All tagged Environment

Environmental apocalypse

Environmental apocalypse

Rob Dreyfus
To The Editor

The United Nations report on the failure of advanced nations to enact meaningful reforms to “ameliorate” (forget about “arrest”—it’s too late for that) climate change, comes amidst news of catastrophic flooding in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sicily. These foreign events are generally ignored in our parochial U.S. news outlets. It’s bad out there! There are few things that individuals can do that make much impact. I will list what I think is do-able without one having to become a Greta Thunberg. Maybe you’ll adopt one of them.

Covanta fumes are not so easily fixed

Covanta fumes are not so easily fixed

Will Richan
Letters

Would that life were as simple as was suggested by the letter writer from Rutledge (March 19), regarding the toxic fumes from Covanta’s incinerator in Chester. Just use available technology, he says. Wonder why nobody has thought of that, in all the decades that the smoke coming out of that incinerator has been causing horrendous health problems.

Technology can help with toxic smoke

Technology can help with toxic smoke

Rich Conti
To The Editor

If the Covanta incinerator is shut down, the immediate effect would be to increase solid waste, not decrease it. There would be more trucks rumbling through Chester and speeding up and down the Blue Route, going to and from the landfills upstate. It seems to me that, if the problem is dirty air, then what you need to do is clean up the smokestack to remove the pollutants that are coming out.

Good decision by borough council on waste

Good decision by borough council on waste

Sue Edwards
To The Editor

On March 8, Swarthmore Borough Council made a decision that could dramatically change the way our community handles its waste. Resolution 2021-04 requests Delaware County Council to ensure that the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority not extend its contract with the Covanta waste incinerator in Chester.

A lifeline in the face of the climate crisis

A lifeline in the face of the climate crisis

Ann Sinclair & Francesa Richardson
To The Editor

We have grown up hearing the words “climate change,” learning about carbon emissions and greenhouse gases in our science classes, and watching the sea levels rise. We have also seen the effects of the climate crisis devastate communities around the world. Thousands of people, many in marginalized groups, have suffered and will continue to suffer from environmental injustice, pollution, and climate change. This is a reality now, not a future problem. There is no time to waste. As young people scared for our futures, the Green New Deal gives us hope.

Out of the mall, into the park

Out of the mall, into the park

Susan Kelly
To The Editor

When Ines Rodriguez approached me about planning a workday in Little Crum Creek Park on Black Friday, I thought, Well, that sounds like a wacky idea for this time of year, but why not? Let’s get people outside and away from the malls. Ines was inspired by REI Co-op’s annual #OptOutside campaign, when they close their doors on Black Friday and encourage their employees and members to enjoy the great outdoors instead of stores. Ines and I quickly created a Facebook event, posted on Nextdoor Swarthmore, and sent some information to The Swarthmorean. We were committed! But we were still unsure anyone would actually show up.

‘A sad fact of life’

‘A sad fact of life’

Jim Riviello
To The Editor

The idea we need to reduce carbon dioxide is a lie perpetuated by globalists who are looking to establish a one-world government. Government is best kept as local as possible to ensure the most freedom and liberty. We have seven billion people on this planet and the number is growing. Eventually, billions of humans will be wiped out by natural disasters caused by global warming. This is a sad fact of life. Get over it, you cannot save everyone. Live the best life you can and enjoy your time.

Climate change and cognitive bias

Climate change and cognitive bias

Ken Derow
To The Editor

While the signs of climate change are now emerging, too many people still see it as a vague, remote event that may or may not occur, not as a process that is currently underway. These people view the immense expense needed to combat the crisis only as an unnecessary cost, not as an investment to assure our future well-being.

Drowning in Plastic

Drowning in Plastic

Rob Dreyfus
To The Editor

I assume that most Swarthmorean readers are familiar with the problems caused by plastic pollution: the great Pacific garbage patch that is twice the size of Texas and growing; eight million tons of plastic being dumped into the ocean each year; Kamila Beach on the Big Island in Hawaii being abandoned by swimmers as volunteers pick up 15,000 pieces of trash on a weekend, 90% of it plastic. But I suspect few are aware that we ingest between 10,000 and 50,000 pieces of microplastic annually, some from the fish that we eat and some that we inhale, primarily from sources not yet fully identified. And that it accumulates in our bodies, with its bisphenols and other nasty chemicals.

Straws and the law

Susan Knight
To The Editor

I wanted to update you of the work my 4th grade students are doing to help our environment and to save marine animals’ lives. As reported in the April 5 issue of the Swarthmorean, these Wallingford Elementary students began an initiative to limit the damage single-use plastic straws are doing to our environment by reaching out to restaurants and encouraging them to distribute straws on a “request only” basis.

Mass extinction

Ken Derow
To The Editor

Scientists are warning us that the planet Earth is in the midst of a sixth great mass extinction. More than one million species are at risk of disappearing. Why does it matter? All life, including human life, is woven into the fabric of our world, inextricably interconnected in ways we might not even imagine or understand. Aside from the travesty of losing some incredible and beautiful creatures, they are an integral part of what makes our world so awesome.

Moving the Needle on Climate Change

Jayatri Das
To The Editor

Our climate is changing, and we need to take action now to adapt to these new conditions and reduce our contributions to future warming. It’s encouraging to see bold proposals like the Green New Deal under discussion by legislators at the federal level, while many of us try to lower our individual carbon footprint every day.

‘Tweaking’ Tree Survey

Lauren McKinney
To The Editor

I write regarding your article “If a Tree Survey Falls . . .” in the Feb. 15 issue. You say “However, council members were of different views about the desirability of the health assessment component.” We all support the survey’s health assessment; it’s risk assessment of street trees that we were debating. The title of the article and the expression “back to the drawing board” in the last paragraph imply some kind of major setback. Actually, it’s a fairly minor tweaking that should save the Borough money and potential liability.