Is our generation ready?

Well after my previous environmental ranting post, I am saddened to say that a "Dominion" Coal burning plant will be making its way into an area near to us. Although Wise Co. VA is in another state, the pollution this plant will emit will more than likely have an effect on the surrounding area. (Well that's an opinion, but Dominion Reps and Gov. officials say that it will be an innovative facility with a significant reduction in harmful emissions.)

I map quested it, and from Church Hill it's only 60ish miles to Wise. TVA's John Sevier Plant is in Rogersville, which is wonderful. Here we are surrounded by this lovely clean air, NOT. I so desperately wish I was smart enough to come up with a way for us to be less dependant on fossil fuels, but all I am really good at is just informing you about it....

So, being a part of the next generation of world leaders, workers, parents, and voters; I think its important for us all to keep our eyes on the future and that means keeping informed with what's going on today.

Celebrity news is great, but there are real issues being decided upon right now, especially in our nation's supreme court system. Within the past week or so they have voted to allow terrorists the same rights as American citizens. (Who would want to be a lawyer for a terrorist? Not me!)
They also decided that people convicted of rape can not be sentenced to the death penalty.

Weather you agree or disagree with the decisions currently being made by our Fed. Government is not my concern. I just want people to care about the issues and what it means for the future.

Okay. I have ranted enough...
Thanks for reading.

Mountaintop Removal Sucks!

Back in the winter I began writing for ETSU's: The East Tennessean. One of my first assignments was to go to a seminar on "Mountaintop Removal" being held on campus. I really had no expectations, just decided to take a pen and paper and see what developed. What I saw that night was heart wrenching. These communities throughout West Virginia, Virginia and KY are being directly affected by the HUGE, big money coal mining industry.

Strangely enough, it's not really "mining" anymore. They are basically just blowing up the mountains, rather than actually digging a hole in the side and "mining" like the past. I realize that this is less dangerous, although not to the people living there, but it is so damaging to residents and the environment.

It takes a lot less time and requires a lot less man power to blow up a mountain, rather than dig one out. (Even though they promise communities that moutaintop removal will provide jobs.)Someone is making "bank" with this operation...

**If you are interested in learning more of the basics to Mountaintop Removal I have a few links:

My story featured in the ET:

http://media.www.easttennessean.com/media/storage/paper203/news/2008/01/31/News/Road-Show.Brings.Strip.Mining.To.Etsu.Students-3181321.shtml

Info on Mountaintop Removal, and up-to-date news on legislation:

http://www.ilovemountains.org/

*What is particularly interesting about the Ilovemountains site is the interactive map tool. You can put in your zip code and it automatically tells the plant that supplies your power and what mines they purchase coal from.

In this area, our power is supplied by the John Sevier Plant in Hawkins County. The site gave me a map of the various mines that supply the plant. One particular plant in Rawl, West Virginia supplies a large amount of coal to this area. The site features a story about a family who is facing major health problems because of the sludge area behind their home. These sludge areas are the chemicals "left over" after the coal is gathered. Basically they put it back in the mountain that they just blew up and hope that it doesn't leak into the drinking water, which is exactly what it does. If you follow the link to Rawl, VA (which I will provide) there is a live map that shows the big bowl of black crap, with beautiful green mountains all around it. How could we ever permit such a thing to happen!?

Here's the link:http://www.ilovemountains.org/communities/c324?feature_id=11#

When I see this picture the environmentalist/hippie comes out in me and makes me really want to do something about it. I will admit that I am not as informed about the subject as I could be,but it is entirely unfair and we need to get our lawmakers to do something about it. I know that I am guilty of using electricity too, but we can't let those with deep pockets take away our mountains!

Please read and tell others about this horrible means of gathering our natural resources. As I do more research there will be more moutaintop removal info to come.

Pregnancy Pact?

I was surprised to hear of the alleged (isn't that word sooo over-used?) "Pregnancy Pact" between a large group of high school girls in Mass. I believe I heard that 17 students, ages 16 and UNDER had made a pact to become pregnant ASAP. I even heard that one of the girls was impregnated by a homeless man. (I'm not knocking the homeless. I know some homeless people, who are very kind.)

Do you think this is true? Or an excuse for the increased pregnancy rate @ the high school?

My Opinion: These girls apparently had too much time on their hands to read WAY too many "Ok" magazines filled with "Belly-bumped" celebrities. Someone responsible needs to get them in a sport, a club, or a job. Oh, wait it's too late to do that. They've got baby clothes to buy.

The "secret lives" us teenagers live, (I know, I've lived it and still do to a certain extent) makes things so much more complicated. We get to the stage where we think our parents are absolutely stupid and we decide to lie or not tell them what is going on in our lives. In turn, we end up doing something stupid. This "pregnancy pact" is a prime example.


What do you think about this?