Tag Archives: Michael G. Noll

Videos: Solar Canopy Ceremony @ SAVE 2013-11-15



VSU’s president turns out to be a professor of environmental ethics,
as he reminded us at the

VSU Solar Canopy Ceremony 15 November 2013.

Here’s
a video playlist:

Continue reading →

I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus –VSU President McKinney @ SAVE 2013-11-15



At

installation of VSU’s solar canopy,
the president of VSU answered

SAVE’s question:



You’ve heard about how these kinds of projects
can yield a relatively quick return on investment.
And you all need to know that, so long as I am president,
I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus.
I do not believe for a moment that environmental sustainability
and the long-term economic well-being of the university are
contradictory goals.

He offered an

autobiographical tidbit:



I began my career in academia… as

a professor of environmental ethics.
I didn’t leave that behind when moved into the role I’m in now.
I still hold dear to that kind of thinking.
I still hold dear that kind of open dialog.
And I remain committed to these kinds of projects.
The sun is something we have in abundance here.
And I think it is something we can continue to take advantage of.

Now I will take a little bit of credit.
I remember probably the most opposite of the day we have today.
Back over the summer, and early in the morning, and it was already
extremely hot, and we were walking around trying to decide
where we were going to put the array, and we looked a couple of spots,
and then we came back here.


Smokestack


And the first thing that struck me from an academic perspective
was the juxtaposition of having a solar panel and the old physical plant.
Just from a metaphorical perspective, I just thought that was unique.
But then we started talking about the
fact that we could have shelter, power, for what is in many ways
an academic hub of the university, the library.
And generate some power in the process.



And be able to have not only the event that we have today,
but I would hope other kinds of events, because
I really do see this as a starting point.

He thanked everybody involved, especially SAVE
and

its president Danielle Jordan for her leadership,
and in absentia plant operations.

Continue reading →

Making this a green campus –Dr. Michael G. Noll @ SAVE 2013-11-15



Dr. Noll remarked on the rain falling and said of the solar canopy:

It’s multipurpose, it provides shade, it provides shelter,
and it provides renewable energy, so that makes it really awesome.



He offered as story about events and world population at those times:

  • 1 billion in 1783: the first hot air balloon in 1783 in Paris, France
  • 2 billion in 1903: Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first flight



  • 1969: Apollo 11 landed on the moon when Dr. Noll was 8 years old

  • 1973: Oil crisis
  • 4 billion in 1977: Jimmy Carter installed first solar panels on White House
  • 1981: Ronald Reagan took down those solar panels

  • 7 billion now: Accelerating climate change



He said we’re entering a second solar age,
the first one being the fossilized solar power of fossil fuels.
He mentioned the solar powered long flights of the

Solar Impulse
airplane as an example of hope, and an example of accelerating change.

Then you know what we are capable of, what we can do.

He concluded: Continue reading →

Anytime we use coal or natural gas we are linked to fracking and of course climate change –Danielle Jordan @ SAVE 2013-11-15

After repeating

SAVE’s request for VSU to
reinvest in more socially responsible options,
Danielle Jordan, President of SAVE, gave one reason why
SAVE supports fossil fuel divestment:


Our actions don't stop here --Danielle Jordan

In our fiscally globalized world, our actions don’t stop here.
Everything we do affects people half a world away.
So anytime we use coal or natural gas we are linked to fracking
and of course climate change.
But that doesn’t have to be.
We can change that.
This proves it.


Crowd

Half a world --with Dr. McKinney

This was at the

Solar Canopy Ceremony 15 November 2013. Continue reading →

A complete lack of concern with our request –S.A.V.E. to VSU President McKinney

S.A.V.E. never gives up, and the VSU Foundation provided fuel for the fight. -jsq




November 13, 2013

Dr. William J. McKinney

President

Valdosta State University

Dear President McKinney,



Thank you very much for agreeing to be a part of

our ceremony for the new solar canopy this Friday. We are excited
for it, and we are glad that you will be able to come. We definitely
appreciate your support, and we hope to have a nice turnout!

As happy as we are about VSU’s continuing efforts to “go
green,” I am writing to you in regard to
S.A.V.E.’s ongoing
fossil fuel divestment campaign and

the recent response we received
from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the VSU Foundation. If
you have not yet read the letter, I have attached a copy for your
convenience.

We were clearly disappointed to hear that



our request had been
denied, but what troubled us the most was the condescending tone
used by Mr. Edwards in the last part of his letter. To end his
letter on University (not Foundation) letterhead with sarcasm and
cavalier dismissal of our concerns is unacceptable, especially as we
have acted in a respectful manner throughout this process. Within
his response, Mr. Edwards downplays the importance of practicing
social responsibility and belittles the validity of past divestment
campaigns that have been used to counteract injustices such as

South Africa’s Apartheid regime, which represented an inhumane and
repressive system that needed to be challenged.



We also find Continue reading →

WCTV on the pipeline



Spectra said “more rural” “lessens stakeholder impact”.
What do you think about that, rural landowners whose land Spectra wants?
County Chairman Bill Slaughter said
the most positive thing he’s said so far,
“we’re going to be looking out for the citizens of Lowndes County”,
about this
natural gas pipeline potentially ripping a 100 foot right of way
through this county and many others in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama
for the benefit of Florida Power and Light.
And Valdosta, you’re not for sure out of the pipeline path:
remember

FERC could choose that Option B through Valdosta that is Spectra’s
alternate route.


Option B by WCTV

James Buechele wrote for WCTV yesterday,

Pipeline Would Cut Through Florida & Georgia, Continue reading →

Let the Sun Shine: Fact versus Fiction —Michael G. Noll

LTE in the VDT today. I’ve added a few links. -jsq



Fox News recently claimed that “solar won’t work in America because
it’s not as sunny as Germany”. Such statements are common for a
network that has long lost its credibility. Unfortunately too many
take such gibberish at face value. Thus columns like

“environmentalism or obstructionism?” are not
surprising, but in the end it’s the facts that matter:

  • Global warming is real. For years we have been experiencing record
    heat waves, droughts, wild fires, etc., and while seawater levels
    are rising, storms like hurricane Sandy become major threats

    to low lying areas along coast lines    .
  • The main culprit for global warming are greenhouse gases like
    carbon dioxide, resulting from the burning of fossil fuels,
    especially coal and oil.
  • While China overall emits more than we do, the US leads in per
    capita emissions. The average US citizen produces three times more
    carbon dioxide than the average Chinese citizen.

Continue reading →

I only got the answering machine —Michael G. Noll

Received today on

Industrial Authority held unannounced meeting last night. -jsq

Unfortunately I missed this meeting as well, and not by choice.

I vaguely remembered that Roy Copeland mentioned after the October


meeting that the December date might be changed to December 6. Thus,
I called Tuesday shortly after 5pm to verify if a meeting was indeed
scheduled. I only got the answering machine (indicating to me that the
office was closed) and the IA website (as so often) was no help.

Thus I, too, was assuming the meeting would be later this month … only
to find out the next day in the VDT that there had been a meeting
after all.

Our community has gone through so much these past couple of months,


highlighting more than ever the need to communicate and cooperate.

I was hoping after all this that we could finally start working together,
despite any differences we might have. That would, however, not only
require a certain amount of transparency but also communication of
such simple matters as meeting agendas and calendars. How difficult can
that be?

Communication is, and always will be, the key to success. Whether this
is about your children’s education, such matters as energy efficiency
and energy conservation, or a Strategic Planning Process which can only
benefit the community … if that very community (not just the same old
status quo) is actually included in the process.

Michael G. Noll, President

Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)

A mix is the way to go —Dr. Noll

This comment from Dr. Noll came in today on

San Antonio promises to shut down a coal plant:

Of course we can! And “a mix of energy efficiency, [energy conservation,]
and new renewable energy projects” (e.g. solar, wind, geothermal)is the
way to go. We simply need the political will and communal support to
make such a transition possible.



I am still in Germany and am amazed to see just how much progress has been
made here in these past couple of years. Solar thermal and solar voltaic
installations abound on private residences; wind mills can be seen in
many regions; cars are more fuel efficient, houses better insulated,
public transportation accessible and affordable, recycling thoroughly
organized, etc.

We may still have a long way to go, but until

Continue reading →

The issue of the proposed biomass incinerator is far from over –Dr. Noll

LAKE has reviewed the allegedly “threatening” letter Chairman Paulk
referred to in his interrogation of Dr. Noll,
and we find nothing alarming about a wakeup call,
so we have

posted it on LAKE’s website.
More on that later. -jsq

Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:05:59 -0500

From: noll_family

To: apaulk@lowndescounty.com, jevans@lowndescounty.com,
rraines@lowndescounty.com, cpowell@lowndescounty.com
CC: noll_family@bellsouth.net, kay.harris@gaflnews.com,
“John S. Quarterman” <jsq@quarterman.org>

Subject: Re: Tuesday’s Meeting

Dear Chairman Paulk and Commissioners.

I again would like to extend my invitation as President of WACE to the
upcoming event this Thursday

(see attachment).

The issue of the proposed biomass incinerator is far from over and
concerned citizens of Lowndes County and Valdosta will use their
constitutional rights to (respectfully) speak up at future meetings, as
they have done in the past.

Continue reading →