Phils Go Green

A number of years ago, I got into a heated barroom debate (imagine that!) with an environmentalist of the granola-crunching, Birkenstock-wearing variety.

Nothing against Birkenstocks, my wife swears by them, but you know the stereotype I mean.

It was my argument that until the environmental movement changes its focus to engage the interest, and thus the cooperation, of a population broader than those just concerned about saving whales and baby seals, it is destined to remain marginalized.

What people need to understand, I said, was not that animals needed to be saved for their own cute and cuddly sake, but because they symbolized a visible aspect of the overall environment on which we depend, and future generations will depend, to survive as a species.

In other words, folks needed to understand that baby seals and bee colonies have a lot in common with coal mine canaries. They die, and then we die. It's that simple.

She insisted instead that the entire population must be brought around to her way of thinking because she was right.

I wished her luck with that and suggested that perhaps she might have had enough to drink.

Flash-forward 20 years and global warming, one collapsing ocean fishery after another and the looming prospect of $4-a-gallon gas, has made the case for me.

Everyone is interested.

And no more clearer evidence that everyone is taking notice can be found than an item I spotted recently on the Environmental News Service wire. (I must have missed it in my scrupulous reading of the sports pages.)

It seems that those Fightin' Phils have seen the light -- the green light that is.

The Phillies have signed up to purchase 20 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy to serve the 43,500-seat Citizens Bank Park.

With that commitment, the Phillies became the largest green power purchaser in major league baseball. You don't get more mainstream American than that.

The purchase, which will offset the stadium's carbon footprint, will avoid the emission of greenhouse gases equivalent to a year's worth of driving by 2,800 vehicles.

It will also make them the third largest green power purchaser in Philadelphia and the seventh largest in Pennsylvania.

But they're not done there.

Frying oil from the stadium is being recycled to create biofuel.

Glass, plastic and cardboard from each game day is recycled; the carry-out trays are 100 percent post-consumer fiber and the food the fans are buying at the park is all locally grown.

Lighting is being converted to energy saving light-emitting diodes, which take 80 percent less power than incandescent bulbs and last years longer.

But wait! There's still more!

Even the clean-up is green, with the crew at the stadium using environmentally friendly cleaning products and a bio-enzyme to remove grease trapped in kitchen drain pipes rather than toxic chemicals which inevitably find their way into our rivers, bays, oceans and drinking water.

Not that we weren't already fans (my 9-year old son would disown me if I didn't mention here that Chase Utley rules!), but now we can enjoy America's pastime without that nagging enviro-guilt creeping into everything we do these days.

Not that there's anything wrong with saving whales and baby seals, but if you want to save the whole planet for our children and our grandchildren -- sappy as it sounds, it is no less true -- you have to involve the whole planet.

Shedding Some Light on Compact Flourescents

So you want to do your bit for the environment, reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the amount of power used to light your home?

Good for you!

After all, lighting accounts for close to 20 percent of the average home's electric bill.

And certain types of bulbs now available on the market, compact fluorescent light bulb -- or CFL as those of us who live in the Enviro-Geek Kingdom often call them -- use up to 75 percent less energy than regular incandescent bulbs, the design of which has not changed much since Mr. Edison first said voila!

And yes, they cost more money, but they also last up to 10 times longer than incandescents so the money evens out generally.

But the benefits are pretty significant during this here undeclared energy crisis of ours.

"If every home in America replaced just one incandescent bulb with a CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars," according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Just one problem. This same environmental boon can also be an environmental bane because they contain a toxic chemical.

Now understand, as a Mercury reporter for more than 10 years, I don't always believe The Mercury can be hazardous to your health.

However, when you're talking about the element, that's a different story.

Mercury can cause brain damage and developmental problems in fetuses and young children, according to The Environmental Report.

The amount of mercury in these bulbs is small, about 5 milligrams -- about 100 times less mercury than is in your average household thermometer -- and getting smaller all the time. But it's nothing to ignore.

So, two things: 1) what do you do if you break one? 2)How do you get rid of them when they burn out?

First, if you break one, know that mercury can linger in your house if you don't clean it up right away.

Here's how -- get pets, kids and people who aren't cleaning it up out of the room, open a window and leave the room yourself for about 15 minutes.

When you come back, use stiff paper, like index cards or playing cards, to pick up the larger pieces of glass. Use duct tape's sticky side (it really does fix everything!) to get the smaller pieces, then put it all in a glass jar with a lid and take it out of the house.

DO NOT use a vacuum, as this can spread mercury vapors throughout your house.

If a bulb breaks on clothing or bed clothes, discard them. Don't wash it as it can contaminate your washing machine or put mercury into the sewage line.

Now, presuming you've managed to light your home with one of these babies until it burns out, you face the dilemma of what do do with it. After all, sending mercury to your local landfill is generally considered an environmental no-no for true believers.

Some states prohibit putting these bulbs in the trash, but Pennsylvania is not one of them. Further, the newer bulbs have a low-enough amount of mercury in them that the state does not consider them hazardous waste.

There is a list of fluorescent lamp recyclers on the DEP Web site, but they are not the kind of place Joe Homeowner can drop off a bulb or two for a clean conscience.

Steve Ickeler, vice president of Corporate Lamp Recycling in Kennett Square, said companies in his line of work generally contract with big office buildings.

He said there have been one or two inquiries from Montgomery County municipalities about doing a collection drop off, but nothing has been put in place yet.

I can tell you that the bulbs we were given at the Pottstown Historic Home Show last month can be recycled by returning them to the Montgomery County Community College West Campus in Pottstown, which gave them out.

Other than that, stay tuned.

A Festival of Green -- And FREE BEER!

The grass was green.

The parking lot was porous.

And in the center, stood John Hoekstra, director of watershed advocacy for Green Valleys Association, holding court.

The occasion was the Chester County organization's annual Enviro-fest and it was a veritable cornucopia of information about everything green.

Hoekstra, who knows more about local stream ecology and the patchwork of laws that generally fails to protect it than I will ever forget, was giving a pep talk to a small group of gritty volunteers about attempts by the state legislature to address the issue, and why, influenced by the building lobby, they probably wouldn't work.

A few feet away, a table set up for State Sen. John Rafferty was there to assure those in attendance that the good senator does indeed care about the environment.

At one booth, an expert talked about the important pollination role played by bees and expressed dismay about the colony collapse disorder that has plagued this insect.

Further along, a table offered information about a new green building development, Kimberton Green, a condominium complext combining the age-old elements of a classic village, with the modern green tchnology like geothermal heating and cooling, solar photovoltaic electricty and smar home technology that tracks and controls energy use.

Another company called "Greenable," had samples of sustainable building materials, including information I've been seeking abotu a green material to replace my sagging side porch, now more of a hazard to my health than TCE in my air.

And since we're talking about basics like shelter, let's also talk about another one -- food.

Maysie's Farm Conservation Center in Ludwig's Corner (Motto: Think Globally, Eat Locally) espouses a sustainable practice called Community Supported Agriculture.

Made more relvant by headlines about food shortages, the idea is to eat food that's grown nearby.

To ensure the farmer has the capital needed to plant a crop, local "members" buy into the crop ahead of time. Then, when harvest comes, come and pick up your fresh produce, without the carbon footprint of having it shipped up from Chile.

And while we're talking basics, let's not forget my favorite part -- the FREE BEER!

Seriously, they had free beer.

Victory Brewing Company, a Downington microbrewery, was on hand with samples of Sunrise Weissbier, a delicious Bavarian Hefewiezen with a nice cistrus snap.

Did I mention it was free?

Rollin' on the River

The Perkiomen Creek is the largest tributary of the Schuylkill River, which is itself the largest tributary of the Delaware River.

So a canoe and kayak sojourn down the Perkiomen is no small thing, especially when it occurs for the first time.

As someone who has participated in a sojourn (the 2000 Schuylkill River Sojourn to be specific) I can vouch for the value of taking the time and the trouble to take a little ride down a little river.

As I wrote in a short write-up that will appear in The Mercury shortly, there is no better way to get to know a stream than from the stream's persepctive.

A recent documentary on PBS quoted an activist concerned about pollution in the ocean as saying, "the ocean is downhill from everything."

This same theory applies to our rivers and streams.

And perhaps few streams in our area are currently struggling to handle as much "up-hill" run-off as the Perkiomen, now at the heart of the once the fastest developing regions in THE fastest developing counties in Pennsylvania.

Even in this lagging market, housing construction continues on property in the Perkiomen's watershed that was once fields and woods, no doubt soon to be named after the natural resource it destroys.

One of the most remarkable aspects of my experience on the Schuylkill River Sojourn was how amazed everyone was, myself included, how pristine the river seems when seen from its surface -- even in urban areas like in Norristown.

And this for a river that was once so polluted, it became the subject of the first major environmental clean-up in the country.

I can only imagine how lush and verdant the Perkiomen will look from the water. I suggest all of you with the time and the $65 to spend take the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy up on its offer.

To register for the sojourn, which is sponsored by the law firm of Keenan, Ciccitto & Assoc., call 610-287-9383, or visit their Web site at www.perkiomenwatershed.org

How Green is Your Candidate?

All eyes will be on Pennsylvania this Tuesday when the once irelevant Pennsylvania primary becomes the election that may make or break Sen. Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination; or, depending on your preferences, confirms or prolongs Sen. Barack Obama's unexpected race to the nomination.

But lost in all this hype is the ironic coincidence that Tuesday is also Earth Day, once a grassroots recognition of the infant environmental movement and now a corporate product-fest in which every polluter from Exxon to Exelon makes its annual pitch to convince you how "green" they truly are.

But perhaps this harmonic convergence offers us an opportunity.

Why not take this time to assess how green each of the three remaining presidential canidates truly is?

I'd like to take credit for this idea, but Newsweek beat me by about, what else?, a week.

So forgive me if I forgo re-inventing the wheel here and simply regurgitate some of their reporting for those of you who may have missed last week's issue.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this issue is how much more important this issue has become to voters.
Thanks the success of the insidious media conspiracy to hype the threat of global warming (with a little help from the overwhelming majority of the scientific community), the environment, and global warming in particular, has moved up the list of things voters find important in a candidate.

The most amazing thing about this is how successful the media conspiracy is. Newsweek tells us (if they are to be believed) that of the 3,231 questions asked by the leading political reporters of the five major networks during the 14 zillion televised debates, exactly eight related to global warming.

Those must have been some eight questions!

In 2005, only 11 percent of voters told a Zogby poll they took a presidential canidate's environmental credentials into account when choosing a candidate. By last year, it had jumped to 33 percent.

Anyhoo, despite the Bush administration's assault on just about every environmental regulations on the books -- from clean water, to clean air to endangered species to endangered habitat -- the environmental debate in this year's election will focus on one major issue: energy.

This is appropriate because it now touches on so many other aspects of American life and politics.

Beyond the most glaring connection -- that between global warming and the carbon created by our glutonous use of energy -- energy is now also a national security issue.

Until we can power our economy with power generated right here in the good old U.S. of A., we will continue to find ourselves entangled in the tribal and religious politics of the Middle East, something we neither understand, nor have the capacity or patience to understand.

And since we can't drill our way to independence (nor should we want to) that means an Apollo program for alternative fuel technology is our best chance for maintaining our standard of living.

Which brings us back to the Oval Office applicants.

Newsweek assembled one of those nifty graphics which helps us seem to understand the candidates' positions without needing to look for depth or shades of grey.

Stay with me while I crib shamelessly from it:

1) On "Greenhouse Gas Emissions," both Democrats hold the same position -- a cap-and-trade system to cut CO2 emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican candidate, supports a similar system, but one driven by the market and he has not come out in support of mandatory caps.

2) On "Fuel-Efficiency Standards," both Democrats again support increasing the standard above 50 miles per hour by 2026, while McCain favors improved mileage, but hasn't set a specific goal or target date.

3) In the "Renewable Energy" arena (in my opinion, the most important), both Democrats have identical positions -- 25 percent of the nation's electricity generated by renewable sources by 2025. McCain, again is generally in favor but offers no specifics.

4) "Biofuels," perhaps the biggest scam to hit the public spectrum since the pet rock, has nevertheless attracted identical positions from both Democrats -- 60 billion gallons in the fuel supply by 2025. McCain, (have you guessed yet?) favors them, but offers no specifics and opposes government subsidies to develop them.

5) "Coal" is perhaps the most politically sensitive subject for an Earth Day primary in Pennsylvania, but here goes -- say it along with me, both Democrats support coal liquification if it emits 20 percent less carbon than the gasoline we use today. McCain on the other hand, do I need to say it?, favors the process but has not articulated a position.

6) As for "Nuclear Energy," a subject of some interest to those of us who count the Limerick nuclear towers as part of our permanent landscape, there is finally some difference. Clinton calls herself "agnostic" about nuclear power because of the problems getting rid of its waste. Obama calls nuclear power "not optimal," but recognizes it as an existing energy source that should be utilized. McCain is a strong proponent of nuclear power, arguing it keeps greenhouse emissions down and promotes energy independence.

So there you have it folks, for those of you who had the energy to plow through all this, you now know before you vote that Clinton and Obama are essentially identical on the energy front and that McCain, who has made some impressive but ineffectual environmental votes in the past, looks with nonspecific favor on a number of clean energy initiatives.

Whatever you decide, please vote.

Pennsylvania is perhaps more relevant than it has ever been to America's electoral portrait this year and that's nothing to be bitter about.

Welcome to The Thin Green Line

I suppose you are all very tired of reading introductions in which the novice blogger professes to have never blogged before, but this being the truth, I suppose it can't be helped. So this is one of those introductions.
But there, we've dispnesed with that, so let us get on with the business at hand.
My name is Evan Brandt and I have been a reporter at The Mercury newspaper here in Pottstown, PA for more than 10 years now.
Having lived in the environment all my life, I have been a fan of it even longer than that.
As such, I have watched with dismay during most of my lifetime, mankind's speedy unraveling of the systems nature put in place to make this a planet capable of sustaining the life upon it -- ours in particular.
It is within the last two or three generations after all that we finally passed the tipping point (to use a phrase popular with pundits these days) into an era in which we are using resources faster than they can be replenished.
Two generations ago, would anyone have believed that we could actually deplete all the fish in the ocean?
It is now a question of when, not if.
Two generations ago, would anyone have believed that we would release so many noxious chemicals into the environment that their traces can now be found in blood samples of every human?
Two generations ago, would any American have believed that a land built on the tradition of an endless frontier would seek to satisfy its teeming population's yen for their own little corner of heaven by consuming -- as The Philadelphia Inquirer so succintly put it a few years ago -- "An Acre an Hour" of land?
If all politics is local, so too are all environmental issues and thus, all environmental reporting is local.
All things are entertwined and interrelated in the environment and so it is with environmental reporting.
A federal court case in Georgia declares as dangerous sewage sludge spread on a farm field? We do that here too.
Canada declares the chemical Bisphenol A dangerous? That chemical is found in half a dozen products at the local Giant.
That is way we have always tried to cover the environment at The Mercury, and the fair share of awards we've won along the way testifies to the boast that we know a thing or two about how to do it.
But space is limited in a newspaper, but the space on the Internet is limited only by the size of your server and this one isn't ours so .... expect to see a lot of extras.
Being new to blogging, as I noted above, we're starting slow, with this first, super-secret post, which we will re-tread in the newspaper on Earth Day for our big, splashy grand opening.
Expect to see technical difficulties by the score, and periods during which it seems I've fallen off the end of the earth and taken my blog with me.
We run with a slim crew at The Mercury and finding the time to post can be difficult on days filled with car crashes and misbehaving school board members.
Our goal here is to create a place where your desire for all things green -- from tips on which cleaner is more earth-friendly to which local streams are being threatened.
We will also be reaching out to the many local and state-wide organizations we know that are experts in everything from green gardening to sustainable communities in the hopes that they will share their expertise with us and, thus, with you.
To keep in touch with the wider world out there, it is my goal to post a link every day to a major environmental story somewhere in the world that might be of some interest to readers in the TriCounty area.
Some days, without a doubt, I will fail to do so, but keep checking back.
And write in.
Suggestions, criticisms, praise all are welcome here (some more than others obviously).
So long we we can keep it clean (no pun intended) all comments and replies will be immediately posted. If people start to misbehave, we'll have to revisit that promise.
That's about it for the first post.
Sorry if it's too long, but then anyone who reads me regularly knows I tend to get a little wordy.
But hey, there's a lot to say about the environment.
After all, it's the whole world.