Hot Air
by Barbara Currier Bell
Barbara Currier Bell writes an environmental column for the Milford paper titled HOT AIR. Well written and useful we will be archiving the columns pertaining to recycling here on the ECC site so that they can be referred to easily.
Barbara is a member of the Connecticut Siting Council, which has jurisdiction over the siting of power facilities, transmission lines and various other forms of infrastructure including telecommunications sites, specifically evaluating their environmental impact.
She has written extensively on critical theory and modern poetry and has served as a consultant on women's education at both Vassar and Hampshire Colleges , and as assistant professor of English at Wesleyan University. She is a member of ECC and MEPI.
Recent Articles
Globalmania (4/25/08)
The world is getting crazy. Look at these news flashes.
1. Cyanobacteria are reproducing so fast and furiously that they’re covering the surface of many waterbodies, robbing fish and plants of dissolved oxygen and causing declines in aquatic life. Some of the bacteria poison humans.
...All of these news stories are about real recent events, except one. >>More
The Real DEP (4/4/08)
For all the complaining lobbyists do about environmental regulations, you'd think the state Department of Environmental Portection (DEP) had a lot of clout. But if it does, why are open spaces scares, beaches trashed, the air fouled? And if it doesn't, someone may be bluffing--but who? Environmentalists could benefit by acting tougher than they are. On the other hand, anti-environmentalists could gain by acting weak. Will the real DEP stand up? >>More
Water = Electricity (3/21/08)
Most lists of tips for saving electricity don’t begin with “Put a brick or two in the tank of your toilet.” But that trick does work—especially in Milford.
Water consumption is related to electricity consumption in a number of ways. One is that water must be moved around a lot—from capture to usage to treatment to release—and the prime movers are pumps with electric motors. Second, a lot of water must be heated. Water heating actually demands more electricity than lighting. For instance, a hot water faucet uses as much electricity in 5 minutes as a 60-watt bulb does in 14 hours. Third (the other side of the coin), power plants themselves use huge quantities of water to produce electricity: small amounts directly—for cooling—or much larger amounts indirectly—for drilling, mining, manufacturing, transporting or otherwise acquiring fuel. >>More
Habits of Mind (2/29/08)
The state of California is considering whether to mandate teaching global warming in schools. This is just the latest instance of a wider curricular movement sweeping the U.S., including Connecticut, called "environemtnal education." The number of textbooks in the field is overwhelming. Most of them, unfortunately, don't re-train our "common sense" or re-educate us about what we really need to know, which amounts to just a few essential habits of mind. This week, Hot Air mentions three unconventional books that belong at the top of any reaidng list for environmental education. >>More
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