It's
sometimes hard to find hope amid the news of environmental degradation. Here's some.
We
try our best to present the honest news on environment, health and climate in
EHN every day.
It's
really not our fault that on balance, there's more bad news than good: Melting
ice and permafrost, vanishing habitat, a crushing body burden of poisons from
our chemical-laden lives.
Some days EHN and The Daily Climate are more like The Daily Bummer.
Some days EHN and The Daily Climate are more like The Daily Bummer.
But
we should still occasionally take a break from the dreary drumbeat and look at
the many steps forward in our fragile world. Here's a sampling of some
progress.
Clean
energy is not looking back
During
the first "Energy Crisis" of the 1970's, President Richard Nixon
dismissed calls for investment in wind and solar energy as an unrealistic pitch
for technologies widely seen to be "30 years off."
Nearly
50 years later, we're about to make a semi-honest man out of Nixon, at least on
this one point. China leads the world in
solar energy development; in the U.S., Wal-Mart, long held as an environmental
villain, has covered the roofs of
its big box stores with solar panels.
Traditional
oil and gas states like Texas and Oklahoma are cashing in on windpower, while
offshore windfarms are jumping off the drawing board in New Jersey and New
England.
Love
that Dirty Water no more
The
1966 song "Dirty Water" immortalized
the condition of Boston's Harbor and Charles River.
Twenty-two years later, George H.W. Bush used Boston Harbor's filth as a campaign issue against Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race. Today, the Harbor is vastly cleaner, and this summer, humpback whales cavorted in that once-dirty water.
Twenty-two years later, George H.W. Bush used Boston Harbor's filth as a campaign issue against Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race. Today, the Harbor is vastly cleaner, and this summer, humpback whales cavorted in that once-dirty water.
And
the Hudson River is said to be its cleanest in 100 years. While still hosting
PCB's dumped by two General Electric factories in the mid-twentieth
centuries, the river sees fewer sewage and
chemical discharges.
A
few miles away, the Hackensack Meadowlands are recovering from more than two
centuries of being on the receiving end of a massive industrial bowel movement
from the Metro New York area.
Sewage,
toxic chemicals, garbage, and the occasional Mafia corpse were Meadowlands
trademarks.
These days, you're more likely to see kayakers tracking migratory birds than the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. Last week, the annual Meadowlands Birding Festival drew hundreds of birders from all over the U.S.
These days, you're more likely to see kayakers tracking migratory birds than the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. Last week, the annual Meadowlands Birding Festival drew hundreds of birders from all over the U.S.
Similarly,
the decades-long cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay is paying off. The Bay's leading
NGO says the Chesapeake is cleaner now than
any point in the past 33 years.
Big
(Green) Brother
Imagine
you're a Texas State Trooper. Now imagine you're the only Texas
State Trooper, responsible for patrolling from El Paso to Brownsville to Port
Arthur to Lubbock and back again to catch speeders and other desperadoes.
The
island nation of Palau had a problem with illegal fishing in its marine
sanctuary, which is roughly the size of Texas. Palau's budget stretched to
afford staffing one patrol boat.
Now
imagine you've got an eye in the sky – satellite monitoring that can cover
Palau's sprawling Pacific expanse. Environmental monitoring from the sky,
pioneered by nonprofits like the West Virginia-based SkyTruth,
can help snag today's eco-desperadoes – illegal logging, destructive mining,
and pirate fishing.
In
2017, satellite monitoring helped the
Palauans nab a pirate fleet from Vietnam. The mighty Palauan
Navy seized the vessels and burned them.
Liberating
rivers
Work
to remove two dams on the Elwha River in Washington State's Olympic Peninsula
began in 2011. With nature taking the lead,
both the riverbed and salmon runs are coming back. The Elwha and Glines Canyon
dams were hydroelectric assets that grew obsolete over the decades.
In
places like Maine's Penobscot River,
ancient former industrial workhorse dams are coming down. Demolition of
Maryland's Bloede Dam is
underway this month.
On
the Chattahoochee River, two more obsolete hydro dams were removed several
years ago, creating a whitewater tourist attraction in downtown Columbus,
Georgia. Another dam project is underway on
the Oconee River, near the University of Georgia in Athens.
In
Chile, the government yielded to public pressure in 2014,
cancelling a multi-billion dollar project to build five dams on two pristine
rivers in Patagonia.
So
there you have a partial list of some of the breakthroughs and victories in
environment and energy. I'm looking forward to writing about more, and would
welcome your suggestions. My email is pdykstra@ehn.org
And
when you're feeling cynical, remember this: If we play our cards right, all the
acid we're putting in the ocean will eat all the plastic we're putting in the
ocean.
*The
song "Dirty Water" was performed by the Standells, a teenage garage
band from L.A. that had never set foot in Boston or its filthy harbor. The song
never made the Top Thirty, but remains as an anthem today for Boston sports teams.
The video above shows also one of the worst efforts at lip-synching in history.