Author: Lisa Ann Pinkerton

Clearing the Air for Wind Turbines

  • Wind turbines can capture the power of wind along ridgelines, but environmentalists worry government restrictions are not strong enough to protect birds that fly along the ridgelines. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)

The process for protecting wildlife from new wind turbines varies by state and sometimes within states. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports wind developers and the
federal government say that is hindering the nation’s ability to take advantage of this renewable energy:

Transcript

The process for protecting wildlife from new wind turbines varies by state and sometimes within states. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports wind developers and the
federal government say that is hindering the nation’s ability to take advantage of this renewable energy:


The federal government is looking into wind turbine guidelines on two states,
California and Pennsylvania, and they couldn’t be more different. California’s
guidelines restrict wind farms from certain areas and hold them responsible
for the deaths of any wildlife, such as birds that run into the spinning blades.


In Pennsylvania, the guidelines are voluntary and if they’re followed, they exempt the wind
turbine developers from fines for wildlife deaths. Along the western edge of
the Appalachians there’s a ridgeline that stretches from the top of
Pennsylvania all the way to Maryland. There are breathtaking views of rolling
hills and farmland.


And we’re at one lookout point, called Shaffer Mountain. Veterinarian Tom Dick is
here counting migrating birds for the Audubon Society. Watching a pair of
broad wing hawks soar by, he says the wind here creates invisible highways:


“The wind is coming out just right, they found the lane, they’re making no
movement at all. They have a long migration to central and South America, and they
want to make it as effortless as possible, so they’re using the energy of the wind.”


That wind energy is attractive to wind turbine developers, too. Less than a
mile away, the Spanish wind turbine manufacturer, Gamesa plans to build a
30-turbine wind farm.


Tom Dick is against the project. He says the US Fish and Wildlife Service
discourages wind farms on migratory corridors like Shaffer Mountain:


“They just don’t want to see them on there, but there’s no teeth in the laws today.”


The laws Dick refers to is called a “Voluntary Agreement.” And nearly every Wind
Developer in the US has signed on. They agree to work closely with the state
conservation agencies to reduce impacts to wildlife. And in exchange,
Pennsylvania shields developers from liability if animals happen to die as a
result of the proposed wind farm.


Developers like this working relationship with Pennsylvania’s Game
Commission. They know what’s expected of them and they can adjust their
plans as wildlife problems arise. Tim Volk is Gamesa’s Shaffer Mountain
Project Coordinator and he says spring bird migration data the state required, has
already reshaped the project:


“So that lead us to set some of our windmills back about 400 feet to avoid any
potential impact to them.”


Critics say protecting developers from liability rather than protecting wildlife
from death is the opposite of what Pennsylvania should be doing. But
advocates for renewable energy say without such assurances, wind
development in the US will never live up to its potential.


Mark Sinclair heads the Clean Energy States Alliance:


“Every wind project is going to kill a couple of birds. It will happen. The problem right
now is that these wildlife laws are so strict, they really create a financial and
development challenge for wind projects.”


Sinclair says Pennsylvania’s system is the best in the nation, while guidelines
recently released in California might hinder development there:


“There’s less of incentive in California for a developer to follow these guidelines, because, what do I
get out of it? No permit and no guarantee the state won’t go after me for killing
several birds unintentionally.”


California’s guidelines are intended to assist local governments in deciding
where turbines should and should not go, but to use them is optional, and
wind turbine developers still responsible if they end up killing a lot of birds.


Everyone acknowledges that federal guidelines are needed and while some states
want more protection for their wildlife, other states like Texas don’t consider it
an issue. So for the next two years, a federal committee plans to weigh all
the options. It’s made up of representatives from various states, the wind
industry, the Audubon Society, and research scientists. Whatever
guidelines the committee develops, US Fish and Wildlife officials predict the
protection from liability that Pennsylvania has established will play a
prominent role.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

Target Drops Pvc

  • Target has finally agreed to stop using PVC in its products. (Photo by Lester Graham)

After a two year campaign against the retailer, Target says it will do what Wal-Mart and other retailers have already done. It will
stop using PVC plastic in its products. Lisa Ann Pinkerton Reports:

Transcript

After a two year campaign against the retailer, Target says it will do what Wal-Mart and other retailers have already done. It will
stop using PVC plastic in its products. Lisa Ann Pinkerton Reports:


Commonly known as vinyl, polyvinyl chloride, or PVC plastic contains phthalates, which are used to soften
hard plastic. But they are also believed to be toxic to humans, wildlife and the environment. Target says it
will phase out PVC in its products and ask its vendors to do the same.


Mike Shade with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice says large retailers are taking the lead on
PVC and that will influence the marketplace:


“By getting large manufacturers and large retailers to switching to safer materials that will drive costs down
and make it easier for smaller companies to do the same.”


Shade says many of Target’s baby accessories will be PVC free by January and most of toys by the fall of 2008. The next

step, he says, is to get retailers
like K-Mart, Sears, and Costco to do the same


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

Detecting Lead in Toys

  • Bill Radosevich tests the sword on the lego creature Phyllis Gallzo's son plays with. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)

Fisher Price recently recalled 10 million toys containing lead paint and tiny magnets. The news is making health officials and many parents wonder about other
objects children play with. In the past, testing objects for lead has been time consuming,
but new technology could make lead detection in everyday objects easier and faster. Lisa
Ann Pinkerton has more:

Transcript

Fisher Price recently recalled 10 million toys containing lead paint and tiny magnets. The news is making health officials and many parents wonder about other
objects children play with. In the past, testing objects for lead has been time consuming,
but new technology could make lead detection in everyday objects easier and faster. Lisa
Ann Pinkerton has more:


In a canvas shopping bag, Phyllis Gallzo has 3 of her son’s favorite toys. In her hand is
one made of Legos that looks like an alien robot creature. She’s afraid it could contain
lead:


“Listening to the news and concern about toys coming from China, I was very
concerned my son getting exposure to the chemicals he really didn’t need. So I brought in
the toys that he plays with mostly.”


Eighty percent of America’s toys are made in China, so Gallzo’s come to a free lead
screening event held by the Ohio Network for the Chemically Injured to find out about her
son’s toys. The action figure she holds is sporting a long silver sword. It’s pockmarked,
from being chewed on by Gallzo’s 8 year old son. If the sword was manufactured with
lead-based plastic or paint the toy could be giving her son small doses of lead and slowly
poisoning him. Lead is a neuro-toxin and has been linked to learning disabilities and lower
IQ’s.


Usually, Gallzo would have to surrender her son’s toy to be destroyed in a lab to figure
out what its made of, but today a new type of technology is being used. Bill Radosevich,
of the company Thermo Scientific is going to zap the plastic sword with an X-ray gun
his company’s designed. In the first 5 seconds, the toy’s elements pop up on a computer
screen:


“About 6000 parts per million of zinc, we’re seeing a little bit of copper, that’s probably
part of the coloring….I’m definitely not seeing lead.”


Gallzo was lucky, her son’s favorite toy is free of lead. But beside Radosevich, is a
suitcase filled with toys that didn’t pass the test. On display are low brand or no brand
items, like plastic teething rings, a simple black snorkel, children’s jewelry and marti gras
beads. All objects kids have been known to suck and chew on. Radosevich says they all
contain lead in excess of 600 parts per million, the American limit for consumer
products:


“I’m less concerned about a hair piece than I am about something that’s supposed to be put into a
child’s mouth.”


Radosevich’s testing device looks like a Faser gun from an old Star Trek show. It uses x-
ray technology and it’s not cheap, they go for 30,000 dollars a piece. Radosevich
says metal industries and archaeologists already use the device for different purposes, but
he thinks product importers and toy retailers might be interested in them too. Michael
Zigenhagan, owns the toystore Play Matters and he says testing toys for lead is not his
responsibility:


“I don’t think that’s within the scope of a retailer’s capabilities. We wouldn’t be
asking national big box retailers to create their own testing arms for the products they
carry. That’s ultimately the manufacturer’s job to do that.”


But the way toys are manufactured in China is a tangled supply chain, with various
components of a toy coming from different factories. Rachel Weintrub is with the
Consumer Federation of America. She says importers are putting too much trust in the
manufacturers they contract with. Her group is lobbying Congress to require US
companies, such as Mattel, to make sure a toy’s components aren’t contaminated before they’re assembled in China:


“If it were required that paint be tested for safety before the paint were used on the
product, this huge harm would be prevented.”


Weintrub says waiting until a product is in the supply chain and issuing a recall isn’t
completely effective. She says recalls never get all the defective products back, and
ultimately that leaves toys in the marketplace and children in potential harm.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

Solar Shortages

  • (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)

Leaders in the solar power industry say the
market is on the brink of expansion. But shortages
of solar panels and electricians to install them
need to be addressed. Many states are seeing those
problems as a way to boost their lagging economies
and create a new sector of manufacturing jobs.
Lisa Ann Pinkerton Reports:

Transcript

Leaders in the solar power industry say the
market is on the brink of expansion. But shortages
of solar panels and electricians to install them
need to be addressed. Many states are seeing those
problems as a way to boost their lagging economies
and create a new sector of manufacturing jobs.
Lisa Ann Pinkerton Reports:


10-year-old Alex Hinkley is sitting at a picnic table watching the Cleveland Indians play
the Kansas City Royals. She’s eating a hotdog, oozing with ketchup, and she’s found
shade under a rather unique awning. It’s made up of 42 solar panels.


The Cleveland Indian’s is the only American League Ball Club to have solar panels and
it’s the only one to use its solar electricity at the park. The panels power 400 TVs at
Jacob’s Field and fifth grader Alex thinks it’s a cool way to introduce people, young and
old, to renewable energy:


“Some people don’t know what they are, but if they know what it is they’ll
wanna learn about it. Because a lot of kids go to the Indians games and I think they should learn a
lot about energy.”


Alex thinks if people are exposed to what solar panels can do, they’ll want them for
themselves. And the notion isn’t far off. High energy prices and state and federal
subsidies are expanding the market more and more each year. In 2006, the electrical solar
industry generated more than 1 billion dollars in revenue.


Exhibiting his products at a Solar Convention, Al Frasz of Ohio Dovetail Solar and Wind
thinks the solar business is on the brink of expansion:


“We’re projecting over 100 percent growth this year. So we’re expecting probably over
the next five years at least 300 percent.”


But the Solar Industry suffers from supply shortages, locally and internationally. Brad
Collins of the American Solar Energy Society says current federal subsidies make solar
competitive with fossil fuels. But entrepreneurs haven’t invested in solar panel factories
because they don’t want their products to collect dust on the shelves if those subsides
aren’t renewed in the future.


So now, he says states are starting to take the lead. He says the rustbelt of America in
particular has a lot to gain from this supply shortage. It’s got the manufacturing
infrastructure and the skilled workforce needed to build the nation’s photo voltaic solar
panels, known in the industry simply as PV. Collins says factories that make auto glass
could easily make the switch:


“There’s a lot of similarities between the production of auto glass and production
processes that could be modified to produce PV. It’s putting a film on a piece of
glass…And that’s the way we can compete.”


Even if states are successful at establishing solar product factories, Bernie Kotlier says
there may not be enough electricians to install the systems. He coordinates weekend
training sessions for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, in Los Angeles:


“What we feel is that the manufacturers are gearing up to supply the equipment but the
next bottleneck will be labor…What would happen if we don’t address it? Well, we’ll have a
shortage.”


In the next ten years, California wants 1 million roofs generating power from the sun.
Kotlier says to make that happen the state will need conservatively, more than 10,000 additional certified
installers than exist today, to make that happen. He says that number’s even bigger is you
look at how the solar market could grow nationally, and across the country certified
installers are already scarce:


“We have people from all around the country who are contacting us regularly saying
we’re getting interest in PV solar in Arizona, in Washington state, in New York, in
Massachusetts. So it is spreading…but it’ll take time. But actually, that’s a good thing because frankly we couldn’t
handle all that interest at once.”


If states continue to offer incentives that bring the cost of solar power down to where it’s
competitive with fossil fuels, Kotlier says solar manufacturing sectors will surely be
required to meet the demand. Where those manufacturing jobs are located and if there
will be enough certified installers nationally remains to be seen. But he says the states that offer
subsides and the people who invest in solar now, could see a huge return on their
investments. Those who delay could find themselves left behind.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

Protesters Target Pvc

  • Activists want Target to stop carrying PVC plastic products because of potential links with toxins. (photo by Lester Graham)

Polyvinyl chloride and the chemicals used to make it are thought to be
linked to birth defects and cancers. So activists are urging companies
to stop using the plastic. America’s 6th largest retailer Target was
recently handed 10,000 signatures at its annual shareholders
meeting. The petition urges the company to phase out the use of PVC
plastic in the products it sells. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports:

Transcript

Polyvinyl chloride and the chemicals used
to make it are thought by some to be linked to
birth defects and cancers. The petition was
delivered to the annual shareholders meeting.
Lisa Ann Pinkerton has more:


In white hazmat suits and dust masks, about 30 protesters chant on the street in front of the new Target store.
It’s the site of this year’s shareholder meeting
and one of those protesters is Brad Melzer, a biology professor at Lake Erie
College in Ohio. But Melzer’s not shaking a protest sign right now. Instead, he’s trying to keep his infant
son shaded and cool in the noon-day sun. As little Winston lounges in a stroller, sucking on a bottle, Melzer says he’s
here today because he’s read about PVC plastic and its possible toxicity to
children:


“To be honest, I don’t even know if this nipple has PVC in it. He could already be
ingesting these things.”


Protests like this one are happening simultaneously in 200 locations across the country,
but in Cleveland, protesters have turned in a petition with 10,000 signatures urging Target
to stop stocking its shelvesproducts containing polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.


Not too far away from the Melzers, is Doctor Cynthia Bearer of Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, and she chats with a
woman holding a protest sign reading “Way off Target with Toxic Toys.”


Bearer’s main concern is chemicals called pthalates, which help soften PVC plastic. The
most common is known as DEHP. Bearer says the chemicals may leach from teething
rings, shower curtains and packaging, and put young children at risk:


“Pthalates are known to be endocrine disrupters. They interact with the thyroid
hormone.”


And they can cause abnormalities in infants, she says, including reproductive
difficulties:


“So we can actually measure health effects, particularly on male infants in terms of their
sexual development at the time of birth from exposure to pthalates.”


Like Dr. Bearer and Brad Melzer, some of the protesters are science professionals.
Some are just concerned parents and others are advocates for children. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America. She says the development of children’s brains might be impaired by exposure
to chemicals in PVC. She says even if science can’t pinpoint right now why 1 in 6
children suffer from learning disabilities, something needs to be done. She says the burden on America’s schools is growing:


“The percentage of school funding that has to go to help these kids who have learning
and developmental disabilities, then that impacts the school’s ability to fund other
educational needs.”


Some precautions have been made to reduce exposure to some of the PVC-related chemicals.
The US Food and Drug Administration has advised against using DEHP in medical
devices, and the Environmental Protection Agency has listed it as a probable carcinogen,
but the government doesn’t bar the use of DEHP in any product.


Even without the ban on the chemicals, 53 companies, including Target’s largest competitor, Wal-Mart, have begun phasing
out the products that contain PVC. Target Spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter says her company has some options it’s working on,
but it’s reluctant to set a time table for phasing out PVC. But she says that doesn’t mean that Target isn’t taking the
issue seriously:


“We’re talking to out buyers, we’re talking to our venders and we’re asking them to look
into some alternatives that we have.”


If Target doesn’t move on the PVC issue, new dad Brian Melzer
says he’ll be left with a difficult shopping dilemma:


“I don’t like shopping at Wal-Mart at all. But… if Target continues its practices of not phasing
out PVCs. Yeah, then definitely I would choose one of their competitors, and if it had to
be Wal-Mart, I guess it would have to be Wal-Mart.”


However, at this point, Target Spokeswoman Brookter doesn’t think the company will
lose business on this single issue.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

Protesters Target Pvc

Last week, America’s 6th largest retailer Target was handed 10,000 signatures at its Annual Shareholders meeting. The petition urges the company to phase out the use of PVC plastic in the products it sells. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports:

Transcript

Last week, America’s 6th largest retailer Target was handed 10 thousand
signatures at its Annual Shareholders meeting. The petition urges the
company to phase out the use of PVC plastic in the products it sells.
Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports:


(Sound of protestors)


Protesters at Target’s Shareholder meeting wore white hazmat suits as
they urged the company to phase out PVC, or Polyvinyl Chloride. PVC is
used in packaging, shower curtains, teething rings and other consumer
products it sells. Mark Schade is a spokesman for the Center for
Health, Environment and Justice:


We’re concerned about PVC because from manufacture to disposal PVC is
the worst plastic for our health and environment. Releasing chemicals
that are known to cause cancer, learning disabilities, reproductive
health problems, birth defects and many other health issues.


Target says it’s asking its suppliers to look into alternatives for PVC
but the company is reluctant to set a timetable for phasing out the
plastic. Other companies, such as Wal-Mart, Ikea, Johnson and Johnson,
Lego, Nike, Microsoft have already begun the process.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

Rooftop Wind Power

  • Power lines lead from a wind turbine placed near a coast to catch steady breezes. New designs for smaller turbines might be used in urban areas where wind is more turbulent. (Photo by Lester Graham)

The government wants 20% of the
energy generated in the nation from renewable
resources. Today, we’re at a mere fraction of
that goal. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports experts
believe the US could get there sooner if wind power
technology can be moved successfully to where the
electricity is actually consumed, America’s
cities:

Transcript

The government wants 20% of the
energy generated in the nation from renewable
resources. Today, we’re at a mere fraction of
that goal. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports experts
believe the US could get there sooner if wind power
technology can be moved successfully to where the
electricity is actually consumed, America’s
cities:


Right next to Lake Erie, a large wind turbine spins hypnotically in the
breeze. Its three big propeller blades provide only around 6% of
the energy consumed at the museum where it’s located, the Great Lake
Science Center. So the big turbine is mainly for educational purposes.
The museum’s Executive Director, Linda Abraham Silver says turbine
catches the steady winds off the lake:


“We don’t want turbulence, that’s right. Steady wind is what produces
the best energy and saves the gears and instrumentation inside.”


The single wind turbine stands in a wide open space near Lake Erie, but here
on the streets of downtown Cleveland, the wind is blustery and
unpredictable. These conditions are hostile to traditional turbines.
So the conventional wisdom was wind power couldn’t flourish in urban
environments… that is, until now.


“I think the problem was the propeller, not the whole idea that wind
power was somehow unable to be captured in the city. Some people even tell
you there is no wind power in the city”


Bill Becker is an urban wind developer from Chicago. He’s abandoned the three-propeller design for a horizontal one.
And it kind of looks like a metal DNA double-helix strand. He says it’s
actually two turbine designs in one so the machine can function in low and high winds. The turbine, manufactured
by Aerotecture, is a lot smaller than traditional ones so it can be mounted on rooftops. Becker’s installed 16 on skyscrapers in
Boston and Chicago. They can generate enough electricity to power two homes annually in a typical breezy day.


Becker’s not the only inventor who thinks there are better alternatives
to expansive turbine wind farms sprouting up on ridges and bluffs
across the country. And in England, the three-blade concept isn’t dead
yet.


The company Quiet Revolution has a vertical turbine with blades curving
up and down it. It creates power in even the slightest breeze, but that
power isn’t any more than Becker’s model and it costs 4 times as much.


Instead of catching open wind, in California entrepreneurs are
capturing a very specific type of wind: breezes traveling up and over
building parapets. Those are walls that extend past the roof lines of
big box retailers and factories:


“There’s a potentially great wind resource on those buildings that’s
not being tapped into today.”


Spokesman Steve Gitlin says the company AeroVironment is tapping into
this wind with systems of 15 turbines each. These futuristic rotating
fans, each about six feet tall, line the parapets of flat-roofed
buildings:


“What we’ve done is figured out there’s a unique acceleration of wind over that edge of the building
so the turbine’s designed to actually extend above and angle slightly downward
over that acceleration zone.”


The AeroVironment system is the most expensive… six times as much as the Aerotecture double-helix
design and generates slightly more electricity. It does, however, operate in very low wind, five miles per hour or less.


Ken Silverstein says this range in cost and efficiency shows the urban wind industry is
still growing. He edits Energy Biz magazine, and
adds to make an impact on the market, these turbine costs must come
down. And the government could help jumpstart the industry:


“It needs to develop, it needs to reach economies of scale so that the
technology improves, so that the costs come down and so that wind becomes more widespread than it is today.”


But Silverstein says, urban wind designs like these offers the hope
that businesses and even homeowners could capture the energy of the wind
directly on their own.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton

Related Links

Pros and Cons of Offshore Wind Farms

  • While the tower is around 3 miles north of Cleveland's shore, a viable wind farm would need to be at least 6 times farther out in Lake Erie. The wind monitoring tower measures the speed, direction, and height of Lake Erie's wind to determine if wind power generation on the lake is economically viable. (Photo courtesy of Lisa Ann Pinkerton)

Proposals for offshore wind farms, from the coasts of Texas to New England have the potential to generate more electricity than land turbines do. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports these projects face various hurdles to becoming reality, but they’re not completely insurmountable:

Transcript

Proposals for offshore wind farms, from the coasts of Texas to New England have the potential to generate more electricity than land turbines do. Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports these projects face various hurdles to becoming reality but they’re not completely insurmountable:


Over the past few months, whenever the weather is favorable, Aaron Godwin of Green Energy Ohio rides a power boat several miles out into Lake Erie. Out on the on the city of Cleveland’s century old water intake structure he’s built a tall wind monitoring tower.


“The upper part of the tower is about 168 feet above the water, so we’re measuring at about 30, 40 and 50 meters, and dual instrumentation at each level, anemometers that measure wind speed and vanes that measure direction.”


Godwin’s got almost a year of wind data and today he’s installing a small wind turbine to confirm what he’s discovered: that the lake’s wind is roughly twice as strong as wind on land. So to Godwin offshore wind farms are inevitable, especially since 75 percent of the nation’s energy use is near coastal cities.


However, proposed projects everywhere face a number of hurdles. One of them is bird and bat migration. Some land turbines have killed creatures that flew too close. But in Denmark, where offshore wind is 15 years old, extensive water foul surveys show little change in bird behavior. Charlotte Boesen is an environmental planner for Dong Energy in Denmark.


“These birds, they do fly around the wind farm. They do not like flying over land you can say and maybe they in some sort they perceive the turbines or wind farm as a similar object.”


Even so, no wind project in the US will ever get off the ground without a full assessment of potential wildlife impacts. That’s why 60% of Lake Erie has already been ruled out by a preliminary study conducted by the wind consulting firm AWS True Wind. Its Executive Director Bruce Bailey says that leaves most of eastern Lake Erie still available, with the best wind about 15 miles northwest of Cleveland.


“That’s where the strongest winds would be found. With water depths still being under say 70 feet.”


Bailey adds the shallow depth of Lake Erie combined with its solid lake bottom and fresh water makes it more friendly to offshore wind generation than oceans.


“You wouldn’t have to deal with the corrosion or the extra cost to safeguard your hardware from corrosion if you’re sighted in a fresh water lake.”


Bailey adds designing against hurricanes makes ocean projects more expensive. On the flip side, Lake Erie’s been known to freeze.


“There are ways to deflect the ice from actually pushing too strongly against or lifting out a turbine foundation. Some of them have already been deployed already in offshore projects in Northern Europe, and some of them are located in locations where you might even get icebergs.”


Another concern is whether these turbines will ruin the natural beauty of America’s Coastlines, even though on the horizon a turbine might only look a big as a thumbnail. Walt Musel of the US Department of Energy says this worry is unfounded.


“It’s worth noting there are no projects in the United States, so most people who object to offshore wind have never seen one.”


Fifteen years ago, projects in Denmark faced the same prejudice. Today tourists rent boats to go see them.


Above all, perhaps the largest impediment to offshore wind power is its high cost. Installation in water is expected to be double the cost of on land construction. However, once farms are producing power, electricity companies are open to buying it.


Out on Lake Erie, Aaron Godwin is packing up his tools for the day. He says there is an up side to those high capital costs. He says in the future, turbines will be so large it’ll make more sense to manufacture the parts locally, giving America’s manufacturing industry a ray of hope.


“Energy is a guaranteed growth market. Wind power is the fastest growing energy sector in the entire world. Why would you not want to get involved in that guaranteed growth market? It just does not make sense.”


Godwin says if the US can clear these hurdles of public perception, engineering, and environmental impacts, he thinks the US economy might find a pleasant surprise: consistent, green energy, built and harnessed off the blue coasts of America.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

Related Links

Recycling Unused Medicine

Across the country, nursing homes destroy thousands of dollars in medicine at each facility every day. The medicine is still good. But destroying the drugs has been the traditional way to keep prescription medication out of the wrong hands. A new federal directive might encourage more nursing homes to recycle unused medicines for the use of the poor. The GLRC’s Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports:

Transcript

Across the country, nursing homes destroy thousands of dollars in
medicine at each facility every day. The medicine is still good. But
destroying the drugs has been the traditional way to keep prescription
medication out of the wrong hands. A new federal directive might
encourage more nursing homes to recycle unused medicines for the use
of the poor. The GLRC’s Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports:


In her nursing home room, Genevieve Barns gazes out the window. A
black rosary is draped over her lap. She’s 94 and an oxygen
concentrator, bubbles behind her to help her breathe. She says even this
late in life she’s still abiding by her mother’s lessons.


“It’s a matter of how we were raised, you never wasted anything.”


Barns was on a common medication called Mucinex, to keep her
throat clear, but her doctor took her off of it. Normally, her unused
Mucinex would be sent back to the pharmacy for destruction, but Barns’
nursing home contributes it to a so-called ‘drug repository.’ Barns says it
was a simple choice to give medicine she can’t use to needy seniors.


“Well, everything is so expensive, and when you waste… you’re just
squandering things that should be used by someone.”


Four years ago, Ohio became the first state to recycle sealed, unused
medicine to seniors in need. Ever since, its two drug repositories have
struggled to get more participation. The drugs can’t be redistributed until
there’s enough of any one drug to make a 30 day supply. Then it’s made
available to seniors who otherwise couldn’t afford it.


At Genevieve Barns’ nursing home, the administrator, Denise Day,
collects the drugs in a blue plastic tote…


“We don’t have a huge cliental in this building at this time, but the
amount of medications that get sent back is still quite incredible.”


The bin in Day’s office is filled with pills and bottles sealed in their
packaging. She says what’s here comes from patients covered by
Medicaid; unused medicines covered by Medicare or private insurance
must to go back to the pharmacy for incineration before patients can get
their refund. Day says still, about 2-thousand dollars worth a month,
from just 34 patients, are recycled by the group called Serving Our
Seniors.


Its director, Susan Daugherty, says if every nursing home in her county
donated from just half their patients, the results would be astounding.


“Honestly we could meet and probably exceed the need of older adults
who’ve needed access to drugs that are common to the aging
populations. It could do a whole lot of good with a whole lot of waste.”


The drugs in this region are taken to Buderer Pharmacy. It’s become the
local drug repository. In the backroom shelves of medication go all the
way to the ceiling.


Matt Buderer is the pharmacist. He says the drugs are checked for their
expiration dates and whether they’re eligible for donation.


“And then what we want to do is take these drugs and poke them out of
this thing into a bottle. Making sure that what goes on the bottle is the
lot and expiration date.”


Seniors who’ve signed a waiver and received a card from Serving Our
Seniors can then buy any medication for a flat fee of 7 dollars and 40
cents.


“You can dispense one tablet. You can dispense 15. You can dispense a
billion for $7.40.”


Ohio’s not the only state with a drug repository program. At least
nineteen other states have mimicked the idea. Some states have had
more success than others.


In North Carolina the Board of Pharmacy says it recycles 5 to 6 million
dollars of drugs paid by tax payers every year. That’s a lot more than
Ohio’s program.


Buderer says his state could be matching those numbers, if only there
were more participation.


“There’s good public knowledge out there that large quantities are picked
up daily and incinerated that could be used. So I’m sure that a large
institutional pharmacy knowing that… certainly isn’t saying ‘well, we
don’t care.'”


Buderer says liability is often the reason given for not participating in
the drug repositories. The state’s largest nursing home corporation and
wholesale pharmacy. Both declined to comment for this story.


But now, there might be a bigger incentive. In April, the federal government
announced it will hold nursing home facilities financially accountable for
medicines going unused by patients. The states can still redistribute medicines,
as long as documents show the federal government isn’t paying for the same item
twice, and this acknowledgement of waste with in the system, might just be the
national push drug repositories need to move into the mainstream.


For the GLRC, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

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Environmental Superheroes

  • Super Rachel confronts Chemical Man before they duel. (Photo courtesy of the Shakespeare in the Schools Program at the University of Pittsburgh)

Drama is a unique way to connect children with their textbooks. That’s why a play on the achievements of Rachel Carson might be coming to a classroom near you. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports on how the life of one prominent environmentalist is teaching students about
science:

Transcript

Drama is a unique way to connect children with their textbooks.
That’s why a play on the achievements of Rachel Carson might be coming to
classroom near you. The Great Lake Radio Consortium’s Lisa Ann Pinkerton
reports on how the life of one prominent environmentalist is teaching
students about science:


The office of Professor Buck Favorini is in a tall gothic tower. It was the inspiration for Gotham City in the first Batman movie. Inside his tower at the University of Pittsburgh, Professor Favorini has his own superhero story. His children’s play, Rachel Carson Saves the Day, is a science lesson in the language of children.


“We have used the sort of idiom of superheroes in the play, because it’s a way of teaching kids about science that they can understand simply by looking keenly at the world around them.”


Favorini says if Rachel Carson hadn’t been smart, bold, and risky, pesticides like DDT might still be in wide use. Some people honored her for her book Silent Spring. Others saw her as a reckless, unpredictable scientist threatening their chemical superhero.


“People made some of the worst chemicals in the world launched a very expensive campaign to undermine Rachel Carson’s scientific abilities partly based on the fact that she was a woman.”


Perched on a hill, overlooking another part of Pittsburgh, is Spring Hill Elementary.


LOUDSPEAKER: “Third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers, we’ll call you to the
assembly as soon as the staff sets up in the auditorium. Thanks.”


The staff is actor Elena Block and stage manager Josh Futrell. They hustle to assemble silver pipes of scaffolding and hang two white screens.


“There are two DVD players that do these great images that do these scenes from science and pictures of Rachel Carson. Sort of become this floating back drop.”


While Block is on stage as Rachel Carson, Futrell controls the images, music, and the voice of “Little Rachel’s” Mother.


FICTIONAL MOTHER: “Alice in Wonderland is your breakfast companion again.”


FICTIONAL RACHEL: “Oh Mama, I love this book, and so does Candy when I read it to her.”


(Sound of barking)


The play begins with Rachel as a young girl. She grows up quickly to become a marine biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Her scientific observations reveal chemicals like DDT are contaminating waterways and silently creeping up the food chain.


FICTIONAL RACHEL: “This is the bird. The bird that ate the clam, that ate the
plankton, that swam in the ocean, fed by the stream, that carried the
chemical Jack-”


CHILDREN: “Sprayed!”


(Sound of clock ticking)


FICTIONAL RACHEL: “I’m in the late afternoon of my life and I am so angry. The next book I right is going to make a lot of noise.”


(Sound of “Mighty Mouse” theme)


To write Silent Spring, the passionate scientist/writer rips away her dress
to reveal a green superhero suit. Quickly Super Rachel is attacked by a man who’s face is hidden behind a long
pointed gasmask.


(Sound of fighting)


The Chemical industry attacks Rachel for her ideas. Images of nature and chemical compounds flash on the screens behind them. Super Rachel uses cartwheels and karate chops to over power Chemical Man.


(Sound of hip hop battle)


CHEMICAL MAN: “The bugs are buggin’ me.”


FICTIONAL RACHEL: “The chemicals are killin’ me.”


CHEMICAL MAN: “We’re gonna hit ’em from the air.”


FICTIONAL RACHEL: “How can you not care?”


Super Rachel prevails and DDT is officially banned in 1972.


(Sound of applause)


After the play, it’s clear the students of Spring Hill Elementary were paying attention.


GIRL: “She was trying to think of better ways to kill the insects instead of just polluting them.”


BOY: “I think she thought it was really important about the environment, and I think that’s good, because most people don’t.”


Not everyone agrees with the conclusions of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring. Some scientists say Carson misrepresented existing 1950’s data on bird reproduction, and others say the very threat of malaria in developing countries should trump possible environmental threats of DDT. Actress Elena Block thinks despite these criticisms, Rachel Carson’s story has much to offer children.


“If they can sort of come away the idea with the idea that you can exact change being yourself from the place that you’re from. I think that’s pretty good, don’t you?”


Rachel Carson Saves the Day starts its second year of touring this fall, and perhaps it’s fun, multimedia look at environmental protection will inspire America’s next generation of intrepid scientists.


For the GLRC, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.

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