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MOV Climate Corner: The economics of climate change

Climate change and economic growth are often thought of as opposing forces, but there is growing evidence that ambitious climate action can not only protect the environment but also be a powerful engine for jobs, investment, innovation, and overall economic resilience. In West Virginia, where energy, coal, and natural resources have long defined the economy, state legislators are beginning to respond – though with a mix of ambition, caution, and areas still to be filled in. Below is an exploration of how climate action supports economic growth. Moving toward renewable energy sources ...

The Ohio River has evolved into a series of lakes

Think about the Ohio River and you are likely to think about the wide body of water flowing gently past Marietta, Belpre and Parkersburg as giant barges move materials up and down the river and boaters dart about on the Ohio and up the numerous tributaries. Adequate water in the Ohio ...

Prohibition – ratified and repealed

Born from the temperance movement’s efforts to address social problems linked to alcohol consumption, the 18th Amendment established “Prohibition” in the United States, banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Ratified in 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was the product of decades of efforts to ban the sale of alcohol. The Anti-Saloon League (ASL), founded in 1893 in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1906 started a campaign to ban the sale of alcohol at the state level. Their speeches, advertisements, and public demonstrations claimed that prohibition of alcohol ...

Take responsibility for your spiritual maturity

Peter Pandemonium (not an official diagnosis) is the term some psychologists use to describe adults who refuse to act like grownups. Like the fabled Peter Pan, they choose to remain children forever, at least in how they engage with the outer world. Also known as Peter Pan Syndrome, the term describes those who avoid responsibility, blame others for their problems and behavior, throw temper tantrums when disappointed and can’t commit in relationships. Someone quipped that these folks can be easily recognized because they buy SpongeBob SquarePants underwear to wear as adults. (Yep, ...

Antietam

September 16, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland: “There was a drizzling rain...the night was dismal. Nothing can be more solemn than a period of silent waiting for the summons to battle...,” recalls Mariettan Major Rufus R. Dawes, second in command of the Union Army Wisconsin 6th Volunteer ...

Climate change, extreme weather, and insurance companies

We are homeowners whose entire neighborhoods have been destroyed by fires and we’re fighting our insurance companies while continuing to pay rate hike after rate hike. We are small business owners who have lost our stores, our restaurants, to the way we pay our bills for flooding. These are samples of quotes from victims of extreme weather events who have survived floods, fires, droughts, extreme heat, deadly air pollution, superstorms and more. Extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace in recent years given the undeniable scientific evidence of climate change, which has ...