Thursday, July 24, 2008

FEMA trailer resident gives birth to severly handicapped baby

The Delta Chapter and the Sierra Club Gulf Coast Restoration Taskforce continue to advocate for residents of Formaldehyde prone Toxic FEMA trailers, here is one mother's nightmare experience...
Jennifer Donelson (who lived in Gulfport MS before and after Hurricane Katrina) talks about her experience spending the early months of her pregnancy with son Wesley in a FEMA trailer with high formaldehyde levels. Jennifer wants to warn parents that if babies exposed to formaldehyde in the womb or early life start turning blue, they may later stop breathing like her son Wesley. An apnea monitor may save their lives.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Travel's most endangered destinations - see them before they're gone

"Travel's most endangered destinations"

"Put these special wonders on your must-visit list before they disappear"

Those are the headlines of an article in the Travel/Destinations section on MSNBC's Website. The article lists ten of the world's most endangered travel destinations and recommends that you see them before they cease to exist. The destinations range from the Alpine glaciers of Europe to the Taj Mahal. Destination number 9 on the list is Louisiana's coastal salt marshes of the Atchafalaya Basin. While the coastal salt marshes are mostly the final interface between land and sea, the article does get the details mostly right.

When the article gives readers an option to learn more about the Atchafalaya Basin, it cites a page on your very own Delta Chapter Website. The page it refers to is the "Introduction to the Atchafalaya Basin" page written by our very own Atchafalaya Basin expert, Charlie Fryling.

The original article came from the concierge.com Website but you can be sure that it enjoyed a much larger audience on the MSNBC site. It is certain that the widest possible exposure of the problem of coastal erosion can only help us fight it before it truly is too late.

The 2 page article on MSNBC.com:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25737162/

The page on concierge.com specifically about the Louisiana coastal salt marshes:
http://www.concierge.com/ideas/activeadventure/tours/2113?page=9

The original article on concierge.com:
http://www.concierge.com/ideas/activeadventure/tours/2113?page=0

The authoritative article written by Charlie Fryling:
http://louisiana.sierraclub.org/atchafalaya.asp

And please, no autographs!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Conserve Energy at Home Made Simple

Hey all maybe we should start a contest for who reduced their energy use at home the most. I have to brag... our bill for June 2008 is 620 KW less than our bill for June 2007.

How do we do it? Keep the air conditioner at 80 and run ceiling fans! I am so used to it that I have turned it to 82 in the evening while watching TV. What's next?

Turn off the HD energy hog TV two days a week? Use my induction burner more and make salads more?

Read this great article from the WSJ!

Leslie

No New Coal Plants! (nonewcoalplants@energyjustice.net)

This should get the utilities' knickers in a twist -- conservation getting noticeable.
My electric bill shows we use 46% less juice now than we did last year (we turned off the hot tub and replaced all bulbs, etc).

Pulling the Plug: Summer of '08 Sparks Creative Conservation With Temperatures -- and electric Bills -- High, Families Face Meltdown; Bourbon Cubes

By STEPHANIE SIMON
July 14, 2008; Page A1

There are days -- just the most stifling and sticky of days -- when Reba Kennedy misses the blissful sensation of walking into a house chilled to 72 degrees.

With energy prices soaring, Ms. Kennedy has made the ultimate sacrifice. She's turned off the central air conditioning.

"A lot of my discretionary income was...going into air," says Ms. Kennedy. She lives in San Antonio, Texas. It's hot. She endures. More >>

Here is the URL to this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121599368430549511.html? mod=most_viewed_day

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Plastic bags suck.

If you have ever wondered why it is a good idea to use your own canvas grocery bags when you shop, take a look at this slide show.

It comes from the Pocono Record, a newspaper that covers Northeastern Pennsylvania.

One thing that I do if buying small items is to leave the plastic bag in the store. That way, it causes none of the environmental problems shown above and I don't have to deal with the bag at all. Just say no.