Eco Report – August 9, 2024

In this week’s feature report, we continue with Part II of an episode of Deep Dive:  WFHB and Limestone Post Investigate.  In this four-part series, WFHB looks into trees in Monroe County – what trees we have, what benefits they provide, and which trees to root for and which to root out.

The following was a Letter to the Editor in the Herald-Times on Sunday, August 3rd.  We are sharing it with you with permission from the author.

Are we leaving the cost of climate change to our great-great-grandchildren?  We homo sapiens, throughout our 300,000 years of existence, have never experienced carbon dioxide levels as high as they are today.  Until 1840, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere varied between 180-280 parts per million (PPM).  In 1860, it was about 288 ppm.

Since then, the concentration has increased every year to today, where it is now about 428 ppm.  Humans have never experienced a climate as warm as it is today.  And it is going to get much hotter. Every year, at least 200 billion tons of ice on Antarctica and Greenland melt.  We do not fear this warming, or the rising ocean levels.  We continue on the same course set during the last century. 

We love our fossil fuels and are willing to live with relocating cities such as Miami; Fort Myers, Florida; Tampa; New Orleans; Galveston, Texas; Washington, DC; New York City; and Boston to higher ground. All, so we can mine and burn more coal, because the good news is we will leave the cost to our great-great grandchildren.

According to the New York Times, Tim Walz has championed climate as governor. Kamala Harris’s V.P. pick, known for his folksy persona and rural Midwestern roots, has elevated the issue of climate change in his state. Over the course of his two terms in office, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota has quietly emerged as one of the nation’s most forceful advocates for tackling climate change.

Governor Walz, who has been tapped by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate, most recently made national headlines for labeling the Republican ticket “weird.”  But back in St. Paul, Mr. Walz has been increasingly focused on the threats posed by climate change to his state and has been enacting ambitious policies designed to slash the use of the fossil fuels that are dangerously heating the planet.

Most notably, in 2023, Mr. Walz signed a law requiring Minnesota to generate all of its electricity from wind, solar and other carbon-free sources by 2040, eliminating the climate-warming pollution generated by coal and gas-fired power plants. That law came in the midst of a legislative session in which Minnesota Democrats, working with Governor Walz, pushed through nearly 40 other climate initiatives. In June, he signed a law designed to speed up the implementation of the 2040 clean power mandate, by streamlining the permitting of renewable electricity projects.

Inside Climate News reports electric vehicles strain the automaker-big oil alliance.  In the clean car battle, the oil industry leans on friends—including Donald Trump—to keep gasoline transport alive, while carmakers steer toward an EV future.

Since the dawn of U.S. environmental law more than half a century ago, America has tried to reconcile its love of the automobile with its hope for a liveable future.  And whether the battle was over the smog that choked cities, the toxic lead that poisoned millions or the carbon dioxide that is heating the planet, two of the nation’s most powerful industries were at the forefront of the effort to shape U.S. auto policy: the companies that made the vehicles and the businesses that fueled them.

Now, the electric car has touched off what might be the ultimate lobbying battle for both the auto and oil industries. Carmakers are seeking to slow the pace of the Biden administration’s drive for cleaner vehicles. Oil companies are seeking to bring it to a halt.

No voice has amplified the Big Oil message more loudly than former President Donald Trump, who at a fundraiser in April explicitly pledged to help the industry in exchange for its members sending $1 billion to his campaign, The Washington Post first reported. Trump blasts President Joe Biden’s EV-friendly policy at nearly every public appearance, including after his conviction in New York on charges of falsifying business records, when amid grievances about the judicial system, he stated: “They want to stop you from having cars.”

In this seeming non sequitur, Trump was merely reiterating one of the major themes of his bid to regain the presidency. Echoing the oil industry’s own language, he has framed his candidacy as its best hope for undoing U.S. policy to spur adoption of EVs.

To cut greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. passenger vehicles in half by 2032—as Biden’s rules call for—automakers are expected to rely on the electric drive technology into which they’ve already poured billions of dollars, spurred by subsidies at home and competition abroad. “The future is electric,” said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, appearing at the rollout of the regulations in March.

But the American Petroleum Institute and its sister group, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Association, have declared battle against that EV future. Although the oil industry still rakes in huge profits and global fuel demand keeps rising, that’s not a guarantee the status quo will continue.

EVs have opened a divide between the auto industry and the oil industry, in the view of David Kieve, a former adviser to Biden who now heads EDF Action, the political advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund. Kieve was in the audience when the Environmental Protection Agency announced the new vehicle pollution standards in Washington.

To those who understand the threat from climate change, this debate is akin to arguing over the deck chairs on the Titanic. If the US were serious about halting climate change, we would be buying 10 million EVs this year, shuttering coal-fired plants, installing wind and solar for a million Hoosiers every year, and strengthening the power grid. Indiana is doing none of this.

In this week’s feature report, we continue with Part II of an episode of Deep Dive:  WFHB and Limestone Post Investigate.  In this four-part series, WFHB looks into trees in Monroe County – what trees we have, what benefits they provide, and which trees to root for and which to root out.

• Do you want to learn more about the Perseids Meteor Shower? Plan to attend Predicting the Perseids at Brown County State Park on Saturday, August 10th, from 1 to 1:30 pm. Learn what the Perseids are, where they come from, when to see them and much more!
• Have fun at a Bug Catching Contest at Spring Mill State Park on Saturday, August 17th, from 12 to 12:30 pm. Meet at the Lakeview Activity Center for this 30-minute contest. Nets and cans are available. First, Second and Third place prizes will be awarded.
•  A Wild Wednesday will take place at Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area on Wednesday, August 14th, from 10 to 11 am. Take a short hike to learn about Indiana’s wetlands, critters and much more. Bring water, sunscreen and bugspray!
•  Take a Quarry Hike at McCormick’s Creek State Park on Friday, August 16th, from 11 am to Noon. Meet at the Trailside Shelter to begin Trail 2 to the Quarry. Learn about how the stone was used to create some of Indiana’s buildings and how it was transported.
• An Ants On The March presentation is scheduled for Saturday, August 10th, from 10 to 11:30 am at the Paynetown State Recreation Area at Monroe Lake. Learn about ant anatomy, search for live ants in the ground and make an ant craft. Meet at the Campground Playground.

Credits:

On Air…………………………………..Julianna Dailey
On Air…………………………………..Cynthia Roberts
Headlines……………………………………Norm Holy
Feature Report………….Noelle Herhusky-Schneider
Feature Report……………………………..Kade Young
Script……………………………………Julianna Dailey
Events Calendar……………………….Julianna Dailey
Engineer……………………………..Branden Blewett

Are you looking for a way to make a difference on environmental issues?

Eco Report is  looking for reporters, engineers, and segment producer to report facts on how we’re all affected by global climate disruption and the ongoing assaults on our air, land and water. We also celebrate ecologists, tree huggers, soil builders and other champions who actively protect and restore our natural world, particularly those who are active in south central Indiana. All levels of experience and all ages are welcome, and we provide the training you’ll need. WFHB also offers internships. To volunteer for Eco Report, call at (812) 323-1200, or e-mail [email protected].