We're not guniea pigs

It was some unpleasant news to get, especially on a Monday morning, and even worse if you happened to be drinking out of a Nalgene at the time. Students and faculty had gathered in the East Room of Green Mountain College to listen to a lecture by Dr. John Peterson Myers about a chemical known as Bispehnol A (BPA). The chemical, which can be found in plastics like Nalgenes and baby bottles as well as the lining of canned foods, leaches into our bodies under heavy use or high heat, and may cause some devastating health risks.

In the beginning of the lecture Dr. Myers asked to borrow a students Nalgene. “How many of you use these?” he asked, holding it up. A lot of people raised their hands. He went on to reveal that the chemical BPA (used in Nalgenes) can promote cancer, hyperactivity and obesity, and decrease sperm count in rats. It leaves the disturbing question: what about the potential health effects on people?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found traces of BPA in nearly all of the urine samples of humans it collected in 2004. Dr. Myers reasons that much of our exposure of the chemical comes from canned foods. Although the BPA is excreted from our bodies through urine rather quickly, severe health problems can arise when exposed to the chemical frequently, or especially when exposed to unborn babies and children.

Myers flashed photographs on the screen of what the BPA chemical had done to rats: inflated bladders that were about to explode, severe obesity, cancer. People who had Nalgenes with them looked like they were about to be sick. I thought about the bottles sold in the bookstore, or the plastic cups I drank out of everyday in the dining hall … suddenly I had the same nauseating feeling.

Unlike most lectures where questions wait until the end, students were raising their hands left and right throughout the entire talk. They couldn’t help themselves. They had just been delivered some rather shocking news, and they wanted to understand it as best as they could. One student seemed exasperated. “It seems like everything out there is bad for us. I mean what can I eat, drink, breathe!?” she asked breathlessly.

Myers was understanding, and his answer rather simple. Yes, there are a lot of harmful chemicals out there, he said, but I’m just talking about this one. And now that you know about this one, you can do something about it. You can stop exposing yourself to it as much as possible, and teach others about the danger. Buy boxed foods instead of canned, don’t use polycarbonate plastic which are usually clear or colored and marked with a 7. If you’re going to use them, don’t heat them up.

Although there has been no long term testing on humans, Myers is convinced that the health risks are severe—he’s stopped eating his favorite canned soups and doesn’t drink out of certain plastics. Others are also convinced. In China, when people found out about the health effects of BPA used in baby bottles, they got angry and took action. People from all over China bought 100,000 baby bottles and mailed them to the company. It was a powerful statement and the company took the baby bottles off the shelf.

“Why should mothers have to be chemical engineers while they’re shopping for their kids?” Dr. Myers asked the audience. Normal people don’t and shouldn’t have to worry about everything they’re ingesting. They need to be able to trust that the government and companies are testing these chemicals and products to make sure they’re safe before putting them on the market.

Unfortunately most companies cannot be trusted that they’re testing all their products for safety. And if tests are done, the results are usually slanted depending on where the funding comes from. Dr. Myers explained that in tests on BPA funded by the government or independent researchers, 153 findings proved that BPA has negative health effects. But in tests funded by the industries that profit off of BPA, absolutely no negative effects were documented. These companies have a lot to lose if BPA is taken off the market. And although there are alternatives out there it will cost them extra money.

Dr. Myers advocates for better health standards and taking more advantage of new science. He is the publisher of the website www.environmentalhealthnews.org which is a NGO that delivers environmental health news from all over the world. The public deserves to know what they’re being exposed to and what it’s doing to them. Sure it might be depressing, and it might seem like enough is enough, but you at least deserve to know. You’re not a guinea pig.

Plastic not fantastic

Today at Green Mountain College, John Peterson Myers gave a lecture on the health effects of bisphenol A, a chemical found in many plastic containers like Nalgenes and baby bottles as well as canned foods.

According to scientific research, bisphenol A can lead to hyperactivity, obesity and hormone-related cancers. Every person in America has traces of Bisphenal A, which is eventually excreted in urine. Myers predicts that our highest exposure comes from canned foods. The news he shared came as a shock to much of the auidence. Students with nalgenes next to them looked sick, later swearnig that they would stop drinking out of them.

For now, U.S. scientists with concerns about BPA recommend that anyone sharing those worries avoid using products made from it: Polycarbonate plastic is clear or colored and typically marked with a number 7 on the bottom, and canned foods such as soups can be purchased in cardboard cartons instead.

Myers has given his lectuer on bispehnol A to many groups of people, from students to scientests. He says his main target audience is reporters and writers who will be able to get this type of news out to the public, who should know about this but often doesn't.

Myers has an NGO, a website: www.environmentalhealthnews.org which is a wonderful resource for health news from all around the world. Check it out!

Presidents Climate Commitment

Green Mountain College president Jack Brennan was the first president in Vermont to sign onto the American College & University President Climate Commitment. The commitment not only recognizes the seriousness of climate change, but also the responsibilities that colleges have to be leaders in the fight.

Colleges and universites are hubs of progressive thinking and youthful enthusiasm. If colleges don't take these sorts of measures, what type of message are they sending to the rest of soceity let alone the students who attend the school?

Presidents that signed the commitment promise to initiate a comprehensive plan to achieve climate neutrality as soon as possible--within two months creating institutional structures to guide the implementation of the plan.

Within one year of signing this document, they promise to complete a comprehensive inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions. Green Mountain College students helped in this process during a semester long class. The records proved that the colleges dependence on crude oil contributes unsustainable amounts of green house gases. And although the college now gets 50% of its energy from CVPS Cow-Power, its "oil crutch" is still crippling for the environment. The provost promises that extenseive research is being done to switch the schools heating over to biomass.

Another promise from the commitment is that within two years of signing it the school will develop an institutional action plan for becoming climate neutral, including a target date for achieving climate neutrality ASAP. Actions to make climate neutrality and sustainability a part of the curriculum and other educational experience for all students are also part of the document. This is a key aspect of the promise--if students don't understand the process then what's really the point? College students today are the one's who will be in charge tomorrow, and it's essential that we have a firm understanding of environmental issues and humans impact on nature. 

As part of fulfilling the commitment, Green Mountain College has already promised to purchase all ENERGY STAR products, and as already mentioned buys 50% of its energy from renewable resources. It has also established a committee, the Campus Sustainability Council, which is supposed to help the school reach its sustainability goals by monitoring its progress, giving them recognition when deserved, but always pushing them further.

This Campus Sustainability Council is comrpomised of students, faculty and staff. It's only about a year old and its presence is still not well-known on campus. The main goal of the council is to provide students with a place to go with their complaints and/or initiatives on the sustainability of the college. For example, is a students sees a leaky faucet or drafty window, instead of going through the tedious process of a "work order," which sometimes goes unnoticed for months, the student could go the council and get immediate help. As part of their the Environmental Communications class this semester, students are charged with designing a sucessful communications campaign to bring this council more recognition and vitality on campus. 

Grist recognized Green Mountain College as one of the top "15 green colleges and universities" in the world. Although this is well deserved GMC has a long way to go. If it wants to pride itself on its environmental responsibility then carbon neutrality must happen in the near future. 

CITIZEN ACTION DAY 2008

The legislative session is again underway so it's time for us to let them hear our voices!

Join the environmental community in asking our legislators to secure a cleaner, healthier Vermont at the 5th annual CITIZEN ACTION DAY 2008

Wednesday February 13th 9am to 2pm @ The State House in Montpelier

Click here to register early

This year will prove to be the most exciting yet as we gather to learn about the most pressing environmental issues of the day, lobby our legislators, and network with like-minded activists from across the state. You can register early and request meetings with your legislator by clicking here.

Here is the agenda for the day:

9:00 - 10:00 -- Registration and check in

10:00 - 10:10 -- Welcome

10:10 - 10:50 -- 2008 Environmental Legislative Agenda Overview

10:50 - 11:00 -- Power to the people - comments from Elizabeth Courtney, Vermont Natural Resources Council Director and Environmental Representative on the Governors Climate Change Commission

11:00 - 11:45 -- Lobby Training

11:45 - 1:00 -- Individual and group lobby meetings

1:00 - 2:00 -- Debrief: Share key insights you learned in your meeting. Network! And get inspired by a special guest speaker. Come on down and join VPIRG, the Vermont Natural Resources Council, Rural Vermont, the Vermont Alliance of Conservation Voters, and Vermonters for a Clean Environment on Wednesday February 13th from 9am to 2pm!

GMC Focuses the Nation

How will future generations remember us? Are we going to go down in history simply as the “Internet Generation?” Or will we be remembered for something far nobler? Global warming—it’s quite possibly the biggest challenge of our time, and it is our generation that will stop it. This is a call to action … let us be remembered as the Global Warming Solution.

Focus the Nation proved that our generation is serious about the climate change crisis. The event engaged a million students at over 1800 institutions in global warming solution discussions. It was the biggest national teach-in of U.S. History and Green Mountain College was one of the leaders. The school was recognized as one of the top fifty schools of all involved. This was made possible especially because of the hard work of DEEP scholars and economics professor Paul Hancock.

Focus the Nation came at an important time in history. In November we will be voting for the next leader of our country.  Remember that just 40 years ago segregation was still accepted in America … now Barack Obama is a serious contender for the presidency. 40 years from now, after we have fixed the global warming problem, people will look back and say that 2008 was the year “Americans woke up.”

At GMC students are fully versed in the seriousness of global warming. But Focus the Nation was more than just an everyday class discussion. It was a symbol of our generation’s unification, passion, sincerity and concern over the crisis.

It was also a chance for the students at GMC to discuss solutions to climate change and the current policies with peoples that are involved in making change at the Vermont level.

The guest speakers at the college ranged from politicians, scientists and media to spiritual leaders, artists and grassroots organizers. Faculty members also gave lectures regarding the social, political and economic implications of global warming.

The events culminated with a final roundtable discussion involving individuals from around Vermont who spoke on their area of expertise, as well as student and audience participation. The staging was similar to a presidential debate—the main difference was that those involved were talking seriously about global
warming solutions for our country.

Sam Tischler, a senior and DEEP scholar said the event reinforced the necessity of collaboration and coordination between all sectors of the government and society. There’s not one single answer out there and it’s going to take strong commitment from the individual, state and national level. He also said the event made him feel “excited and hopeful.”

The event offered solutions of what an individual can do in such a global crisis. The first thing to always remember is that the individual really does matter. We’re social beings and we want to feel connected to each other. If more and more people begin to live environmentally-consciously then many others will follow.

It’s especially easy as a college student to become discouraged, feeling trapped in your current life styles. But instead of thinking about everything you cannot do, just focus on what you can do right now. Take advantage of your education by combining your life at college with your life outside of it. Talk to your friends and parents about your studies. Use your youthful enthusiasm and optimism and lead by example. And as Ghandi said, “live simply, so others may simply live.”

The truth is, however, that without government support the individual cannot stop global warming. At the state and national level things get a bit less idealistic and much more convoluted. The one simple thing we do know is that America must immediately adopt a new energy policy that ends our dependence on fossil fuels and supports renewable energy.

We’re at a tipping point and if we don’t act now further catastrophic damage is inevitable. According to the IPCC, global carbon emissions must be cut by 2015 in order to stabilize the earth’s temperature. Seeing that the U.S. accounts for 5% of the world population and uses 25% of the world’s energy, it seems that we’re in the hot seat.

Be aware of these facts when you vote for our next president. To see "How Green is Your Candidate?" check it out on this link to the Grist website article.

Often it is only hindsight that reminds us of what could have been. Unfortunately global warming is not an issue we’ll be able to look back upon, wishing we did something more. You know the facts. If we don’t act today it’s quite possible that tomorrow will simply be too late. Global warming is happening now and it is now that we have to act.

Are you a mainstream environmentalist?

ARE YOU A MAINSTREAM ENVIRONMENTALIST?
TEST  YOURSELF.

Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 for each statement below, with 10 meaning that you strongly agree with the statement and 1 meaning you strongly disagree.

___ A healthy environment should be able to coexist with a healthy, growing economy.

___ Investments in science and technology will generate solutions to most of our environmental problems.

___ Incentives should be offered to encourage corporation to clean up the environment.

___ Most disagreements about the environment can be resolved through the art of compromise.

___ Governments can play and important role in fostering and incentivizing a healthy environment but lose support when they are too controlling.

___ Democracies have been far better environmental stewards than totalitarian states.

___ Corporate and private philanthropy is essential to the success of a global environmental movement.

___ Most of us have been taught to respect and protect the natural world.

___ Political leadership will be defined bin the twenty-first century by having a strong commitment to environmental stewardship

___ America must be a global leader on environmental issues.

If you scored higher than 70, you qualify to be labeled as a "mainstream environmentalist."

Please feel free to discuss your outcomes and thoughts.

The economy, oil, and why we need to pull the switch

Last night at the democratic debate, Hillary and Obama both mentioned the energy crisis and global warming in their opening remarks. The stratigically polite debate went on with little else mentioned about the subject. This shouldn't be too much of a surprise when the most pressing issue in people's minds is our economy. But why should the two be seperated?

It goes unsaid that basic necessities have to be met before one devotes time or energy to greater causes. People cannot be worried about the planet heating when they can't even heat their own homes. In the short term people may hope for rebate checks in the mail to help them with these months bills, but in the long run it's not going to get any cheaper.

That is why it's absolutely necessary to invest money in alternative energy sources. For those of us who are have a privileged life we realize that there the benefits to stopping global warming extend far beyond just humans --- stopping global warming means stopping the slaughter of our planet and all beings human or non. But for people crippled by the high cost of oil, perhaps their goal is much more simple --- to stop worrying about how you're going to pay to heat your house or fill you gas tank to get to work.

With all the technologies out there, why hasn't our government made the switch? They know our addiction to oil is unhealthy for the planet and for the economy. And if that's not enough the bottom line is that we are running out of oil so like it or not we HAVE to make the switch. So why not sooner than later? Scientists say that we have to take drastic action in this upcoming decade to stop global warming.

Psychologically it's hard for humans to envision the future, and it's especially hard to take action when we don't get immediate results. It's true that it will take a lot of money to invest in green energy NOW, but the savings we reap in the future would be far greater than if we stick with oil. People are worried about increased taxes if we invest in greener, more expensive technology, but the truth is that they will end up be wasting more of their money constantly filling up their gas tank with oi that costs 100 bucks a barrel.

The green energy technologies we have already are mind boggling. Check out Bill McKibbin's article in the recent Orion magazine about harnessing the heat energy from smokestacks to get energy. It's fascinating. It's this sort of innovation that is necessary if we want to help stop global warming.