An open letter to all opponents of coal

By Colin Bennett

Coal is dirty. Everyone knows that. Saying otherwise is like saying that the Earth is flat; it’s just not true. The negative connotation that comes when people think about coal is practically part of our national psyche. Consider that the majority of children raised in the United States during the last century grew up being told that if they were bad, they would get a lump of coal for Christmas. Or, consider the images of a boy from 19th-Century America like Dick Van Dyke’s chimney sweep character in Mary Poppins, covered in soot, holding his broom. Even more people can probably picture a miner, face darkened with coal dust, sick, even dying, from black lung.

The point is that people already know that coal is dirty; thus, in the fight against mountaintop removal and the expansion of coal-fired power plants, we already have the advantage. But the coal industry and its supporters are feeling the heat; just a few short years ago, very few people were talking about coal. I certainly don’t remember seeing any advertisements about coal at all. Now, in face of looming climate legislation, they are spending vast sums of money spreading the lie of so-called "clean" coal. Unfortunately, though the deck is stacked against them, they are gaining ground. 

Take the 2008 presidential campaign, for instance:  both Senator John McCain and then Senator Barack Obama espoused "clean coal," while they crisscrossed the country. The reason for their language is obvious (albeit inconsequential). What is important is the fact that they got away with it. The coal industry, in a few short years, has successfully bamboozled much of the U.S. public into believing that "clean" coal is possible. President Obama even talked about “clean coal” his State of the Union address. Unfortunately, so many current anti-coal campaigns are perpetuating the problem; they are using the language of the coal lobby thereby legitimizing that position. The Coen Brothers television spot (put out by thisisreality.org) is cute but it ultimately just legitimizes the coal lobby’s claim. Quite frankly, I am disappointed. We are letting the coal industry frame the debate, thereby losing the high ground. 

We can still regain the upper hand and win the fight against coal. In order to do that we need to stop using the term, "clean coal," even when it is immediately followed or preceded by "there’s no such thing as." Simply saying, "clean coal," puts a wedge into people’s minds that clean coal could be a reality. 

Let me give you an example: Santa Claus. As soon as you hear, or in this case, read, the words "Santa Claus," an image of a jolly old man with a white beard and a red suit pops into your head. The same is true when you hear about the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy, or unicorns. Everyone knows that these things do not actually exist, yet, most people could describe, probably in vivid detail, what each of these mythical beings look like, all the while knowing they don’t exist. Of course, each of these examples are present, be it in children’s books, Hollywood movies, or embodied by a person in a red suit ringing a bell on a street corner in December. Even though "clean" coal fortunately doesn’t have quite the same status as Santa Claus, the coal industry’s goal is clearly to get the idea that coal can be clean into the minds of as many people as possible. 

Many people have undoubtedly seen the picture of the shiny black piece of coal with a power cord sticking out of it, accompanied by the caption "Clean coal means celebrating our energy independence 365 days a year." There’s nothing apparently dirty about that shiny black piece of coal. In fact, one could argue that the shiny black piece of coal looks downright clean. This is their attempt to create an image of ‘clean coal’ that people can reference in their minds when they hear the term "clean" coal; like Santa Claus and unicorns, although fantastical, ‘clean coal’ will exist if repeated enough. 

So here is my suggestion: stop validating the term "clean coal" with its use. Completely eliminate the term from everything you do. Coal is dirty. Period. Perpetuate that reality, not the myth of so-called "clean" coal. Reinforce the images that people already have of coal. We should spend our money and time showing people the images that will remind them about how dirty coal really is. Although I’m not in the advertising industry, I have a suggestion for a television commercial. It’s just a rough description but you should get the picture.

Start with historical shots that exemplify the fact that coal is dirty: begin with the miner and the boy covered in soot, show chimneys billowing black smoke circa 19th century Pittsburgh, and men shoveling coal into furnaces. The narrator (I’m thinking Dick Van Dyke) says "Coal is dirty. Since the time that humans first started burning coal, first for heat, then for transportation, and now for electricity, we have been polluting our atmosphere at an astronomical rate." With each example, a corresponding image should be presented, such as:  a coal stove, a steam engine, a coal-fired power plant, a city shrouded in smog. The narrator continues, "Now, with mountaintop removal, coal companies are destroying entire communities and ecosystems, making coal dirtier than ever, yet the coal companies are spending millions upon millions of dollars trying to trick you into thinking otherwise. Don’t believe the hype. Coal is dirty. Period." 

It might not be perfect but I definitely think it gets the point across: Coal is dirty. Repeat that message and repeat it often. The cards are stacked in our favor; if we play our hand correctly we can win this battle.

 















Mountaintop removal coal mining in southwest Virginia.

Mason Farmers Market: “Where Innovation Meets Tradition”

By Nya Jackson

Mason’s prospective students webpage proudly boasts that George Mason University is an institution “Where Innovation Meets Tradition”. As a student at Mason for three years I have found this statement to be true, which is why it’s saddening that the Mason’s Farmers Market has not returned and might not be returning next year either. Last fall, Smart Markets Inc., the premiere farmers' market in Northern Virginia, contracted with Mason to create the Mason Farmers' Market. It quickly became a popular alternative to Mason Dining as one of the few options available for students to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and other foods.

Mark Kraner, Assistant Vice President of University Life, has been working to ensure that the farmers' market returns to campus in the fall. Mr. Kraner says the reason Smart Markets did not return to campus this semester was due to “a few of the vendors that conflicted with the contract with Smart Markets”.

While it is important that all contracts are honored, the solution to the breach of contract is not to kick Smart Markets off campus but to create a better contract that allows the Mason Farmers' Market to become a welcomed tradition at Mason. According to Jean Janssen, founder of Smart Markets, “prepared food vendors are the attraction at campus markets because students want food that is already prepared, especially when many students don’t have kitchens in their dorms to prepare fresh, uncooked produce.”

The previous contract between Smart Markets and Mason last fall didn’t allow for vendors to cook food on site or serve foods that were offered for immediate consumption and current talks about not having prepared food vendors will result in a market that isn’t attractive to students or potential vendors. "Mason left a lot of vendors stranded without income when they kicked us off campus after the fall semester and many of them are not willing to come back unless we are confident we will be here year-round” says Ms. Janssen who is concerned about ensuring all of her vendors have a stable market to sell their produce.

According to Derek Luhowiak, part owner of LocalSixFortySeven, a street cart owned by him and his wife, who source all the ingredients locally and cook everything to order, the university receives approximately 15% of sales from Sodexo and “of course we could not compete with Sodexo”. Derek went on to say “I was under the impression that universities were a place of higher learning and free thinking, a place where ideas were created. Not anymore; it’s all business and money.”

Upset vendors aren’t the only frustrated group Mason has to deal with, students are upset as well. “If the market doesn't come back I will lose faith in the university's sense of responsibility towards its students" says Kyleigh Purks, creator of the 'Rescue the Mason Farmers' Market’ Facebook group.

The question becomes: What is a market worth? According to Janssen and her vendors the combined revenue from the three prepared food vendors in the market was in the neighborhood of $5200. That means that the most Mason lost to the market in the two months the market was on campus was 15% of $5200 or about $750 and that assumes that all of that $5200 would have otherwise been spent on university food services. It seems safe to say that $750 isn’t a tremendous loss, certainly not when you consider all of the tangible and intangible benefits of the market.

The market allows us to support our local economy. Normally only about 17 cents of every dollar that we spend at the grocery store goes to a farmer but with the farmers' market all of the money goes to the farmer. The Mason Farmers' Market allowed students, faculty, and staff to reduce their ecological footprint since locally-grown produce does not travel as far as food sold in grocery stores and served by Sodexo. The difference in mileage saves fossil fuels and puts Mason on the right track toward achieving climate neutrality, to which President Merten has committed the university by signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

While University Life wants the Masons Farmers' Market to return to campus next September and remain through the entire school year, it can’t happen with the contract they had with Smart Markets last fall. According to Ms. Janssen, “we need to have more control over who is in the market to make up for the losses we suffer in the winter months when the produce is no longer coming to market”.

If we stop thinking about how much money the University could be “losing” each week to the vendors we might begin to realize that the market does bring something to campus rather than take anything away. When will we see the value of the market and make the Mason Farmers Market another example of “Where Innovation Meets Tradition” to boast to prospective and current students alike?

Environmental Film Festival a Success

By Colin Bennett

On April 26, just a few days after the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, Mason celebrated, in part, with an environmental film festival. Thanks largely to the help of Campus Progress four films were screened and over two dozen people attended at least one of the movies, each showcasing salient environmental issues.

The day started with Earth Days a look "back to the dawn and development of the modern environmental movement—from its post-war rustlings in the 1950s and the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s incendiary bestseller Silent Spring, to the first wildly successful Earth Day celebration in 1970 and the subsequent firestorm of political action." 

Earth Days, was followed by the heartbreaking film, The Garden. This movie provided an "unflinching look at the struggle between these Latino urban farmers, the City of Los Angles and a powerful developer who wants to evict them to build warehouses."

The last two movies in the series examined mountaintop removal, a hugely destructive form of coal mining that is devastating entire communities throughout Appalachia from Tennessee to Maryland. Burning the Future, examined "the explosive conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia."  Deep Down: A Story From the Heart of Coal Country showcased one family's struggle as they were pressured by a coal company to sell their land so it could be destroyed for the coal underneath. Deep Down was screened through an arrangement with folks involved with making the film. Their goal is to get the movie in front of as many people as possible to showcase the devastation that is mountaintop removal.

According to Mason student Nya Jackson, "The movies really made me examine my own choices as they relate to the environment; from where my food comes from to how my electricity is produced, I'm now even more dedicated to making responsible decisions so I can do my part to protect the planet."

Another Mason student, Anthony Murray echoed Nya's sentiments, "These films did a great job of raising awareness about important environmental issues. I'm glad that so many students came out to see them; hopefully they will go back and spread the message to their friends."

Considering the success of this event, the Office of Sustainability, is planning on hosting more film screenings in the future. In the fall, they plan on hosting a series of films looking at different aspects of the climate crisis as part of their Climate Education and Outreach Campaign.

Once again, thanks goes out to Campus Progress for their help with this event. To learn more about the Office of Sustainability's effort to combat the climate crisis, please see their website at green.gmu.edu.

Coca-Cola has No Place at Mason

This piece was originally published on Connect2Mason on 4/27/2010 http://www.connect2mason.com/content/letter-editor-coca-cola-has-no-place-mason

By Jason Von Kundra

According to Killer Coke, a campaign against the Coca-Cola corporation, the company is guilty of a "gruesome cycle of murders, kidnapping, and torture," perpetrated mainly against union organizers in Columbia and other South American countries. In India, Coke has been accused of illegally siphoning from local ground water supplies, a practice Indian farmers say has caused severe droughts. What was a company like that doing at Mason's Earth Week celebration and why is Mason doing business with Coke in the first place?

The Coca-Cola corporation makes more than just soda. Powerade, Minute Maid, Dasani (bottled water), Gold Peak tea (served in Southside), Vitaminwater and even the supposedly eco-friendly Odwalla are all made by Coke. Coca-Cola also owns 40% of Honest Tea with the option to purchase the company outright in 2011. The point is, Coke is ubiquitous, everywhere you turn there are Coke products. In fact, at Mason, Coke products are just about the only beverages you can buy.

Fortunately, people across the world are taking action against the corporate behemoth. According to the India Resource Center, "the High Power Committee established by the state government of Kerala in India has recommended that Coca-Cola be held liable for [$ 48 million] for damages caused as a result of the company’s bottling operations in [India]."

Cokejustice.org, the website for the International Campaign to Hold Coca-Cola accountable, says that over 20colleges and universities in the U.S. and U.K. have stopped doing business with the company over the last several years. In Norway, students successfully campaigned last year to get rid of Coke on their campuses. The Foundation for Student Life in Oslo made the decision not to renew Coca-Cola's exclusive contract and applies to colleges and universities across Norway.

United Students Against Sweatshops report that, "Rutgers University, had a ten year contract with Coca-Cola that, among other things, let the company create specially designed Rutgers-themed vending machines and marketing materials. The university had received a million dollars a year in return from Coca-Cola. In May 2005 after a two year campaign around Coke's human rights abuses, Rutgers did not renew the contract and removed all Coke products from its campus." In addition to Rutgers, other schools that have removed Coke products from their campus includeBard College, Carleton College, Lake Forest College, Oberlin College, and Salem State College.

The cause of these boycotts is simple: the Coca-Cola corporation is an irresponsible company that is causing misery and suffering all over the world.

The case against Coke goes on-and-on. A simple internet search will return dozens of accusations of Coke's wrongdoing from the alleged murders in Columbia and ground water draining in India, to its use of high-fructose corn syrup and aggressive marketing to children. Knowing this, how can Mason continue an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola? It's time for Mason students to do the right thing and demand Mason to end its relationship with Coke once and for all.

Mason Wins $5000 for Environmental Protection Program

This article was originally published in Broadside, George Mason University's student newspaper on 4/26/10.

By Allison Rutledge

Just in time for Earth Day, Mason's Office of Sustainability received word that they had been awarded a $5000 grant for their Student Training for Environmental Protection program. For a week this summer college students from all over the U.S and Puerto Rico will be coming together at Prince William Forest to learn how to turn their passion for the environment into action. Colin Bennett, Outreach Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability and director of the program, submitted it to the Brighter Planet Project Fund competition at the beginning of April. The program had to compete against seven other environmental projects to see which one could receive the most votes during the 15 day voting period. Through the efforts of people across Mason reaching out to their friends and family to encourage them to vote, the resulting 2233 votes won the program $5,000 dollars. This money will help greatly with aiding the students that will require scholarships in order to attend. '

This year marks the second Student Training for Environmental Protection organized by the Office of Sustainability. According to Bennett, "This program teaches students how to become successful environmental advocates, students will leave this program with the skills and knowledge needed to lead strong and successful groups that will be able to run effective environmental campaigns on their campuses or in their communities." These skills will allow students to be part of the movement that solves climate change, environmental injustice, and economic failure.

Shelby Steinberg, senior Elementary Education major, is looking forward to the program even though she is graduating in May. "I have friends that went last year and they said it was one of the best experiences they had while at Mason. I know that they really enjoyed their time at, creating valuable relationships with other individuals of similar environmental interests and concerns. I know that the things I learn will be applicable to my future jobs and goals, as I plan on teaching the values of the environment to the students in my elementary classrooms."

In addition to the Brighter Planet grant, the Student Training for Environmental Protection is supported by the Environmental Action Group, the Mason Organic Garden Association, University Life, and Campus Progress. "We are greatly appreciative of all the people and organizations that have come together to help us make this program a reality," said Bennett. "With their help we will be able to train part of a new generation of environmental leaders. "

In addition to learning Bennett promises that students will meet awesome people, eat great food, participate in fun activities and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Participants from last year’s program have said it was one of the most empowering experiences of their life. Environmental Science and Policy graduate student Ashley Mott, a participant in last year's program said, "If I went in with any expectations, I definitely came out of it blown away because it far exceeded any expectations I had. I learned more in a week than I have in previous years of my life. The Student Training for Environmental protection was a truly incredible experience with incredible people."

For more information about the program, contact Colin Bennett at cbennet6@gmu.edu.