"Green Skys"

Southwest Airlines

Southwest has a number of green practices and is committed eco-friendly airline partner. Indeed, Southwest has an above average sustainability reporting for the industry and has won several environmental awards since 1995. To reduce its environmental impact, Southwest uses electric ground tools, point-to-point flying, in-flight recycling, paperless tickets (one of the first companies to do so), fuel-saving winglets (save nearly 30 million gallons of jet fuel annually), oil recycling program, noise reduction policies, cross-departmental green teams, and employee ride-share programs. Southwest is one of the few airlines with a LEED certified terminal (Oakland). The airline is also a member of the EPA’s Blue Skyways Collaborative voluntarily committing to reduce its emissions and share technological expertise with other service companies. In 2009, Southwest Airlines introduced the "Green Plane," a test for eco-friendly cabin materials that are recyclable and lighter weight, which can save up to 5 lbs per seat translating into fuel savings and emissions reductions.

There are other airlines that are eco friendly... some that might be cleaner, but none more committed than Southwest, nor with better plans for the future.

Blending Man and Nature

Coal and Oil... sources of pollution and contamination.

Coal and oil, especially fuel oil, diesel and gasoline, are the primary source of our pollution and contamination world wide. The number one user of energy in the world is the United States, however we are being challenged by China and India as these emerging economies...backed by populations of more than 1.3 Billion each... are challenging America's use of fuel resources and are both polluting at an ever increasing rate.

China and India, along with Russia, have the most polluted cities in today's world, and these economic engines are not looking to delay their growth just because of some pollution here or there.

American, however, lacks one of their keys for future success. We do not have a meaningful National Energy Policy ... America, with its short range focus, has failed to understand that we need to harness the resources that we have under our control while we put together the alternative energy tools that we need to create and employ for a truly bright future.

First step: Establish a National Energy Policy.
Next step: put the focus on our American energy Resources...Natural Gas, Oil reserves on land and at sea, Coal...especially clean coal innovations...
Then engage our Universities and Industry to find new sources of energy that produce effectively at a cost efficiency that exceeds expectations.

And at the same time...raise the bar for Water, Air and Land based EPA regulations for limiting pollution and chemical contamination.

Raise the Bar...for success tomorrow.

Do you? Have you?

What Does The Term ‘Organic’ Mean?

You know, when we are reading a menu in our favorite restaurant, or talking to an Organic Farmer, the term Organic means ‘pure’ or naturally grown without forced fertilization and pest killing agents… but when you say Organic to a chemist or research biologist you will find it means nothing of the sort…what it means to them is that the compound you are dealing with is a carbon based compound.

Organic in the chemistry field lends itself to carbon based products that come from Coal or Petroleum… or rather PetroChemicals that are synthetic in nature…man made and not found in nature. And what we are discovering is that these synthetics are not part of the balance of things and many of them…hundreds, and growing every day, in fact are now registered at some level as potential or proven carcinogens…the basis for cancers in animals or man. Seventy five years ago there were very few synthetics around, even fewer in the marketplace…and the cancer rates of most nations were very low. Today, with so many things being made from petroleum based chemistry, there are traces of these substances in almost all of our water and our air…worldwide…and we have no way to determine the impact of the chemistries that these synthetic products make when they further combine together in our surface water, our ground water…our air, our food chain… damn near everywhere you can imagine…and when we look into our own bodies we find traces of them in our soft tissue, in our blood, and in our organs.

These are pollutants, have no doubt, and they are getting worse. Breast cancer was almost unknown 120 years ago. Some say that is because we did not live as long as today…and there may be some validity to that…but not to the point that 25% of all women in developed nations are being exposed to it today…that is only four generations back… that’s amazing. Today we find that more than 40% of us…will be diagnosed with some type of cancer in our lifetimes. In fact it is the second highest cause of death in the United States and the number one cause of death for all of us younger than 85.

So with our misguided definition … we want things to be organic…and we think that will make an important change. Well perhaps it will, but we need to put a greater emphasis today on that Organic Compound definition… and strive for clean air and water, and the reduction of pollutants in our food chain if we want to improve the conditions that have proven scientifically to be causing cancers in humans.

Our first step? Well, our first step is to stop ignoring the indicators. We need to act to reduce pollution, and who knows…if we can reduce the organic compounds that we are putting into our air and water we may be able to get a handle on climate change.

Wouldn’t that be something.

North American Acid Rain

Though we think of acid rain most often when we are thinking of Greece or Italy, North America is impacted by acid rain as well. Acid rain is measured by evaluating the PH in the water... pure water has a PH of 7.0, while average rain water ...with dissolved CO2... measures 5.6 PH. The more acid it gets, the less PH... in 2000 measurements in the US showed that the most acidic rain collected was measured at 4.5.

http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/measure/index.html

Even though not as strong as the acid in European environments, North American acid rain is changing ecosystems and damaging the soil, plants and wildlife in our forests, lakes, streams and rivers and results in a range of problems, from depleted plant life and reduced oxygenation to all out fish kills.

US Title IV of the Clean Air Act mandates control of acid deposition, but how is this being managed?

The Acid Rain Program, a National program in the US, has as its goal to achieve significant environmental and public health benefits through reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x)—the primary causes of acid rain. Reduced use of high Sulfur Coal in power generation is one key example of how acid rain reduction is being addressed.

Other examples of how individuals can help reduce airborne acid... limit or eliminate the trash burned in fires, things like magazines with heavy acrylic inks and plastic wrap add to the problem, and limit your use of fertilizer which contributes to nitrogen oxides in our waterways and evaporated into the atmosphere.

Two Points of View...Atrazine impacts life...Yes? No?