Nuclear ‘renaissance’ or ‘retreat’? France is not the example

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   Column by Linda Gunter Submit guest columns: [email protected] It is perhaps no accident that the nuclear power industry chose a French word – “renaissance” – to promote its alleged comeback. Attached to this misapplied moniker are a series of fallacious suggestions that nuclear energy is “clean,” “safe” and even “renewable.” And, in keeping with…

Local officials back jobs program

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   Staff Report News tips: [email protected] As U.S. mayors gathered in Washington this week to meet with the Obama administration about unemployment and the economy, Virginia local government officials and community leaders are calling for the creation of a Community Jobs program. The jobs program would provide funding to localities across the country to create…

Tribute to fallen leaves – let them be!

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   Column by Shepherd Bliss Submit guest columns and letters: [email protected] First, some background: This November a City Council member in our small Northern California town of Sebastopol proposed a ban on leaf blowers, which the community and Council are currently discussing. Bans have been passed in many cities around the United States and proposed…

Raising the flag on Iwo, part two

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Waynesboro man spearheads effort to breathe life into Marine Corps War Memorial Story by Chris Graham [email protected] It started, appropriately enough, with Jim Donovan’s concern over the tattered flag flying over the Marine Corps War Memorial. The effort to restore glory to the Old Glory looking down at the scene harkening back to the historic…

Earth Talk | Wind power

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Dear EarthTalk: I don’t understand why many people oppose wind power just because they have to look at the turbines. If you ask me, wind turbines are much nicer-looking than coal-fired, waste-to-energy or nuclear power plants. – Michael Hart, via e-mail Whether it’s a wind farm, a coal-fired power plant, a nuclear reactor or even…

Earth Talk | Green cars for the rest of us

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Dear EarthTalk: Celebrities and billionaires are shelling out big bucks for cutting edge green-friendly cars like the Tesla Roadster. But what are the rest of us—who live in the budget-constrained real world—to do about buying a new car that does right by the environment? – M.G., Stroudsburg, Pa. With so many new energy efficient cars…

Kaine: 5,900 jobs created, saved through stimulus

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Gov. Timothy M. Kaine noted today that state agencies have reported more than 5,900 jobs created or saved from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds flowing through the State Treasury. To date, more than $5 billion in ARRA contracts, grants and loans have been awarded in Virginia, with more than half in the form of…

Press Gaggle | Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton

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Friday, Oct. 23 MR. BURTON: Good morning. Thank you for joining us on our trip to Massachusetts and Connecticut. I have a week ahead for you all. The President will spend this weekend in Washington, he has no scheduled public events. On Monday afternoon the President will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, to meet with U.S….

Earth Talk | How does geothermal work?

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: How are heating, cooling and electricity produced by geothermal energy? I don’t understand how it works. – Delano Stewart, Wyandanch, N.Y. The term “geothermal” is derived from the Greek words for Earth (geo) and heat (therme). In essence geothermal energy is power harnessed from the Earth itself. Heat from the Earth’s core, which…