With fountains and bridges: Continue reading
Quantifying something we can all feel:
ScienceDaily (May 1, 2010) — How much “green exercise” produces the greatest improvement in mood and sense of personal well-being? A new study in the American Chemical Society’s semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology has a surprising answer.The answer is likely to please people in a society with much to do but little time to do it: Just five minutes of exercise in a park, working in a backyard garden, on a nature trail, or other green space will benefit mental health.
All natural environments were beneficial including parks in urban settings. Green areas with water added something extra. A blue and green environment seems even better for health, Pretty noted.Here’s a link to a news blurb in the journal:
Pretty says that his goal with this study is not to provide just another recommendation for individuals but to provide data that can be used in policy discussions. Those data “could translate into what the landscape guidelines are for schools or for public housing,” says Nancy Wells, associate professor of community ecology at Cornell University.Here is a link to the actual article.
Where’s all this change coming from and going to?
The dark green is labeled “Evergreen Forest” and decreased from 31.81% in 1991 to 26.47% in 2005. Meanwhile, the light pink labeled “Low Intensity Urban” went from 5.37% to 8.57%. Other changes include the red “High Intensity Urban” slice going from 1.15% to 1.98%. But the biggest change is piney woods being paved over for urban sprawl.
Could this have some effect on flooding?
-jsq
John S. Quarterman
On April 28 Deneige Broom wrote, Proposed Plant Raises Air Quality Questions:
A Biomass plant could bring business and money to the area. But some want to be assured their health won’t suffer in the name of progress.Some good quotes in there:
Dr. Brad Bergstrom attended the hearing wants concrete answers.Continue reading“There’s not going to be anything in the permit that will say, you can only burn this much sewage sludge,” said Bergstrom. “The company plans to only burn a small percentage but once they get their permit, that could change.”
Doyle Rice writes in USA Today about
U.S. losing trees faster than other heavily forested nations:
Out of seven of the most heavily forested nations on Earth, the United States experienced a greater percentage of forest loss from 2000 to 2005 than did any of the other countries, a study said Monday.But what part of the U.S.?
The one part of the contiguous USA that experienced the most forest loss was the Southeast, a large chunk of which lost more than 10% of its forest cover from 2000 to 2005, the year for which the most recent data were available.Compared to what? Continue reading
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Air Protection Branch issued a
Press Release on April 12, 2010 announcing a meeting:
EPD will hold a question and-answer (Q&A) session and a public hearing on Tuesday, April 27, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room in the Valdosta City Hall Annex. The city hall annex is located at 300 N. Lee Street.The subject is “on Proposed Biomass-Fired Power Plant Application Submitted by WireGrass Power, LLC”
You can also submit questions and comments in writing: Continue reading
Members were in agreement that while there are many students graduating from area colleges, they are moving to other cities to find higher paying jobs. Some board members agreed the local workforce needs improvement to enhance the work of current employees, improve the skills of unemployed individuals, and create more job openings.Can’t argue with that.
The controversial aspects of the Wiregrass Power, LLC biomass project are not discussed in the article. Instead, the tiny accompanying solar plant gets some press: Continue reading
For entertainment, I read daily the Rant and Rave in the local newspaper. Now, I know some people here think that what’s written there is so horrible that they can’t stand it. Others think it is just for those too afraid to say something in public. Nonetheless, I read it nearly daily as I find it an interesting window into our area.
Lately, there have been several people writing in about the advertising signs posted around both Valdosta and the county. They note that the messaging on these signs is in direct conflict with Valdosta’s new litter campaign slogan. I can only assume they mean the yellow “Got Junk?” signs.
For example Continue reading
This appears to be the date and location for the Georgia EPD
air quality hearing for the Wiregrass Biomass plant proposed
for Valdosta:
6:30 PM, 27 April 2010We’ve been waiting on this date for a while. EPD is going to send a press release to the VDT a few weeks in advance and post it on its own website, www.georgiaair.org. Assuming, of course, that the date and place don’t change again.
Multipurpose Room
Valdosta City Hall Annex
300 North Lee Street
Valdosta, Georgia
Why should you care? This plant proposes to burn sewage sludge, which can release numerous hazardous chemicals into the air. Here is Seth’s letter to the editor of the VDT of 21 Feb 2010: Continue reading
With Congress and the White House considering spending scarce dollars to jump-start employment, they’ll need to get the biggest jobs bang for the buck to give Americans confidence that they’re spending our money wisely. Probably the biggest jobs generator of all, and one of the least recognized, is investing in forest and land restoration and sustainable management, with conservation, watershed projects, and park investment coming close behind.
That’s a very interesting jobs comparison; I didn’t know that.
To summarize, reforestation and restoration outperforms even the second-most jobs-intense activity analyzed by 74 percent, and conservation exceeds other major jobs alternatives, including especially new highway construction, Wall Street, and conventional energy sources like oil and nuclear.In fact, nuclear comes in dead last in this comparison.
And biomass produces less than half as many jobs as reforestation and land resto ration.