By Patricia Goldman/ Special To The Tab
Book Review
"Big Coal" By Jeff Goodell
When I was a child growing up in Pennsylvania in the 1940s, my father had to shovel dirty black lumps of coal into a fire in our basement furnace to heat our home. By 1950 we had switched to natural gas heat, but electricity was powering our many post-war appliances, from dishwasher to freezer to TV. I have always assumed that coal hasn't been used for ordinary energy since then.
In fact, dirty coal is powering a significant percentage of electric plants across this country, even in Massachusetts, far from Appalachian, Midwestern, and Wyoming coal mines. This electricity comes into our homes to power 21st century computers, stereos, DVD players and microwaves.
Why are we still using coal, which we know to be polluting, instead of cleaner, renewable sources of energy? That is the question answered in Jeff Goodell's fascinating new book, "Big Coal: the dirty secret behind America's energy future" ((c) 2006, Houghton Mifflin).
Goodell, a veteran journalist, spent three years researching and writing "Big Coal." It is a colorful narrative, with extensive footnotes, that takes you along on his trips down into an Appalachian coal mine, blasting the top off a Wyoming strip mine, riding on one of the mile long trains incessantly hauling coal across the country, visiting power plant managers, engineers, scientists, company executives, lobbyists and government officials.
Big Coal is a huge industry, wielding extraordinary influence in Washington and state capitols, with legions of lobbyists and millions of dollars in campaign contributions. As we worry about our dependence on overseas oil, it turns out that the biggest fossil fuel reserves in the world (25 percent of the world's recoverable reserves) are buried within the U.S. As of 2005, more than 120 new coal powered energy plants were planned or under construction in the U.S. The coal industry wins huge government subsidies, succeeds in choking environmental regulations, while its PR spinmasters promote the message that coal is safe and cheap.
Since the passage of the 1970 Clean Air Act, emissions per unit of energy from American coal plants have dropped, but the total "volume of pollution released by coal plants remains staggering." Coal plants are responsible for nearly 40 percent of U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas), plus sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulates, and some sixty varieties of what the EPA terms 'hazardous air pollutants', including toxins such as lead, chromium, arsenic and mercury" - and solid waste equal to three times as much as all municipal garbage in the country, laced with heavy metals. The coal-powered electricity industry was born in 1882, when Thomas Edison invented a dynamo in lower Manhattan that heated coal in four big boilers and used the steam to activate generators that produced enough current to light up 1200 lamps in the neighborhood. Black smoke and soot poured into the air and nearby residents immediately began to complain.
Edison realized that to capitalize financially on producing electric power, he had to locate the dirty dynamos out of sight and out of mind. Instead of simply selling the dynamos, he wanted to build the power plants, lay the wires, and make money by selling the electric current. Edison put Samuel Insull in charge of moving Edison Electric's operation to Schenectady, New York. Later, it became General Electric.
Insull moved on to take over Chicago Edison. He understood that "power plants are expensive to build but comparatively cheap to run." He convinced fellow power industry executives not to waste money building duplicate power plants. He argued that power companies would do better as monopolies regulated by the state. With Chicago's corrupt political machine at the time, there was little interference from regulators.Insull's strategy for growth (still pursued today) was to keep prices low, encourage consumption, and "promote electricity as clean and sanitary: no more soot from the coal stove!" He and Edison created a nation of "electricity junkies."
As the power companies grew into multi-state empires, reformers called for public ownership. Instead, Congress passed the 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act, which broke up the huge companies and forbade competition among them. The Act established "cost-plus pricing", which guaranteed utilities a fixed return on their investments. The more electricity is used, the more the utilities earn. The utilities were required to pass 100 percent of any efficiency gains on to customers, so there was no incentive for them to spend money to develop more efficient and cleaner energy. The coal companies, the railroads hauling the coal and the power plants liked the income they were producing the old way.
Goodell points out that the cheap "cost" to customers does not include "the social, environmental and public health costs of burning dirty coal... the devastated mountains of West Virginia, the heart attacks and asthma caused by air pollution, the pumping of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere" or the dead coal miners. These costs are "all offloaded onto the public." According to the ten-year ExterneE study, if the market accurately reflected these true costs, "old coal burners would be shut down because the price of the power they generated would be too high for the market to bear."
Recent events have favored Big Coal. Concerned that, if elected, Al Gore would work to regulate pollutants, Big Coal threw its money behind George W. Bush, who won and immediately began staffing regulatory agencies with former coal industry executives and lobbyists. The lobbyists have cynically worked to portray global warming as theory rather than fact. Big Coal has failed to pursue technologies to make coal energy cleaner and more efficient, such as coal liquefaction and sequestering CO2 underground.
Says Goodell, "The key debate today is not whether pollution from coal plants kills people. It indisputably does..." The question is, "Are we willing to put the earth's climate at risk to save ten bucks on our utility bills?"... Goodell also asks, "What can I do to lighten the load?...I simply believe that it's within our grasp to figure out less destructive ways to create and consume the energy we need."
Patricia Goldman was Executive Director of the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America/New England Chapter, until she retired in 2004. She was also a contributing editor for the Newton Times.
This article is archived at www.greendecade.org/environmentpage
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Why are we still using coal?
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Climate and Energy
Keeping the fish in the Charles
Not long ago, fishing in the Charles River reaped little reward due to potential health risks and few fish. Today it has become safer, more popular, and more enjoyable with many fishermen casting their lines off the docks, bridges and banks of the Charles. Restored fishing in the Charles can be attributed to efforts by organizations such as ours to improve water quality and fish passage at dams in the lower river reaches.
CRWA, MA Division of Marine Fisheries and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are currently involved in a multi-year collaborative effort to restore the American shad population in the Charles and to create a local sport fishery. The Charles River American shad restoration program, which will span the next three to six years, involves stocking juvenile shad fry in the Lakes District area of the Charles in Newton and Waltham each year from late June to mid-July.
The first step of the American Shad restoration program is to obtain brood stock - adult shad - from the Merrimack River, where the shad population has rebounded in recent years. The brood stock will be transported and spawned at FWS hatchery where the larvae of the adults will be raised for seven to ten days, and then marked prior to their release so their return to the Charles River can be tracked. CRWA's work will involve sampling juvenile fish to estimate fish survival and establish recruitment indices, and assessing the river's chemistry to determine if river habitat conditions are suitable for the young fish.
This year, the project's first, more than 1.8 million shad fry were released in Waltham during the weeks of July 9 and July 16, following successful spawning at the hatcheries. The fry will spend several months in the Charles growing, feeding, and slowly swimming downstream before reaching the mouth of the river, entering Boston Harbor, and moving out into the Atlantic Ocean where they will spend most of their adult lives. CRWA is monitoring water quality twice a week, through September, downstream from the release site in the Waltham, Newton and Watertown areas, to help determine habitat conditions. Following water quality monitoring starting in late September and continuing through the fall, DMF and CRWA will sample the juvenile shad. This process will be repeated for the next few years, with shad fry being released each summer. Beginning in 2009, three to four years after their release, the shad will begin to return to the river to spawn, and they will be identified and tracked by the project coordinators.
One of the largest members of the herring family, American Shad can reach up to 30 inches in length with an average weight of 7-8 pounds. The shad is one of five species of anadromous fish found in the river - fish that are born in freshwater, spend the majority of their lives in the ocean, and return to their native freshwater to spawn in the late spring.
Dating back to the early 1600s, the Charles River supported an abundant population of American shad. Despite historical abundance, the shad population in the Charles was nearly wiped out because of the construction of dams and culverts and the degradation of the river's water quality and flow. Today, only small numbers of adult shad are observed in the river each year despite the fact that the Charles River should support a viable shad population of 30,000 adults based on an estimate by DMF, which takes into consideration historical records of fish in the Basin and the community appropriate for a natural river in southern New England.
Successful repopulation of American shad may involve addressing obstacles to their viability in the Charles including predation by birds, unsuitable flow, poor downriver passage, availability of forage species, such as zooplankton, and habitat alterations. If the shad restoration program succeeds, beginning in 2009 adult shad will come back to the Charles and start a new generation of life.
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Waste
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Energy Use Here and In Germany
By Gilbert Woolley / Special To The Tab
On a recent visit to Germany and Austria I tried to compare typical comments on and response to environmental issues in these countries. Each day I skimmed through a German language newspaper to look for environmental news. One notable difference was that I saw no mention of "solutions" for dependence on imported fuels and no complaints about gasoline prices, which are roughly twice as high as in the US. The explanation for cost tolerance is that gasoline has never been cheap in Germany (and other industrial countries of Western Europe).
Until the discovery of North Sea Oil in the 1960s, these countries were almost totally dependent on far away places (including the US) across thousands of miles of ocean, In the twenties and thirties it was recognized that in case of war, these oceans would be patrolled by enemy ships, including submarines. High taxes were imposed, not only to raise revenue, but also to decrease usage, and dependence on imports. As a result, the public never came to regard cheap gasoline as a "right" and most people drove less, and in smaller cars or on motorcycles, than in the US. Raising taxes is the sure way to reduce dependence on foreign oil but is politically difficult in the US.
Germany has well over 11,000 wind turbines, generating more electricity by wind than any other country and, as we traveled between Berlin and Munich, we saw many wind turbines. This area is not ideal for wind and some turbines were not turning, presumably because of insufficient velocity. Germany's only significant domestic source of fossil fuel is coal and the country is trying to meet its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce CO2. Wind generation increased by 44 percent last year.
Hotels in Berlin and Munich, which used key cards as room keys, also used them to conserve electricity. To turn on the lights and air conditioner in the room, the card must be placed in a reader by the door. When leaving the room, retrieving the key turns off the lights and air conditioner. The tank on the toilet had two levers, a small flush and a full flush. Using the small flush saves not only water but also the electricity used to drive the water and wastewater pumps.
Dependence on the automobile is also reduced by efficient and frequent public transit - subways, streetcars and buses. The most noticeable difference between Berlin, Munich and Vienna and American cities, however, was that bicycle paths were provided on all major, and some secondary streets. Imagine cycling down the "Unter den Linden", Berlin's Fifth Avenue. These cycle paths are clearly marked by the contrasting color of paving and are part of the sidewalks. This means that cyclists are not threatened by powered vehicles as is the case when cycle paths are simply painted lines dedicating a couple of feet of the carriageway to bicycles. And these paths are used by young and old, even by middle-aged ladies out shopping. Most businesses, including department stores, have bicycle racks near the entrances. In busy city streets it has been demonstrated over and over again that the bicycle is the fastest method of travel but most people are afraid to cycle in traffic. The German cyclists confidently asserted their right to use these paths and often didn't warn pedestrians who had strayed on to them. This was a hazard to some of our (American) party who often ignored the cycle path markings.
None of these things is going to "solve" the energy problem or eliminate Global Warming. Neither is drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge nor in the coastal zone. The excessive use of energy did not happen suddenly, but built up over most of the twentieth century, and reducing energy use will also take time and require hundreds of millions of people to take simple actions to reduce energy use, like driving less and driving smaller cars, turning the thermostat up in summer and down in winter and adding insulation to their homes. It is not politically popular to say so, but the German, and European, example suggests that the "market" - that is higher prices - may be the most effective tool to reduce demand. One thing that will not reduce gasoline consumption is that additional lanes are being added to the Autobahn we were driving along. Experience in the US is that increasing the capacity of highways results in diversion of travelers from public transportation to private automobiles.
The German word for the Environment is "die Umwelt," literally the world around us. This seems to me to be less abstract and more "user friendly".
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Education
Green revolution in big biz
Multi-billion dollar companies can have a huge impact, both positively and negatively, on the environment. Even minor changes in business models and practices can dramatically effect how a company interacts with the larger world.
There is a common misconception that it is too expensive in a highly competitive world market for large corporations to focus on reducing their impact on the environment.
Concern about the environment is not usually viewed by businesses as in the best interests of shareholders, because it is assumed not to be profitable. However, it is possible to make huge profits while having an environmental conscience. In fact, it is more profitable over the long term and therefore in the shareholders best interests, to act "environmentally friendly". Our economic system often rewards innovation in this way.
DuPont de Nemours is one company that has changed from being one of the worst polluters to being a leader in progressive environmental thinking. DuPont started up over 200 years ago and has been one of the largest chemical developers ever since. It has created many products which most people use in their everyday lives. Some of its most famous creations are nylon, Teflon, Kevlar and Chlorofluorocarbons. CFC's, which were revolutionary when they were developed in the 1930's, were used in air conditioners and refrigerators, but they turned out to be extremely destructive to the ozone layer, with long-lasting and persistent effects on the entire planet.
DuPont is taking a radical approach compared to its competitors. One of its business goals is to create sustainable growth, that is, economic growth that attempts to balance both the future and present needs of a company. DuPont is reviving its tarnished image by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent of their 1990 levels by the year 2010. The company has already exceeded that goal by reducing emissions by 68 percent. Also, DuPont intends to hold its energy use flat at the 1990 baseline level.
DuPont has displayed progressive thinking in part to amend for past misdeeds. It reached many of its environmental goals rapidly because, having polluted so horrendously for so many years, it was forced to pay enormous legal fees and heavy fines for environmental cleanup efforts. The company realized that it would be much cheaper over time to spend money to reduce pollution than to pay for the resulting lawsuits, inevitable penalties and cleanup projects. Chad Holiday, Chairman and CEO of DuPont, estimates that "In working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we achieved more than $2 billion in avoided costs due to energy conservation activities". Obviously it makes business sense to be environmentally responsible.
DuPont is not alone in its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. General Electric, the second biggest company in the world, has also pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. BP, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, IBM and many other major corporations have pledged to reduce greenhouse emissions. However, compared to DuPont, other companies' efforts, while vital, are less impressive.
With a net income of $1.89 billion in 2005, DuPont has proven that large profits and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive, and that 'top down' change is possible in our capitalistic economy.
Improving the environmental practices of one large, multi-billion dollar corporation has direct benefits worldwide. And when DuPont adopts sustainable growth principles that encourages other companies to follow its example.
All large corporations will need to change their business policies and practices in order to solve many of serious environmental problems facing our country and the world, but they are not going to do this without outside pressure. The efforts of individuals and grassroots campaigns to reform corporations should never be underestimated. If it were not for the work of watchdog groups, DuPont would never have cleaned up its act, because no one would be demanding that they do it. Citizens, through their governments and non-profit organizations, have to take the initiative to make sure this happens.
The example set by DuPont may be hard for smaller companies to follow. DuPont is well-established and has the luxury of thinking long term, because it knows that it will be around to reap the benefits from making the many changes involved in transitioning to being a sustainable company. Their dramatic turnaround in a short time span makes them a tough act to follow.
Currently no enforcement or regulatory body requires businesses to meet most environmental goals. Until we have such regulation, companies could just espouse lofty goals with little intention of meeting them. We not only need carrots, we also need sticks.
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Economics
Have Your Lobster and Eat It, Too
By Trevor Corson / Special To The Tab
Lobster love is going mainstream: Executives at Whole Foods Market, the largest purveyor of natural and organic foods in the nation, have reevaluated the entire process of lobster acquisition, transport and sale. The company has announced that it will stop selling live lobsters because it cannot ensure that the animals are being treated with compassion.
For tens of thousands of years we knew, firsthand, where our food came from. During the past century, 99.9 percent of that experience has vanished. Lobster is one of the few foods that most Americans can still purchase alive and kicking. Apart from hunting and fishing, it is the last link between our kitchens and the great outdoors.
I belong to a new demographic called ethical eaters. We want our food to have been happy in death. At the same time, we want it so fresh and unprocessed that it still tastes, and nourishes us, like it is full of life. That's why I love buying live lobster. I am happy knowing that the lobster has lived at least six or seven years in the ocean. Most other meat at the store comes from a domesticated animal, and fish increasingly come from farms. Lobster is one of the last true free-range meats.
Some people feel that the entire process of capturing, storing, transporting and cooking lobsters cannot possibly be accomplished in a humane fashion - period.
The fact is that trapping lobsters is as humane as fishing gets. The animals crawl into a wire cage, eat a free lunch and sit around for a while. We know from video studies that many of the lobsters then climb right back out of the trap. We also know from scientific surveys that most lobstermen along the rocky coast from Gloucester to Downeast Maine release a lot of their lobsters back into the ocean - young ones, old ones and ones with eggs - and that those animals continue to thrive and repopulate coastal waters, despite their elevator rides to the surface and their swims back to the bottom. Lobster transport is similarly civilized. Because consumers have traditionally demanded that lobsters be kept alive, distributors already have a strong incentive to treat the animals with care. Nova Scotia-based Clearwater Seafoods, one of the top lobster distributors in North America, has constructed elaborate seawater condominiums at its three plants, tended by the company's own biologists, so that lobsters can rest in cool, stress-free solitude and regain energy before their trek to the consumer.
And storage? It is true that adult lobsters dislike spending much time together in close quarters - unless, of course, a male and female have completed their courtship dances and decide to move in together to mate. But lobsters communicate by smell instead of sound, and studies at the Marine Biological Laboratory on Cape Cod suggest that in crowded conditions, the lobsters' noses get desensitized to stimulation and they calm down and stop bothering one another. The tanks are also kept cold; the lobsters adapt by slowing their metabolism, reducing activity and lowering their food intake, just as they do in the wild, which further reduces stress.
That leaves cooking. It's the thornier problem, and what most upsets people. Unlike fish, [lobsters] can survive out of water long enough to make it to the kitchen still kicking.
In England, scientists have invented a new machine designed to kill lobsters with minimum pain prior to cooking. It is called the CrustaStun, and went into service in the United Kingdom last year. It comes in two sizes. The big one looks something like those zappers they put your suitcase in at the airport. Lobsters ride a conveyor belt into a 110-volt jolt that electrocutes them. The small version looks like a stainless-steel lobster coffin, and executes one animal at a time. Both get a humane stamp of approval.
Shucks Maine Lobster, run by Maine entrepreneur John Hathaway, is one of several companies employing a different sort of device: an 80,000-pound, 16-foot-tall machine that uses technology adapted from U.S. Army research. Hathaway loads a wide vertical cylinder with 200 pounds of live lobster at a time. A steel oval framework slides into place over the cylinder. He presses a button, massive pumps whir, and water inside the cylinder is compressed to a pressure more than five times that of the deepest ocean trenches. Without any heat, the lobsters die and their meat separates from the shell. The lobsters are then hand shucked, vacuum sealed, and the packages re-pressurized to kill pathogens. The result: fresh, raw lobster meat with a refrigerated shelf life of up to 30 days and no additives or preservatives - similar to chicken. Chefs love the product, and supermarkets are currently considering it for retail sale. Whether this system will get a humane stamp of approval remains to be seen.
I welcome the end of boiling lobsters alive. But I also fear the impending loss of live lobster, and with it the end of a beloved New England tradition. I do not want to hand over my last chance to make moral choices about my dinner to automated executioners. So for now, I will continue to do what I have always done. I will put the live lobster on ice for 15 minutes to slow its metabolism and neural activity. Then I will give thanks to the lobster and thrust the point of my knife between its legs and cut down through the head, splitting the front half of its body. The animal will die instantly, and I can boil it without causing further pain. This method, while not for the squeamish, does get a humane stamp of approval.
Adapted from Boiling Point, Boston Magazine, July 13, 2006, with permission
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Oceans
Understanding global warming's many effects and causes
By Joy Huang / Special To The Tab
Global warming is not new. Temperatures have been rising worldwide since 1867, when global temperature data was first available. Not everyone is convinced global warming is a serious concern. Skeptics argue that climate change is a normal part of climate cycles, and that Earth has been in a warm period for the past 10,000 years. Those worried about global warming point out that growth at an exponential rate would be catastrophic for the environment. They argue that while the increase in Earth's temperature may be "natural," human industrialization and intervention has drastically accelerated the process.
Everyone agrees that during the 20th century at least, global temperatures increased steadily, and that the rise in temperature impacts Earth's environment and humans in numerous ways. As global temperatures rise, the environment is disturbed and humans are put at risk. Glaciers retreat, sea levels rise, weather patterns change, bleached coral reefs die, and disease spreads.
The melting of glaciers has become a major focus of concern about global warming. As temperatures increase, these ancient ice behemoths thaw more rapidly. In Antarctica, entire sheets of ice sometimes slide off into the ocean. The European Alps and the Caucasus mountains have lost half of their glacial ice in this century, and glaciers in the Andes are retreating at seven times the rate they were just 30 years ago. The most dramatic effects are in the Himalayas, where glaciers feed the Ganges and Indus Rivers of northern India. The 500 million people who depend on those glaciers as a source of water have already experienced erratic flooding and serious mud slides. Glaciologist Keith Echelmeyer surveyed 90 glaciers in Alaska for eight years and discovered that most of them were thinning by 5 feet (1.5 meters) each year and some even up to 10 feet (3 meters) each year. The rate of thinning is exponential, and the thawing speeds up as glaciers get thinner because the melted water lubricates the glacier. In 2002, when the Larsen B ice shelf slid off the Antarctic peninsula, the glaciers behind it started disappearing at up to eight times their previous rate.
Retreating glaciers lead to disastrous flooding and a shortage of water. When glaciers melt, sometimes rocky debris piled at the edge of glaciers impedes the flow of melted water, trapping large lakes behind them. When these moraines give way, the glacial lakes suddenly pour into the valleys below much as lava flows in a volcanic eruption. Eventually, the lakes and rivers they form each summer begin to shrink, leading to a scarcity of water for people dependent on those "summer river flows."
Melting glaciers also affect the oceans. Warm water expands and takes up more space, so sea levels rise in response to the warming of the planet. With the added melted ice from retreating glaciers, the rise in sea level will increase further. Sea levels rose four to 10 inches (10.16 to 25.4 cm) in the last century. Estimates vary, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicts a rise of 12 inches (30 cm) along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts by 2025, and most scientists agree that a rise of 28 inches (72 cm) over the next century is possible. These numbers may not seem shocking, but rising sea levels are destructive to coastlines and potentially disastrous to island nations and delta farmlands. Higher sea levels lead to more coastal erosion and destroy farmlands near the coast, replacing them with rocky sediments. Wetlands and adjacent low-lying terrain become prone to flooding. As seawater flows onto land, it contaminates freshwater, increasing river and groundwater salinity. Bangladesh has already experienced so many floods and storms that 10 percent of the country could be submerged as sea levels rise.
Earth's climate is shifting towards extremes. As the planet heats up, evaporation increases, adding more moisture to the atmosphere and causing more violent downpours. Thomas Karl of the National Climatic Data Center reported in the late 1990s that recent decades the US has experienced a 20 percent increase in blizzards and heavy rainstorms. Rising temperatures also strengthen hurricanes, which gather energy over warm water. The warmer the water, the greater the energy, which means more intense storms. Last year in the Gulf of Mexico, there were so many tropical storms that for the very first time forecasters ran out of names."
Weather patterns will change erratically. Some places will experience more precipitation and more severe weather, while others will experience an overall decrease in evaporation and rainfall. An average decrease in water vapor concentration reduces the moisture of the soil and can cause desertification. Drought conditions are intensifying in Africa and Asia for this reason. In 2000, Central Mongolia experienced its worst drought in 60 years followed by its harshest winter in 30 years, and 1.8 million domestic animals froze to death.
With higher temperatures, lakes and springs thaw earlier in the spring. In Alaska, four out of the five earliest record thaws occurred in the 1990s. In 1993 German scientists reported that spring was starting six days earlier and autumn five days later than in 1959, extending the growing season by 11 days. This can benefit farmers but it has detrimental effects on freshwater ecosystems. Recent studies document a connection between global warming and eutrophication. One Canadian scientist who collected samples from six lakes in the Canadian Arctic and found that algal growth began 150 years ago and is now increasing exponentially, has said: "These are pristine lakes that mankind hasn't directly affected. But there has definitely been an indirect effect."
Although there are disputes about the magnitude of global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, consisting of 2,500 top scientists from 60 countries, has compiled a comprehensive study of the impacts of climate change and proposed ways to respond to it. They have published a climate change report every five years since 1988.
The IPCC warned in its most recent report (2001) that global warming is occurring more rapidly than previously believed, mostly due to human activities. They concluded that the average global temperature is projected to rise between 2.5 and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celsius) by the year 2100; in North America the temperature is projected to increase by 7.2 to 8.9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100; the 1990s was the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year since the beginning of global temperature observations; global sea levels have risen 10 times faster in the last 3,000 years than ever before and are projected to rise about 3 to 28 inches (8 to 72 cm) between 1990 and 2100; and snow cover and the northern sea ice will further decrease.
The IPCC concluded that "The balance of evidence suggest a discernible human influence on global climate." Carbon dioxide is one of the "greenhouse gases," a group of atmospheric gases named for their role in the "greenhouse effect," a natural process that maintains global temperature but which also contributes to global warming. Other greenhouse gases include water vapor, methane, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons.
Visible radiation from the sun travels to Earth and is absorbed by the atmosphere. Some of that radiation is absorbed by the Earth, which warms up and radiates back to space as infrared radiation. As greenhouse gases and clouds in Earth's atmosphere absorb and reflect this infrared radiation, this slows the loss of heat from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, although it has a lower global warming potential than the other greenhouse gases, is the most important one because of its high atmospheric concentration. Before 1750, its concentration in the atmosphere was around 280 parts per million (ppm), and for 420,000 years, following the natural carbon cycle, it never increased past 325 ppm, but today it has risen to over 360 ppm. Human industrialization was the main trigger for this unprecedented jump in CO2 atmospheric concentration. CO2 began increasing in the atmosphere in the late 1700s due to the use of fossil fuels as an energy source. Coal, oil, and natural gas consist of carbon compounds created millions of years ago. When burned, they release water vapor and carbon, which combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. The burning of fossil fuels creates three-fourths of the Earth's carbon dioxide.
Cement-making and deforestation also add CO2 to the atmosphere. Cement-making releases CO2 from carbonate rocks. Deforestation produces CO2 emissions through the burning of forests and also through the burning of firewood. Decaying wood results in slow CO2 emission, whereas burning wood results in rapid CO2 emission. Since 1992 cement-making and fossil fuel burning together have added more than 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is no easy task, because we rely on fossil fuels to power industries and homes, cars and planes, and for nearly everything else we do. Practicing conservation measures will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to address the problem adequately.
Joy Huang, is a student at Newton North High School, entering her senior year.
This article is archived at www.greendecade.org/tabarchive.asp.
Potential new MWRA members
By Robert L. Zimmerman, Jr ./ Special To The Tab
Water, growth and the MWRA
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is responsible for distributing water to 42 greater Boston communities. The reservoirs that provide this water, Quabbin and Wachusetts, and surrounding watershed lands are under the stewardship of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. In creating the MWRA, the legislature split off responsibility for the management of the natural resource from the delivery of this water.
Thanks to aggressive leak repair and conservation in the 1980s, MWRA communities are using 100 million gallons less daily than 25 years ago. Today MWRA is selling 225 mgd of wholesale water to local water departments of its member cities and towns, down from a high of 342 mgd. The MWRA believes it now has extra water available and it is looking for new customers. Expensive projects like the Deer Island sewage plant and the 17-mile MetroWest Tunnel between routes I-495 and 128 have left the MWRA with a pile of debt. Funded by bonds, the debt service will continue to rise through 2011 and then taper off.
About 60 percent of the MWRA's budget currently goes to pay off this debt. The MWRA needs more revenue to meet these debts and rising energy costs. Double-digit increases in existing customer water rates are projected over the next several years as these costs rise.
Consequently, the MWRA Board, in a major shift, is proposing to treat water as a commodity, expand the MWRA service area and actively market this water to new communities. The sale of more water would purportedly help reduce projected increases in wholesale water rates through admission fees and by spreading the costs among more cities and towns. Additionally, a growing number of communities between the Route 128 and Interstate 495 beltway face water shortages over the coming decade. New MWRA supplies could help alleviate the problem. However, making more water available to new customers triggers a host of concerns that need to be evaluated carefully by the MWRA Board, state regulators and the public. It is unlikely that new water sales will materially reduce MWRA bond debt in the near term, or significantly curtail the cost of water for current customers. MWRA estimates that even if all of the 20 communities it has identified as potential customers (including Holliston, Medway, Franklin and Milford in the Charles watershed) joined - a dubious supposition given high MWRA fees and rates and lack of enthusiasm by these towns - rate increases would only shrink by 3 to 4 percent.
Before selling more water the MWRA needs to revisit the "safe yield," or the maximum, dependable withdrawals that can safely be made from MWRA reservoirs without damaging the water resource. The original methodology for determining this did not sufficiently take into account the water necessary for downstream flow and fisheries' health. The re-determination of safe yield must also consider the effects of global warming, as well as the growth needs of the existing MWRA service area.
New sources of water spur new growth. The MWRA water sales will play a major role in where and how growth occurs in eastern Massachusetts. Stoughton, a recent MWRA member, has experienced an explosion of new development. Water sales need to be paired with Smart Growth approaches, which reduce sprawl and open space losses and promote denser, low-impact development. The metropolitan area needs to encourage mixed-use village density zones, transportation-oriented development, and the redevelopment of brownfields for commercial and residential uses. Linking the sale of new water to a Smart Growth agenda can help create the kind of housing and amenities that will make Massachusetts attractive to industry, stabilize housing prices, and reduce the number of cars on the road.
While MWRA water can help alleviate the stress on water resources in the Ipswich and the upper Charles basins, selling water to communities without adequate planning is not an environmental benefit and could backfire, by enabling low density, high impact residential development, which uses vastly greater quantities of water, and paving over more ground, which prevents aquifer recharge.
Communities seeking to join the MWRA will want to buy the water during the summer, when local supplies are most stressed. There would be little reason for these communities to conserve water or to build the kind of stormwater and wastewater infrastructure that will replenish aquifers while restoring river flow and reducing flash flooding during rainstorms.
Selling water based on demand alone will result in greater sprawl and unchecked development in the wrong places. Before expanding, a full environmental impact review, like that required under state law for any major project, should first be performed to analyze all aspects of expansion.
These are communities in proximity to MWRA that may have water deficits now or in the future, and could consider MWRA as an option to supplement current water sources (list does not include communities that are actively pursuing admission to MWRA).
· Boston Harbor South:
· Hingham/Hull
· Sharon
· Ipswich River Basin:
· Salem/Beverly
· Ipswich
· Wenham
· Topsfield
· Danvers/Middleton
· Lynnfield Center W.D.
· Upper Charles:
· Franklin
· Holliston
· Medway
· Milford
· SUASCO:
· Ashland
· Hopkinton
· Nashua:
· Boylston
· Lancaster
· Sterling
· West Boylston
· Connecticut:
· South Hadley Fire District #2
This article is archived at www.greendecade.org/tabarchive.aspControlling white grubs without chemicals
White grubs are insect pests of home lawns, athletic fields, parks, gardens and anywhere their preferred hosts grow. They live in soil, are C-shaped, have six legs, chewing mouthparts, and feed on turfgrass roots and the roots of other plants. Lawns that are attacked by these pests show poor vigor, thin turf, smaller (or no) roots and bare spots susceptible to weed colonization.
The four white grub species of concern in our area are introduced pests and are very problematic on home lawns. They are Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica; Oriental beetle, Anomala orientalis; European chafer, Rhizotrogus majalis; and Asiatic garden beetle, Maladera castanea.
· The Japanese beetle grub has a small distinctive V-shaped rastral (spines) pattern, and a transverse anal slit on the 10th abdominal segment. These grubs are widely distributed in southern New England and are more susceptible (than the other species of white grubs) to chemical and nonchemical controls. Adult JBs feed on nearly 300 species of plants, including trees, shrubs and vines.
· The Oriental beetle grub has a transverse anal slit (like the JB) but exhibits a unique straight and parallel rastral pattern. It is less susceptible to commonly used insecticides because it is quick to burrow down deeper into the soil during hot weather, where it is difficult to control.
· The European chafer has a rastral pattern that is somewhat Y-shaped; rows of rastral spines look like an opening zipper near the anal slit. It is the most damaging to home lawns, causing turf to become easily dislodged from the soil. Sometimes called an "eating machine on lawn roots," it's the only grub that can feed during cold weather, causing root damage in the early spring and well into the fall, when the other grub species are inactive. It has even been detected feeding on lawn roots under snow in February. These grubs are hard to control with insecticides because they are larger in size than the other species and they have genetic characteristics that enable them to metabolize insecticides or avoid them.
· The Asiatic garden beetle has a rastral pattern in the shape of a reduced semi-circle. Imidacloprid (trade name, Merit) is used for chemical control, but it has limited effectiveness. It is suspected that the spread of AGB is due to imidacloprid overuse: the chemical kills the other grub species and allows the expansion of this one.
Fortunately, there are biological control alternative to synthetic insecticides that can reduce the need for chemical control of white grubs. Although there is one commercially available type of nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae, that does not provide white grub control, another commercially available nematode, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, has been shown by Dr. Albrecht Koppenhoffer (Rutgers University) to be an effective bio-control agent against Japanese beetle grubs. Dr. Patricia Vittum (University of Massachusetts) has demonstrated satisfactory control for all four species of white grubs using the HB nematode in late summer field trials, but the trials were limited in scope.
IPM Labs entomologist Carol Glenister notes that HB nematodes are most effective when the soil is warm in late summer (mid-August to early September) and the grubs are large. She does not recommend applying nematodes before then. She said that with the proper environmental conditions nematodes will reduce all grub species to varying degrees.
The HB nematode seeks out grubs for food and reproduction. When this nematode enters a white grub through a natural body opening, it releases a bacterium while it feeds on the grubs' internal organs, and this eventually kills the grub. The nematodes then move through the soil to seek out more grubs.
The EPA exempts nematodes from the registration required for chemicals, and protective equipment is not needed to apply them. Commercially available nematodes are specific to pests stated on the label. Read and follow all instructions and be certain that the beneficial nematode matches the biology of the pest in question. To learn more contact: IPM LABS, Locke, N.Y. 315-497-2063, www.ipmlabs.com.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Acid rain and Newton's ponds
By Justin Song/ Special To The Tab
Acid rain affects the US the most in the Northeast and the Midwest. This is mainly because of the heavy industries that exist in those areas, many of which produce gases that create acid rain when exposed to the atmosphere. The gases mostly responsible are sulfur and nitrogen oxides. At its worst, acid rain has reduced the pH of lakes and ponds to 4.6 in places, making those bodies of fresh water 10 times more acidic than they should be (the normal pH for bodies of water in the US is 5.6). At this pH, water can support little to no life. The Charles River is an example of a body of water that has been heavily affected by acid rain, due to years of industrial pollution.For an Environmental Services Project at NNHS this past year, I tested three bodies of water in Newton to see how much acid rain continues to affect our city: Crystal Lake, Hammond Pond, and Bullough's Pond, which are all in the Charles River watershed. I tested each body of water in two locations, separated by at least 150 feet at each location, I recorded air temperature, weather, water temperature and the time. I then took a water sample measuring 50ml, and obtained a reading using a pH meter. I did four rounds of testing.
Crystal Lake and Hammond Pond had pH values of 5.5 and 5.4 respectively. Bullough's Pond was slightly more acidic than the other two, with a pH of 5.25. These pH values for all three bodies of water were normal, deviating very little from the norm of 5.6. The most likely cause of the acidity of Bullough's Pond is eutrophication. When people use lots of fertilizer, or any chemicals rich in nitrogen or phosphorous, around a body of water, these chemicals often end up in the water due to runoff from irrigation or rain. These chemicals enhance the growth of algae in the lake or pond to amounts that are unhealthy for the life within it. Too much algae, as it dies, causes excess carbon dioxide to be dissolved in the water, which changes the pH, making the water more acidic. Eutrophication also reduces dissolved oxygen levels in the water, limiting the ability of the lake or pond to support larger organisms like fish, and it blocks sunlight to plants in the water, which further reduces oxygen levels in the water. Fortunately, although Bullough's Pond is slightly acid, Newton is not significantly impacted by acid rain at this time.
We need to remain vigilant, however, because acid rain can have silent, but devastating effects on fresh water lakes and ponds. It can free harmful chemical ions from the soil, like aluminum ions, which then run off into nearby bodies of water. These ions are absorbed by the organisms in the water and may cause disease or death. When fish absorb too many of these ions, their gills produce a mucus which interferes with respiration. Since almost all aquatic life absorbs ions in the water indiscriminately, acid rain can poison the water to a point where only the hardiest organisms can survive.
The unwanted effects of acid rain are not limited to ponds or lakes. Acid rain with a pH of less than 5 can damage terrestrial environments, including making soil uninhabitable for plants. Plants cannot absorb vital nutrients properly in soil that is highly acidic; their growth is hindered or they may die. Acid rain can literally destroy plants by eating through them. This has far-reaching ecosystem effects when plants, the staple of the food web, cannot replace themselves as quickly as animals eat them. The consequences for animals may include rashes, birth defects, elevated rates of infant mortality and even famine, which can decimate local animal populations.
Because acid rain has many serious negative environmental consequences, steps have been taken by our federal government to reduce it. The Clean Air Act of 1990 has reduced the amount of acidifying gases by million of tons. In the past 30 years, developing cleaner methods to smelt ores and mandating taller smoke stacks in factories have reduced sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions significantly. Cleaner ways of burning coal and requiring automobiles to be more fuel-efficient and equipped with emissions control devices have also helped to protect the public and the environment from the detrimental effects of acid rain. Also, environmental groups have promoted the planting of natural chemical buffers in soils affected by acid rain, which has protected certain habitats. By working for fewer and cleaner emissions from factories and developing clean energy sources, we can all help to ensure that acid rain will not leave a permanent scar on the landscape of Newton.
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Rising from the ashes
By Asa Swain/ Special To The Tab
When I think about clean energy, I think about wind turbines and solar power. Coal power is certainly not the first thing that comes to mind. But coal power plants provide over a quarter of our energy in Massachusetts (and over half of our energy nationwide). So while researching alternative energy sources is important, cleaning up our existing plants will have a much bigger and more immediate effect on the environment. The Clean Air Act has greatly reduced the amount of aerial pollutants released by coal power plants, but much of it is instead just sent to landfills. So I was intrigued when I learned about a new industry that has sprung up, an industry that uses a waste product from coal power plants to help mix better cement.
Now for most of us, making cement isn't very complicated. When I do backyard cement work, I mix two buckets of sand, one bucket of portland cement, and enough water to hold it all together. And that works just fine for home construction projects. But big industrial projects, like bridges, skyscrapers, and dams, need really high quality cement. There are a wide variety of mixes out there, depending on the kind of concrete required, but most formulas include fly ash: the fine residue created in the combustion of coal.
This is not a new discovery: the Romans made cement with a similar kind of ash, and Americans have been using fly ash for more than half a century. Today fly ash is used to supplement portland cement, as is slag cement, which is ground granulated slag (the byproduct of metal smelting). When portland cement, fly ash and slag cement are combined, the result is cheaper than pure portland cement, more malleable when poured, slower to set, and stronger in its hardened form. Using less portland cement also has an environmental benefit; it reduces the energy use and gas emissions of the mixing process.
Before the passage of the 1990 update to the Clean Air Act, some fly ash was separated for cement production, but most of the ash was just released into the air. This changed in 1990 due to the Clean Air Act's nitrogen oxide restrictions, which mandated that fly ash be filtered out of coal power plant emissions. So instead of releasing it into the air, power plants dispose of their ash in landfills. While this is an improvement, it still has economic and environmental costs.
The good news is that this excess fly ash is a great new supply for cement companies, and power plants would rather sell it than truck it to landfills. But you can't use fly ash straight from power plants, because it is often contaminated with carbon from the burning coal (the carbon interferes with the chemical bonding process of the cement). Some plants use air scrubbers or baghouses to remove the carbon. More recently, several companies have developed a more efficient technique for purifying fly ash, a process called electrostatic separation.
As the fly ash is fed between two oppositely charged electrode plates, the unburned carbon particles take on a positive charge, while the fly ash particles become negatively charged. Particles are attracted to the oppositely charged plates, and mesh conveyer belts carry each type to different destinations. The electrostatic separator can process 40 tons of fly ash an hour and only uses 1-2 KWh of electricity per ton of ash. Besides selling the purified fly ash, coal power plants can also re-burn the leftover carbon, creating additional energy and resulting in almost no waste.
A whole new recycling industry, including one company here in Needham, has developed in the past decade, by installing technology like electrostatic separators in coal power plants and helping to market fly ash to cement companies. Though critics often assert that cleaning up power plants would be too costly and would result in higher electricity prices, this unlikely union between coal power plants and cement companies demonstrates that you can turn a waste product into a useful commodity, and make both economic and environmental sense in the process.
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Water conservation
By Rebecca Scibek and Margaret Van Deusen/ Special To The Tab
Although it may seem like there is always plenty of rain in Massachusetts, especially this past May and June, water is a finite resource. Between 70 and 75 percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water, but only 1 percent of that is available for human use. Despite recent heavy rains, groundwater levels will soon begin to drop as trees and plants take up water and higher temperatures increase evaporation rates.
During the summer, the water in the Charles River is made up almost entirely of baseflow, meaning water that flows into the river from groundwater. Little recharge of aquifers occurs in the summer and, consequently, there is less groundwater available to feed the Charles and its tributaries.
This relative lack of groundwater is mainly due to man-made changes to the water cycle, which prevent water from infiltrating into the ground and recharging aquifers. Buildings, parking lots and roads all prevent rainwater from getting back into the ground to replenish groundwater stores. Newton's municipal storm drain system, which collects stormwater in a centralized drain system and discharges it through outfalls to the river, also short-circuits the natural hydrological cycle and prevents recharge.
Fortunately, small measures add up to big water savings, and each of us can help protect our water resources. Water conservation helps to lower utility costs, protect our rivers, and preserve our water supply for future generations.
Knowledge of water conservation techniques has grown dramatically during the past decade. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently created WaterSense, a program working with water suppliers, product manufacturers and retailers to promote water-efficient products and practices. The products, from front-loading washers to weather-based irrigation systems, are now widely available.
Using water wisely is becoming increasingly important in Massachusetts. The MA Department of Conservation and Recreation has been working to update the state's Water Conservation Standards, first developed in 1992. In September the Water Resources Commission is expected to adopt the Standards, which set water conservation targets for water managers and users.
These Standards, designed to help citizens and water suppliers use water efficiently, are central to the state's efforts to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of our water resources.Water conservation will help Newton residents to control burgeoning water bills.
More than 60 percent of the public water supply in Massachusetts is used for domestic purposes, so improvements in residential water efficiency will have dramatic results. Here are some recommendations included in the Standards:
· Work toward using no more than 65 gallons of water per person per day, indoor and outdoor water use combined
· Check pipes, toilets, and fixtures regularly for leaks, which are costly for you and the environment- a faucet dripping once per second wastes 2,700 gallons per year!
· Sweep driveways, walks, and decks rather than hosing them off
· Wash cars with a bucket and sponge (with biodegradable soap), not a hose
· Install water-efficient plumbing fixtures, such as low-flow showerheads and toilets, and faucet aerators
· Minimize use of garbage disposals, and compost instead, to save water and provide organic material for gardens
· Cover swimming pools when not in use to prevent evaporation.
· Water use can double in the summertime, mostly due to lawn watering. Here are some simple tips:
· Water lawns once a week and only before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m, when the sun is low and winds are light. Watering too often and too much encourages grass to produce shallow roots
· Plantdrought-tolerant grasses and native species, avoiding water-hungry ornamentals
· Recognize that a healthy lawn naturally becomes dormant during times of drought -grass will turn yellow or brown, but will become green again when the rains return
· Redirect gutter downspouts away from pavement and onto grass and gardens where water can infiltrate into the ground. Use rain barrels or cisterns to collect water for irrigation
· For automatic irrigation systems, use the best available moisture sensing technology to ensure systems operate only when necessary, and keep them properly maintained.
When the robin stops bobbin' along
By Lois A Levin/ Special To The Tab
Many of the diseases that threaten human populations today originated in wildlife, and each disease has a unique transmission pathway. The diseases include HIV/AIDS, avian influenza (including the strain currently threatening to cause a human pandemic), SARS, Nipah virus, Lyme Disease and West Nile virus.
According to biologist Peter Daszak, director of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine in NY, West Nile virus is the major vector borne disease in the US. Since arriving here in 1999, most likely on an airplane, it has infected about a million people, caused 22,000 people to fall ill and resulted in at least 826 deaths. In 2006, between 2,000 and 10,000 new cases are expected in the US.
The greatest concentration of cases has been in the East, but the disease has also shown up in Colorado and California. Our area is at risk of West Nile virus again this summer. Computer models developed to predict the risks of human infection indicate that cases of West Nile will peak from late July to mid-August, and then decline toward the end of August.
When the virus first arrived in North America in 1999, thousands of crows contracted it. Recently, it has been discovered that large numbers of robins are now dying of this disease.
This is no reason to be afraid of robins. Humans cannot contract the disease from birds, only from being bitten by a Culex pipiens mosquito. Not only are robins far more appealing to these mosquitoes than humans, it turns out that mosquitoes prefer robins to all other birds, including crows and house sparrows. The robins hopping around on our lawns are members of the "host" species, and they are protecting us from the virus, temporarily. However, when the robins start to migrate south later in the summer, the mosquitoes will continue to look for blood meals, and the risk to humans will increase significantly - seven-fold.
This is just one reason why biodiversity, which is reduced whenever wildlife habitat is lost or fragmented, is so fundamental to the maintenance of human health, and why we need to limit human encroachment on wildlife habitats. Wildlife serves as a "reservoir" for many pathogens against which humans have little or no immunity. Of course, a pathogen such as West Nile virus is a threat to wildlife, too, and entire ecosystems are affected by a die-off of significant numbers of animals. When host species become threatened or extinct or the number of potential host species is reduced, humans are deprived of the buffers against many viruses borne by vectors such as mosquitoes.
As researchers learn more about the reasons that West Nile virus is partial to robins, they will be better able to predict outbreaks and make recommendations to prevent the disease from spreading to other regions. The public needs to support this research. Understanding the links between environmental factors and human health has never been more important than it is today.
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Integrated pest management in Newton
By Ed Cunningham/ Special To The Tab
Prodded and guided by the Green Decade Coalition's Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides (GreenCAP), the city of Newton, in September 1997, became the first municipality in the state to adopt an Integrated Pest Management policy. What happened here in the mid 1990s is an example of how government should work: a small grassroots group of concerned citizens saw a need and was able to affect a municipality's policy and direction. They succeeded, not only because of their vision and dedicated effort, but because IPM is common sense, backed by science, logic, and economics.
This article looks at how IPM came to Newton, what the city's IPM policy is, and what has been accomplished under that policy. It concludes that work remains to be done and that there is still plenty of room for concerned citizens to follow the lead of our IPM pioneers.
GreenCAP was formed in 1994 by Newton residents Maeve Ward and Ellie Goldberg. The nascent group worked to reduce the use of toxins for weed and insect control in the city and in 1996 received a grant from the Toxins Use Reduction Institute at UMASS Lowell. The grant established a partnership among four Newton groups - the Conservation Commission, the Conservators, the Parks and Recreation Department and GreenCAP - to promote pollution prevention policies such as IPM. A task force began work on IPM guidelines for the city's grounds and buildings, GreenCAP's education and outreach projects continued, and a year later Mayor Concannon announced the city's IPM Policy.
It became city policy to eliminate the use of pesticides except as a last resort and to prevent the contamination of buildings, soil, air, and water. The policy also dictated that IPM principles and practices be followed in all work done to city grounds and buildings, whether performed by city employees or outside contractors. An IPM Advisory Committee was formed to coordinate the work of city departments responsible for buildings and grounds regarding the prevention or elimination of pests. Chaired by Doug Dickson since its inception, it consists of representatives of the Departments of Health, Public Buildings, Parks and Recreation, and Public Schools and of community organizations such as the Green Decade Coalition.
Under the direction of the committee, maintenance plans describing how to monitor, document, and handle pest populations were written for all city schools and grounds. Guidelines written for the city's playing fields set mowing heights, watering and aerating policies, and fertilizer characteristics. Environmental Management Teams (EMTs), with PTO and community representation, were established to oversee the plans at each Newton school. Maintenance plans and EMTs and are currently being created for all municipal buildings. The committee develops and runs annual staff training programs. It monitors pest problems and reviews requests or proposals to use pesticides.
In February 2004 the Newton schools won IPM STAR certification after undergoing a rigorous process overseen by Dr. Thomas Green of the IPM Institute of North America, who worked closely on the project with Advisory Committee member Don Rivard, a Waltham-based IPM consultant. The history of pest problems, the condition of buildings and grounds, and the pesticides used in the prior three years were all inspected. Certification requires that IPM policies and plans be in place to guide school administrators and staff in preventing or responding to pest problems.
As this award attests, there have been IPM successes in Newton. But IPM is a continuous process; there will always be more work to do. Reports trickle back to the committee of mowing height standards not being followed, of spraying taking place when it is not a last resort, of vent systems being blocked resulting in temperature control and air quality problems, of cleaning guidelines not being followed, resulting in pest infestation. Plans and training which should prevent these occurrences are in place, but vigilance and follow-up are constantly needed.
Vital to the success of the IPM plans in the schools are the EMTs. An EPA document, "IPM for Schools," states that "Successful IPM programs in schools have come from concerned parents." Carol Bock, IPM Advisory Committee member and Newton School Department Director of Capital Planning and Operations, agrees: "The schools with very active and successful EMTs are the schools where the parents are very involved." As a parent, you can help make IPM work in your children's schools.
The more people read about IPM, the more they realize that it should be mainstream thought and practice. Successful IPM not only makes our buildings and landscapes safer and healthier, it saves money. We should follow it in our own homes and yards as well. Like the IPM pioneers in Newton, you can make a difference. Learn more about IPM. Put it into practice.
The invasion of the home snatchers
By Bruce Wenning/ Special To The Tab
Many kinds of pests find their way into your home. Some you can tolerate, others you can't. Carpenter ants and carpenter bees are insects that want to move in with you. When they invade your space, the damage can be extensive and costly.
Ants are the most recognized insects on earth, with many subfamilies, genera and species worldwide. They are in the Order Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps, sawflies and parasitic wasps). They have three distinct body regions; head, thorax, and abdomen, and their antennae, which are usually elbowed (bent), function as chemical receptors.
Ants nest in colonies and cooperate in raising their young, finding food and defending the colony. They exhibit a caste system comprised of a queen, males and workers. The division of labor in the colony is an integral condition of group living. Queens fly to mate with males, and once mated, a queen will remove her wings and remain dedicated to egg laying for the colony. Males have wings and die soon after mating with the queen. Workers, as their name implies, do most of the colony's work; they are sterile wingless females. Large colonies can have over 3,000 worker ants.There are many ant species found throughout the United States. The most destructive Eastern species is Camponotus pennsylvanicus, the black carpenter ant, which is common in New England. These ants are attracted to damp wood caused by leaking roofs, wood in contact with soil, leaking plumbing fixtures, insulation, blocked gutters, poorly ventilated attics and crawl spaces, and other wooden structures (supports, walls, pillars, siding, joists, sills) that are rotted or water-damaged. When Carpenter ants invade a home or other wooden structure and establish a colony with a queen, it is usually bad news.
Carpenter ants can be found around the periphery of your home in moist foundation mulches, piles of damp leaves and branches and woodpiles. The best approach to the carpenter ant problem is preventive: eliminate damp habitats around the exterior of your home (as well as inside).
Carpenter ants are frequently confused with termites, which are also wood-destroying insects. Termites are soft-bodied and usually white or cream colored; they are sometimes called, erroneously, "white ants" although they are more closely related to cockroaches than to ants. Carpenter ants, in contrast, are hard-bodied and black or dark brown in color. Termites (which are in the small order Isoptera, meaning equal wings) have fore and hind wings that are nearly equal in size and which fold at rest close to the body. Carpenter ants, whose fore wings are larger than their hind wings, usually extend or hold their wings above their body at rest.
Termites do not have a "waist" (constriction between the thorax and abdomen), whereas carpenter ants do have this constriction. Termites have bead-like antennae while carpenter ants have their antennae in segments resembling a short "arm" and "elbow." Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat or digest wood, but instead excavate mostly moist and soft wood (and sometimes dry wood) and deposit the resulting "sawdust" outside their colony, while keeping their galleries clean. Wood digesting termites, on the other hand, line their galleries with moist soil. Carpenter ants are both predators and scavengers, feeding on live and dead insects, plant sap of certain plants, aphid and sap sucking insect honey dew, and various food scraps.
Another type of wood-destroying insect, sometimes mistaken for bumble bees, are carpenter bees, also in the order Hymenoptera (like carpenter ants). They differ from bumble bees in their body markings. Carpenter bees have black abdomens while bumble bees have yellow abdominal markings. Carpenter bees tend to fly and hover high up against buildings and windowsills to excavate their galleries in dry wood. Females have a stinger but rarely sting. Males do not have a stinger and are harmless to humans.
The US has seven species of carpenter bees. The most destructive to homes and other wooden structures is the Eastern species, Xylocopa virginica. They can cause significant damage by boring into and excavating wood year after year. You may see this species flying near windowsills, eaves, wooden siding, fence posts, railings, and other very dry wooden structures. An infestation is first detected by finding large amounts of sawdust below half-inch diameter entrance holes in wood. Applying linseed oil to dry wood can reduce the attractiveness of such wood to these bees.
Carpenter ants, carpenter bees, and termites utilize trees and other woody plants and materials as part of their life cycle. Each is important in its respective niche, but when they invade our domain they become pests. Homeowners who find it necessary to control or eradicate them should consult a certified pest control company and request that they deal with the problem in the most environmentally benign way possible.
For more information see Arnold Mallis, Handbook of Pest Control; Hansen & Klotz, Carpenter Ants of the United States and Canada, and www.ceinfo.unh.edu
