Category: Environment

Climate Action, Climate Change, Eco, Environment, sustainability

Sustainability Hacks | Eggshells

Washington (GGM) Analysis | May 4, 2021 by author & climate journalist Noreen Wise

Sustainability is vitally important in our quest to lower our carbon footprints and preserve our natural resources for future generations. Improving the outcome of our sustainable living strategies involves a lot of critical thinking, ingenuity, and resourcefulness, three valuable life skills, that once acquired, consistently power us through the many tough challenges we’ll likely face across the decades. These life skills are yet another residual benefit bestowed on us from living sustainably.

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Climate Change, Eco, Environment

Biomass Industry Poses a Greater Threat Than the Coal Industry

Washington (GGM) Analysis | April 23, 2021 by Michael Wells

Biomass sounds like a living blob slithering its way towards New York City in a bad sci-fi movie. The reality may be worse. Proponents of the biomass industry will call this fearmongering and argue biomasses are carbon neutral and “green.” But the biomass industry involves chopping down vast swaths of trees, turning them into pellets, and shipping them to Europe where they are burned for energy. In other words, it is deforestation on a massive scale, and anyone who knows anything about climate change knows deforestation is one of the major causes of climate change. So how can a practice which is so harmful to the planet — more harmful than the coal industry which releases less carbon than burning trees — be at the same time beneficial? It cannot be whatever anyone claims to the contrary. 

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Climate Action, Climate Change, Eco, Environment

We’ve Had 51 Years of Earth Month, Yet Carbon Skyrocketed

Washington (GGM) Analysis | April 3, 2021 by author & journalist Noreen Wise

Earth Month is finally here… again. Hurray! Let’s get our ducks in a row so that we can maximize the enthusiasm and excitement that comes from so many of us in our communities focused on making progress with the aggressive habitat restoration goals we’ve set for ourselves and our towns.

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Climate Change, Eco, Environment, Ethics, soil

Keystone Pipeline Closure Means Less Toxic Oil Spills

Washington (GGM) Analysis | March 27, 2021 by Michael Wells

The average person not well versed on the policy and science surrounding the Keystone Pipeline likely knows it is over 1,000 miles long running from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska, and it frequently spills. It takes no more knowledge than these two facts to realize the Keystone Pipeline has always been a problem, and its closure benefits the world. 

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Climate Action, Climate Change, Eco, Environment, Immigration

Unaccompanied Children at Border are Climate Refugees

Washington (GGM) Analysis | March 25, 2021 by author & journalist Noreen Wise

For all of us climate warriors who are giving our 120 percent to educate the public on how to reduce our carbon footprints in our homes as well as our communities, which will result in lowering our atmospheric carbon level and curbing global warming, it seems as though we might know the ideal strategy that will help overcome the chronic border crossing challenge. After all, we’ve been posting and protesting about this for years.

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Climate Change, Eco, Environment, Ethics, soil

Worse than Snakes and Alligators: Florida’s Toxic Algae Blooms Spell Death

Washington (ONGC) Analysis | March 20, 2021 by Michael Wells

All this time people believed Florida’s snakes and alligators might kill them, when, in reality, the toxic algae blooms are the real threat. For two decades, Florida has struggled to control blue green algae that periodically covers the bottom of Lake Okeechobee, which threatens the state’s tourist industry as well as the once pristine coastline and waters. The blooms are fueled by phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertilizers used on nearby farms and ranches in Orlando and Kissimmee. The algae has killed millions of fish, hundreds of manatees, and it causes ALS and Alzheimers and even death in people. The algae is only getting worse, in particular since 2016, and climate change exacerbates the problem.  

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Climate Change, Eco, Environment, Ethics, soil

Hanford Superfund Site, Part 2: Worry About It for 24,100 Years

Washington (ONGC) Analysis | March 13, 2021 by Attorney Michael Wells

Do you ever think about the vastness of space? Or do you ponder if the universe never ends and is expanding for eternity? On a more personal level, perhaps Earth will be destroyed by an exploding star one day. Maybe you worry about such things, but here on Earth there are known threats, namely the Hanford Superfund Site that will be a problem for possibly 24,100 years, which is the half-life of Plutonium contained on the site, the source of Plutonium used to make the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki that ended World War II. And the Hanford site is filled with Plutonium, which is buried in 177 storage tanks within sight of the Columbia River.

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Climate Change, Eco, Environment, Ethics, soil

Hanford Superfund Site: An American Chernobyl Waiting to Happen

Washington (ONGC) Analysis | March 4, 2021 by Attorney Michael Wells

Before COVID-19 hit some Americans probably believed a magic forcefield shielded the country from events other less fortunate nations endured. Not anymore. In the fall of 2019, critics scoffed after watching the hit Netflix show, Cherynobyl, that Cherynobyl could not happen in the United States because Americans would be too well prepared. The Hanford Superfund nuclear site in Washington state has 56 million gallons of waste from plutonium, will take 50 years to clean up, and has caused cancer, dementia, and death. Ronan Farrow called it in a 2016 article, “an American Chernobyl.”

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Climate Change, Eco, Environment, soil

Fairfax Ninth Grader Places Second in Well-Timed Science Experiment

Washington (GGM) Analysis | February 20, 2021 by author and journalist Noreen Wise

Gallant Gold Media is very excited to report that Julia Victor, a ninth grader at W.T. Woodson High in Fairfax, Va, placed second in her unique and timely science experiment, which is part of the build up to the annual Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. We’ve been following Julia’s progress since October 2020 as she’s made her way through this intricate labyrinth of competing in a science fair during a global pandemic with schools closed and students distance learning. Julia was determined to find out which NoVA natives store the most carbon, and whether shrubs can stores as much carbon as trees, so she decided to conduct her own science experiment to discover the answer. We were impressed with Julia’s original idea that ties closely with the international greenup movement, that of planting lots of trees and nature to restore our habitat. Julia has taken it to a new level, though. She challenges us to be strategic about what we plant as we all strive to find more ways to store more carbon to reduce global warming.

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Climate Change, Eco, Environment, Ethics, soil

Bigger Than a Texas-sized Mess: Can the EPA Recover From Trump?

Washington (GGM) Analysis | February 18, 2021 by Attorney Michael Wells, Podcast– Legal Fact and Fiction

Every American realizes, or should realize, Trump made every effort to destroy the environment during his infamous term as president. From Scott Pruitt, the first Administrator  of the EPA under Trump, who called withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, “courageous,” to Andrew Wheeler, second Administrator  of the EPA and former coal lobbyist, both wrought so much damage to the environment that the majority of new Administrator Michael Regan’s job will be cleaning up the damage done by the previous administration. In short, the Biden Administration’s priorities will be addressing massive pollution issues, working on climate change, and handling environmental justice issues.

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