 1) monitoring the chemicals that are used; 2) monitoring the oversight of waste products (including groundwater contamination); and 3) ensuring the use of a closed loop system so that wastewater is pumped directly into trucks, recycled and used in future drilling sites instead of staying on drilling sites, reservoirs or being dumped into lakes, rivers and streams.
۰As of 2010, the EPA will do a 2 year comprehensive study. Because 11% of our natural gas is on public lands (12 million acres), the Sec. of the Interior is waiting for the study, while companies are continuing to frack and not disclose the chemicals they are using and possibly dumping.
Weather & Climate
Dr. Thomas Karl – NOAA National Climate Data Center
۰ Tracks events on an hourly to a century basis using over 10,000 weather stations around the world using land, sea, air, ice and satellite monitoring.
۰As Mark Twain said “Climate is what we expect and weather is what we get”.
5,000 Horizon disasters are put into the ocean every year. Carbon is invisible. Readings on air, land, sea, wind, rain etc… are collected along with ice core samples and tree rings for historical information, by 300 scientists in 48 countries.
۰37 climate indicators give a consistent picture of a global phenomenon. Seeing extreme precipitation on coastlines and consistent rise in temperature worldwide. The result of this groundbreaking study indicates that HUMAN-INDUCED change is happening right now. Expect to see more extreme weather with similar overall precipitation. Climatologists forsee a profound effect on our infrastructure’s ability to handle these unusual situations.
۰ “Normal” guidelines for planting of crops and setting fuel prices are now revised every 10 years as are plant hardiness zones….may not be often enough.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department
Will Ashforth – Assistant Secretary
۰“Great Outdoors Initiative” – similar to 1908 Teddy Roosevelt.
۰Teens are more likely to go outside if it is a family affair. Learned this from teen listening sessions held around the country.
۰Hoping to increase efficiencies of youth outdoor programs – reconnecting
Americans to great outdoors by enhancing recreational opportunities.
۰President supports full funding of 2010 land acquisition fund.
۰Connect urban areas to surrounding area parks. Work with private owners to form partnerships. Engage local communities
۰Make changes and challenge private sector to work with government to accomplish long term goals as administrations change.
۰Implement invasive species plan in National Parks.
EPA – Environmental Protection Agency at 40
Gina McCarthy – EPA Assistant Admin. Air & Radiation
۰The Clean Air Act reduced air pollution by 60% while the economy soared. Clean air supports a healthier population with lower medical expenses.
۰All about pesky carbon and reduction of greenhouse gases. EPA implements Congressional law based on sound science. EPA has no involvement with cap & trade. Only permits large projects – strives for common sense.
۰Driving most cost effective technologies and innovation – i.e. new coal boiler and toxicity standards to be implemented in 3 years. Not anti-coal just anti-pollution.
۰In 1970’s the auto industry predicted it would not exist if it had to install catalytic converters. Auto industry and EPA currently have a working dialogue due to increasing alignment between organizations. Don’t count out American ingenuity and innovation!
۰Another example of helping to promote good standards of health through the EPA and not hurt the economy is when people were concerned with the hole in the ozone layer and rises in skin cancer. The EPA banned CFC’s which people predicted would end supermarkets and refrigerators. We now use better chemicals for refrigerants and have better environmental standards.
۰Clean Air Act was supposed to kill the economy and it grew by 38%. It is possible to clean up the Environment and grow the economy! The facts do not support the notion that if you do something good for the environment a loss of jobs will follow. Time to move forward with level heads and attention to costs.
The EPA’s success is due to sticking with Congressional laws which are based on sound science while promoting transparency and cost-effectiveness. Make sure you look at the science, don’t be “wicked afraid!”, and think about costs as well as public health.
Chesapeake Bay & Best Farming Practices
۰ Senator Bill Cardin – Chr. Water & Wildlife subcommittee
۰ Chesapeake Bay supports enormous variety of wildlife and industry. A strong framework is necessary to clean up the bay. Farmers need to adopt best practices such as cover crops, safer manure ponds etc. in order to lessen toxicity of storm runoff.
۰ New bill gives surrounding states until 2025 to clean up and they are able to achieve marks in any manner they choose. This gives them flexibility and is the cheapest way to address agriculture and adopt best farming practices.
۰ Remember when rivers were on fire? America needs to show its leadership as is our legacy and sound environmental practices are good for our economy!
Coal And Coal Ash
Melissa McAdams and Annie Alger
۰46% of the electricity in the US is provided by coal. While use of this energy source is down in our country, China (where coal provides 70% of electricity) and India continue to burn coal as they experience rapid economic growth. 50% of the world’s electric supply comes from coal-fired plants. Plants that burn coal are reliable sources of energy, but release ash, mercury, pthalamines, sulphur, nitrogen, arsenic and CO2. While natural gas is a better alternative (with 1/2 the CO2 emitted), transporting, drilling, and resource (water) costs and contamination are real issues. No energy resource is without its risks and negatives…..
۰Carbon capture and sequestation (CCS) is a process to keep the carbon resulting from coal combustion out of the atmosphere and store it permanently underground. The US must stay on top of this topic to be able to help China’s new demand: their new coal generating capacity through 2030 exceeds the current capacity of the US, EU and Japan together. This will be challenging because at least 25% more coal is required to be burned to provide the energy to separate and capture the carbon.
۰Coal Ash is a product of coal-fired power plants. The ash contains numerous heavy metals which become concentrated after the burning process. Coal-fired power plants produce 136 million tons of coal ash a year on average, with about 1/3 of the ash being recycled (into cement, sheetrock, etc.). The remaining ash is piling up and there are real concerns about the toxins in the material. Perhaps the EPA will designate coal ash as a hazardous waste. And where should we put/store coal ash?
