A Report From PBCEC's Environmental Summer Summit

On July 5, 2009 the PBCEC hosted its first ever Environmental Summer Summit. We chose July 5, 2009, the day after Independence Day, to call attention to the need for energy independence from fossil fuels and foreign governments. This dependence on foreign oil is a major cause of global warming, and compromises our ability to stand up to regimes that support terrorism, many of whom possess the oil we so slavishly depend upon to fuel our economy and our greed. To view WPTV News Channel 5's Report, follow this link: http://www.wptv.com/default.aspx?articleID=13365

Unfortunately, Palm Beach County and the State of Florida have decided to ignore all such concerns and take us down a deadly path of further reliance upon fossil fuels with their decision to construct and operate the West County Energy Center in western Palm Beach County. This plant will spew over 12.5 million tons of greenhouse gases per year into an already threatened atmosphere, consume approximately 6.5 billion tons of water per year and discharge its contaminated water into our aquifer with unknown and scary consequences, and will emit many toxins and pollutants in and around the Everglades, the Corbett, and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

In addition to Global Warming, we confronted other “burning” issues that have been heating up over the summer. We heard from Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, student activists, animal rights groups, vendors of solar heating products, and others who shared with us their list of priorities for the summer.

My sincere thanks are extended to all who braved the heat and the mosquitoes, and my special kudos go to Danny Bicknell for his tireless and outstanding efforts in putting together this Environmental Summit, as well as to Lauren Graham for her talent and creativity in designing the new Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition T-Shirts.

T-shirts are available at cost for $5 by calling Barry Silver at (561) 483-6900 or e-mailing him at barryboca@aol.com. You can also obtain a T-Shirt at our next monthly meeting which will take place on September 14, 2009 (the first Monday of September is Labor Day) at 7:00 p.m. at the Quaker House in Lake Worth, address 822 North A Street. If you have news to report or would like more information about the PBCEC, please contact the Environmental Coalition at (561) 588-9666 or pbcenvirocoalition@gmail.com.

Looking forward to seeing you at the meeting!
-Barry Silver