FaCT Updates Speaker Series - Dr. Ross MacPhee p1 FaCT Annual Meeting p2 Board of Director Nominations Marlene Blatnik-Freeze p2 Message from Margaret Margaret Mills p7 From the Treasurer Ron Prosek p8
In this month's newsletter
August 2022 Newsletter
News & Views Fixing Ohio's Farms Linda New p3-4 Carbon Capture Technology Will Not Solve the Climate Crisis Dr. Randi Pokladnik p5-6
Fact Ohio Faith communities together for a sustainable future
Distinguished Speaker Series: September 10 at 3pm
Ross MacPhee: Mammalogist, Paleontologist, Anthropologist
Imagine the world just fifteen or twenty thousand years ago---not very long ago in the history of life on earth. Humans were all over the world, and for company, they had some pretty amazing animal companions. These included mammoths, saber-tooth cats, gorilla-sized lemurs, 500-pound birds, crocodiles that weighed a ton or more, and giant ant eaters the size of today’s grizzly bears. What caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemonths? No one event can be pinpointed as a specific cause, but several factors may have played a role. Paleomammalogist Ross D.E. MacPhee explores them all in his amazing book The End of the Megafauna, examining the leading extinction theories, weighing the evidence, and presenting his own conclusions. Ross MacPhee is senior curator in residence in the mammal department of the American Museum of Natural History. He works on a broad array of problems, including Caribbean biogeography, Quaternary extinctions, and the application of protein sequence data to phylogenetic reconstruction. Register for MacPhee's appearance in FaCT's Distinguished Speaker Series Presentation on Zoom on September 10 at 3 PM. You will experience the story of an amazing lost world of not very long ago as MacPhee takes you on a guided tour of the amazing world he has explored in his widely acclaimed and beautifully illustrated book,The End of the Megafauna - The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals. Register for this online event here or register at factohio.org.
FaCT Board of Directors Nominations Marlene Blatnik-Freeze Our Annual FaCT meeting is scheduled for September 24, 2022 at 3pm. Board elections take place at this time. FaCT Board of Directors positions up for election this year are listed below. President, Treasurer, Three Directors Each position is for two years starting October 1, 2022 and ending on September 30, 2024. Board responsibilities include setting general policies, planning statewide meetings, supervising committees, building strategies for the growth and development of FaCT, overseeing the recruitment of volunteers and paid staff, developing the annual budget, shaping long-range plans and attending monthly Board meetings. The Board of Directors meets on Zoom. If you would like to run for a Board position, please contact one of the FaCT Nominating Committee members: Dan Philipps (dgphilipps@yahoo.com), Marlene Blatnik-Freeze (mblatnik3@hotmail.com), Ginnie McNeil (cleanngreen138@gmail.com) FaCT Bylaws also provide for nominations from the floor during the Annual Meeting.
Dr. Randi Pokladnik was born and raised in the Ohio Valley. She earned an associate degree in Environmental Engineering, a BA in Chemistry and an MA and Ph.D. in Environmental Studies. She is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations and has a teaching license in science and math. She worked as a research chemist for eleven years at National Steel’s Research Center in Weirton, WV. She has taught both secondary and post-secondary science courses. Dr. Pokladnik now volunteers for several environmental non-profits in the Ohio Valley, including the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action and Concerned Ohio River Residents. Dr. Pokladnik has received several awards including Eastern Gateway Community College’s Outstanding Alumnus of 2018, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition’s Community Networker of the Year for 2015, Fractivist of the Year in 2018, and in 2020 the Laura Forman Passion for Justice Award. She was nominated for a Community Sentinel Award in 2019 for her efforts to educate the public on the hazards of plastic cracker facilities. Randi's research includes examining the threats to non-timber forest products in Appalachia. She also is focused on climate change and how forests can be used to mitigate carbon emissions. She resides with her husband at Tappan Lake in an eco-log home that they have built using sustainable building and design practices. She enjoys biking, hiking, and making wine with her husband. Register for the FaCTOhio Annual Meeting here or register at factohio.org
FaCT ANNUAL MEETING Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 3 PM Keynote Speaker: Dr. Randi Pokladnik Plastics are Everywhere - Including in Us!
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The Appalachian foothills of Ashtabula County provide fields for grazing cattle, sequester atmospheric carbon, and stand as a front against agribusinesses that employ Confined Animal Feeding Operations in Ohio. Mardy Townsend, owner of Marshy Meadows Farm, relies on decades of family experience and agricultural research to guide the development of her cattle farm in Windsor. Mardy holds a bachelors in animal science and biology and a master’s degree in agronomy from the Ohio State University. As an Ohio Ecological Farm and Food Association Board member, Mardy has gained a perspective on agriculture in Ohio that lends itself to fixing problems in the system. Marshy Meadows Farm encompasses highly erodible land - fields with more than a 6 degree slope. If these fields were plowed for crops, soil would be washed into tributaries of the Ashtabula River and out to Lake Erie. By holding these fields for grazing cattle, soil structure is maintained and atmospheric carbon is sequestered. Grasses that fill the slopes of Marshy Meadows pull carbon out of the air as they grow and store it in their root systems. As cattle graze, plant growth is slowed and carbon in the roots is sequestered in the soil. When cattle are moved to a new paddock, the grasses grow again and take in more atmospheric carbon. At the same time, soil structure is fortified, preventing erosion. The benefits of this process are documented in research on Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing and illustrated here. Mardy lives, gardens, and raises 50 animals on her 180 acres. In contrast, Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) predominate throughout western Ohio, leading to polluted waterways and toxic algal blooms in Maumee Bay and western Lake Erie. Owned by conglomerates like Tyson, JBS, Cargill and Smithfield Foods, these animal factories push unhealthy livestock into undersized buildings, feed them modified foods laced with antibiotics and hormones, and dump massive quantities of manure into rivers that flow north to Lake Erie. Because each individual CAFO takes up a relatively small amount of land, companies have been allowed to vastly overload western Ohio with animals that exceed the capacity of our watersheds. Pricing for this mass-produced meat is low because the externalized costs of cleaning our lake and repairing our watersheds are shouldered by Ohio taxpayers. CAFOs are unsustainable, unhealthy for the community, damaging to the environment, and numbingly inhumane. Grass-fed cattle farms like Marshy Meadows help maintain soil structure and water quality while providing healthier meat for the community. Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing, also known as rotational grazing, takes time, space, and education to implement and it involves some expense. As a result, grass-fed beef can be a bit pricier than meat from a CAFO. However, healthy eating should not be limited to only those who can shop and high-end grocery stores, where most grass fed and organic meat is sold. When asked what changes could bring more equity to local foods in Ohio, Mardy responded, “SNAP is a good program, and there are ways to tweak it to encourage people to buy healthier food. SNAP can be expanded a lot.” Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program that boosts the food budgets of low-income families, allowing them to purchase healthy foods. People with incomes less than 130% of poverty level (approximately $1300 monthly) qualify for this benefit. To allow a greater number of individuals and families to purchase healthy, locally sourced, fresh, unprocessed food, the minimum income could be raised, providing support for more people. More small farm-grown food purchases mean more income for local businesses, less fuel burned to transport food across the country, cleaner air, and healthier communities. Everyone benefits. Mardy also points to funding for school lunches as a means of creating greater food equity. In six of the seven school districts in Ashtabula County, all of the students qualify for free or reduced cost lunches. In order to provide healthy, fresh meals for these students, schools need more financial resources to purchase locally grown meat and fresh vegetables. Healthier meals allow students to be more successful in school while bringing more business to small farmers who grow fruits, vegetables, and meat in the area. What can you do to support small sustainable farms? Marge Townsend, Mardy's mother and the original owner of Marshy Meadows, was quick to point out that Senator Sherrod Brown is on the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and is receptive to concerns about healthy, sustainable, locally sourced food. Representative Marcy Kaptor is on the House Agriculture Committee. Both committees are currently considering the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill. This month, the House Agriculture Committee is offering Listening Sessions to gather input from producers and consumers on the ground across the country. The views and information learned at these sessions will inform the development of the 2023 Farm Bill. The next Listening Session is scheduled for Monday, August 22. Please consider attending a Listening Session and speaking up for healthy communities, a clean environment, small farms, and food equity in Ohio!
Fixing Ohio's Farms - Ashtabula Linda New
Fixing Ohio's Farms, continued from page 3
Fossil Fuel Sacrifice Zones
Carbon Capture Technology Will Not Solve the Climate Crisis Dr. Randi Pokladnik, PhD Environmental Studies
In its current state, carbon capture is another false promise when it comes to addressing the urgent need to decrease carbon dioxide emissions. The very industry that is a main contributor to climate change can now profit from tax breaks and government funding being directed at Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) projects. A 2019 Report by the Center for International Environmental Law, “Fuel to Fire,” states, “It is not surprising that the fossil fuel industry has invested and is investing heavily in the technologies that would render a transition from fossil fuels less urgent.” Carbon capture is one of those technologies. First used in 1972 in Chevron’s Terrell Natural Gas plant in Texas, carbon capture can remove carbon dioxide from exhaust fumes of industrial facilities such as coal and gas power plants or from the surrounding air. There are several techniques that have been used to capture CO2. These include: absorbing it with a sponge-like material; separating it with membranes; or cooling and condensing it using a cryogenic process. These processes all require high energy inputs, and once captured, the carbon dioxide is either stored or used. Storage involves the gas being transported to locations where it is injected deep underground into saline deposits or rock strata. Industry claims that the carbon dioxide can be used for things like beverage carbonation, but according to a recent paper in Nature Climate Change, “the tonnage of CO2 humanity emits simply dwarfs the tonnage of carbon-based products it consumes.” Also consider that CCS only addresses the carbon dioxide emissions from stack gasses. It does not curb methane gas emissions from fossil fuel extraction such as coal mines and fracking. It does not address additional sources of carbon dioxide emissions from transportation of equipment, construction of a CCS facility and the emissions from the CCS facility itself. “The commercial methods being incentivized by governments are net CO2 additive: CO2 emissions exceed removals.” There are many economic, social, and environmental problems associated with using CCS for oil recovery. Using the carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery does not guarantee the gas is permanently removed from the atmosphere. Eventually it is released back to the atmosphere as it leaks from the wells and fissures. Additionally, it enables more oil to be extracted thus continuing our reliance on fossil fuels and contributing to climate change. Carbon dioxide injected into rock strata can also contaminate ground and surface water. The CO2 combines with the water to form carbonic acid which can leach out dangerous components in the rock such as uranium and barium metals, and in many cases CCS facilities greatly increase the amount of water needed for power plants fitted with the technology. This would impact areas where water scarcity is a major issue. In addition to using more water, power plants fitted with CCS technology need more energy to power the CCS portion of the facility. Most of the carbon dioxide from CCS is used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). During this procedure, pressurized CO2 is pumped into old oil field wells to help force out any remaining oil deposits. The majority of the world’s 21 large-scale CCS plants are located in the USA and Canada, and all but five sell or send their carbon dioxide to facilities involved in enhanced oil recovery. The carbon dioxide removed by power plants can be sold to other companies that use it to help “bolster” production of older oil fields. In the CIEL report “Fuel to Fire”, Exxon stated that it had a working interest in one quarter of the world’s total carbon capture and storage (CCS) capacity, and Shell is involved with four current CCS projects. Chevron has invested $75 million in CCS research in the past ten years, while BP is a current sponsor of the CO2 Capture Project. There are economic incentives that are encouraging fossil fuel industries to champion the use of CCS. These include government programs as well as tax incentives. In 2008, a program was set up to give tax credits to companies using CCS. According to section 45 Q of the tax code, companies could get tax credits for capturing carbon dioxide and doing one of three things with it: dispose of it in an underground secure geological site, use it for enhanced oil recovery, or use it in a commercial process. In 2018, the tax credits for CCS were raised to $50 per metric ton of CO2 from the previous $20 per ton, and credits for carbon dioxide used in EOR were raised from $20 to $35 per ton. The Inflation reduction Act would significantly increase the amounts of tax credits given to industries for carbon capture. EOR would be raised from $35 a ton to $60 a ton and direct air capture would be raised from $50 a ton to $180. Estimates based on IRS records show that Exxon may have claimed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits using this law. There is a requirement that companies claiming the tax credit also commit to a monitoring program through the EPA. A new industry group, Energy Advance Center, which represents companies like Exxon, have lobbied to do away with monitoring programs that would ensure CCS emissions did not escape back into the atmosphere. Additionally, CCS research projects have received substantial amounts of government funding. According to the Department of Energy, CCS research projects received $110 million in 2019, $72 million in 2020, and as of April of 2021 received $75 million. Finally, there are issues of safety involved in CCS. Once the carbon dioxide is captured, it can be used or stored, but it also must be transported. This involves pipelines. In 2019, a 24-inch carbon-dioxide containing underground pipeline in Yazo, Mississippi ruptured. Over 300 people were evacuated and 46 people were treated at hospitals. The concentration of carbon dioxide was high enough to cause gas-powered car engines to stop. First responders said some people were unconscious while others wandered around like zombies. Biden’s Administration on Environmental Quality said a CCS system that could meet a net zero goal of emissions by 2050 would require a pipeline system of close to 68,000 miles at a cost of $230 billion. The USA currently has 5100 miles of carbon dioxide pipelines. Unlike solar and wind energy, which according to Clean Technica are “roughly displacing 35 times as much CO2 every year as the complete global history of CCS,” carbon capture technology is still in the early stages of development. It is not ready to be used in the scale necessary to curtail the climate crisis. It has however become a diversion used by industry and governments to avoid doing what needs to be done to actually address the climate crisis in a timely way.
Guernsey County is in the center of beautiful Ohio with rolling fields and a historic state park. Kevin and Marlene Young have owned property in Guernsey for 47 years, investing time, savings, and labor into their 21 acres. They built their home here, with space for horses, stables, a half-mile race track, and workspace to modify street rods. As the Youngs neared retirement they looked forward to enjoying the land that they worked on for so long. In 2016 Caithness Energy took over the land across from their home. The massive Guernsey Natural Gas Power Station is now under construction in their front yard. Read More
Capbon Capture continued from page 5
The Gentle Arms of Eden is a song that I heard for the first time on my way back from my Aunt’s memorial service in Warwick as I traveled through the beautiful hills of upstate New York. I saved it to my YouTube music and listened again on our way back from a spring visit to Alice through the beautiful mountains of Kentucky. And I’ve listened to this song as I stood by the shores of Lake Erie overcome by the beauty of the water and sunsets. I’ll listen to The Gentle Arms of Eden on my way to the Jersey Shore anticipating the ocean’s beautiful, calming influence on my soul. It all led me to reflect on two things - Genesis and the creation, and what is happening to our world and our environment. Genesis is the creation story of our faith…it is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. It is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the book of Genesis. They are two different stories of the same thing. Elohim in the first story, and Yahweh in the second was responsible for the creation of the earth. I believe God, as we now name Elohim and Yahweh, was responsible for the creation of the earth..however it happened. But I also believe the theme that when creation is complete, the world is a temple in which the role of humanity is the worship of God. And with the worship of God comes the responsibility to care for this earth, this creation of our God, this temple. How are we doing with that? I’m thinking ..not so good! Fires, floods, pollution, contaminated water and more defiles this temple where we are to worship God. Can we make the necessary changes? As worshippers of our creator God, I pray we can. So what does that have to do with the song? Just this - I found it a moving way to look at creation and, at the end, to lay my burdens in the cradle of your grace. This temple in which we are to worship God. Here are the words, see what you think. And if you are so moved, look up the song: Gentle Arms of Eden sung by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer. On a sleepy endless ocean when the world lay in a dream There was rhythm in the splashing roll but not a voice to sing So the moon fell on the breakers and the morning warmed the waves Till a single cell did jump and hang with joy as if to say.. This is my home, This is my only home This is the only sacred ground that I have ever known Should I stray in the dark night alone Rock me goddess in the gentle arms of Eden. Then the day showed bright and rounder til the one turned into two And the two into ten thousand things and old things into new And on some virgin beach head one lonesome critter crawled And he looked about and shouted out in his most astonished drawl.. And all the sky was buzzing and the ground was carpet green And the wary children of the woods went dancing in between And the people sang rejoicing when the fields were glad with grain This song of celebration from their cities on the plain. Now there’s smoke across the harbor and there’s factories on the shore And the world is ill with greed and will and enterprise of war But I will lay my burdens in the cradle of your grace and the shining beaches of your love and the sea of your embrace. This is my home, This is my only home This is the only sacred ground that I have ever known Should I stray in the dark night alone Rock me goddess in the gentle arms of Eden.
Message from Margaret Pastor Margaret Mills, FaCTOhio President
From the Treasurer by Ron Prosek
Thank you for your generous donations to FaCT. They are really helping FaCT to confront the environmental challenges facing Ohio families. To make a donation, please make your check out to FaCT. Please mail with check to: FaCT, P.O. Box 1235 Mentor, OH 44061 Or donate via FaCT’s secure PayPal link at: www.factohio.org -------------------------------------------Clip and mail with your check----------------------------------------- Name:_______________________________________ Phone:_____________________________________________ Email:___________________________Address:__________________________________________________________ Amount of this donation: $____________ THANK YOU! [August 2022] Contributions to FaCT are tax-deductible as FaCT is an IRS-designated 501c3 public charity I would like to make an ANNUAL PLEDGE of $________________. THANK YOU!
As always, we thank you for your continued financial support. Each month you have provided support that has kept our programming strong and effective. I want to assure you that we are watching over and using your dollars carefully and responsibly. The FaCT Finance Committee meets at least quarterly to review our income and expenses and the handling of our funds. The FaCT Board meets every month and receives a thorough financial report from me, as treasurer, and from our accountant. This month the Finance Committee will be meeting and will start work on putting together our annual budget for Fiscal Year 2023, which begins October 1. The proposed budget will be submitted to the Board of Directors for their revision and approval in advance of the Annual Meeting in September. We humbly ask that you keep sharing your financial resources with us so that we can broaden and strengthen our efforts to protect the Creation and the health and safety of Ohio families. FaCT has been designated at a 501c3 “public charity” by the IRS. Donations and bequests are tax-deductible under IRS rules.
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