Many people have heard the story of Moses in the Bible. He was the elderly gentleman who was chosen by God to lead the Exodus of the Hebrew people out of bondage from the Egyptians to freedom. He set up base at Mount Sinai and at that time received the Ten Commandments, which would become our spiritual values that have continued to form the core of a belief system for centuries to come. Many people know this part of the story but fail to realize the irony of God choosing Moses to do such a tremendous task in freeing the Israelites and disseminating such an important message. Most people don't know that Moses himself was a murderer who killed an Egyptian slave-master and then fled across the Red Sea to Midian, where he tended the flocks of a prominent priest. So yes, God chose a murderous man to preach the important message of "thou shall not kill" amongst other messages. How ironic!

Let's take a step back and look at this Moses scenario as if it were to take place during times of today. Perhaps the Israelites had found out through the 24-hour media news cycle that this prominent gentleman whom they thought God had sent to free them had committed unspeakable deeds in his past, including murder. Then this message became headline news, which caused the Israelites to call Moses a bad person, a hypocrite, and a slew of other things because there is no way (according to the local media) that this old, stuttering, murderous man could lead them to freedom. So that means no parting of the Red Sea story because the people would have been too discouraged to follow this "hypocrite." Of course, that also means that the message from God would have been ignored, with the people still remaining in bondage, but hey, at least they had the pleasure of remaining steadfast to their belief that those who commit sins can never again do good! (I hope you know I am being facetious.)

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Were you as stunned as I was to hear that Stephen Colbert was going to appear at a House Subcommittee Hearing to discuss his views on farm labor? I'm used to Willie Nelson speaking on behalf of farmers, but that seems to fit his image rather well. Colbert, on the other hand, seems like a guy whose free market politics would steer him clear of any sort of stumping for US agriculture. To listen to his commentary was to understand that he was there to draw attention to the need for basic rights and fair treatment of farm workers -- not to contemplate what kind of capitalist he is. And what better testament to the urgency, gravity, and complexity of our food challenges than to hear a white entertainer in a suit ask us to consider the people responsible for getting food to our tables?

The testimony from both Colbert and Arturo Rodriguez of the United Farm Workers reminds us that, really, we have no idea what we're eating, whose bottom line we're supporting, or what agenda we are inadvertently furthering with our food dollars. Just as I dispute the FDA's claim that genetically modified salmon is not materially different from non-GMO salmon, I contend that not every tomato -- or apple, carrot, or bean -- is equal. Quite the contrary, we try to simplify our markets by commoditizing food, but we have reached a period in which the slightest differentiating factor, from what kind of fertilizer was used on the field to the origin of the seed, can affect the price, market destination, and end use of a crop.

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Oh wait... we can choose to see them in 3D theaters or not? We don't HAVE to give him and 20th Century Fox our money if we don't want to? Oh... nevermind. Anyway, starting in winter 2012, Lucas will be releasing one Star Wars film per year into theaters with a 3D conversion, starting with The Phantom Menace and ending with Return of the Jedi in 2017. As usual, this is less about George Lucas's greed (he's already worth $3 billion, and he's pledged to give half his estate to charity upon his death) and more about him using his Star Wars films to play around with new technology, in this case perfecting the much-maligned art of 3D conversion. Finding time to see all six of them in a theater at one time would be a bit much, but revisiting them in 3D at one per year during the dead-zone of January/February is perfectly fine. First of all, it will have been 15 years since these things were in theaters in any form, so it's not like he's milking the cow every couple years (nearly 14 years after the Special Edition releases in 1997, Star Wars: Special Edition still has the second-biggest January opening in history). Second of all, and this is a biggie to those who accuse George Lucas of being purely out for financial gain, Lucas was among those who signed 'The Giving Pledge' amongst billionaires to give half their estates to charity. So a ticket for The Phantom Menace 3D is a partially charitable donation to whatever foundation Lucas bestows his billions (probably education-related). Of course, if you're one of those overgrown children who still has a temper-tantrum every time George Lucas mentions Star Wars, here's some free advice: don't see the 3D converted versions in theaters. See, feel better? Sometimes the simplest solution is the best.

Scott Mendelson

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This post is the latest in our series of coal ash community profiles. Our work on coal ash unfortunately becomes timely yet again, as news came out this week of a breach at a coal ash impoundment in North Carolina. This week's profile was written by Sierra Club Apprentice Andrea Sanchez.

There is nothing little about Little Blue Run Dam, the coal fly ash impoundment that reaches into both Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Coal ash is the toxic by-product of burning coal for electricity - the Little Blue Run ash impoundment belongs to the Bruce Mansfield Plant. This plant is FirstEnergy's largest coal-fired power plant, burning around seven million tons of coal annually.

At full capacity, the three plants that make up Bruce Mansfield complex produce four million gallons of coal slurry daily. This is where Little Blue comes in.


Seven miles of pipeline will bring you to a 1,694 acre disposal site known as Little Blue (see its eerie blue color in the above Google Maps satellite image). By the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) own admission, Little Blue is one of 49 sites around the country whose dam currently has a High Hazard Potential rating. This rating means that if the dam holding back Little Blue's toxic slurry - the largest earthen dam in the country - were to breach, it would result in probable loss of life, largely to communities across the river in Ohio.

In addition to the structural hazard, coal ash also contains toxic metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and selenium, to name a few, and so far EPA has not required special liners to ensure that coal ash does not contaminate nearby waterways.

Debbie Havens, of the West Virginia side of the impoundment, remembers the first time the energy company spoke to her about the expansion of the impoundment years ago. A man came to her home armed with a colorful brochure and said, "There will be swimming, boating, walking and bike trails, a place a family could spend time together."

She told him, "I'm sorry sir, but I have a hard time believing that."  That was the first and only time that anyone came to her door. Now large properties are being bought off left and right to make room for more coal ash waste at Little Blue.

For those living near unlined coal ash impoundments the risk of cancer can be as high as 1 in 50, which is 2,000 times higher than EPA's "acceptable cancer risk of 1 in 100,000." This statistic only takes into account the risk of cancer from arsenic exposure in drinking water.

When looking at the entire list of toxins contained in coal ash, the health risks are even worse. Havens' husband had his thyroid removed several years ago after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer and now Havens herself has a thyroid nodule which doctors are watching. Doctors also found three benign tumors doctors in her breast.

With no family history of thyroid problems, her endocrinologist has assessed that environmental exposure as the cause and told her, "You need to move or you will never survive this stuff."

In her community three men have already died from cancer this year. One thing is sure, she said, "Life is a lot different than that pretty brochure 36 years ago."

On the other side of the impoundment in Pennsylvania, Barb Reed and her son are living about a mile away from the site in Georgetown. Reed has lived in the area since 1978; her son is now living with her because he can no longer use his own water. His home is closer to the impoundment and after both FirstEnergy and the state Department of Environmental Protection found that the levels of arsenic in his water were exceeding the maximum EPA levels, he decided he had to leave his home.

"It's terribly upsetting because he can't even take showers or wash dishes, he's had to leave his home, and he's still paying a mortgage on it," said Reed. "They haven't even offered him a viable water supply because they claim it is not their fault."

If the risk of cancer, the potential for contaminated water, and the destroyed landscape isn't enough - there is also the smell of rotten eggs. "You can't breathe because of the smell. Your throat burns, your eyes burns, everyday we're surrounded by fly ash," said Havens.

Even from a mile away Reed is reluctant to use her water because of the smell of rotten eggs coming from the tap. While she used to garden in her own backyard, she now grows vegetables out of buckets with store-bought soil to avoid eating contaminated produce.

It is time for EPA and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to treat coal ash as the toxic waste that it is. Both of Reed and Havens have attended the EPA coal ash public hearings in their areas hoping to get the agency to enact federally enforceable standards that will treat coal not like household garbage - but as toxic waste.

"A banana peel is household waste, not fly ash," said Havens.

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