The Trouble with Coal Mining

As a nation, we love coal. Over 50% of our electricity comes from coal, and it's a natural resource that we have lots of. It's an abundant energy source right here in our own country. Each time we flip the light switch, turn on the TV, or warm up dinner in our microwaves, we should be grateful for coal.

But it's not all happiness and lights. The trouble starts from the very beginning, when you have to get the coal out of the ground. Traditionally, we have engaged in underground coal mining and strip mining. But more recently, we've moved to mountaintop removal mining. The name is just as it implies. The top of the mountain - up to about 400 feet of it - is blown off, exposing the seams of coal, which are then extracted and hauled away. The benefit of this method is that it's cheap. And theoretically, cheaper extraction means cheaper power for us consumers. Compared to digging deeply into the mountain, structurally supporting the tunnels, sending people in to dig out the coal, and then hauling it out of the mountain, it's pretty easy to blow off the top of the mountain. It also takes many fewer people to accomplish, which is not only cheaper, but puts fewer lives at risk.

But what a toll it takes! The video clip below shows the scope of it - sort of. I filmed it from an intact mountain (hence the trees in the foreground) overlooking an area that has been mined and is no longer active. Note how far there are no trees, and how much lower the ground is in the mined areas. And this mine actually goes quite a bit farther to the right than the video shows. It was sobering to see.

Here are a few of the problems with mountaintop removal as a means of extracting coal: the explosions to remove the mountain are enormous, rattling everything and causing structural damage to homes and buildings. It also takes a while to blow up that much mountain, and over time the ongoing explosions rattle nerves as well as structures. They fill the air with dust, creating air pollution that people and animals breathe, and that coats everything. Then there's all the earth that is displaced that isn't coal. Where to put it? Much of it gets dumped into nearby valleys. The environmental impact of it all is enormous. Flora and fauna have been blown up, animals flee, and earth is exposed which causes erosion. Ecosystems are disrupted both in the direct path of the mining and also under the discarded rubble. Waterways are polluted. Toxic minerals and metals are exposed. And it takes decades for the landscape to recover. And these are just some of the problems with the extraction process. It doesn't begin to take into account things like the CO2 emissions from burning coal, or the health care costs of people who live in the region.

On the flip side, the nation's demand for electricity continues to grow. As long as we keep asking for power, companies will seek ways to supply it. And we aren't exactly docile if our lights don't turn on when we want them to. What's more, coal is one of two major industries in West Virginia. Mining provides much needed jobs (though not as many as it used to), and a tax base that supports education, hospitals, and infrastructure. We met State Senator John Unger, who explained that without coal mining, there would be a serious shortage of tax funding for necessary services. As a result, the legislature and government give mining companies the benefit of the doubt. Indeed, we heard the ambivalence of citizens, who live with the trade-offs between employment and environment every day. Senator Unger commented that it often feels as though it's a choice between economic justice and environmental justice. What impossible choices to make.

-Nancy Michaelis

AMEXTRA Responds to Swine Flu

Jennifer Allen works with our Mexican partner, AMEXTRA, and sent me this update on conditions in her adopted country:

First and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude for the concerns, prayers and support of so many people who have shown solidarity with Mexico right now. We are indeed in the middle of a difficult situation due to the swine flu. As of noon on Monday, April 27th, 2000 cases had been confirmed and 150 associated deaths. Although deaths have only been reported in Mexico, the virus is being reported in the USA and is suspected in other parts of the world.
The Mexican government is taking the following measures: cancellation of public events, closing of all schools in the country until May 6th, mass communications of the symptoms and preventative measures (constantly wash hands, do not greet others with a hand shake or kiss on the cheek, disinfect food, dishes and doorknobs), distribution of face masks, quick diagnosis and medical attention for suspected cases and isolation of the sick. Society in general is voluntarily choosing to go outside as little as possible to avoid being infected which most commonly occurs through coughs and sneezes.
In Amextra we have taken the following preventative measures: Reduce schedules to include only indispensable meetings in order to reduce exposure to contagions for program participants and staff. Work to promote preventative measures in the communities where we work. Pray for the situation.
We are already hearing reports of the illness in our communities, although details are yet to be confirmed. The distribution of face masks on behalf of the authorities is not sufficient and does not reach the communities where Amextra works. The marginalized families who we work with have low incomes which affect their diet. They need need vitamin supplements to strengthen their immune systems, as well as hygienic materials (soap and bleach) which for the same economic limitations they cannot purchase.
As a preventative response in our communities which are at high risk, Amextra is beginning initial efforts to distribute face masks which we hope to combine with packages of Vitamin C, soap, and bleach in order to support the recommended hygiene standards for families.
Our goal for this first support phase is to provide 3,000 people with personal sets of: 2 face masks, 1 bar of soap, 1 bottle of bleach and 1 box of vitamin C, each package will cost only $5 USD.

AMEXTRA is an association that works in urban and rural areas to transform life for the poorest of the poor. ELCA World Hunger supports this ministry with an annual grant of $60,000. You can find information about giving to ELCA World Hunger Appeal at http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Responding-to-the-World/ELCA-World-Hunger/Give-Now.aspx

Peace
Pastor Rodger

Thirsty, anyone?

I was thirsty last night, so I grabbed a cup, went to the sink, and filled it with water. Then I paused. Should I drink it? Was it safe? I wasn't sure what to do. I was afraid of the water.

I've spent the week in West Virginia, where I and my colleagues have been learning about the coal mining industry. It's a major industry in West Virginia, providing jobs and a tax base, and much of the electricity we all enjoy - and demand. But coal mining has some pretty dark sides. One of the things I learned is that the water near the mines and downstream of them is polluted with heavy metals and chemicals. The processes of displacing earth and cleaning coal produce byproducts that flush into the mountain waterways. Many of the people who drink well water in affected hollows have rotten teeth and tremendous dental bills because the contents of the water eat the enamel on their teeth, leaving them unprotected from the bacterias that cause decay. We met a woman who has $10,000 worth of crowns, and heard about a young man who had full dentures at age 16 because his real teeth had all rotted from the water. Brushing your teeth is perhaps more dangerous than not.

And teeth are just the body's first point of contact with this polluted water. The metals, minerals, and chemicals cause further havoc once ingested. Apparently, the majority of people in some areas have had their gall bladders removed, and cancers are widespread. We met a woman named Maria who said she had once been asked if she knew anyone who died of cancer. She got some paper and filled 12 pages with names. Maria is also one of the people who has had her gall bladder removed, and she has returned to drinking soft drinks because they are healthier than the water.

As my colleague Aaron Cooper pointed out, we know the statistic that one is six people in the world lack access to safe drinking water. It's startling to realize how many of them live right here in the USA.

-Nancy Michaelis

Conflict and violence

Remember that old bumper sticker, “War is not healthy for children and other living things?” Conflict and violence damage lives along with the systems that sustain them—the farms, markets, wells, schools and hospitals we depend on every day.

This week in Nairobi, Kenya, 200 youth are participating in an ecumenical peace summit. Their goal is to learn and practice peace building in response to the post-election violence that occurred in Kenya in 2007 and early 2008. The 200 youth include Muslims, Methodists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Catholics and Lutherans from across Kenya as well as Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, United States, and South Africa.
The event’s sponsors are the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A generous grant from ELCA World Hunger is making the whole thing possible. You can follow the activities, view the slide shows, and check out a daily newsletter at http://peacesummit2009.wordpress.com

Give the blog a look, and be proud that Lutheran churches are equipping people for peacemaking!

Anne Basye

Costa Rica is giving me hope

I highly recommend reading Thomas Friedman's April 11th Op-Ed column in the New York Times. The ELCA World Hunger staff has been talking a lot about climate change recently, and the disproportionate impact it has on those living in poverty. It's not particularly encouraging.

So what fun to read Friedman's article! I have to admit, I don't know much about Costa Rica's governmental structures or energy usage, which is a shame. Because as Friedman describes it, they are both innovative and hopeful. Apparently "it did something no country has ever done: It put energy, environment, mines and water all under one minister." As a result, environmental, energy, and economic considerations have more balanced influence in policy decisions. And the result of that is that Costa Rica now gets some 95% of their energy from renewable sources and has reversed its deforestation. From what I can tell from a very quick check, they've also managed to do it while maintaining a reasonably stable economy.

Certainly Costa Rica's opportunities and challenges are different than, say, the United States. But how hopeful to be given such an example!

-Nancy Michaelis

Lessons Learned

My Lenten fast from meat ended on Saturday night with the Easter Vigil (Alleluia!). It is one of the only Lenten disciplines I can remember that ended with a strong sense of relief. Relief because I did not have to think so hard any more about what to eat. Relief because my wife and son and I could now eat the same meals for dinner. Relief because I could finish all my son's uneaten scraps.

When I began the journey, I hoped to use the fast to be in solidarity with those who never get to eat meat and to learn how I could eat less meat. I think that both of these happened to a certain extent.

In general, I found that I was hungry more often (carbs and greens don't burn as long) and therefore ate more frequently (even breakfast!). I was pretty intentional to offer prayers for those who are truly hungry when I felt mild tinges of hunger.

As to finding new ways to eat less meat, echoing what Nancy wrote earlier, I was struck by how difficult it is in our culture to avoid meat. It was particularly hard when I was traveling--my usual meal was some form of a salad or pasta with red sauce. I also wasted so much more food--veggies just don't keep as long as meat.

But I think the biggest lesson for me was how privileged I am. When I was hungry, I would eat more. When I bought the wrong veggie, I could buy a different one. When my veggies went bad in the fridge, I would toss them out and go to the store. Even that I could at the end of forty days (+ Sundays) I could simply choose to eat something else. And I felt relief that I could just move on. In this way, instead of feeling a sense of solidarity with those who are hungry, I realized my great distance from them. I realized that I still have much to learn about walking with people who are poor and vulnerable.

I would love to hear from you about your experiences this Lent. Feel free to comment or email me directly (david.creech@elca.org).

David Creech

It's a Living

I happened to have the news on yesterday as I was fixing lunch, and they were talking about the pirates off the coast of Somalia who attacked a U.S.-flagged ship, the Maersk Alabama. My young daughter caught the word "pirates" and asked, "Are there really pirates?" I said yes, and she, being a typical child, asked why. The question gave me pause.

In thinking about how to respond, it occurred to me that piracy is an excellent example of the causes and results of hunger. Why are there pirates? Why were 122 ships attacked near Somalia last year? Because there's been no functioning government in Somalia in something like 18 years. With no government, there's been no rule of law and pretty much no economy. There has been plenty of civil war, weapons, and corruption. With no means or incentive for things like infrastructure maintenance, business development, foreign investment, or large-scale food production, poverty is rampant. DallasNews.com reports that some 25% of children die before age 5 and life expectancy is 46. And a generation has now grown up knowing nothing else.

Enter piracy. Lots of ships float by every day, and they present a huge opportunity. Some entrepreneurial folks have determined that ransom is more profitable than the treasure-stealing, "yo-ho-ho" pirate image my daughter has in mind. Apparently kidnapping one good ship can be worth up to $1.5 million. According to the BBC, piracy also creates a local economy. You need pirates to make the initial attacks, more pirates to guard the captured hostages, and even back-up pirates on land in case anything goes wrong on captured ships or at sea. Even local restaurants have joined the industry, making food for the hostages. Plus, once the pirates get paid, they build houses, buy cars and laptops, go out to eat, and otherwise create a market for goods and services that wasn't there before. An average Somalian citizen considering his options might well see the advantage of an entry-level job in piracy. It's wrong, but it beats living on a dollar a day with no prospects.

War, corruption, ineffective government, lack of jobs/opportunity, poverty. All related and all causes of hunger and piracy. Now how to sum that up for my daughter...

-Nancy Michaelis

A Maundy Thursday devotion

Last November I had the privilege of visiting projects that gifts to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal help make possible in Malawi. In the village of Kambuzi I saw integrated and sustainable development at its best: animal projects (chickens, pigs, goats), seed banks, and a bore-hole wells. After the end-of-visit speeches, the visitors (three of us from the ELCA and six from the Evangelical Lutheran Church Malawi) were invited into a one-room home. Lunch is ready: a steaming bowl of cornmeal along with a chicken-based sauce.

We begin with hand washing. As a bowl is held under our hands, a cup of water is poured over them. We are quiet as ELCM staff members begin to move around the room washing hands. This ritual strikes us as holy, sacred. We think of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. I expect to remember this experience every year I attend a Maundy Thursday service.

Later we learn that hand washing is traditionally done by a woman, on her knees. As she washes hands, she is supposed to keep her head lower than the head of any man or guest in the room. When ELCM staff people, both men and women, took their turn washing hands, they demonstrated an unexpected, even radical, act of servant leadership. Thinking back on it, a favorite hymn keeps coming to mind: “Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you? Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 659).

Sue Edison-Swift

Find photos from the visit at www.imageevent.com/malawi. Sue-s is associate director for Global Mission Support.

Reflections in a spoon

Its all about the story. A simple statement and my mantra for many years. The stories that we all carry about hunger, when told, help others see the reality of world. I was reading the latest issue of Christian Century (April 7) and came upon a beautiful poem by Beth Copeland.

Reflections in a spoon
Hunger is a bowl of reflected light,
a concave mirror of flight,
an image reversed,
the breech birth
of an angel floating from Earth
feet first.

I wondered what the story was behind this work and I contacted Ms. Copeland. Here is her response:
Well, I was intrigued by the way reflections are upside down on the convex side of a spoon. Also, I was thinking of the many hungry people in the world and those who die of starvation. I spent a year in India when I was in seventh grade (1963-1964), where I saw many starving people. There were so many hungry people that we couldn't help all of them, which tore at my heartstrings, but we did help one family. A baby (the child of servants who lived next door to us) was slowly dying of starvation because his mother could not breastfeed him. The baby's name was Ramji and his sister, who was probably 7 or 8 years old, brought him to our yard one day. We fed the little girl and my mother bought formula for Ramji and showed his mother how to prepare it for him. I used to hold him and feed him his bottle while his sister played with my younger sister. Ramji gained weight and was able to sit up before we had to leave India to return to the United States. Before we left, my mother gave his mother a supply of formula. I have often wondered what happened to him and to his sister. I like to believe that they are still alive, but I doubt it. We were told that Ramji was 10 months old when we met him, but he couldn't hold up his head or sit up until after we started feeding him. I believe he is an angel.

The Maundy Thursday epistle text, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, is the story of Paul addressing a division in the church, some had food others didn't. He reminds the reader that the gifts were for all and puncuates the message with the common Eucharistic prayer.
Have a Blessed Easter.
Rodger

p.s.
Copeland says:
My poetry book Traveling Through Glass was published by Bright Hill Press in 1999. At that time I was publishing under my married name, Beth Copeland Vargo. Ramji's story is told in a poem in the book called "Nine Months in Benares." The book is available on Amazon.com.I hope to have my second poetry collection published within a year or so. In addition to "Reflections in a Spoon," it will include a poem about the exploitation of children in the silk industry in India, as well as some poems inspired by my childhood as a missionary kid in Japan and India

Individual choice, or system?

Hello from your new blogger: Anne Basye, who wrote the hunger resource Sustaining Simplicity: A Journal.

I wrote this book in 2005 and 2006, and it came out in 2007. Those of you who have read it or used it in study groups know that it shared one person’s story of living life simply in hopes of prompting more ELCA members to start reflecting on their lifestyles. (And boy, does this blog look at lifestyle! Thank you, Hunger colleagues.)

Since then, Al Gore’s movie has brought global warming into everyday life, and the economy has gone haywire. If global warming and the economy were on everyone’s minds, I started to wonder, why wasn’t everybody moving towards simple living? I got impatient and crabby—at home, in my congregation, and especially at work, where we were taking the first frustrating steps towards figuring out how to be a little greener.

During my crabby phase I realized something that relates to Nancy’s last post about the challenge of selecting the “best” product when your criteria include justice and the environment. Living an intentional life requires systems. I may not have a car, but I don’t wake up every morning wondering how to get to work, because I’ve set up a system of alternative transportation that includes a bike, public transit, car sharing, and friends with cars. Living within that system, I can be confident that I’ll get where I need to go with a pretty small carbon footprint (and no car payment, insurance, or gas!)

But in general, trying to make choices that are easier on the earth, lighter on the pocketbook, and less demeaning of others takes a lot of time, because there’s no system. Every choice is individual. How much easier it would be if we could be reasonably sure that the energy we used, the goods we purchased or made to feed, clothe and shelter one another, and the vehicles we chose to move around the world in all fell within green, just parameters!

Perhaps naively, I’ve always believed that the choices I make widen the path for others seeking lifestyle alternatives. Now, how can we work together to transform the tedious “this product yes, that product no” of individual choice into something that changes the whole system we live in?

That’s what I’ll be blogging about in the weeks to come. See you soon!

Anne Basye

At long last!

One of my ongoing frustrations in trying to be a better consumer is that it's pretty much impossible to judge what the best choice is without spending hours of research on every little purchase. I've blogged about this before. Try this: pick up something around you right now. Anything. What is it made out of? Where did the component parts come from? What inputs went into manufacturing it? Does it contain any chemicals? How were the people who made the item treated? What is required to maintain the item, and what are the impacts of that maintenance? The questions are endless and unanswerable, and apply to nearly everything. So we do the best we can with the information we have and hope for the best. Or we quit trying and just buy whatever we want.

Enter Good Guide! Imagine my delight when I read on their web site,

"GoodGuide strives to provide the world's largest and most reliable source of
information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of products and
companies. GoodGuide's mission is to help you find safe, healthy, and green
products that are better for you and the planet. From our origins as a UC
Berkeley research project, GoodGuide has developed into a totally independent
"For-Benefit" company. We are committed to providing the information you need to
make better decisions, and to ultimately shifting the balance of information and
power in the marketplace."

It's a new organization. Apparently they're aggregating all of this data and summing it up into product ratings. They seem to be working hard to ensure their data sources and evaluating teams are credible, and they're considering not just health, or environmental, or social impacts, but all of them. Exactly what I need! My own extensive research is not practical, but looking stuff up on a web site is. This one has a long way to go; there are lots of products in the world in need of ratings. But it's a start, and I'm sure glad to see it.

-Nancy Michaelis