Net Metering & Toxic Lake Algae

Grappling with the grid…
This is The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.
As a climate change bill works its way through Congress… businesses are bracing for change to cleaner energy.
Some homeowners think about generating their own clean electricity. They like the idea of using rooftop solar or wind power to generate what they need and selling extra back to the power companies. It’s called net metering. One of the stumbling blocks to net metering is different regulations in each state. James Rose is the Senior Policy Analyst for the Network for New Energy Choices. He says these days more states are smoothing the way for net metering.
“It started out looking like a very big patchwork quilt where some states are doing well, other states aren’t doing well, other states aren’t doing anything to more of a regional mosaic now where we see, like, the northeastern states in the United States to really improve their net metering. States out West such as Colorado and California are leading the way.”
Some power companies have dug in their heels, blocking net metering where they can. But Rose says as states watch their neighbors implement net metering, lawmakers and regulators often embrace the idea of homeowners producing their own power and selling it back to the grid.
(((STING)))

This is The Environment Report.
There’s a kind of blue and green scum that can bloom in lakes and ponds across the nation. This scum is called cyanobacteria. For years, scientists have known that this stuff can produce dangerous toxins. Amy Quinton reports now researchers are studying whether there’s a link between cyanobacteria and Lou Gehrig’s disease:

Cyanobacteria look like green scummy algae on the surface of the water that can be several inches thick.
Cyanobacteria feed on nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen that can come from runoff of lawn fertilizers or sewage.
Jim Haney is a professor of biological sciences at the University of New Hampshire.
He says when cyanobacteria blooms in high enough concentrations, it can produce more than 70 different kind of liver toxins called microcystins.
“165 3:35 that scum can be toxic enough that it’s been estimated that only about 17 milliliters is enough to kill a small child, 17 milliliters is just a couple of teaspoons.”
Cyanobacteria blooms can also produce neurotoxins.
Haney and other researchers have embarked on research to find out if there's a connection between cyanobacteria and patient's with Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS.
The research began when Doctor Elijah Stommel mapped hundreds of ALS patients across New Hampshire.
Stommel is a neurologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical center.
He noticed the incidence of ALS was two and a half times greater than the national rate around lakes known to have had significant cyanobacteria blooms.
Stommel says he found a particularly high cluster of patients on one lake in the western part of the state.
130 2:15 we were able to establish that there appeared to be about a 25 fold increase in what one would expect to see for the ALS incidence 2:26
But he’s not sure if cyanobacteria are the culprit
They’re looking for a particular neurotoxin found in some cyanobacteria .
And there are still a lot of unknowns about how people might be exposed.
Do you have to drink it or can you breathe it in the air.
How long do you need to be exposed to it before it causes damage?
But, scientists have not yet found that link.
If they do, Stommel says that link might help find ways to prevent the dangerous toxins, or block their effects.

Like Amy noted earlier… runoff from over-fertilized yards and farm fields make this problem worse. I’m just sayin….
That’s The Environment Report… I’m Lester Graham.