Pollution

Solar power has been eating away at coal’s dominance in generating electricity for quite a while. While coal power is still the largest single source of electricity across the globe, most new generation capacity is coming from solar and wind. However, coal power is fighting back, and not in a good way.

Over the past seven years, there have been an increasing number of deployments of co-called “megaconstellation” satellite systems, far outstripping the number of satellites orbiting the earth that had been launched over the previous 60 years.

For the past year, the Trump administration has repeatedly issued orders for five aging coal plants in four states to remain open past their scheduled closures, citing an unspecified “energy emergency” that supposedly threatens the reliability of the U.S. electricity supply.

Climate change is making air quality worse in many parts of the world. Rising temperatures increase ground-level ozone and more frequent wildfires release harmful smoke and particulates into the air. These shifts, together with ongoing pollution from vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions, are leading to longer and more intense episodes of unhealthy air.

Concrete is the most abundant manufactured material in the world. It is primarily composed of water, cement, and aggregate (sand and gravel.) Cement manufacturing is responsible for about 8% of the world’s total CO2 emissions, primarily a result of the chemical reaction of heating limestone and the combustion of fossil fuels used to provide the heat.

Ten years ago, there were about 1,200 satellites in orbit around the earth. Now there are about 12,000 and the numbers are growing rapidly. Starlink alone has 9,000 satellites in its communications swarm and may in a few years have as many as 42,000. By 2040, there may be more than 100,000 active satellites circling Earth.

Deep-sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the seabed in the deep ocean. Most of the interest is in what are known as polymetallic nodules, which are potato-sized mineral deposits that have built up in layers over thousands of years. Found miles below the ocean’s surface, these nodules contain valuable metals used in batteries and electronics, but mining them could harm fragile and largely unexplored deep-sea ecosystems.

At a time when countless communities are resisting powerful corporations—from Flint, Michigan, to the Standing Rock Reservation, to Didipio in the…

For the past 30 years, John F. Sheehan has been the voice of the Adirondack Council on radio and television and in local, regional, and national media. He…

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond.Today's panelists are:WAMC’s Alan ChartockJudith Enck - Former EPA Regional…