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Comments submitted to the EPA concerning the permitting of the Pioneer Valley Energy Center

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 23, 2012 in Director's Notes, citizenship, consumerism, economy, energy sources, sustainability, technological determinism

Dear Agent Dahl, I am submitting these comments to you concerning the EPA’s permitting of the Pioneer Valley Energy Center. Because the air of the Pioneer Valley is very close to being over the allowable amount of ozone, I am displeased that the EPA is deferring to MA DEP’s permitting of the Energy Center. EPA [...]

How the EPA regulates particulate matter (PM), & how PMed is Springfield

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 11, 2012 in Director's Notes, How the Valley Works, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, economy, endosymbiosis, energy sources, sustainability, technological determinism, time

Today we’re investigating the Annual Air Quality Reports found on the MA DEP website for 2010, 2009 & 2008, looking at the data for fine particulate matter—the stuff that, combining w/other pollutants, makes smog. (Data charts are below.) We’ll look at PM 2.5: particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less. This stuff is bad for [...]

If Springfield’s air is already polluted, how can the EPA permit more new air pollution?

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 10, 2012 in Director's Notes, How the Valley Works, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, economy, endosymbiosis, energy sources, imagination, technological determinism, time

I can’t answer this question; but it is what I’m wondering. Look @ this chart, that graphs the amount of smog (also known as “PM 2.5″) Springfield enjoyed last year: Visualize a horizontal line @ 15 “um/g 3 LC”; b/c that’s where the blue line should be. Here’s the EPA’s legal definition of how much [...]

what “native” means

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 09, 2012 in Director's Notes, beauty, citizenship, ecology, economy, endosymbiosis, energy sources, evolution, imagination, religion, sustainability, technological determinism, time

What is it about “our” culture, the one we’re online and reading these words in, that makes it so hard for us to be “native”: “WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is banning new hard rock mining on more than a million acres near the Grand Canyon, an area known to be rich in high-grade [...]

Using EPA & MA DEP data & reports to understand our air quality

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 09, 2012 in Director's Notes, How the Valley Works, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, economy, energy sources, sustainability, technological determinism, time

This is post 3 of an investigation into the air quality of the Pioneer Valley of W. Massachusetts, in the context of the permitting process for the proposed Pioneer Valley Energy Center in Westfield. Though I am focusing tightly on this area, the sites I’ve used contain info about other areas, & w/a lil effort [...]

Consider: a new oil & natural gas burning electricity-generating plant in Westfield

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 08, 2012 in Director's Notes, How the Valley Works, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, economy, energy sources, sustainability, technological determinism, time

In the previous post, we learned that our air quality is “F.” Consider, then, that a new oil & natural gas burning electricity-generating plant is proposed for development in Westfield. And that the permitting-process is almost over! Have you heard about it? It’s called, by its proponents, the Pioneer Valley Energy Center. Having heard absolutely [...]

Do you know what your air quality is? (Hint: “F”)

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 07, 2012 in Director's Notes, How the Valley Works, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, economy, imagination, sustainability, technological determinism

The most basic fact, and grounding premise, of biocitizen is that there is no such thing as “environment” because we cannot separate our bodies from air and water. What the EPA calls the “environment” is actually our body, the “long body.” This is a scientific fact, not some new age theory. Right now, your body [...]

Food plants that grow like weeds: all of ‘em!!!

By Kurt Heidinger on Jan 02, 2012 in Director's Notes, beauty, bees, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, ecology, economy, endosymbiosis, food weeds, imagination, locavore, permaculture, sustainability, time

Been so hollydazed lately I’m determined, right now, to link you to every food weed I’ve not yet mentioned in the past two months. It’s time to order seeds!! and when we’ve ordered ‘em, we won’t have to think about food weeds anymore…until spring. We’ve looked @ mustards, tatsoi, wineberries, black walnuts, arugula, shallots, tomatillos, [...]

Biocitizen interviewed by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

By Kurt Heidinger on Dec 29, 2011 in Director's Notes, GMO, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, economy, endosymbiosis, evolution, sustainability, technological determinism, time

Click here & listen to our lively discussion of how Monsanto’s patented “Round-up Ready” “Terminator” food corn seeds are breeding a new sub-species of corn rootworm that is resistant to “Cry3Bb1.” Here’s an academic report and a news report about our new neighbors, the BT resistant corn rootworm. (If Monsanto owns the patent on the [...]

Report: Obama “changed more than 80%” of EPA rules for the worse

By Kurt Heidinger on Nov 29, 2011 in Director's Notes, citizenship, consumerism, ecology, economy, evolution, sustainability, time

If you’ve been following the news, you know that global warming is no longer considered a hoax. Even if you haven’t been following the news, you can’t help but notice that our trees are being splintered by vicious and bizarre weather: the Halloween blizzard, the August hurricane, the June tornadoes, the weeks of rain followed [...]

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