VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE 91
AIR DATE 10 11 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Transitioning from Coal
((SOT))
((Matt Kincheloe, Craig Station Electrician))
That's the one that scares me the most. If there's no power
plant here to have, what would I do for a living?
((Melissa Peterson Worden, Blackjewel Worker))
That is the big question, what's next?
((SOT))
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
The tourism, it can help. But it's not something that will take
the place of those industries.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Protecting Our Water
((SOT))
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
When things like nitrogen and phosphorus, from fertilizers,
from sewage is entering coastal waters, we're creating large
areas that are really uninhabitable for many, many of the
organisms that really belong there.
((Banner))
Preserving the Culture
((SOT))
((Gary Garrels, Curator, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art))
And I think this is the birth of our culture that we are
immersed in right now, the obsession with the selfie, with the
Instagram, with creating an identity out of the image of one’s
self.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((Banner: Transitioning from Coal))
((PKG)) COAL INDUSTRY COLLAPSE
((Banner: Left in the Dust))
((Reporter/Camera: Steve Baragona))
((Map: Gillette, Wyoming))
((Main characters: 3 male, 2 female))
((NATS))
((Popup Banner:
Wyoming mines 40% of America’s coal, fueling electric
power plants.
But those coal plants are shutting down as utilities switch to
other sources))
((NATS))
((Melissa Peterson Worden, Blackjewel Worker))
The gates went down. They pulled everybody off. And that
is a really sobering moment because, because it is the thing
they said would never happen, and it happened.
((NATS))
((Popup Banner: Wyoming’s Blackjewel coal mining
company shuttered in 2019))
((NATS))
((Robert Godby, Economist, University of Wyoming))
So, the Powder River Basin is special for a number of
reasons. The first is that the deposits there are kind of
freakish. There aren't many places in the world where there
are coal deposits like this. They're very close to the surface
and the seams are huge. And the thing about these mines,
though, is that the bigger they get, the cheaper it gets to
produce. So, what you end up with is basically 10 of the
largest mines, not only in the country but in the world.
((NATS:
Rory Wallet: “Hi girls!”))
((Rory Wallet, Blackjewel Miner))
I'm Rory Wallet. I'm a displaced miner with Blackjewel here
in Wyoming, Gillette, Wyoming, at the Bel Air mine. It's, kind
of, a family thing. My sister, my father and my stepfather
have all been in the mines. My grandfather was a
phosphate miner before that. It's a wonderful way to make a
living, a decent, livable living. I've got four kids. So, it's a
great way to keep them insured and keep food on the table,
keep a good home over their head.
((NATS))
((Robert Godby, Economist, University of Wyoming))
That was the thinking, that this wouldn't affect us. Coal is
just a necessary commodity because we need electricity and
there's just no other cheap way to do it, which was really
denying what was going on in the market. Market forces
have moved the coal market to a place most of us didn't
anticipate in a really short period of time. And so, you know,
if there was ever a war on coal right now, it was declared by
natural gas.
((NATS))
((Rory Wallet, Blackjewel Miner))
You can, kind of, see the mine up there. About 8 o'clock, we
started getting some messages and calls from friends that
had worked the night shift and been brought in to be told we
were filing bankruptcy. It wasn't a huge shock. The huge
shock was when three o'clock rolled around and we started
to hear that they were pulling people out of the pits and they
were going to idle the mines down. That's when we really
were caught off guard. It was a total surprise. You never
expect the mine just to suddenly shut down. The layoffs in
2016 between the mines out here in the basin was 500
people. You know, we had 60, 90 days’ notice on all that.
We knew those were coming. This one was just out of the
blue.
Oh, we're struggling. We're struggling. We're holding on.
Our big one is the house payment.
((Trey McConnell, Manager, The Railyard Restaurant))
I feel for these guys when this kind of stuff happens. You
know, luckily, we live in a community where the community
really, kind of, helps each other out. In Gillette, you know,
oil, gas and coal, you know, they're, kind of, the big guys.
We're just here to supplement their wanting to eat, have
some drinks, come watch a football game, whatever. So,
when all that stuff gets affected, it affects us in a really big
way. You know, that's when jobs get cut. That's when hours
get cut. That affects their bottom line and affects how they
pay their bills, you know, and how they live their lives.
((NATS))
((Melissa Peterson Worden, Blackjewel Worker))
That is the big question, what's next? And pardon the pun,
Gillette needs to dig deep to figure out what ‘next’ is. The
United States is saying, ‘What do you have for us now?’
And we have to come up with a better answer than, ‘if you
don't like coal, don't turn your lights on.’ We can't be those
people anymore.
((NATS))
((PKG)) STALLING COAL’S DECLINE
((Banner: Stalling Coal’s Decline))
((Reporter/Camera: Steve Baragona))
((Map: Kemmerer, Wyoming))
((Main characters: 3 males))
((NATS))
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
It's one of the fun things about some of the fossils is, they tell
stories. Here's a freshwater stingray and what's fun about
this guy, he's got a bite mark in his disk. So, he got a little
too close to a turtle or possibly an alligator gar. The main
thing being quarried here would be the coal from the coal
mine. But for our section industry, it's fossil fish.
((NATS))
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
It's huge for us, as far as our economy. That power plant,
the coal mine, provide a lot of jobs here.
((NATS))
((Dana Ralston, PacifiCorp))
Natural gas prices dropped dramatically in 2016 and it made
a big difference on switching dispatch between gas units and
coal units. Also at that time, you know, renewables have
grown year after year after year, and they're a cheaper
alternative from a market perspective than a coal plant.
((NATS))
((Popup Banner: In 2018, PacifiCorp announced the
closing of the Naughton power plant))
((Dan Dockstader, Wyoming State Senator))
My phone went off, a text came off, and just one quick word
that said, ‘Devastating’. I thought, well, they've got my
attention now. What's devastating? So, I pulled the car off,
made a phone call. I said, ‘What's the problem? What's
devastating?’ They said, ‘Well, we have a new integrated
resource plan that calls for rather quick closure of the power
plant facilities in Kemmerer-Diamondville.’ At that point on,
going into the legislative session in January, February,
March, I was just – it was consuming me. I was up at night
thinking about these people, their jobs. Good, decent
people. I thought, ‘What can we do to keep their
employment going?’
((Robert Godby, Economist, University of Wyoming))
In Wyoming, because coal is so important, you know, the
legislature has, kind of, prided itself on being a coal-friendly
place. The state has also been a little bit slow to
acknowledge what is going on in the world around it.
Honestly, it has been very difficult in this state to talk about a
transition away from coal because it's so politicized right
now.
((Map Graphic w/ banner: Wyoming has the nation’s
lowest rate of acceptance that global warming is mostly
caused by human activities))
((Robert Godby, Economist, University of Wyoming))
You don't talk about it. And so, there's, kind of, been this,
hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil going on, but, in fact,
that's led to just ignoring the problem or avoiding
consideration. We have been reticent or maybe just slow or
maybe we've denied the changes that are going on, and so
we've been slow to react to them. We haven't been
proactive. We've been reactive. We have tried to put into
place rules that, at least in this state, would slow down any
transition.
((Dan Dockstader, Wyoming State Senator))
We understand that a change is coming, but we're simply
asking that let's do it with some wisdom. Let's not put the
plane into a nosedive. Let's let it glide down easy and sort
this out. Rather than close it, let's explore opportunities for
selling it first. It's my understanding that there are those in
the mineral industry who may be able to make this situation
work.
((Robert Godby, Economist, University of Wyoming))
If the current owner of a coal-fired power plant can't make
money with that plant, why would somebody else buy it? But
on the other side of the coin, the devil's in the details. If the
state tells the utility you have to buy that electricity at a
certain price that allows a new operator to make money,
then you could see the coal-fired power plant continuing.
((NATS))
((Robert Godby, Economist, University of Wyoming))
We need to start looking at diversifying our economy here.
One of things that we could be pushing a lot harder is paleo-
tourism with the fossil fish we dig here, which is something
that's very unique to this area.
((NATS))
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
So, you guys have a pretty busy summer?
((Unidentified man))
Yeah.
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
Getting lots of tourists?
((Unidentified man))
It's really, really good for us this year.
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
Yeah, that's good.
((NATS))
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
So, this is the other half of that fish. So, when it split, you
get the scales and bones on both sides. So, you got two
halves to this fossil.
((Robert Bowen, Owner, Wyoming Fossils; Kemmerer
City Councilman))
The tourism, it can help. But it's not something that will take
the place of those industries.
Oh, I think manufacturing is going to be one of the biggest
areas, that will, that will help us.
((NATS))
((PKG)) COAL TRANSITION IN COLORADO
((Banner: Seeking a Just Transition))
((Reporter/Camera: Steve Baragona))
((Map: Craig, Colorado))
((Main characters: 2 male, 1 female))
((K.C. Becker, Speaker, Colorado House of
Representatives))
I think if we don't deal with climate change, we are going to
be wrecking the economy.
I'm Casey Becker. I'm the Speaker of the House in
Colorado.
((K.C. Becker, Speaker, Colorado House of
Representatives))
Colorado, I think, is uniquely impacted by climate change.
We're seeing those impacts across the state. Our economy
depends on the things that are currently being affected by
climate, whether that's tourism or agriculture, from our
snowpack to, you know, all the communities that are living in
fire-prone areas.
((Map Graphic w/ banner, NATS under: Most Coloradans
accept that humans are causing climate change))
((Popup Banner:
Colorado passed a law aiming to cut state greenhouse gas
emissions in half by 2030.
Coal-fired power plants are among the state’s biggest
emitters))
((Matt Kincheloe, Craig Station Electrician))
That's the one that scares me the most. If there's no power
plant here to have, what would I do for a living? What would
I do to contribute to my family and to help maintain the
lifestyle that we have, and what's going to happen to my
community? My little town here in Craig, Colorado, is at risk.
((Rich Meisinger, IBEW Union Official))
When you close those power plants down, not only are the
people that work at the power plants going to lose their jobs,
but there's a domino effect after that. So, stores,
restaurants, car dealerships, everything in those areas will
cease to exist.
((K.C. Becker, Speaker, Colorado House of
Representatives))
We know that there are going to be coal plant closures. We
know this is happening. Let's think very intentionally and
proactively about those communities. We created the Office
of Just Transition. So, that office is tasked with figuring out
how do we deal with the workers who are going to be
impacted.
((NATS))
((Popup Banner:
Colorado’s Office of Just Transition aims to aid community
economic development))
((Rich Meisinger, IBEW Union Official))
If somebody is 40 years old and they've worked in a power
plant, they still have a skill, right? And so, maybe that skill
goes to working on electric motors in windmills, in battery
powered cars, right, which is our future. And so, I think with
little training, we could probably find a transition plan for
them.
((Matt Kincheloe, Craig Station Electrician))
I think, in the base, it sounds like a good idea. That all being
said, it didn't talk about funding. That was one thing I
noticed is, where are we going to get the money at for that?
Do I have to move? Do I have to learn a different trade?
The re-education bill, well, what kind?
((Rich Meisinger, IBEW Union Official))
I think they would rather see me out there fighting really hard
to keep the power plants open. And frankly, if I was in their
shoes, I would be wanting to do the same thing. But
knowing what I know, that's a battle we aren't going to win.
So, I want to find a battle we can win that helps our
members out.
((NATS))
((K.C. Becker, Speaker, Colorado House of
Representatives))
I hope that this is a good model for other states to know that
you can address climate change, be proactive about workers
and give workers, who might be nervous about this whole
change, some sense that the state's going to be there. I
think states are going to have to deal with climate change,
regardless. And then, they're going to have to deal with
worker transitions, regardless. I'm really excited to see how
it works or, you know, if it works.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Compost Bikers
((SOT))
((Sandy Nurse, Founder, BK ROT))
And so, everything we bring in comes through here, comes
through this giant pulverizer that’s in the background. And
we turn it into compost.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) PIA – DENISE BREITBURG
((Banner: A Life of the Sea))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((Main character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
I think that people appreciate nature and see its value when
they have the opportunity to experience it. I have an
understanding, through my work, of the threats that it's
under, and I feel an obligation to try to speak out and do
what I can to help things improve.
((NATS))
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
My name is Denise Breitburg and I'm a Marine Ecologist at
the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
((NATS))
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
One of the things that, I think, for me growing up just 10
miles (16 km.) from the ocean, was a real love of the ocean
early on. Being able to go and see the water and walk on
the beach even during the winter really I think left a lasting
impression on me.
((NATS))
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
When excess nutrients, things like nitrogen and phosphorus,
from fertilizers, from sewage, when too much of that is
entering coastal waters, we're fertilizing them just like we
would fertilize our lawns. But as the plants that grow decay,
that decay process uses up oxygen. And so, we're creating
large areas in coastal waters that are really uninhabitable for
many, many of the organisms that really belong there.
((NATS))
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
This happens all over the world, but in the open oceans,
there is a oxygen problem as well because of increasing
global temperatures. Air warms up and as the water warms
up, water just can't hold as much oxygen. And then at the
same time, animals actually need more oxygen when
temperatures are higher. This really is a global problem.
((NATS))
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
So, I think as a researcher, the most important thing that I
can do is to try to uncover information that will help us
manage our oceans and coastal waters in a sustainable
way. For an individual homeowner, that may have to do with
anything as simple as not putting too much fertilizer on a
lawn. For farmers, it's the amount of fertilizer and crops. For
cities, it's good infrastructure that keeps sewage out of the
waterways. For example, in Chesapeake Bay, we're now
doing a pretty good job of reducing the amount of nitrogen
coming into the bay. But one of the big reasons that
nitrogen levels are coming down, is because of the Clean Air
Act, which has been incredibly important in limiting the
amount of nitrogen from power plants in the Midwest that
drift this way in the atmosphere and could be deposited in
this area.
((Denise Breitburg, Marine Ecologist))
One of the things that I love about this job is being able to be
outdoors to actually get in the water to have my hands on
animals. But I think that might paint a little bit more
glamorous picture of this profession than it really is. I spend
more time reading and writing and working at a computer
probably than anything else, and the kinds of things that I try
to do in my personal life is volunteering with organizations,
trying to teach kids how to appreciate the outdoors and
protect it, to leave a better world for future generations as
well.
((NATS))
((PKG)) COMPOST BIKERS
((Banner: Compost Bikers))
((Reporter: Nina Vishneva))
((Camera: Aleksandr Barash))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main character: 1 female))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: BK ROT is New York’s first sustainable
food waste hauling and composing service))
((Sandy Nurse, Founder, BK ROT))
The business itself is based on moving food waste, organic
waste, from households and businesses, for a fee. And so,
Victor and Sonia, they go and collect by bike from about, a
bunch of, a handful of small local restaurants, cafes.
((NATS))
((Claire Conway, Manager, Little Skip’s Café))
So, we've been working with BK ROT for quite a couple of
years now. We're focusing on making sure all of our cafes
are as green and eco-conscious as possible. We're working
to make this café, specifically, a little more sustainable in the
kitchen. No food waste, no, you know, paper products. You
know, it's a big goal, but we're striving towards that and BK
ROT, kind of, incorporates itself into that as well.
((NATS))
((Sandy Nurse, Founder, BK ROT))
Each week, we're doing about four to five thousand pounds
(180-220 kg.) a week from businesses that we bring into the
space. And so, everything we bring in comes through here,
comes through this giant pulverizer that’s in the background.
And we turn it into compost, and this material is then brought
to different farms and gardens in this area and a couple
other neighborhoods. People can come get it on the
weekends. They can come grab their bag and fill it up for a
small donation, and then we also sell it in retail stores in a
small, little bag.
((NATS))
((Sandy Nurse, Founder, BK ROT))
So, one thing I found really amazing when we started to get
into commercial waste was that New York City businesses
produce about 650-thousand tons (590,000 metric tons) of
food waste. I think the visual they talk about is a 100
subway-cars of food every day is just going straight to the
landfill. So, what we're trying to do is capture this, create it
locally and distribute it locally, with as little fossil fuel use as
possible, and also use that as a model for building jobs and,
kind of, making, like, educational spaces, where people can
come learn about this, get more awareness about where
their waste is going, how much food waste they’re actually
producing, and how much of their, like, household trash is
actually something that can be transformed for future use
here.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Warhol Revisited
((SOT))
((Gary Garrels, Curator, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art))
Warhol was not just a simple reflection of the culture. He
was critically responding to the culture and to the existential
issues of human life.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) ANDY WARHOL
((Banner: The Arts; All of Warhol))
((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot))
((Map: San Francisco, California))
((Main character: 1 male))
((NATS – Exhibit))
((Gary Garrels, Curator, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art))
Most people think of a Warhol as a pop artist: light-hearted,
about consumer goods, Coca-Cola, some Campbell Soup, a
Brillo box. That was a tiny, tiny brief chapter in Warhol’s
career, because immediately, the next year, the idea of
death, of mortality enters his work.
Warhol came from a very poor working class family. They
were immigrants from a far east part of Slovakia. They were
Byzantine Catholics, and the icon, you know, the image of
Virgin on the gold ground, was something that Warhol grew
up with.
In 1962, he decided to do a picture of Marilyn Monroe, and I
think he treated her as an icon. He did many images of
Marilyn, sometimes in color, sometimes in black and white,
or silver, but it was always the same image. So that Marilyn
was a timeless goddess. She was immortal.
Unlike Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor was someone of our
world, earthly, that she was mortal. And so, he starts with
her as a young woman, and in this painting, you see at very
top, a very photographic, almost, kind of image. And it
flickers across this large canvas, sometimes fading,
sometimes being saturated, and by the time you get to the
bottom of the canvas of the far edge, she is almost
completely disappeared and faded away. And I think this is
a kind of metaphor for mortality, that we, in the bloom of
youth, we also see the beginnings of a life and death.
Warhol was not just a simple reflection of the culture. He
was critically responding to the culture and to the existential
issues of human life, which are always with us. We can
never avoid the issues of life and death. And, I think, that’s
part of the reason that Warhol is such a profound artist and
why he is so relevant today.
((NATS – Exhibit))
((Gary Garrels, Curator, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art))
So, here we are looking at a portrait of a woman named
Ethell Scull. Andy took her to Times Square, and told her to
be happy, be sad, be pensive, be flamboyant, and then
assembled a group of these portraits by silk screening them
on canvas with different colored grounds and made a
multiple portrait of Ethel Scull. So, Ethel would be just as
famous as Marilyn or Liz.
And I think this is the birth of our culture that we are
immersed in right now, the obsession with the selfie, with the
Instagram, with creating an identity out of the image of one’s
self.
((NATS – Exhibit))
((Gary Garrels, Curator, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art))
Well, we are standing in front of the series that Warhol did in
1964 called “The Most Wanted Men.” And these come from
a New York police bulletin of criminals that the police felt
were the most important to try to catch, you know, to put in
jail, that they were the most dangerous ones. So, I think by
making “The Most Wanted Men” from the police bulletin, the
subject was sort of the counterpoint, or a, kind of, metaphor
for his own identity as a gay man, that he was a criminal,
that he was an outsider. So, the idea of, again, identity is a
very profound, fundamental issue in Warhol’s work. And
again, he was far ahead of our time, that we are only
catching up to now, that the issue about sexual identity is
unstable, it could be fluid, and what was once illegal, what
was outside the law, has now been actually embraced by
society, that that’s one of the revolutions of our time.
((NATS – Exhibit))
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten”
“They should not be protesting our president”
“They got what they asked for”
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it
reliably
accurately
objectively
comprehensively
wherever the news matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
BREAK
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS
((NATS))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
We make a difference
When we unmask terror
When we explain the impossible
When we confront an uncertain future
When we give voice to the voiceless
The difference is Freedom of the Press
We are the Voice of America where
Free Press Matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
SHOW ENDS
