Clean Water

No Way to Avoid Pain This Decade | Only Question is How Much

on November 24, 2021December 7, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media

Washington (GGM) Analysis | November 24, 2021, by Noreen Wise, Founder & CEO of Gallant Gold Media, and author

Not only is climate inaction more expensive than climate action, it’s also a lot more painful.

Fact: there is absolutely no way for us to stay below 1.5ºC without experiencing pain. We have to muscle up and get ready for a whole lot of unpleasantness. Once we recognize this, it becomes much easier to make the right choices: financial (ie higher gas prices), or endless extreme weather events that result in death and destruction. There’s also high heat intensity for prolonged periods that ravage our crops and wipe out our food supply while undermining our health.

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Clearly the easiest choice from a pain perspective is paying higher gas prices right now which will help curb emissions from the transportation sector immediately. It’s unfortunate that oil executives are driving up the gas price, but let them hasten their own demise. We don’t need to counteract their greed by lowering the price, we should counteract their greed by adding carbon pricing to the top to make the price go up even higher.

The August IPCC Report warned Code Red for Humanity, Act Immediately! With the current high gas prices just before the holidays, some of us adjusted our holiday plans rather than pay more at the pump. That’s the strategy behind keeping prices high. Curbing emissions, which is exactly how they do it in the EU. Higher prices equal lower carbon emissions.

Heart of the matter. “Our addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink. We face a stark choice. Either we stop it or it stops us. And it’s time to say enough. Enough of brutalizing biodiversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of treating nature like a toilet. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres on opening day of COP26 in Glasgow.

President Biden’s decision this week to sell 50 million barrels from US crude oil reserves in response to public complaints about the higher gas price and lower poll numbers — rather than use it as a teachable moment that would force us to start adapting immediately to lower our carbon emissions in order to achieve a 50 percent cut by 2030 — is short-sighted.

At his press conference, President Biden declared: “Our combined actions will not solve the problem of high gas prices overnight. It will make a difference. It will take time, but before long, you should see the gas price drop where you fill up your tank and in the longer term we will reduce our reliance on oil as we shift to clean energy.”

Biden’s statement seems to contradict his own impassioned COP26 speech: “Will we act? Will we do what is necessary? Will we seize the enormous opportunity before us? Or will we condemn future generations to suffer.”

The rising gas price is a tool that provides us with our golden opportunity to reduce driving, take public transportation, or switch to an EV. We can begin our sprint down this new way of thinking and living. We should not be demanding a lower gas price, nor giving our president lower survey scores because of the higher gas price. Sadly, President Biden is bending to public opinion, despite the fact that the public wasn’t asked the right question. Which pain would we prefer? High gas price pain or losing all our personal property along with a few family members. And rather than choosing to do whatever is necessary (ie keep gas price high and we’ll drive less over the holidays) we have chosen to condemn future generations to suffer.

President Biden’s Climate Team is impressive. But it doesn’t appear that anyone has woven cutting carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 into all the decision making yet. Perhaps John Doerr’s Speed & Scale, An Action Plan For Solving Our Climate Crisis Now needs to be required reading.

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10 New Insights Every US Community MUST Apply to Their Climate Action Plans

on November 17, 2021December 7, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media 1 Comment

Washington (GGM) Analysis | November 17, 2021 by author and climate journalist Noreen Wise

Have you ever had to look into the future, and face the hard cold truth about the likelihood of succeeding at a life-threatening quest, then create an action plan that you hoped would guide you toward a “life” versus “death” outcome?

Or are there any particular big decisions that you’ve ever had to make in your personal life that may seem similar to this type of crossroads moment? For example, should you take this job or that one? Move or stay where you are? Say “goodbye” to toxic family members, or maintain family loyalty at all costs?

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by.” —Robert Frost

How many of us have actually taken the road less traveled?

If we’ve executed the big leap before, then making another significant and immediate big leap decision likely won’t be a problem for us. But if not, if this feels like a first-time experience, then the best thing to do, is put our boots on today, and just take a small step forward. No leap required. The pace will be slower, which is okay, as long as we are indeed moving forward.

Every community and every individual in the US will have to make unexpected decisions post COP26, as we begin to implement plans that will take us through the next decade in our quest to cut carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030.

“Will we do what is necessary? Will we seize the enormous opportunity before us? Or will we condemn future generations to suffer? This is the decade that will determine the answer. THIS decade.” —President Joe Biden, COP26

Swedish professor and joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Johan Rockström provided a framework at COP26 for climate negotiators who would be strategizing about actionable plans and mapping out the scope and deliverables along a timeline that would lead to a smooth landing at 1.5ºC in the nick of time. Rockström emphasized that there were “10 New Insights” that had to be incorporated into their plans. These ten also apply to our local communities and cities.

Stabalizing at 1.5ºC warming is still possible, but immediate and drastic global action is required.
Rapid growth in methane and nitrous oxide emissions put us on track for 2.7ºC.
We’ve entered the age of the “mega fires.”
Climate tipping elements incur high-impact risks.
Climate action must be just.
Household behavior changes is a crucial but overlooked opportunity for climate action.
Political challenges impede the effectiveness of carbon pricing.
Nature-based solutions are critical for the pathway to Paris — but look at the fine print.
Building Resilience of marine ecosystems is achievable by climate-adapted conservation.
Costs of climate change mitigation justified by the benefits to the health of humans and nature.”

Will THIS decade be the NEW Roaring Twenties only this time for green living? I sure hope so. “Roaring” definitely seems like the correct verb, (“great in intensity or degree,” Merriam-Webster), and this is indeed the twenties.

The majority will move slowly, which based on the figure above, is fine. It’s only the top 10 percent who have to roar, which according to the same figure, shows they’ve been extremely successful in the past at roaring to the top.

The Mysterious Deaths of a Young Family on California Trail Near Toxic Algal Blooms | Who Has the Answers?

on September 20, 2021September 29, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media

Washington (GGM) Analysis | September 20, 2021 by author and climate journalist Noreen Wise

The mysterious deaths of the young California family and their dog while out hiking along the remote Savage Lundy Trail in Devil’s Gulch in Sierra National Forest in Mariposa, California on August 15, 2021, should have us all on high alert as we enter this new high heat era that scientists know very little about.

Heart of the matter. There are many toxins in our environment that become more dangerous in high heat, especially extreme high heat with temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. These hazardous chemicals are likely to become airborne in temperatures with a heat index of 90 degrees. Examples of such toxins are the pesticides used on golf courses as well as conventional farms. These toxic pesticides — typically glyphosate and chlorpyrifos — run off the treated land during heavy rains, and spread far and wide. They’re invisible, and most are odorless, which results in the public being unaware that we’re exposed. A family might live hundreds of yards from a golf course, and not think to attribute a health condition to this unfortunate reality. In fact, doctors might be stumped and unable to quickly identify what is causing an ailment.

This appears to be the way investigators in Mariposa, California are feeling right now as they try and solve the tragic deaths of John Gerrish, 45, his partner Ellen Chung, 30, their one-year-old daughter, Miju, and dog, Oski, who all died while hiking in the California wilderness on a hot Sunday afternoon when local thermometers hit 109 degrees.

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Important facts.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs, also known as cyanotoxins) were in the south fork of the Merced River a couple of miles from where the family was found. The investigators didn’t provide any information about whether the family swam or waded in the toxic water, or drank from it, although apparently they did not, since no evidence of that was discovered during the autopsies, and no information to that effect has been reported.
Upon testing the water, high levels of anatoxin-a (ATX) were found. ATX is also known as Very Fast Death Factor that can cause multiple conditions including breathing paralysis and death.
In April of this year, scientists found airborne ATX around Capaum Pond on Nantucket and weren’t clear about how it became airborne. They expressed concern: “People often recreate around these lakes and ponds with algal blooms without any awareness of the potential problems.”
University of Michigan researchers, Andrew Ault and Kerri Pratt, conducted a study on the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan in 2018 where toxic blue-green algal blooms appear each year en masse in the wake of agricultural run-off. They found that the waves splashing against the algal blooms along the shoreline, resulted in the toxic algal blooms becoming aerosolized. Ault and Pratt were the first to report this finding.
The terrain itself may have posed a problem. Steep mountain walls on all sides, with the four bodies found along the trail on the lower section of the mountain. Hopefully investigators are researching whether thermal runaway was a contributing factor. Thermal runaway is a condition, where “an increase in temperature changes the conditions in a way that causes a further increase in temperature, often leading to a destructive result.” This likely was not the case, but because the new high heat conditions are foreign to us, scientists don’t necessarily know whether or not it was a contributing factor, and might want to research this possibility. The toxic algal blooms were located at the very bottom of the mountain range in the valley, with towering mountains on all sides. Can thermal runaway cause the toxins to become more potent and rise further in the air?

Next Steps:

The Savage Lundy Trail is closed until at least September 26, 2021. Investigators have been very tight-lipped about their investigation, not providing any additional details after they learned about the high levels of ATX in the Merced Rivers due to toxic algal blooms. They did not respond to our request for an update, nor whether the Savage Lundy Trail would re-open after the 26th.

Murder and suicide were ruled out.

Nine out of ten Americans breath polluted air that becomes that much more toxic in the high heat.
We all may want to consider wearing facemarks outdoors in the high heat due to the sheer volume of chemicals that become airborne.

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Top 8 Tips for Making It Rain

on August 11, 2021December 27, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media

Washington (GGM) Analysis | July 6, 2021 by author and climate journalist Noreen Wise

“Soil. Earth. Ground. And due to its vast scale and its ability to sequester immense quantities of greenhouse gases, it could just be the one thing that can balance our climate, replenish our freshwater supply, and feed the world. That’s why some people are racing to save our soil, in hopes that our soil just might save us.” —Award winning documentary, Kiss the Ground

Soil health becomes even more important once we realize our food supply is at risk due to conventional agriculture practices merging with climate change weather events that increase droughts and extreme heat. Currently, according to US Drought Monitor, there are 14 states experiencing extreme and exceptional drought conditions, with the following states having the highest exposure:

Arizona
California
Colorado
Nevada
New Mexico
Utah

It’s time to face the music. #ActNow on climate by restoring our habitat. Let’s return to the Garden of Eden.

Heart of the matter. In the center of California’s prosperous farm belt in the San Joaquin Valley, farmers are struggling to stay afloat after four years of extreme drought. In June 2021, the Fresno Bee published an article with the headline: San Joaquin Valley needs to stop waiting to be rescued. The piece outlined that the Bureau of Reclamation issued an update for the Central Valley Project for Agriculture informing farmers that water deliveries to famers were being reduced from 5% to 0%. Farmers would now have to rely on groundwater, which would likely be challenging due to reduced snowpack and little to no rain.

Pioneer soil health expert, and North Dakota rancher, farmer and author, Gabe Brown, knows the perils all too well and has been working tirelessly since the mid-nineties to educate and promote the six principles of regenerative agriculture to farmers across the country in an effort to help prevent the precarious downward spiral that leads to soil degradation when heat and drought set in. Additionally, Gabe was invited to speak to the House Agriculture Committee back in spring 2021 about the impact of climate change on farming.

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I recently spoke with Gabe and asked him what he recommended for homeowners in states experiencing drought conditions. Is it better to conserve water, or plant diverse no mow plants? He explained that the regenerative soil health principles are the same everywhere, and can be applied despite tough conditions. He suggested the following:

Plant diverse native species that are low water users.
We need living plants in order to get more rainfall (“people don’t often believe this, but it’s true”).
Living plants attract moisture conditions.
Plus they emit moisture.
Way better off to grow something than not.
We’re compounding the problem by NOT growing things.
Need to grow the right kind of plant that can tolerate these conditions.
Not only will plants create rain, they’ll also boost soil health and store more carbon above and below ground.

This can seem challenging to wrap our minds around, so I better repeat. If we want rain, we have to start planting the right native species. Live roots in the ground, generate the rain.

Next Steps:

A quick search online populates lists of plants that grow well in drought conditions.
Become a citizen scientist and test to see which species grow best in your community.
Diverse mix of no mow, drought tolerant grasses are ideal.
Once we feel more certain about which plants will survive we can pass the word to neighbors as well as the environmental department at town hall. Collective action will turn us all into rainmakers.
Let’s give it our best shot.

Good luck!

Concrete Kills: Burdens Outweigh the Benefits

on August 3, 2021October 7, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media 3 Comments

Washington (GGM) Analysis | June 25, 2021 by Michael Wells

After water, concrete is the most widely used substance in the world. But this does not mean it is safe. Concrete is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. It outweighs the combined mass of every tree, bush, and shrub on Earth, and it hardens and degrades slowly. Joni Mitchell once wrote a song about paving paradise to put up a parking lot, and that has already happened.

Companies and governments have stripped mountains, ripped sand out of beaches, and taken lake and ocean water to feed the massive demand for concrete, the substance that produces buildings for the modern world. Concrete takes so much from the environment, and, in return, the manufacturing of concrete belches CO2 into the atmosphere and spreads harmful particles in the air that causes cancer and respiratory ailments. And it exacerbates the carnage of hurricanes like Katrina and Harvey. It did so by preventing water from being absorbed into the concrete covered ground. In short, concrete is a menace that we all live and work in, on, around, and near.

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Heart of the matter. No material has made the building of the modern world more possible from the construction of the Pantheon in ancient Rome to the Empire State Building. None of it would have been possible without concrete. But that has come at a huge price to the environment, animals, and people.

“Unfortunately, a cement plant makes for a horrible neighbor,” writes Fred Siegel in his book, Environmental Hazards: Are you Exposed? It is one of the least regulated industries on the planet, and it is largely run by organized crime. What a scheme: perhaps the world’s greatest polluter run by the worst criminals, which makes dead bodies entombed in concrete foundations seem almost quaint by comparison. From thousands of concrete plants that are everywhere it produces mercury, cement kiln dust, burns toxic waste (while lying about it), produces cancer causing particulate matter, and uses toxic gases and metals.

Time to face the music. In order to succeed at carbon drawdown, we have to return to the Garden of Eden. Very exciting! #ActNow Take a listen.

How this impacts you personally. Concrete is in your backyard, and under your feet as you read this article. You drive on it, play on it, and your house, office, and apartment sit on it. You cannot escape it. The problem is two-fold: the production of the concrete is extremely harmful, and the concrete itself is harmful. As the saying goes, they get you coming and going, they being the industry with a bottomless need for production that has the ear(s) of most politicians.

Take Harris County where Houston, Texas sits: it has 188 concrete plants due to there being no zoning laws in Texas. In 2015, 5,200 premature deaths were caused by particulate matter from concrete according to a study done by Rice University. The study states concrete production is one of the deadliest forms of air pollution because it produces massive amounts of CO2 and other harmful chemicals, and the dust it produces causes cancer, bronchitis, COPD, and other breathing issues.

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Unfortunately, concrete plants are located disproportionately in poor neighborhoods and communities of color. Another disturbing fact is ⅓ of concrete batch plants are a short walk from a school or a daycare.

As if all of these facts were not disturbing enough, there is a company in Scotland that wants to sell you concrete made of toxic ash. No, this is not an Onion article. Given the prevalence of coal ash in the United States, this type of business could easily take off because the EPA does very little to regulate the concrete industry. And why is that? Because it is everywhere, and it contributes to most people who are in Congress. Therefore, nothing is done about it.

What you can do. Be loud. Be vocal in your opposition to using concrete. Tell everyone you can, we need to regulate this industry and do all that we can to find other viable building materials. Surely this dinosaur (no offense to dinosaurs) of a building material can be replaced by something more ecological. Besides, was that building in Miami that recently collapsed built of concrete in a city that is sinking?

Do you want more of that?

Next Steps

Call your government representatives at the local, state, and federal levels, and let them know you want something done about concrete;
Do research on the internet; and
Boycott companies that pollute when they make concrete.

Concrete is everywhere, and it comprises most buildings in one way or another. It does not always have to be that way though. Concrete may dry quickly and take forever to diminish, but that does not mean the future is already set in stone or concrete, rather. Things can change if we want them to change.

Environmental Justice for Gordon Plaza | Systematic Failure to Protect Health

on July 27, 2021September 10, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media 3 Comments

Washington (GGM) Analysis | June 7, 2021 by author and climate journalist Noreen Wise

Gordon Plaza is a subdivision in the New Orlean’s Desire neighborhood that was developed on the ASL hazardous waste site in the early 1980’s. The first residents, excited about securing their little piece of the pie, moved into their new homes in 1981, 40 years ago. Most of the houses are modest ranches with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, on 5,000 square ft lots. The properties were federally funded and intentionally marketed as affordable housing to low income wage earners seeking an opportunity to move on up.

Black American public culture in 1981 was framed in part by the award winning sitcom, The Jeffersons, which aired each week on CBS from 1975 – 1985. Moving on Up was the upbeat theme song: “Movin’ on up, To the east side. We finally got a piece of the pie… Took a whole lot of tryin’, Just to get up that hill. Now we’re up in the big leagues, Gettin’ our turn at bat.” The song writers are Jeff Barry and Ja’net Dubois. It seems highly probable that there were many subdivision developers and realtors across the country who were selling to black communities and linking their sales pitches to this inspirational sentiment in the hopes of motivating potential black buyers to take the plunge. Interestingly, 1981 was the year that Isabel Sanford was the first black woman to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Louise “Weezy” in The Jeffersons.

This tidy grid of streets in New Orlean’s 9th Ward, was federally funded through HUD as well as the Community Development Block Grant Program. Back in 1981, when potential buyers were shopping around, they were apparently kept in the dark about the former hazardous waste dump. They’ve pointed out often that they felt they were duped into buying homes in Gordon Plaza.

hen the dangerous toxins would regularly mix beneath the surface. Drivers back then would have to slow to a crawl, inching along at 10 miles per hour, guided by the police, on days when the air became so thick with toxic smoke that visibility was impaired. New Orleans Historical website notes that back in the day, this location used to be referred to as Dante’s Inferno.

Gordon Plaza was designated a Superfund cleanup site in 1994.

The Gordon Plaza residents’ hellacious plight drew international attention in December of 2019 when The Guardian featured the subdivision in its series Cancer Town. This was following the 2019 Louisiana Tumor Registry listing Gordon Plaza as having the second highest cancer rate in Louisiana.

Heart of the matter. After decades of fighting for fully funded relocation, and winning several class action lawsuits against city agencies and insurance companies, as described in The Guardian piece, residents have yet to be paid any money from the lawsuits, or to be relocated to safe grounds. Protesting regularly, Gordon Plaza residents showcase a remarkable amount of grit and determination in their quest to receive what they deserve, and are asking for.

Climate and environmental injustice is only going to get worse. It’s very important to amplify the life-threatening situations homeowners are facing in vulnerable locations as the heat and the water rises. City, state and federal agencies are failing to protect human life and adequately respond.

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Shockingly, the mistreatment of the Gordon Plaza residents is pretty consistent across the United States for low income minority communities. At a recent Senate Subcommittee hearing on Public Works and Environmental Justice, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) pointed out that “Seventy percent of the nation’s most environmentally contaminated sites are located within just one mile of federal assisted housing.” This stark reality shows a system of abuse and environmental injustice towards minority low income wage earners, and is very effective in explaining why the dire situation at Gordon Plaza has been ignored. No governmental agency, or city leader should be holding a blind eye to the shocking injustice.

In a request of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell for comment, a City Hall spokesperson responded: “The City is exploring the feasibility of returning the Agriculture St. Landfill Superfund site to a productive use. As part of that process, the Cantrell Administration, unlike any previous administration, has reached out to Gordon Plaza residents to gauge their interest in redeveloping the site. The responses we’ve received have confirmed that while some residents adamantly favor a relocation and then redevelopment of the site, other residents want to stay in the neighborhood they call home. This is a complicated issue, and the City is working towards an amicable solution that will satisfy all of the interests of the residents.”

A recent article written by staff writer Halle Parker for nola.com outlined that there are 54 families seeking fully funded relocation. The conflict revolves around what the city thinks is a fair market value and what residents feel is the fair market value. Halle Parker featured a comment by Gordon Plaza resident Leona Floyd in her March 15, 2021 article:

“We are rightfully due the full compensation for our house, not a devalued amount as a result of the city of New Orleans building our homes on toxic soil. We know that fair market value will not be fair to us, and we should not go into debt moving out of a situation that was presented to us as part of the American Dream.”

A quick online search, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything, shows what appears to be a gap of approximately $70,000. It looks like a home in the area that is not on toxic land is valued at approximately $85,000, but a comp home is only worth $15,00 if the property is on the extremely dangerous superfund site. If this is the heart of the matter, then it’s clear why the issue hasn’t been resolved. Is there anyone who would settle for this microscopic amount after being misled from the start four decades earlier, which resulted in a cascade of endless heartache and suffering? No weekly television series is ever produced about this “piece of the pie.” But if we all collectively amplify the Gordon Plaza SOS message each week, it will hopefully net a positive outcome for these traumatized residents who are on the front lines of environmental and climate inequities in the United States.

The Gordon Plaza residents certainly deserve the Outstanding Fighters award.

Next Step

New Orleans is on the front lines of the climate crisis, with regular flooding, high heat, and endless hurricanes. In fact, the sate of Louisiana loses 25-35 miles of coastline per year from rising water levels. Additionally, there is the increased hazard of the wet bulb temperature that will potentially increase toxicity levels on the chemicals stuffed beneath the surface of Gordon Plaza. Ten years ago, back in June of 2011, the EPA became worried about it’s inability to protect human health and the environment in the age of climate change. The EPA asked states to draft Climate Change Adaptation Plans. Louisiana was one of only 14 states that did not comply and thus Louisiana has no Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Yet Louisiana is on the front lines of climate change with a large number of citizens living in environmental justice communities with climate taking a direct toll their health.

Be sure to check back for updates.

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Climate Change and the Explosive Book: Environmental Hazards, Are You Exposed?

on July 23, 2021September 6, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media 1 Comment

Washington (GGM) Analysis | May 28, 2021 by author and climate journalist Noreen Wise; Special Guest author Fred Siegel Environmental Hazards, Are You Exposed?

Today’s atmospheric carbon level is 419.53 ppm, up two points from just a week ago. Additionally, scientists announced today that within the next five years we are 90 percent likely to break yet another record for the hottest year in recorded history, which despite 197 countries joining the Paris Agreement, and working so hard to reduce global warming, shows that we’re tracking in the wrong direction.

How is this possible?

The United States is at the very bottom of the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), tier 6, “Critically Insufficient.” The CAT monitors how countries are progressing toward “the globally agreed aim” of 1.5ºC. / 2.7ºF. A major factor in the rise in temperature, despite all the effort, has a lot to do with our insufficient progress in carbon drawdown as a result of soil degradation and deforestation. This most difficult challenge has been further complicated by the rising temperature fueling massive wildfires on three continents which resulted in the scorching of billions of trees in 2020 alone, as well as the continued degradation of soil through the long dry months of drought, which has undermined our aggressive effort to drawdown excess carbon and store it in the soil.

It’s time to face the music. #ActNow on climate by restoring our habitat. Let’s return to the Garden of Eden.

All of our eyes should be on the soil. The life-changing documentary Kiss the Ground was released in October 2020 and gave many of us hope that we could still win this war against global warming, despite the huge obstacles. Once soil health became the core objective, we quickly learned that agricultural chemicals have resulted in much of the world’s soil degradation. The word “chemicals” naturally results in some of us casting our gaze on a few other types of chemicals, hazardous waste chemicals, the types that seep into the soil in our communities and undermine soil health everywhere, as well as personal health, preventing the much needed carbon drawdown. The total impact is 22 million acres affected.

In short, there are:

1,344 federal superfund sites
1,571 nonfederal National Priorities List (NPL) sites
450,000 brownfield sites

These staggering numbers don’t include the lesser known hazards such as golf courses and dry cleaners that are hidden in plain sight in many of our towns. If we lump all this land together, it’s much easier to see why carbon drawdown has been so slow, and what we need to be more aware of in the age of the climate crisis.

Heart of the matter. Against this dire backdrop comes the alarming warning from Hazardous Waste expert Fred Siegel, who outlined in his recently published book, Environmental Hazards, Are You Exposed?, the likely risk we face with the 49 top toxic hazards, outlined in his essential reference guide, impacting our well-being, several of which are in the majority of U.S. communities.

Absorbing the magnitude of these threats, and factoring in the influence of weather events such as rain bombs, hurricanes and chronic flooding, and the increase these will have on our likely exposure to the toxins, I feel compelled to shine a spotlight on Fred’s work. Many of these chemicals are carcinogens and spread far and wide during storms as we saw back in February 2021, when an Indonesian dye factory flooded and red dye was soon swirling for miles along the newly formed rivers that filled city streets. According to the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, 60 percent of the NPL sites may be impacted by flooding.

Fred Siegel and Tony Quagletta have been conducting environmental site assessments for over 30 years (toxictom.com). Fred’s passion and motivation were initially ignited by learning that he and his wife Vicki had purchased their first home atop a toxic landfill in Woodbridge, New Jersey and never knowing it until after they relocated. The flames of activism have been burning strong ever since. In fact, Fred’s eager to explain why he has twice been arrested.

Environmental Activist Fred Siegel being arrested for protesting environmental hazards.

Environmental Hazards, Are You Exposed? is rich with concise summations of compelling facts, data and first hand insights, that quickly turn readers into “woke” believers. An example that highlights how shocking these facts are, is the beautiful golf course that dots thousands of communities across the country. A study conducted in New York, entitled Toxic Fairways, found that the golf fairways are maintained with extremely high volumes of pesticides, 7 to 8 times higher than the volume used on farms if compared pounds per acre. Many golf courses use pesticides that contain chlorpyrifos which in 2015 the EPA deemed so toxic that there is no safe exposure to it. The soil beneath these fairways is not healthy soil with high water infiltration rates, so during heavy downpours, most of the toxins wash away into our streets and down our public drains. Golf course toxins are just the tip of the iceberg.

I asked Fred to comment on hazardous chemicals, fire and heat. He remarked, “Depending on the temperature of the fire the materials at the waste site would burn and send chemicals into the air. It would be similar to a chemical factory fire only worse. Wide areas would need to be evacuated and the residue from the fire could potentially create a superfund site 10 times the size or worse.” This is particularly worrisome considering that the higher temperatures associated with global warming have the potential to impact hazardous waste and cause combustion that results in an explosion.

Adding composting worms to our home composting bins and/or directly to the soil in our yards will dramatically improve the amount of carbon we can store in the soil. Climate solutions are much easier than we realize. Act today! CLICK here.

Fred Siegel’s book Environment Hazards, Are You Exposed? is an absolute necessity for every household in America. It’s the ideal reference guide as we all face the climate crisis together. Many of the health threats related to toxic chemicals are preventable if we know what to look out for and what to avoid. As well-intended as our elected representatives might be, we’ve all seen that there are many barriers to keeping us safe from all the potential threats.

When I asked Fred what his focus was in writing such a complete guide to hazardous waste in America, he said, “I hope people realize the government will not protect them. They need to protect themselves with knowledge.”

Gallant Gold Media’s Hill Report will help facilitate Fred’s plan by passing along a small bit of Fred Siegel’s knowledge and insights each week. Our goal is to feature an environmental hazard piece every Friday, touching on each one of Fred’s 49 chapters.

Next Steps

Fred’s book is available in paperback or ebook and is free if you have Kindle Unlimited
Refer to the chart at the back of the book that provides an important Distance from Hazard Chart
Check out Fred’s website toxictom.com
Join Gallant Gold Media’s newly opened online Act Now for the Earth Cafe community that Fred often frequents and posts insightful comments
Follow Fred on Twitter and stay updated on his insights on current events

Sustainability Hacks | Eggshells

on May 4, 2021September 6, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media

Washington (GGM) Analysis | May 4, 2021 by author and journalist Noreen Wise

Sustainability is vitally important in our quest to lower our carbon footprints and preserve our natural resources for future generations. Improving the outcome of our sustainable living strategies involves a lot of critical thinking, ingenuity, and resourcefulness, three valuable life skills, that once acquired, consistently power us through the many tough challenges we’ll likely face across the decades. These life skills are yet another residual benefit bestowed on us from living sustainably.

Buying an Eco Green Tee helps educate the public about what we must all do to lower global warming and restore our children’s future.

Many or our international allies are well on their way to fully transitioning to a sustainable national culture, with the vast majority of citizens already immersed in refuse-reuse-recycle, as well as weekly curbside compost pick-up, growing their own food, gifts wrapped in cloth and tied with a reusable ribbons, upcycled treasures, etc. I was wowed by the good fortune of spending nine months in Canada during the worst of covid, living this idyllic dream culture that some refer to as Utopia. This eco-friendly lifestyle is refreshingly invigorating. I was amazed at how happy Canadians are, much happier than most Americans. The positive, upbeat vibe seemed to be one of the many beneficial side effects of sustainability. The personal well-being impact became a powerful motivator for me to stay the course when I returned to Virginia.

Heart of the matter. The devil is in the details. Now that I’m back, with this whole new perspective, I was jazzed to discover a fabulous sustainability subculture in the United States, thriving in its simplicity and vitality. Many of these eco-innovators are eager to share tips they hope will inspire others to commit to this climate necessity transformation. One particular woman is Rose Tenaglia Dunn, who lives on cape Cod. Rose is the host of the very popular Eaarth Feels podcast, which I highly recommend.

Rose provided tips for simple and easy ways to reuse the eggshells that are daily staples in most households. She’s been using eggshells regularly for eight years:

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Throw the eggshells into a jug and add water. Rose calls this “eggshell tea,” one of her dad’s gardening hacks. He would use the tea to water the house plants which Rose marveled were always “healthy and lush.” But, the tea is stinky, so you may want to store in the garage or outside.
Rinse the eggshells and store in a carton under the sink. Once the carton is full, transfer the eggshells to a bag and crush them until they’re “miniscule.” Rose uses a rolling pin. Feel free to be resourceful and use whatever you have at your disposal. Because eggshells are rich in calcium and protein, Rose uses the crushed shells as a toxin-free fertilizer and sprinkles them on the vegetables in her garden, particularly: tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, peppers, and Swiss chard.
Eggshells can be used as tiny seed pots, and Rose is currently experimenting with this. She just planted pepper and corn seeds in the eggshells and will transfer the little glob directly into the vegetable bed once the seeds have sprouted and grown (about 3 to 4 inches and have their second set of leaves). Rose explains that the eggshell will serve as the fertilizer.

See what I mean about ingenuity and resourcefulness? Tasking children to help think of clever, beneficial ways to use “stuff” that would otherwise become waste will help develop these often dormant life skills.

Next steps:

Our food system is a great place to begin the deep dive into sustainability.
If you’re not already composting kitchen scraps, you may want to start here. It’s a wonderful launching point that will have immediate benefits.
Eliminate all products packaged in plastic, which are usually condiments like ketchup, and many bottled drinks, etc.
Replace the plastic personal care products (tooth brush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, switching to bamboo or bars).
Make sure you have non-plastic reusable water bottle and coffee mug for Starbucks visits.
And so many more ideas. The list is endless really.
#actnow

Becoming 100 percent sustainable is a long and winding road. It will take time. But starting the journey is very simple and quick. You can gain today by rinsing a carton as well as today’s eggshells and placing them under your sink. Good luck and have fun with each new discovery.

We’ve Had 51 Years of Earth Month, Yet Carbon Level Reached 420 PPM

on April 3, 2021April 9, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media

Washington (GGM) Analysis | April 3, 2021 by author and journalist Noreen Wise

Earth Month is finally here… again. Hurray! Let’s get our ducks in a row so that we can maximize the enthusiasm and excitement that comes from so many of us in our communities focused on making progress with the aggressive habitat restoration goals we’ve set for ourselves and our towns.

Earth Day began in 1970 when Nixon was President and our atmospheric carbon level was only 325.68 PPM. Imagine. It’s absolutely mind-bending that carbon levels could explode so significantly in 51 short years. Today the atmospheric carbon level is a staggering 420 PPM. An unfathomable number, especially when compared to the pre-Industrial Revolution carbon level of 280 which dates back to 1760. The accelerated pace of the rising carbon level is what has so many scientists concerned. One hundred and ninety years to climb approximately 46 points from 280 to 325.68. But only 51 years to skyrocket 94 points. If that’s not a huge wake-up call, then we have to get much more creative with public messaging so we can overcome the towering obstacle of willful ignorance.

The heart of the matter. The accelerated rise in atmospheric carbon levels cannot go unchecked. The impact of global warming on low lying areas acround the globe, that are now submerged, as well as agricultural regions that can no longer produce the necessary crop yields when plagued by the staggering heat and extended droughts, is life-disrupting. Migration to safe ground has already begun. We see this at our own southern border as families from Central America send their children to the United States border crossings in the hopes they will be allowed in and given hope for a brighter future.

Every single one of us has to do our individual part in reducing our carbon footprints so that we can get the atmospheric carbon level back down under 400 PPM — hopefully down to 375 — as quickly as we saw it rise. Blind indifference to the suffering we’re causing others is the reason why foreign countries have begun taking action against the US.

There are two sides of the coin to lowering our carbon footprints. Cutting carbon emissions on one side (solar energy, EV cars, circular economy), and storing more carbon in our yards and our communities, by boosting soil health and restoring our habitat, on the other.

What’s the solution? Healthy soil is Gallant Gold Media’s primary focus during Earth Month. Soil health will enable soil to be a massive carbon reservoir that can eliminate a significant amount of atmospheric carbon. But this level of carbon storage is only achievable if we each do our little bit.

Healthy soil is filled with life, with microbes, and is easy to spot due to its very dark, rich chocolate brown color. The healthier the soil, the more carbon it can store. Healthy soil has a high-water infiltration rate, and thus holds more water for a longer period of time, which is a great benefit during the long, hot, dry warm weather months. Healthy soil also maintains a cooler temperature which is equally as beneficial during our long, hot dry spells. Our food supply is threatened unless we can offset the negative impact of heat on our crops.

Compost and red wiggler composting worms are both vital in maintaining healthy soil in our communities. All homeowners and land owners should take advantage of these vital tools to improve the soil on our properties.

Next Steps during Earth Month:

Home composting is an absolute MUST. Your neighbors are composting, are you? Compost added to the soil in our yards and communities quickly boosts soil health.
Red wiggler worms are soil engineers. Their castings enrich soil health very efficiently, boosting soil microbes at a rapid pace, resulting in a positive impact above and below the surface. The can be easily purchased and sent to you at home. Red wigglers make awesome pets.
Keep the soil covered to lock in the moisture and carbon. If possible, plant a mix of diverse cover crops for the yard.
Never plow/till your yard. All the stored carbon will be released.
Plant diversity is critical. Not only does it contribute to soil health, but it blocks pests, which dramatically reduces the need for pesticides. (Pesticides kill microbes and diminishes soil health.)

Good luck. Have fun. And be sure to check back for more carbon sequestration tips.

Home composting boosts soil health, saves our food supply, our planet, and millions of lives. We all have to get on board!

Unaccompanied Children at Border are Climate Refugees

on March 25, 2021March 25, 2021 By Gallant Gold Media

Washington (GGM) Analysis | March 25, 2021 by author and journalist Noreen Wise

For all of us climate warriors who are giving our 120 percent to educate the public on how to reduce our carbon footprints in our homes as well as our communities, which will result in lowering our atmospheric carbon level and curbing global warming, it seems as though we might know the ideal strategy that will help overcome the chronic border crossing challenge. After all, we’ve been posting and protesting about this for years.

Why is the media blaming Joe anyway? Has any president in the history of our country, (including George Washington and Abe Lincoln, who both had to transform our disunion of states following two divisive and destructive wars fought on our home soil), done more, in such a short period of time, all while in the midst of a global pandemic? Blaming Joe only makes the media look blind and disconnected.

The heart of the matter. Two-thirds of the unaccompanied children who’ve been streaming across the border since President Biden was inaugurated, are from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. These three countries clumped together just below the Mexican border, have extensive shorelines on both sides of the land bridge that connects North America to South America. Viewing the area on a map, it becomes crystal clear that the beautiful Caribbean Sea along the eastern Central American coast and the Pacific Ocean hugging the western coastline, are susceptible to rising ocean waters, particularly problematic in light of the flat coastal regions with all the farmland, are low-lying, making the area much more vulnerable to climate events, as well as flooding from heavy rains, which results in extensive soil erosion.

Seventy-eight percent of the land used for agriculture in Honduras though, is in the hills, with steep angles and eroded soil. Soil degradation, and high temperatures with little rain, makes the land useless for sustaining the country’s food supply. Soil instability has a cascading impact on jobs, food supply, and homes, potentially causing devastating mudslides when the skies eventually do open. Additionally, this fragile strip is affected much more extensively by the negative force of 28 trillion tons of ice melting into the sea in total since the 1990’s, 1.2 trillion tons per year, (this is a 60 percent increase since the 1990’s which saw an annual ice melt of only 760 billion tons per year). Rising sea levels, which have eroded millions of acres of farmland in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, have resulted in extensive job loss, with no way to replace the disappearing employment opportunities anytime soon. Additionally, thousands of homes have been destroyed by the rising water levels.

Thus, the border crisis is essentially a degraded soil crisis which is rooted in the climate crisis. Please note, that any time the soil becomes so degraded it can’t be used to farm, it takes years to regenerate.

What’s the solution? Most of the unaccompanied climate refugees are crossing the US border into Texas. Texas is where America’s largest carbon emitters are headquartered. It’s clear that the most effective and fair solutions are twofold. One, the corporate aggresors must step up and fund additional housing at the border for the climate refugees. And two, most importantly, the oil industry must fund soil regeneration back in the home countries. Soil health experts, Rattan Lal and Gabe Brown, have done extensive research and testing on how to regenerate denigrated soil like that found in Central America, brought about by the destructive heat and extended droughts caused by climate change. We simply must apply their techniques to the soil in the home countries. Vice President Kamala Harris is on her way to Central America to help stem the mass exodus, hopefully she can pull this off.

The border crisis is ultimately a financial crisis though, for both the US (in managing the massive influx of minors pouring in from those Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) as well as the refugees who have lost their financial stability, homes, and occupations due to irresponsible corporate greed that has driven atmospheric carbon levels to staggering highs, hitting third world nations the hardest.

Please note, ExxonMobil had a net profit of $14.34 billion in 2019 and $20.84 billion in 2018. Let that sink in

There are approximately 9,000 independent oil and gas companies located in the United States. Their profit across the decades is staggering. They have the funds necessary to cover the costs required to expand the facilities at the border, while simultaneously covering the expense of regenerating the denigrated soil that’s causing the mass exodus back home. Corporate indifference and callous decision making by fossil fuel giants, dates back several decades. It’s time to require them to take stock and pay up. If anyone can convince these corporate offenders to do the right, and equitable, thing, it’s surely our new Vice President Kamala Harris. Good Luck, Kamala!