Fossil Fuel SHUTDOWN (Awesome News!)

It's so nice to get positive news these days (Thanks to Ode Magazine!)

According to Bruce Nilles with Alternet.org, there are 2 great stories happening in the northeastern part of the U.S. 

First of all, the state of Michigan has DENIED the request for a permit for a coal-powered plant by Wolverine.  Is it fitting to anyone else that an energy company is named after a predator/scavenger?  Anyway, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Environment said "alternative methods are available that would supply the customers of the four electric cooperatives that make up Wolverine with electricity at a much cheaper rate than the cost of building a new coal plant."

Government oversight protecting people, 1.  Greedy corporation only concerned about bottom line, 0. 

Secondly - and this one is BIG, people - ALL COAL PLANTS IN THE STATE OF OHIO WILL BE SHUT DOWN BY 2012!!!

Let me say it again:
ALL COAL PLANTS IN THE STATE OF OHIO WILL BE SHUT DOWN BY 2012!!!

That's 1 state out of 50.  That's 11.5 million people who will get 100% of their energy from sources other than coal!  And hey, progress out of any state that's not California is newsworthy.  And if one middle-American state can do it, so can another.  I'd like to add that Kansas keeps shutting down Sunflower's requests for permits to build coal power plants. 

Perhaps there's hope for humanity afterall. 

Particulates Matter - Smoking Bans Render Proof of Secondhand Smoke Danger

If you've been on the fence about whether secondhand smoke is really all that dangerous, even to nonsmokers, your feet are about to touch down on the side of "DUH!"

CNN.com posted a story Tuesday on a correlation between communities that have enacted smoking bans and a decrease in heart attacks. The results are pulled from two large studies looking at communities both in North America and Europe, and the results are HUGE!

After just one year under the public smoking ban, cities experienced an average 17% decline in heart attacks. The LOWEST decline was 15%! That's after one measley year. After three years the average decline in heart attacks was 26%, with some places experiencing up to a 36% reduction.

This is grade school math, kids.

NO PUBLIC SMOKING = UP TO 1 in 3 HEART ATTACKS NEVER HAPPENS

Something else that can be deduced from this data: You parents who claim to love your children need to stop smoking around them YESTERDAY! This is all the proof you need to confirm secondhand smoke kills. 'Cause guess what else those studies learned: Those who benefitted most from smoking bans - women, nonsmokers, and young people.

"How harmful is secondhand smoke? Nonsmokers have a 25 percent to 30 percent higher risk of heart attack if they inhale smoke at home or at work, and smoke has been shown to affect heart health within minutes," says Dr. David Meyers of the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

"We can measure chemical changes within 20 minutes," he says. "The changes that occur primarily involve the clotting system. Basically, exposure to smoke makes your blood sticky and real clot-y and that's what causes heart attacks."

How do those chemicals get into the body? Not just by inhalation! Smoke is made up of tiny little particles. Those particles stick to every surface with which they come in contact. Smoke in your car, get it all over everything. Smoke in your house, get it all over everything. If you can smell it, it's there. Someone comes along and touches anything and WHAM! Heart attack risk just went up by a double-digit percentage.

It's fucking science.

So pull your damn head out of your ass and stop pretending you care about anyone other than yourself if you think you have the right to smoke around anyone or anything someone else might come into contact with. Because you don't.

It's your karma, bitches. Smoke at your own risk. And everyone else's.