Friday, May 25, 2012
'Soular': A new voice for the environment
'Soular,' the duo of Craig Wolfe and Randy Deutch, may do for the cause of saving our planet what singer/song-writers like Pete Seeger and Neil Young did for the the antiwar and civil rights movements more than a generation ago.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Kansas Voices 2012 recognizes a story of the Iraq War
“Echoes in the Static” is one of several stories I wrote about the Iraq war in 2006, when the delusion of an easy victory and exit from Iraq was already long past for all but the most hard-line of the Bush and Cheney faithful. By then “Mission Accomplished” was a punchline and Cheney’s 2004 comment about the insurgency being in “its last throes” had conveniently been forgotten by his mouthpieces at Fox News.
The story was rejected by several literary magazines. This might have irritated me less—or caused me to question more the story’s merits—if I had seen other, better stories about the experience of war, of this war, portrayed in these magazines. Rather, I consistently found the topic neglected in favor of stories that lacked substance—love triangles, dead pets, writers writing about being writers, academic writers writing about being academic writers while entangled in love triangles as their pets died, so forth. (Hyperbole, maybe, but there’s more truth than exaggeration in it.)
I’ve sometimes speculated that if American literary magazines during the first decade of this century were all that remained a thousand years from now for historians and archeologists to assemble a history of this period, they’d have little way of knowing that the U.S. had engaged in the two most protracted and expensive wars in its history—or even that both our economy and planet had melted down, the latter literally.
“Echoes in the Static” sat in a drop file for five years, until I sent it to the Kansas Voices 2012 writing competition, where it got a blind reading and resurfaced with an honorable mention. I’d like to believe that my sense of vindication is more than just vanity. Only a thin sliver of this country’s population has experienced these wars firsthand. Perhaps this recognition is further evidence that there's something wrong with that picture—and with these wars.
The story is included in a printed collection of the 2012 Kansas Voices award winners. For more information, click here. I’ve also posted a copy in a PDF file, which is available by clicking here: “Echoes in the Static”
I am grateful to the Winfield Arts & Humanities Council for sponsoring Kansas Voices, sharing this story, and giving me an excuse to share the story of the story.
The story was rejected by several literary magazines. This might have irritated me less—or caused me to question more the story’s merits—if I had seen other, better stories about the experience of war, of this war, portrayed in these magazines. Rather, I consistently found the topic neglected in favor of stories that lacked substance—love triangles, dead pets, writers writing about being writers, academic writers writing about being academic writers while entangled in love triangles as their pets died, so forth. (Hyperbole, maybe, but there’s more truth than exaggeration in it.)
I’ve sometimes speculated that if American literary magazines during the first decade of this century were all that remained a thousand years from now for historians and archeologists to assemble a history of this period, they’d have little way of knowing that the U.S. had engaged in the two most protracted and expensive wars in its history—or even that both our economy and planet had melted down, the latter literally.
“Echoes in the Static” sat in a drop file for five years, until I sent it to the Kansas Voices 2012 writing competition, where it got a blind reading and resurfaced with an honorable mention. I’d like to believe that my sense of vindication is more than just vanity. Only a thin sliver of this country’s population has experienced these wars firsthand. Perhaps this recognition is further evidence that there's something wrong with that picture—and with these wars.
The story is included in a printed collection of the 2012 Kansas Voices award winners. For more information, click here. I’ve also posted a copy in a PDF file, which is available by clicking here: “Echoes in the Static”
I am grateful to the Winfield Arts & Humanities Council for sponsoring Kansas Voices, sharing this story, and giving me an excuse to share the story of the story.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Flip-Flops for Francis Day!
Friday, May 4th, is "Flip-Flops for Francis Day" at Ray Marsh Elementary School in Shawnee, Kansas. Students, teachers, and staff will be wearing flip-flops to school and supporting the Kansas City VA in Francis’s memory.
What a great way to remember Francis—and support a great cause!
He'd have loved it!
To learn more, visit http://www.francisfund.org/
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sierra Club: Coal plants emit excessive pollution in Kansas City, Kan.
Sierra Club plans legal action against BPU for air permit violations that may harm public health
Kansas City, Kan. – The Sierra Club will today notify the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) that it intends to file suit against the utility to address excessive amounts of air pollution from the smoke stacks of its Nearman Creek and Quindaro coal-fired electric plants in Kansas City.
“The amount of pollution these plants are currently emitting into the air residents breathe exceeds a permit limit set by state and federal agencies,” said Scott Allegrucci, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club. “This limit was established to protect public health, and BPU needs to address the violation.”
The Sierra Club’s notice of intent to sue charges that BPU frequently exceeds the 20 percent opacity limit specified in BPU’s air quality permits, based on evidence from BPU’s own pollution monitors. Opacity monitors in the stacks of each power plant continuously project a beam of light across the inside of the stack to measure the darkness of the plume, and therefore the amount of particulate matter. If more than 20 percent of the light is absorbed or deflected by the pollution, the opacity limit has been exceeded.
“BPU is using the same type of particulate controls that it installed over forty years ago at Quindaro,” said Craig Volland, Chair of the Kansas Sierra Club Chapter’s Air Quality Committee. “It’s time for BPU to join the modern world of pollution controls.”
Unlike many other power plants in the country, BPU has not installed the latest technology at Nearman Creek and Quindaro.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), particles, especially fine particles, aggravate asthma, decrease lung function, and can lead to chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Children and older adults are the most vulnerbale to particle pollution exposure.
“My daughter has asthma and it upsets me that BPU is emitting any more pollution than their permit allows,” said Delores Daniels, a member of the Executive Committee of the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club. Daniels lives less than two miles from the Quindaro Power Station.
Both the Nearman Creek and Quindaro power stations are located in the Missouri River valley, just north of the most densely populated part of Wyandotte County, Kansas. There are no monitors in the immediate vicinity of either plant that could measure the particle concentrations at ground level where people breathe the air.
Kansas City, Kan. – The Sierra Club will today notify the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) that it intends to file suit against the utility to address excessive amounts of air pollution from the smoke stacks of its Nearman Creek and Quindaro coal-fired electric plants in Kansas City.
“The amount of pollution these plants are currently emitting into the air residents breathe exceeds a permit limit set by state and federal agencies,” said Scott Allegrucci, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club. “This limit was established to protect public health, and BPU needs to address the violation.”
The Sierra Club’s notice of intent to sue charges that BPU frequently exceeds the 20 percent opacity limit specified in BPU’s air quality permits, based on evidence from BPU’s own pollution monitors. Opacity monitors in the stacks of each power plant continuously project a beam of light across the inside of the stack to measure the darkness of the plume, and therefore the amount of particulate matter. If more than 20 percent of the light is absorbed or deflected by the pollution, the opacity limit has been exceeded.
“BPU is using the same type of particulate controls that it installed over forty years ago at Quindaro,” said Craig Volland, Chair of the Kansas Sierra Club Chapter’s Air Quality Committee. “It’s time for BPU to join the modern world of pollution controls.”
Unlike many other power plants in the country, BPU has not installed the latest technology at Nearman Creek and Quindaro.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), particles, especially fine particles, aggravate asthma, decrease lung function, and can lead to chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Children and older adults are the most vulnerbale to particle pollution exposure.
“My daughter has asthma and it upsets me that BPU is emitting any more pollution than their permit allows,” said Delores Daniels, a member of the Executive Committee of the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club. Daniels lives less than two miles from the Quindaro Power Station.
Both the Nearman Creek and Quindaro power stations are located in the Missouri River valley, just north of the most densely populated part of Wyandotte County, Kansas. There are no monitors in the immediate vicinity of either plant that could measure the particle concentrations at ground level where people breathe the air.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Senate Rejects Effort to End Tax Breaks for Biggest Oil Companies
Washington, D.C. – A minority of U.S. Senators have blocked legislation that would end the costly and unnecessary tax subsidies currently doled out to the nation’s five biggest oil companies.
According to the Congressional Research Service, ending these tax breaks would have “little to no impact” on gas prices, while maintaining the handouts to BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips will cost taxpayers an estimated $24 billion over the next ten years.
In response, Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:
“Today’s vote is the latest reminder of what we knew all along: big oil companies and their lackeys in Congress will do whatever it takes to squeeze every penny possible out of American families, whether it’s shirking taxes or price-gouging at the gas pump.
“It is obscene that a handful of wealthy oil executives are demanding billions in handouts from the government while ordinary Americans pay their fair share of taxes on top of four-dollar-a-gallon gas. And, it is shameful that a minority of obstructionist Senators are doing big oil’s bidding against the will of their constituents – the majority of whom support ending unfair tax subsidies for big oil.
“Big oil companies and speculators who are driving up prices at the pump don’t need any more of our help. We need our leaders to focus on real solutions to break our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels, and invest in clean energy solutions to ease Americans’ pain at the pump and create jobs. Unfortunately, the Senate missed an opportunity today to take an important step in moving beyond oil.”
According to the Congressional Research Service, ending these tax breaks would have “little to no impact” on gas prices, while maintaining the handouts to BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips will cost taxpayers an estimated $24 billion over the next ten years.
In response, Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:
“Today’s vote is the latest reminder of what we knew all along: big oil companies and their lackeys in Congress will do whatever it takes to squeeze every penny possible out of American families, whether it’s shirking taxes or price-gouging at the gas pump.
“It is obscene that a handful of wealthy oil executives are demanding billions in handouts from the government while ordinary Americans pay their fair share of taxes on top of four-dollar-a-gallon gas. And, it is shameful that a minority of obstructionist Senators are doing big oil’s bidding against the will of their constituents – the majority of whom support ending unfair tax subsidies for big oil.
“Big oil companies and speculators who are driving up prices at the pump don’t need any more of our help. We need our leaders to focus on real solutions to break our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels, and invest in clean energy solutions to ease Americans’ pain at the pump and create jobs. Unfortunately, the Senate missed an opportunity today to take an important step in moving beyond oil.”
Thursday, March 8, 2012
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