Mr. Wendell Berry of Kentucky

Wendell Berry contrasted to Occupy Dartmouth

I mention Berry because Berry is a man who has ruthlessly lived out his values. He became convinced that living normally in the modern economy is morally illicit and so he has decided to live in a radically different way. I wish I could say the same about the Occupiers.  

The panel, conducted a few days ago, was full of the usual Occupy silliness. It was incoherent from the start. It was meant to be a panel on the intersection of spirituality and the Occupy Movement, but hardly any mention of religion was made at all. At the beginning, all the students who were involved in the Occupy movement were asked to stand up to be applauded. They were praised for engaging the community in "meaningful dialogue" (what dialogue?) The fact that literally nothing has changed because they wanted to hang out in tents for a few weeks was passed over. 

via dartreview.com

Event Reminder: "A Rooted People" in Indianapolis

Ours is a world in which transportation is becoming extremely costly (as was highlighted by the massive costs of the BP Oil Spill) and yet at the same time is a world that is becoming increasingly urban. Common sense would seem to indicate that these trends will impact in a major way our food systems and the way we eat. Given these factors, what is the church’s redemptive role in caring for the health and wholeness (shalom) of not just humanity, but all creation? Englewood Christian Church has invited several speakers with rich experiences in sustainable agriculture to lead a conversation reflecting on this question and related ones about church, place, food, community and agriculture, and we invite you to join us.

via englewoodcc.com

Friday, October 29 and Saturday, October 30.

Links to info about WB removing papers from UK

Lexington Herald-Leader

The New York Times

Front Porch Republic

Science Insider

Utne Reader

Evanston Public Library Blog

The State Journal, Frankfort KY

Recent development in mountaintop removal policy

WASHINGTON, DC, June 17, 2010 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today suspended the use of a fast-track nationwide permit, Nationwide Permit 21, for mountaintop removal mining operations in the six states of the Appalachian region.

Now, proposed surface coal mining projects that involve discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States will have to go through the individual permit process to obtain Department of the Army authorization under the Clean Water Act.

via www.ens-newswire.com

'Strict guidelines' on mountaintop mining

Environmental regulations to curtail mountaintop mining - washingtonpost.com.

The Obama administration on Thursday imposed strict new environmental guidelines that are expected to sharply curtail "mountaintop" coal mining, a controversial practice that has enriched Appalachia's economy while rearranging its topography.  READ MORE ...

Progress concerning W.Va strip mine

EPA proposes veto of largest W.Va. strip mine's permit  - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Obama administration on Friday moved another step toward blocking the largest mountaintop-removal mining permit in West Virginia history.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a "proposed determination" that Arch Coal's Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County would cause "unacceptable adverse impacts." READ MORE ...

Blog Watch: Scrapping the NAIS

William Kruidenier: Victory! The Farmers Have Spoken.

The New York Times is reporting this morning that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will announce today the scrapping of plans for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) program—a plan proposed under the Bush '43 administration to tag all livestock and track them in a database as a means of isolating infected animals in case of a disease outbreak. The program has met with significant resistance from livestock farmers. I reported in a previous post how Wendell Berry testified before a Congressional hearing that he would go to jail before allowing his animals to be tagged. The Department of Agriculture is going back to the drawing board to design a new, less intrusive plan. READ MORE ...

Mountaintop mining update

EPA crackdown on mountaintop coal mining criticized as contradictory - washingtonpost.com.

On Inauguration Day, the EPA began a crackdown on "mountaintop" coal mines. The agency has scrutinized about 175 proposed mines, where peaks would be blasted off and valleys filled in with the rubble. It has signed off on only 48.

EPA officials -- repeating a refrain from a fast-marching first year in which they also took on greenhouse gases and the seemingly eternal problems of the Chesapeake Bay -- say they're just following the law. That, they say, means keeping poisonous things from the inside of a mountain out of streams on the surface.

But to many people in Appalachia, the orders coming out of Washington, especially one this month, have appeared contradictory and mysterious, signing off on some mines and blocking others. Environmentalists are unhappy because they fear federal officials are losing their nerve to take on the powerful coal industry. The coal industry is unhappy because it thinks the administration is on the brink of giving in to the green crowd. READ MORE ...

End Mountaintop Mining

Experts Urge Officials To End Mountaintop Mining : NPR.

A team of scientists says the environmental damage from mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia is so widespread, the mining technique should be stopped.

The scientific review of research on the effects of the practice, which dumps coarse rock down the mountainsides into nearby valleys, states that harmful chemicals such as sulfate and selenium are pervasive in streams below. READ (AND LISTEN TO) MORE ...

Slightly OT: NJ coal plant 'cleaner'

NorthJersey.com: Coal is here to stay.

The retrofit in Jersey City includes installing what amounts to a giant filter to capture particulates. The plant will also be able to scrub sulfur dioxide from the emissions and use a carbon-injection system to control mercury.

Emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and mercury will be reduced by 85 to 93 percent. Those emissions contribute to smog, trigger asthma attacks and help make New Jersey’s air quality among the worst in the nation. Emissions that blow in from Midwest coal plants also account for the state’s poor air.

Two years ago, the plant changed to a cleaner type of coal from Indonesia, which dropped the levels of hydrochloric acid emissions by almost 1.3 million pounds a year.

But the plant still managed to pump more than 5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during that time, according to the EPA. In 2008, the plant accounted for almost 20 percent of the carbon dioxide released in New Jersey. READ MORE ...