In the midst of a national health care reform battle, a small drama unfolds in northeast Philadelphia. Last week, the Pennsylvania House held up $175 million in additional funding to Temple University. Representative John Taylor described the move as a “wake up call for Temple University” to live up to their responsibility to the public.
The communities of Port Richmond, Kensington, Fishtown, Bridesburg and Juniata coalesced last December amid rumors Temple University Health System (TUHS) planned to close down the busy, full-service Northeastern Hospital. Despite the effort of community members and local lawmakers, Temple refused to discuss their plans. In fact, they would not even confirm their intention until they announced in March they would close the hospital. They gave two months notice, which is the minimum required by the state. Temple did the minimum.
Back in March a coalition of local legislators – Representatives John Taylor and Mike O'Brien, and Senators Mike Stack and Larry Farnese - found some leverage in the House's authority to grant supplemental funding to Temple University; they said they would hold the funding up come budget time. Temple believed they were bluffing. They apparently figured that since the hospital would cease admissions in mid-May, and be completely empty by end of June, that lawmakers would not have a motivation at budget time to follow through. They were wrong.
Temple reacted to last week's news by threatening to pass the costs onto their students via a 45% tuition hike, despite a balance sheet showing robust cash reserves (http://www.temple.edu/budget/documents/boardandauxiliarybudgets.pdf). The move is intended to inflame the public and pressure politicians to back down.
Pennsylvania environment officials are investigating another natural gas well leak, after residents near the town of Roaring Branch complained last month that rust-colored water was flowing from a spring and two small creeks were bubbling with methane gas.
The incident is the latest in a string of more than 50 similar cases related to gas drilling in the state, and comes as ProPublica published an article last week reporting that such events were more frequent than officials said [1].
According to the Department of Environmental Protection, at least four homes in the rural north-central part of Lycoming County are now being supplied with drinking water and 18 are having their water tested or their homes monitored for gas while the investigation continues. At least one woman was temporarily evacuated from her home last week as a precaution, according to Robert Yowell, north-central regional director for the DEP's oil and gas bureau.
Officials suspect that a well casing on one of three natural gas wells drilled by East Resources failed, allowing the gas to migrate into the ground and the streams, according to Yowell and a statement e-mailed to ProPublica from DEP headquarters. The wells were drilled into the Oriskany geologic formation, not the Marcellus shale, where much of the state's new development is targeted. The department is analyzing water and gas samples and has promised to post the results on the DEP Web site by the end of the week.
The well casing [2] consists of several layers of steel pipe and concrete that surround a well structure and is intended to protect groundwater supplies from the gas and drilling fluids inside of the well. Unlike many other gas drilling states, Pennsylvania doesn't have regulations that require this concrete and casing be tested to confirm its strength.
East Resources referred questions to its general counsel who was not immediately available for comment.
The federal government released the much researched and anticipated report on global warming impacts, “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States” this week. The report, compiled by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was authorized under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, undertaken under the Bush administration, and rigorously reviewed by scientists as well as the public. The intent is to inform citizens and decision-makers at all levels of government, although it does not specifically recommend policy.
“This new report integrates the most up-to-date scientific findings into a comprehensive picture of the ongoing as well as expected future impacts of heat-trapping pollution on the climate experienced by Americans, region by region and sector by sector,” said John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in a statement. “It tells us why remedial action is needed sooner rather than later, as well as showing why that action must include both global emissions reductions to reduce the extent of climate change and local adaptation measures to reduce the damage from the changes that are no longer avoidable.”
The report investigates the current and anticipated effects of climate change in the US and breaks these down by region as well as business sector. Extreme weather, wildfire and water resource depletion are all effects of warming, which the report confirms is a result of human activity. If trends continue, the US is on track to emit more greenhouse gas than any previous report has considered.
Warming impacts of extreme heat, severe flooding and rising sea levels will continue, impacting agriculture, public health, and transportation sectors.
Loss of coastal areas due to rising sea levels and flooding.
Reduced availability of fresh water, especially in the West, will escalate tensions and demands on existing supplies.
Increased acidification of the oceans threatens coral reefs and their ecosystems, as well as important marine species.
Greater opportunity in some areas for insect damage and wildfires due to warming.
In the Northeast US, precipitation will continue to increase. There will be less snow, less snowpack, and earlier springs, therefore earlier spring river flooding. Less snowfall and a shorter winter season will hamper skiing and other seasonal enterprises. The growing season will increase but key crops such as blueberries and apples will migrate northward.Trees that contribute to fall colors will also migrate north. Heat stress on dairy cows will reduce milk production.
Sea level rises will outpace the global average in the Northeast. Combined with higher ocean temperatures, this will adversely effect the lobster and cod fisheries.
Urban areas with a few over 100 degree summer days currently are expected to experience an average of 20 days. Philadelphia is expected to average closer to 30 summer days over 100 degrees.
These impacts are occurring now and expected to magnify in the future. Although some effects are inevitable and cannot be stopped, understanding the outcome of a range of scenarios can help policy-makers balance mitigation and adaptation efforts.
“By comparing impacts that are projected to result from higher versus lower emissions of heat-trapping gasses, our report underscores the importance and real economic value of reducing those emissions,” said Tom Karl, director of NOAA's National Climactic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. in a statement. “It shows that the choices made now will have far-reaching consequences.”
Acting now to curb greenhouse gas emissions and particulate pollution will limit the extent of climate change impacts and help reduce the shock of rapid change on ecosystems and human health.
