‘Inconvenient Truth’ in Bloomington

Since the 2006 release of former Vice President Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” environmental awareness has become an increasing concern in American society. \nOn May 23, environmental activist and journalist John Blair presented “Indiana’s Inconvenient Truth” to an audience at the Monroe Country Public Library. The presentation focused on Indiana’s contribution to global warming, specifically through the state’s dependence on coal for energy production.\nAccording to Blair’s statistics, the Ohio River Valley, which includes parts of southern and central Indiana, has the most coal-fired power plants in the world. Of the surrounding states that make up this region, Indiana is the leader in carbon dioxide emissions, with 24 coal-fired power plants throughout the state, according to the Clean Air Task Force Web site.\nBlair also revealed that Indiana ranks anywhere from first to third in sulfur dioxide emissions, and fourth in contamination from mercury.\nPart of the problem is the concept of “clean coal.” “There’s no such thing as ‘clean coal,’” said Blair. “Clean coal is an oxymoron and it’s probably going to take us to our graves if we don’t stand up and say ‘bullshit.’”\nIn 1981, Blair helped co-found Valley Watch Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to “protecting the public health and environment of the lower Ohio River Valley.” \nOver the past 25 years, Valley Watch has succeeded in “stopping three heavily subsidized synthetic fuel plants, three hazardous waste incinerators, several coal-fired power plants, a nuclear waste site and a nuclear plant,” according to the Web site.\nThe corporation’s brochure also cites Indiana as being second in the release of cancer-causing chemicals, emitting “more than three times the amount of cancer-causing chemicals than the entire state of California.” \nAmong other coal-related concerns is its impact on Indiana’s water supply. According to Valley Watch, all of Indiana’s streams and lakes are under “fish consumption advisories,” which caution children and women of child-bearing age against consuming Indiana-caught fish due to high levels of mercury, a naturally occurring element that can pose health hazards to humans and animals. When coal is burned, mercury is released into the surrounding environment.\nAccording to the Environmental Protection Agency, mercury exposure at high levels “can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune system of people of all ages.” \nContributing to the problem is Indiana’s failure to address the issue of light pollution. Light from objects such as street lamps, parking lot lights and gas stations cast light skyward, causing the light to “pollute” the natural darkness that exists in the night sky. In concentrated areas, this pollution can cause “sky glow” or “glare,” which blocks visibility of the sky in surrounding areas and is a common occurrence in large cities.\nMany lights. such as those used in parking lots and gas stations, often use extremely bright, high-energy lights, which waste more energy than traditional light bulbs and exacerbate the light pollution problem.\nBlair noted that a possible substitute for coal-fired power plants is windmill farms, which he said have the capacity to produce 40,000 megawatts of power and do not emit pollutants into the air or water supply. He also encouraged a switch from incandescent light bulbs to fluorescent lighting, which uses 75 percent less energy than traditional bulbs.