AECI Abandons Proposed Coal Power Plant in Favor of Clean Energy
By Henry Robertson and Melissa Hope

On March 3rd, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AECI) announced that it was shelving or “postponing indefinitely” its plans to build a massive 660 megawatt coal-burning power plant in Norborne, 60 miles east of Kansas City.

The announcement is the latest breaking news in a tidal wave of progress as our nation transitions from nineteenth century coal technology to a modern and clean 21st century clean energy economy. Four-years ago the country was considering plans to build as many as 160 new coal-fired power plants and today AECI brings the total number of plants abandoned or defeated to 63. And all indications are that this trend is accelerating as costs of coal skyrocket and the nation focuses its attention on global warming solutions. Read more...

Renewable Energy Petition

Petitions are now circulating to get a Renewable Energy Standard on the Missouri ballot in November. Over 100,000 signatures must be turned in by May 4th. To learn more, visit www.renewmo.org. Help is needed — financial contributions and volunteers to collect signatures.

The Renewable Energy Standard (RES) would require Missouri’s investor-owned utilities (AmerenUE, KCPL, Aquila and Empire District Electric) to provide electricity from renewable sources like wind, solar, small hydro and biomass. The amount of clean power required would increase by steps, going up to 15% in 2020. Similar standards, sometimes called renewable portfolio standards, already exist in 24 states. Experience has been that they have little discernible impact on customers’ bills, but just in case, Renew Missouri built in a guarantee that this standard will not increase rates by more than 1%. Read more...

Green Lobby Day a Success
By Roy C. Hengerson

On Tuesday February 26, 2008 over 100 environmental and conservation minded people gathered in a basement hearing room of the State Capitol for the start of Green Lobby Day. The Missouri Sierra Club, Missouri Votes Conservation, and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment were the principal organizers of this annual event. Approximately 30 other organizations from around the state co-sponsored the Lobby Day.

It is critical to the success of good environmental legislation and the defeat of bad measures for citizens to contact their State Representative and State Senator. In person visits have the most impact on legislators. Participation in a lobby day is an excellent opportunity to meet your legislators and make an impact on the legislative process. Citizens do not need to be experts on any topic to have a valuable visit. Legislators want and need to hear from average citizens with concerns about the environment. Thus, participants engaged in Green Lobby Day knowing that their time was well spent. Read more...

Jurassic Park Marketplace Dinosaur Seeks More Public Financing
By Mark Haim

In a July 31 interview with a New York Times reporter, Michael Wallace, co-chief executive of UniStar Nuclear - Ameren’s partner in the proposed new Callaway reactor - said, “Without loan guarantees, we will not build nuclear power plants.”

They’ve picked our pockets before, and now they are back for more, tens of billions more. Having failed the test of the marketplace nearly three decades ago, the nuclear power industry has repackaged itself. Today it’s trying to sell its overpriced product as the answer to global climate change. Read more...

The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter
by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
reviewed by Caroline Pufalt
At least three times a day we make significant choices that effect the environment. Authors Peter Singer and Jim Mason state that: “No other human activity has had as great an impact on our planet as agriculture. When we buy food we are taking part in a vast global industry. Americans spend more than a trillion dollars on food every year. That’s more than double what they spend on motor vehicles, and more than double what the government spends on defense”

Unfortunately the global food industry produces pollution, causes loss of wildlife on land and sea and causes untold suffering of farm animals - many reared in totally artificial factory conditions. Read more...

Chapter Develops Missouri Global Warming Plan
By Henry Robertson

What does Missouri’s energy future look like? The setbacks to coal, such as those described in page-one article on AECI, are welcome news, but also a challenge. We’ve long dreamed of a clean energy future. Now the time is at hand to make those dreams materialize.

The Missouri Chapter is working on a comprehensive energy plan to tackle global warming. Our aims are to show the consequences of a “business as usual” approach to energy, to quantify as best we can the potential for efficiency and renewables to meet our needs, and to describe the policies Missouri will need to pursue. The members of the task force writing the plan are Chapter Development Director Melissa Hope, and a subcommittee of the Chapter Executive Committee consisting of Claus Wawrzinek, Gloria Sennert, Rick Haeseler, and myself. Read more...

Demand paper ballots for all elections in 2008
by Ginger Harris
The National Sierra Club funded two temporary, part-time staff positions in Missouri to encourage voters to support a campaign finance reform measure on the November 2000 ballot. Why?… because the Club recognized that as long as big campaign contributions continued to control who got elected to office and who got appointed to state regulatory commissions, the Sierra Club would have difficulty achieving environmental protections and sustainability goals.  Read more...

River des Peres Watershed Coalition Moving Forward

The River des Peres Watershed Coalition invites everyone-citizens, civic and municipal leaders, agency personnel-who is interested in the River des Peres and its tributaries to take part in our planning forums, river clean up, and restoration activities.

At our first gathering, which was attended by over 50 representatives from educational institutions, government entities, environmental organizations, and the general public, we discussed the critical issues that the community believes are affecting the River des Peres. Our second meeting in March was held at the Heman Park Community Center and included a short “field trip” to the river which flows just behind the center. Our next planning meeting will be held May 27, also at Heman Park Community Center. Read more...

The Skeptic Scam: Deciphering Disinformation in the Campaign of [Climate Change]
Alan Journet

During the last four decades, a scientific consensus developed about the health consequences of consuming tobacco products and the atmospheric consequences of continuing to release human-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Despite campaigns of disinformation orchestrated by those with economic or political interests and commitments to denying the scientific evidence, public acceptance of the scientific consensus led to national / international action. In the case of tobacco, we now see warnings on tobacco products while in the case of CFCs, the Montreal Protocol of 1987 resulted in global efforts to reduce CFC use and release. As a result recent health reports suggest on the one hand that cancer rates are dropping, and on the other hand that the size of the ozone hole caused by CFCs appears to have stabilized - with recovery this century a possibility (if climate change does not intervene to undo the gains made). Read more...

ATV abuse at Lower Rock Creek
photo by Scott Merritt, www.mowild.org

Lower Rock Creek is one of the many jewels of the Mark Twain National Forest. Unfortunately that jewel is being tarnished by illegal All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) use in the area. Although most of the area is closed to motorized recreation it is still subject to illegal cross country ATV traffic. We all know the erosion, disruption, habitat damage, noise and pollution that can cause. In addition, a visit to Lower Rock Creek found that “foot traffic only” signs had been removed and saplings had even been cut down to widen access for illegal traffic.
Contact the MTNF supervisor and tell him of your displeasure at this situation. Lower Rock Creek is not the only area suffering from ATV abuse. Why is this not a bigger priority for the MTNF management? If they don’t have enough resources to do a better job, what do they need? If not, what is their excuse? Read more...