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THIS MONTH IN EDA                                                 sustaineda.org              
Wind turbines and cancer?
Drought threatens the Mississippi River
The Colorado River Compact - beginnings
New water quality standards coming for Florida
Earth Day
A message from your Trustees
What's on your mind?
EDA Network: Global Footprint Network
Worth Noting
Help wanted for future articles
Coming in March EDA News

Wind turbines and cancer?

Back in 2019, the internet went wild when President Donald Trump stated that the noise from wind turbines could cause cancer. If you’re still hearing that from friends or family, the results are in. The answer is a clear and resounding NO!
There has not been a single documented human death due to an illness caused by a wind turbine. According to an expert panel conducted for the American and Canadian Wind Energy Associations, "there is no evidence that audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effect."

If you live close to a wind turbine, you might find the noise annoying. But most regions have setback laws that describe how close a wind turbine can be to residential areas, which is approximately 984 feet (300 meters). As for the noise levels, at that distance the sound level is about 43 decibels. By comparison, the average air conditioner can be 50 decibels and most refrigerators run around 40 decibels. If you work in a busy office environment, the noise levels are likely to be between 45 to 60 decibels.

What about the threat to birds?

Fossil fuel plants pose a greater risk to birds than wind turbines. Birds can get caught in oil pits and ponds that store toxic waste and leaking holding tanks have also poisoned waterfowl. However, birds do fly into turbine blades. That’s because when flying, birds normally look down, not straight ahead so they can navigate.

Researchers at the College of William & Mary in Virginia have designed a device that can be attached to wind turbines, and it’s meant to alert birds that are approaching a wind turbine to change course. Called an Acoustic Lighthouse, it generates a high-pitched sound designed to get their attention. The noise causes them to dip their tails downward to slow down. This gives them time to change course and fly around the wind turbine blades.

What does cause cancer?
Emissions from coal-fired plants present a high risk of lung cancer in men and women. The National Institute of Environmental Health Services noted that toxic outputs from fossil fuel-based power generation plants and vehicles emit chemicals such as sulphur oxide, nitrous oxides, heavy metals, and particulate matter, which are all detrimental to human health.

S
afe, renewable energy is a breeze
In 2022, almost 10% of US electricity came from wind farms, and for the first time, renewable energy exceeded coal-based energy. Wind energy reduces the risk of climate change. One 250kW wind turbine can generate the same amount of energy as 2500 solar panels in the same time span. Wind power creates jobs and it’s a clean, cost-effective energy source that works in multi-use settings. Let’s hope that we continue this upward trend for clean energy.

Drought threatens the Mississippi River

"The river has great wisdom and whispers its secrets to the hearts of men." 
(Mark Twain)
The Mississippi River is the second longest river in the US and one of the 10 most important rivers in the world. A cultural treasure of America, the Mississippi has been the backdrop for numerous stories of life on the river and the communities that depend on her for drinking water, recreation, ecology and the economy. The river played an essential role in the nation’s growth from the industrial revolution to the 21st century. But today, the mighty Mississippi is in trouble—another victim of climate change and drought.
Mississippi Watershed and drought conditions across the country
The Mississippi watershed covers over 40% of the continental US, and it all starts in Lake Itasca in Clearwater County, Minnesota. The river travels through 10 states starting in Minnesota and ending in Louisiana where it empties into Gulf of Mexico. It’s not uncommon for water levels to drop due to lack of rain, but now it’s gotten much worse. Multiple basins that flow into the Mississippi river are a lot drier than normal in the Midwest and mid-south.

Critical transportation corridor
This immense waterway flows down the middle of America. Barges are used for moving goods like corn, soybeans, other grains and other materials down the Mississippi for export. Thousands of barges haul these materials along a 2,340 mile stretch of water. More than a trillion pounds of freight per year travel down the Mississippi. This transportation method is a major component of the global American supply chain. The economic impact due to low water levels could reach $20 billion, according to AccuWeather.

Some areas of the river have dropped 11 feet below what they were last year. Some barges have run aground causing traffic jams as boats wait for the US Army Corps of Engineers to dredge a path. The aim is to maintain a nine-foot depth in channels for commercial barge traffic. But barges typically load 9, 10 or 11 feet of cargo. That means reducing their load, which results in more trips, and rising freight costs to farmers. Barges have had to stop and offload part of their freight before they can proceed. Barge rates for shipping one ton of soybeans from St. Louis by have jumped from $80.12 to as high as $105.85 in mid-October of 2022.

Mississippi River's average monthly down-bound grain barge rates
Many farmers have had to look at more expensive, less environmentally sound methods to transport their goods. Sending goods by truck or rail increases costs and even the rail system is close to capacity. Timing is also an issue. If they can’t ship their grain, it must be stored.  Many grain storage facilities have already reached their maximum levels, and if goods are stored in less than satisfactory conditions, the risk of loss due to spoilage increases.

The drought on the Mississippi is jacking up grain prices while simultaneously lowering the price that grain can fetch domestically. It’s created a glut on the market because grain cannot easily be shipped to foreign ports. The war in Ukraine has created more demand from European countries for US agricultural products and coal to replace the loss of products from Russia.

On a more curious note, low water levels have uncovered pieces of history.  Treasure hunters have been able to comb the shorelines, and in Coahoma County, Mississippi, human remains have been found. Near Memphis, Tennessee the relics of a historic riverboat casino were discovered, as well as pieces of a boat which archeologists believe were parts of a ferry that sank in the late 1800’s to early 1900.


But these curiosities are of little comfort to those who rely on the river to ship their goods to market in the most cost effective and efficient manner. Unless the US sees more rainfall, issues with barge traffic will be with us for some time.


Colorado River Compact – beginnings

The Colorado River has been in trouble for a long time. The drought we’re seeing now is the result of longer-term aridification of the American West. It has resulted in wildfires, extreme temperatures, flooding, and landslides. But it’s also the result of human stubbornness around how the water would be divided among the seven basin states. The legal framework for sharing water hasn’t really changed since the Colorado Compact was written nearly 100 years ago. In this first article, we’ll at look how it all began.
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Prior to becoming a state in 1876, the land we now call Colorado spanned parts of four territories that eventually turned into more than twenty western US. States. A portion of the Rocky Mountains cut through the state of Colorado. Snow melt from these lofty mountains gave birth to, and fed ten rivers that flow through Colorado and out beyond its boundaries into neighboring states. A hundred years ago, it was believed that Colorado had plenty of water available to serve its growing cities and towns, agriculture, and businesses.
Map of United States 1846

H
owever, as time went on, there were two circumstances that signaled potential troubles ahead. The first involved geography. Just one of the state’s rivers, the Colorado, watered most of the southwest corner of the continental US, an area that is particularly dry.

The second problem was the short-sighted human perspective. The US government, as well as people living and settling there, all had divergent views about who held rights to the water. Water rights were influenced by where people lived in relation to their water supply. Upstream residents had more certainty of access to reliable water, especially during times of drought, whereas downstream residents were concerned that upstream consumption would result in a short supply of water when they needed it most.

The problems implicit in these two situations were further exacerbated by the Prior Appropriation Doctrine, also known as the "first in time, first in right" principle. This means that the first person to take water from surface, or ground water and use it for "beneficial use" (agricultural, industrial or household purposes), has the right to continue to use that quantity of water. The rights of people who settled along a river first superseded the rights of those who came later. In practice, those living upstream from the early settlers were obligated to let water flow past them and continue downstream for the first users.

To further complicate matters, in 1902 the federal government established an agency known as the Reclamation Service which had a very different idea about how water should be managed. The Reclamation Service justified its existence by convincing western states to relinquish local control of their water so that the Reclamation Service could oversee where the water went, and who got to use it.
These were the issues that determined the context for the creation of the Colorado River Compact of 1922. This agreement divided the river into an upper and lower basin and established how much water each of the seven surrounding states would be allowed to take for years to come.


In the follow-up article in March, we’ll look at how the Colorado Compact was drafted and who were some of the personalities involved in creating it.
 


New water quality standards coming for Florida

The state of Florida will soon have new water quality standards, but not because of anything the state government initiated. Rather, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requiring these measures to protect the health of the citizens of Florida in accordance with the Clean Water Act (CWA). In fact, the EPA is giving the state until December 2023 to implement new standards, or EPA itself will impose them.

The decision came following a petition by the Environmental Defense Alliance and Waterkeepers Florida. For years, these groups have been advocating for improved water quality standards and updated criteria for determining pollution levels. The EPA notified the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in December 2022 of its determination and gave them 12 months to comply.

Specifically, two deficiencies are to be addressed. First, the EPA states that Florida has no human health criteria (HHC) at all for 37 known toxic pollutants. Therefore, the state must put such water quality criteria in place this year.

Fish consumption rates need to be updated
In 2016, Florida conducted a review of its criteria using updated science including updated fish consumption rates based on State and region-specific data and determined that new HHC for 36 priority toxic pollutants were warranted (in addition to revising its existing HHC for 40 priority toxic pollutants, based on updated science). But Florida’s 2016 revised and new HHC were never finalized or submitted to EPA.
Again in 2018, the state proposed a State-wide fish consumption survey to accurately determine the amount and types of fish commonly eaten by Floridians in advance of criteria development and adoption. However, the survey plans were disrupted and ultimately terminated. Accordingly, EPA has determined that new criteria and HHC must be put in place by the end of 2023, in accordance with CWA regulations.

Earth Day 2023 
Invest in our planet
- celebrate our membership

Saturday, April 22

EDA’s mandate is to work at the local and state levels. As a grass roots organization, our goal is to reach out to like-minded people and groups, share information and build partnerships so that together we have a voice in how our communities manage their resources.

What can we do?

We encourage everyone reading this to participate in their local community’s Earth Day events. Finding out what events are happening in our areas is the first step. Discovering if a table or small booth can be set up at the event comes next. We’re currently in the beginning stages of creating an Earth Day kit to explain what steps to take and how to engage with other participants in a local Earth Day event. It’s the perfect venue for sharing information about supporting legislative action to protect food, water and energy resources.

We plan to post the EDA Earth Day kit on Basecamp, and it will have its own separate page on the website. We’re looking to include things like:
  • How to find information about events

  • Ideas on how to plan and participate at an Earth Day event in your community

  • Tips on how to engage attendees in conversations about EDA

  • A one-page explanation about EDA, what we do and how to become a member

  • Colorful one-page documents to download for display

  • Small cards with a brief description and website address that can be printed and handed out (6 cards per page)

  • A sign-up sheet to gather contact information from those who want to know more
We'll hold a Town Hall sometime this month to share what has been created and to get feedback and ideas about what else would be useful in the kit.

We can make it happen!
Contact us if you have, or would like more information on how to celebrate Earth Day in your community.

Watch for more information in next month's EDA News.

Reaching out to members
Recently, the At Large Trustees ran a survey asking our members for their thoughts and concerns about EDA. We questioned approximately 65% of our members (those not highly involved in the day-to-day operations) and received a response rate of 58%.

We’re still receiving responses and will be compiling the results in the near future. We realize we can't fix every single issue all at once, or respond to every individual; however, many comments pertain to the same issues. Our job as At-Large Trustees is to identify those issues and bring them to the attention of the Board so they can be addressed. For example, many members expressed a desire for simpler messaging and suggestions for what actions can be taken by members.

As we stated in the last newsletter, the At-Large Trustees want to conduct these surveys on a  regular basis and continue reaching out to more members.  We greatly appreciate the responses received so far, and hope that more members will choose to participate in the future, but if you have a pressing concern, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. You don’t need to wait until we do a survey. You can contact any At-Large Trustee or attend an open Board meeting where your voice can be heard. Open Board meetings are on the last Tuesday of every month and the link is posted in the Schedule Section for Active Members on the Basecamp communication platform.  Click on the Board meeting entry for that day and the link to the meeting will be displayed. We look forward to hearing from you.

Your At-Large Trustees
Terry Blatt, Geoff Schaber, James Kolb 
What's on your mind?

EDA members are located across the US and in other countries. But thanks to Basecamp, our member communication platform, we're all connected. Our members have a wide range of experience and expertise in many different disciplines.

Start a conversation with everyone on Basecamp
Got a question or an idea you'd like to share with others? Go to the Active Member site and click on Campfire. Your message will go to all our EDA members. If you'd like to connect with only one member, use Ping. Type the person's name into Ping and your note will only go to that person. The Message Board is where you'll find the latest news or updates on what's happening in EDA.
EDA Network

Each month we're featuring a new member of our strategic network. This column will highlight organizations that are hubs for other organizations that promote issues involving food, water and energy.

EDA is pleased to affiliate with Global Footprint Network (GFN), which has developed a comprehensive sustainability indicator that has gained worldwide attention.
Created by student Mathis Wackernagel and his mentor William Rees at the University of British Columbia in the 1990s, the Global Footprint indicator measures the ecological overshoot that is threatening our planet. Those who attended EDA’s Sixth Annual Conference will recall the riveting presentation given by Professor Rees on the world’s ecological deficit.
Simply put, human demand on natural resources is exceeding nature’s capacity to regenerate them. EDA agrees with GFN that the obsession with economic growth is stealing resources from people today and in the future. GFN uses its data to better manage limited resources, reduce economic risk and improve well-being for individuals and communities across the world.


Renewable energy is the fastest-growing energy source, but petroleum and gas remain the most consumed energy source in the US, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual survey outlook forecast. Coal and nuclear energy are both on the decline and are mostly being replaced by wind and solar technologies, but fossil fuels are expected to hold on strong through 2050. The EIA projects that the US will continue producing record amounts of oil and gas if there aren’t significant changes.

Nobel laureate Al Gore takes stock of the current state of climate progress and calls attention to institutions that have failed to honor their promises for a cleaner future by continuing to pour money into polluting sectors. He explains how the financial interests of fossil fuel companies have blocked the policymaking process in key countries -- and calls for a global epiphany to take on the climate crisis. "Do not give up hope," Gore says. "And remember always that political will is itself a renewable resource."
Cheapness in the Age of Capitalism

This "For the Wild"  podcast features Raj Patel, co-author of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, which traces the historical origins of capitalism and the making of "cheapness."  "Cheap", Patel cautions, "is a strategy, a practice, a violence that mobilizes all kinds of work—human and animal, botanical and geological—with as little compensation as possible".
Nuclear power is our best hope to ditch fossil fuels

Some people say that nuclear power is one of the safest, cleanest forms of energy, although it might not feel that way to others. Why is that? Isabelle Boemeke, the world's first nuclear energy influencer and creator of the social media persona Isodope, debunks the major objections to nuclear power and explains her unconventional way of educating people about this clean energy source. Watch this video and see if you agree with this viewpoint.
Here's how your climate-related choices are contagious
(in a good way!)


One of the reasons why our personal lifestyle choices matter when it comes to the climate crisis is that what we do changes us. Another reason is that what we do and say changes others too. Find out more in this Ted Talk.
Help wanted for future articles
EDA News will be doing an article on farming in America today. We're asking if anyone could pass on the names and contact information for one or two farmers who would be willing to be interviewed for an article on the challenges facing smaller family farms today.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in helping us out, please send their contact information to EDA News.

Join one of our groups
You're welcome to visit any team
and sit in on their meetings. It's a great way
to learn what they're working on and see which team you might prefer to participate in. Email one of the contacts to receive a link to the meeting.


Coming in February EDA News
Meet our new Managing Director
Earth Day activities
EDA Fourth Annual Report

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