Anna Robertson was well into a successful career as an Emmy-award winning broadcast news professional, following an arc that has included working with legendary journalist Diane Sawyer, covering major stories of the 2000s, including 9/11, the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina, and taking on senior production duties at “Good Morning America.”

But a series of events and recognitions inspired, or perhaps compelled, her to perform a major life pivot, moving from the West Coast to Park City, Utah, and revamping her career goals to focus on one of the biggest issues facing the world today — climate change.

What drove Robertson to reevaluate and recalibrate? Raging California wildfires, including one that forced Robertson and her family to evacuate their Los Angeles home in the middle of the night, along with air quality issues that sometimes kept her children home from school and a growing feeling that useful and diverse information about climactic change just wasn’t making it onto the radars of a wide audience.

“The first lightbulb moment I had came from three things,” Robertson said. “Working in the local news space and seeing the impact of the extreme weather, being evacuated, and the third thing, I got curious and angry about how much innovation was happening that people didn’t really know about.

“I just sort of asked why isn’t there a more mainstream source of climate information written in plain English?”

With the seeds of a new idea planted, and newly relocated to Park City, Robertson learned that her friend Dave Finocchio, co-founder of sports news site Bleacher Report, shared her sentiment about a missing component when it came to climate change stories and innovations. It was an idea not altogether removed from the inspiration behind Bleacher Report, which launched in 2005 and found success on the premise that a lot of information and ideas in the sports realm were simply being missed by other outlets.

The self-described “climate mom” was now on a mission to fight pollution and cool down the planet and, along with co-founder Finocchio, launched The Cool Down website earlier this year.

Robertson described The Cool Down as the “first mainstream climate brand” that aims to make the issues easier to engage with and understand and “connect people with information and a more hopeful future.”

“The Cool Down is a climate content hub, and accordingly our content is a mix of original content and curated content amplified by our editorial team,” Robertson said. “This includes storytelling on climate topics, where our team profiles entrepreneurs and innovations, explains complex topics in accessible language, and provides actionable resources and tips for how people can live and shop healthier and more sustainably.”

A recent visit to the site revealed stories about how scientists are experimenting with okra to clean polluted water, where to buy sustainable holiday greeting cards and a feature on offshore wind energy.

Anna Robertson, co-founder of The Cool Down, poses for a photo with her children, Sibella Wildman, 7, and Jackson Wildman, 8, at their home in Park City on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. The Cool Down is described by its founders as the first mainstream climate brand on a mission to connect a wide-ranging audience to climate topics and conversations.

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

While cosmetics and personal care products wouldn’t typically incite a conversation about climate change, one Cool Down contributor has made “green beauty” her raison d’etre and is working to raise awareness, and change habits, when it comes to the nexus of the environment and personal care.

Celebrity makeup artist Katey Denno has created looks for numerous stars, including Gillian Anderson, Mindy Kaling, Amanda Seyfried and Margaret Qualley, but she’s dedicated her career to achieving “the look” with clean beauty products made with ingredients and packaging that are better for her clients and for the planet. 

Denno traveled an unlikely path to makeup artistry, doing social work for years at a Bronx, New York, hospital where she first witnessed the true transformative power of makeup — she taught domestic violence survivors how to use concealer to cover bruises so they could go back to work without scrutiny from co-workers.

Around 15 years ago, a makeup professional spotted a doodle Denno had done on a napkin and invited her to assist on an upcoming photo shoot. From there, Denno was hooked.

Early into her new career, Denno said she was helping a friend who was undergoing chemotherapy find the purest skin products she could use amid her fight against cancer. Denno said she realized then how few resources were available when it came to finding cosmetics and care products that were made from healthy and responsibly sourced ingredients.

“At that time, 13 years ago, nobody was really talking about it much,” Denno said. “It took a lot of digging and trying to track down as much information as I could find. There were very few guides and little to no mentorship.”

So, Denno took it on herself to become a guide and resource when it comes to planet-friendly products.

“It was a natural progression,” Denno said. “I’ve always been interested in sustainability and working in beauty and seeing all the mad waste … something had to change.”

Denno has not only become an expert on identifying products that feature pure and healthy ingredients, she’s also working to raise awareness about how those products are packaged.

On her website, Denno said for those looking to build a less toxic and more eco-friendly lifestyle “it’s about taking small, thoughtful steps and deciding what feels right as you go along.”

And Robertson and Finocchio are continuing to take their own thoughtful steps with building content, and conversations, with The Cool Down site.

Robertson said there’s a “tremendous treasure trove of content and ideas” that fit within Cool Down’s mission to mainstream climate topics, and the site is quickly building its offerings of content and products as well as its audience. She also noted The Cool Down wants to help break down siloed, and sometimes divisive, climate conversations by including a wide range of ideas and voices within its publishing choices.

“We all want clean air, clean water and a better future for our children,” Robertson said. “Most Americans do understand that climate change is happening. Unfortunately, a lot of people are not talking about it with friends and family. We have a huge opportunity to broaden the conversation on climate topics. And, we’re not going to be able to change anything if we just talk to one group of people.”

Anna Robertson, co-founder of The Cool Down, shows off the website while posing for a photo at her home in Park City on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. The Cool Down is described by its founders as the first mainstream climate brand on a mission to connect a wide-ranging audience to climate topics and conversations.

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

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Bradley’s Construction – Rocky Bathroom Remodeler is a home remodeling contractor. In a recent update, the company highlighted the benefits of remodeling a bathroom.

Rocky, OK – In a website post, Bradley’s Construction – Rocky Bathroom Remodeler highlighted the benefits of remodeling a bathroom.

Bradley’s Construction – Rocky Bathroom Remodeler noted that while most homeowners do not often think of remodeling their bathroom if they are relatively happy with the way their homes are, a complete Rocky bathroom remodeling can have many benefits. A bathroom renovation includes anything homeowners can think of, such as changing the layout, adding walls, et cetera. This makes it more enjoyable and somewhere that lives up to its full potential.

The Rocky bathroom remodeling contractor also noted that a complete bathroom renovation could help improve a home’s indoor air quality. This is because many older homes have outdated plumbing and ventilation systems that can allow mold and mildew to grow. By updating these systems and adding a bathroom exhaust fan, homeowners can help improve the air quality in their homes and reduce the risk of health problems.

Lastly, the Rocky bathroom remodeler commented that a complete bathroom renovation could make it more accessible for those with mobility issues. This is because many older homes were not designed with accessibility in mind, which can be difficult for those with mobility issues to navigate. Remodeling a bathroom can help to make it more accessible and easier to move around, which can greatly improve the quality of life for those with mobility issues.

About Bradley’s Construction – Rocky Bathroom Remodeler

Bradley’s Construction – Rocky Bathroom Remodeler is a home remodeling company providing any remodeling, roofing, or window installation services. The company has a team of highly experienced and well-trained installers who have experience, focus, and keen attention to detail in service delivery.

Media Contact
Company Name: Bradley’s Construction – Rocky Bathroom Remodeler
Contact Person: Bradley Skinner
Email: Send Email
Phone: (580) 217-8491
City: Rocky
State: Oklahoma
Country: United States
Website: https://bradleysconstruction.net/

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The state has awarded Millersville University $2.5 million towards $9.3 million of improvements at Biemesderfer Stadium and Pucillo Gymnasium.

The grant is one of 11 Lancaster County awards in the most recent round of announcements from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment and Capital Assistance Program. 

Work will include restrooms compliant with Americans with Disability Act, indoor air quality upgrades, associated mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure and components and installation of compliant elevators. 

Millersville said in its application for the grant that this project ultimately provides increased opportunities for public events and community engagement in the forms of camps, kindergarten through grade 12 athletic events, regional tournaments, special gatherings and other initiatives. Penn Manor High School is within walking distance and identified Pucillo Gym as an alternate gathering in case of emergency situations. The proposed project includes significant upgrades to Pucillo mechanical systems and will improve its utility as an emergency shelter should the need arise. The project would add 15 jobs. 

The grant came in the third round of awards the state has announced this fall. All told in Lancaster County, 19 projects in 17 municipalities have been awarded $59.7 million of a requested $97.5 million. 

The latest round totaled about $33.7 million. 

The other awardees this round include $11 million for site work at North Greenfield in East Lampeter Township; $3 million to Borough of Mount Joy for the construction of a municipal services complex; $5 million to build the East Coast Wrestling Hall of Fame in Warwick Township;  $3 million for  Warwick Township’s  Compass Mill Complex Restoration; $1.375 million to Elizabethtown College to  upgrade its anatomy classroom and cadaver lab; $1 million for the $6.6 million expansion of Direct Wire & Cable Inc. in Denver; $1 million for the first phase of Explore Elizabethtown Downtown Improvement Initiative; $1.3 million towards revitalization of the centerpiece of Mount Hope Estate, the Grubb Mansion, in Rapho Township; $3 million for a new three-story wing at Schreiber Center for Pediatric Development Expansion and Renovation in East Hempfield Township, and $1.5 million for expansion of Shady Lane Curtains LLC in Bird-in-Hand, Leacock Township. 

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RENOVO — This week, Clean Air Council, PennFuture and the Center for Biological Diversity appealed an extension of Renovo Energy Center’s air pollution permit for a large gas-fired power plant.

The extension by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) allows the power plant developer an additional 18 months to build the North-Central Pennsylvania power plant. DEP originally permitted the gas-fired plant in April 2021,

The three groups filing the appeal believe REC has failed to secure financing to move forward, according to a release.

This extension comes amid an ongoing appeal by the same groups, challenging the power plant’s air permit, which DEP extended in October.

In August, the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board ruled in favor of the groups in that appeal, finding that DEP set pollution limits too high for two harmful pollutants. That legal challenge continues toward trial on other claims.

“Still, rather than allow the illegal permit to lapse, DEP sent Renovo Energy Center a letter granting the requested extension. DEP did nothing to alter or fix the illegal permit,” the groups allege in a press release. “In their Notice of Appeal, the environmental groups object that the extension is illegal because the permit it extends is illegal and the requirements for an extension were not met.”

According to the release, the permit would authorize the plan “to emit hundreds of tons of noxious pollutants annually and more greenhouse gases than the City of Pittsburgh.”

The groups believe the plant could impose a “cost of billions of dollars in impacts to health and communities over the course of a lifetime.”

The power plant is being developed by Bechtel Corporation, a Virginia-based multinational engineering corporation.

“Extending a permit that judges just found to be illegal is a slap in the face to residents of Clinton County and to the rule of law,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council, on behalf of all three environmental groups filing this appeal. “Why in the world would DEP break the law just to ensure that a giant fossil fuel power plant can dirty the community’s air? Renewable energy is cleaner, cheaper, and more abundant.”

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Nov. 25—ELLINGTON — Voters will decide in January whether the town should issue $6.7 million in bonds for updating the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems at three of its public schools.

The Board of Selectmen this week unanimously voted to hold a town meeting on financing the project on Jan. 10. At the meeting, voters will decide whether to send the plan to referendum, which would be held Jan. 19.

If approved by voters, the $6,736,250 appropriation would go toward costs not paid by grants for the installation, replacement, and upgrading of HVAC systems at Ellington High School, Ellington Middle School, and Center Elementary School.

According to the resolution selectmen approved, the project will improve the indoor air quality for students at the three schools and is eligible for state grants.

The project is expected to involve new boilers, dedicated outdoor systems and building management systems, and repair and replacement of specified roofing sections.

The resolution that selectmen approved also states that the $6.7 million could be spent on design, installation, site improvements, removal of materials and discarded equipment, permitting and environmental costs, wiring, pipes, sensors, thermostats, and related fees.

A permanent building committee would be established to determine the project’s scope and particulars, and its members could modify them as necessary.

Selectmen also voted to authorize the Board of Education to apply for state grants to help fund the project, and prepare schematic drawings and specifications for the project.

The deadline for a state grant that’s available to help districts upgrade school air quality is Dec. 1. The maximum reimbursement rate is 55% of the project cost.

The district hired Consulting Engineering Services to conduct a review of the three schools’ air quality systems.

Brian Greenleaf, director of finance and operations for the schools, told the Board of Education during an Oct. 26 meeting that the district aims to first install dedicated outdoor air and boiler systems.

At that meeting, board members unanimously voted to direct the administration to further develop educational specifications and budgets for the HVAC projects, and to continue examining if any operational costs associated with upgraded systems could be reduced during the annual budget process.

For more coverage of Somers and Enfield, follow Susan Danseyar on Twitter: @susandanseyar, Facebook: Susan Danseyar, reporter.

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A new partnership will bring several First Nations in Saskatchewan together with a team of researchers from the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University to develop new pathways toward housing self-sufficiency.

“A key issue in these communities is the availability of building materials, specifically the reliance on outside sources for materials,” says Sarah Haines, an assistant professor in the department of civil and mineral engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, who is a member of the project team.

“Transporting materials to these remote communities is a significant challenge and creates a very limited supply to meet demand. Making use of locally available materials could enable the building of more houses, as well as address issues with the current housing stock.”

The idea for the project – which is supported by a Connaught Global Challenge Award – was seeded while Haines was preparing to study indoor air quality in First Nations communities in Ontario. She connected with Toronto Metropolitan University architectural science professor and U of T Engineering alumnus Helen Stopps, who was also interested in studying housing in First Nations communities, albeit from a different perspective.

“Researchers in my field have traditionally tended to focus on individual buildings,” says Stopps. “I’m much more interested in how things work at a regional level, especially in terms of how policies, politics and social structures impact what gets built. This applies to all communities, from big cities to remote First Nations communities.”

Haines and Stopps were connected to experts, including Becky Big Canoe of Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation. In those conversations, they saw an opportunity for a project to help address the broader set of issues that affect housing availability on many First Nations across Canada.

Through involvement in the Housing Supply Challenge offered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Haines and Stopps connected with Natalie Clyke, who works as a pandemic co-ordinator with the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC). The organization represents 12 First Nations that together comprise about 48 per cent of the land area of Saskatchewan.

Clyke has long been a proponent of the use of innovative and sustainable materials in housing on First Nations communities.

“One thing I’ve been advocating for here in Saskatchewan is the use of magnesium oxide board,” says Clyke. “This material can be used in the same ways as plywood, gypsum or cement, but it has natural anti-microbial properties that can prevent some of the issues we see – for example around mold and mildew.”

In the past, Clyke has developed proposals for a community-operated magnesium oxide board manufacturing facility that would produce the material where it’s needed – one example of the types of potential solutions the new partnership aims to explore.

In addition to Haines and Stopps, researchers on the project include U of T researchers Tracey Galloway (anthropology, U of T Mississauga) and Nicholas Spence (health and society, U of T Scarborough). It also includes Penny Kinnear, a lecturer with the Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering, and Roxanna Dehghan, a research associate at the Centre for Global Engineering.

Through Clyke, the researchers connected with several of the Saskatchewan First Nations that are members of PAGC. These include Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, James Smith Cree Nation, Wahpeton Dakota Nation and Montreal Lake Cree Nation. Conversations with the remaining PAGC First Nations and communities are ongoing.

The project is titled “From Harvest to House: Developing a Pathway to Housing Self-sufficiency in Remote First Nations Communities.” The Connaught Global Challenge Award provides funding from U of T’s Connaught Fund, Canada’s largest internal university research funding program. Established 50 years ago through the sale of Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, the fund has since given out more than $178.7 million to U of T researchers, supporting a wide array of scholars and projects across a diverse range of fields.

“This is exactly the kind of important and impactful research the Connaught Global Challenge Award was created to support,” said Professor Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president of research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “I’m looking forward to seeing the results of this innovative collaboration.”

Over the course of the next several months, this group aims to convene a series of individualized workshops that enable the project’s members to discuss both the challenges and the potential for new approaches.

“Our initial goal is to listen to community representatives and determine the most critical housing issues in their community,” says Haines. “From there, we can start to talk about what materials are available, how they could be repurposed or what innovative strategies might help address these issues.”

“These workshops will be an opportunity for our communities to develop relationships with builders, engineers and researchers,” says Clyke.

“Together, they can create new and improved building methods that will incorporate what the communities themselves have available and want to use, while reducing the need to rely on outside materials and expertise.”

Clyke says that what she’d ultimately like to see come out of the project is a publicly available resource that outlines a set of solutions that any community can adapt to its own situation and needs.

“As we embark on this, we’re walking with our culture, our trauma and our reconciliation,” she says. “Everything requires an unfolding for it to heal, and that’s true of our housing practices as well.”

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Last month, President Biden designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument, the first new national monument of his administration.

In addition to protecting nearly 54,000 acres of wilderness landscapes in Colorado, the new national monument memorializes the men of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division who trained in its mountains and valleys to take on the Axis power in World War II and defend freedom from fascism. This honor is well-deserved.

In fact, designating Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument and reestablishing the borders of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments continues a trend of designating places that not only protect public lands and waters, but also honor the histories, legacies and cultures of the people who have stewarded these lands and call them home. Over the last two decades, presidents from both parties have designated nearly two dozen new national monuments that specifically honor or memorialize both landscapes and people, including Fort Monroe, César E. Chávez and Río Grande del Norte National Monuments.

This is important for two reasons. First, it demonstrates that protected landscapes are not isolated places separated from people — they have been shaped by past generations and will sustain generations to come. And second, designating more historical and cultural national monuments allows us to tell the full story of this country.

For too long, the narratives we highlighted with public lands and national monuments have been limited, leaving out many of those whose lives and experiences shaped these treasured landscapes — Indigenous peoples and tribes, African Americans, women and many others. Right now, less than one-quarter of national parks and monuments are dedicated to or recognize diverse peoples and cultures. At the same time, decades of stereotypes and discrimination have convinced some that nature and the outdoors are primarily — or even exclusively — the realm of the wealthy white man. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the depths of the Great Depression, 200,000 African Americans served in the Civilian Conservation Corps, restoring the nation’s natural resource infrastructure. Indigenous peoples shaped the landscapes of this country that are still felt today. By protecting more of these landscapes, we can expand those narratives and honor the Indigenous, Black, Latin, veterans and other peoples who have made their mark on public lands and waters.

Moreover, creating new national parks and monuments that represent diverse histories — the true history of the United States — would not only honor those histories, but also make outdoor spaces more welcoming to people of different backgrounds. National parks were officially segregated, like much of American society, until well into the 20th century, and the possibility of violence against people of color who ventured into these places was very real. To this day, Black, Indigenous and other people of color make up only a fraction of visitors at national parks and public lands sites. Honoring additional landscapes not only highlights the fullest and most complete history of our country, but it can help make these places more welcoming to those who have been historically excluded or don’t see themselves represented on the public lands we have right now.

Moreover, protecting more lands and waters can help us take on the climate crisis. Scientists are in agreement that in the U.S., we need to protect at least 30 percent of all lands and waters from extraction or degradation by 2030 if we’re going to successfully take on the climate crisis. That means protecting more landscapes in the next decade than we did in the last century. Every new national monument designated gets us closer to achieving that goal, creates more opportunities for people to connect with nature and participate in the outdoors recreation economy, and spreads the physical and mental health benefits of nature, like clean air and water.

Establishing national monuments ensures that our public lands are part of the climate solution, instead of fueling it, by ensuring these lands are protected from harmful oil and gas leasing. Drilling on public lands devastates millions of acres of nature, contributes to an increasing number of climate disasters and creates one-quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions. In the wake of increasingly devastating hurricanes, wildfires and heatwaves, we’ve seen that the brunt of these consequences are most heavily felt in lower-income communities and communities of color, who often have the least access to nature. We must work to protect more lands and green spaces and break down the barriers that prevent people from accessing these places, so they can reap nature’s benefits. 

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President Biden can act right now to designate more national monuments. In Nevada, Indigenous activists are calling for the designation of Avi Kwa Ame, an ancient Indigenous site with spiritual importance to multiple Tribes. Racial justice groups have put forth sites in Springfield, Illinois to mark the 1908 white mob attack on Black residents that spurred the creation of the NAACP. And just outside El Paso, multiple groups are working to protect Castner Range, honoring the veterans who served at nearby Fort Bliss and commemorating the region’s rich Hispanic cultural heritage.

The story of public lands is ever progressing, and each new national monument designated adds a new chapter. Each new site fills in the pages with the legacies of those who came before us and who shaped these landscapes. It’s our duty to maintain those legacies and tell those stories for the next generation.

Chris Hill is the senior director of Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign. She is the first Black woman to lead Sierra Club’s legacy campaign on the outdoors and lands, water, and wildlife in its history. She has a background in law, community organizing and partnerships and more than a decade of experience advocating to protect communities and the natural world.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Every state wants to add more air-pollution monitors to ensure residents aren’t breathing harmful chemicals like lead or carbon monoxide, according to Angela Tin, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air-quality specialist of 25 years.

But in Indiana, the number of monitoring locations has decreased significantly since 2008, when the EPA started requiring states to submit their ambient air monitoring network plans for federal review.

Fourteen years ago, Indiana had 90 monitoring locations that checked for 180 pollution parameters. This year, there are only 73 locations inspecting fewer than 150 parameters. That number will reduce to 71 sites next year.

“It’s always a funding issue,” said Tin, who today serves as the American Lung Association’s national senior director of clean air initiatives.

Next year, an influx of American Rescue Plan dollars will let the Indiana Department of Environmental Management upgrade 10 monitors to 24-7 air-quality monitoring sites. Those 10 currently only provide data every few days.

The new monitors will deliver a better picture of the fine particulate matter in the air, which is important when determining pollution sources and links between observed health effects, according to IDEM’s monitoring plan.

IDEM is also investigating how new low-cost sensors can be incorporated into the monitoring network to provide more coverage across large areas, said Barry Sneed, a public information officer with the agency.

“The data provides a useful tool for planning and assessment for IDEM staff and provides air quality data to the public to help them better understand air quality in their area,” he said in an email.

Indiana also received $200,00 this month through a competitive EPA grant to conduct more air pollution monitoring in East Chicago to find where contaminates are coming from and how to reduce them.

In total, the EPA provided $53.4 million to 132 projects in 37 states for more air monitoring in communities disproportionately affected by environmental and health issues.

The federal funding boost comes after Indiana reduced IDEM spending about 20% from 2008 to 2018, according to the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit watchdog organization. Staffing at the agency also shrank around 15% in that same period.

Tin with the American Lung Association said funding always plays a role in how well states monitor air quality, but fewer testing locations doesn’t necessarily mean less pollution data. New technology sometimes means testing sites can combine to detect multiple contaminants, which could lead to fewer locations, she said.

Other factors that determine the number of monitoring sites include data trends, population changes, new monitoring projects, issues with site access and site redundancy, according to IDEM’s website.

Factories or businesses that emit contaminants have to monitor their outputs and report those to IDEM, which provides site-specific data. Ambient air monitoring, on the other hand, is ultimately meant to determine trends in air pollution across the state, according to Tin.

Those trends show a mixed bag of progress and danger. Industrial air pollution is down across the nation, Tin explained, but pollution coming from cars, trucks, airplanes and other transportation is getting worse.

“There are cars everywhere you go, and they’re definitely cleaner than they used to be,” she said. “But the problem is that we have so many of them.”

Unlike with coal plants, factories or other industrial sites, the EPA doesn’t have the authority to regulate how people use their vehicles, making it a difficult problem to solve, Tin argued. That’s why the move toward no-emission vehicles is so important.0

“The EPA can’t force you to drive less,” she said. “They can’t force you to buy two cars or four cars and can’t force you to take the bus.”

Now, as IDEM looks at adding more monitoring sites and installs upgrades at others, the state could have a clearer picture of evolving air-pollution trends than it’s had in decades.

“Indiana has a robust outdoor air-monitoring network, and IDEM continues to invest in improvements to air-monitoring infrastructure,” said agency spokesman Sneed.

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Walking on Vandenberg Space Force Base is like walking along the trails of a national park, with over 100,000 acres of mountains, valleys, dunes, and badlands.

With all this land, comes one of the most diverse and well-preserved groups of cultural resources in the Department of Defense, including 1,674 archaeological sites, five named Chumash villages, 14 rock art sites, along with 228 Cold-War era and other historical buildings and structures.

The cultural resource management team, within the 30th Civil Engineer Squadron, received the 2021 Gen. Thomas D. White Environmental Award for their outstanding achievements in successfully sustaining mission readiness through innovative and cost-effective environmental management strategies.

The Thomas D. White Environmental Awards recognizes installations in the Department of the Air Force who conduct the best or most improved environmental programs in various categories, and the teams and individuals that contribute the most to environmental efforts each year.

Samantha Kaisersatt, Environmental conservation chief, described the day-to-day operations for the cultural resources management team.

“A regular day for the team includes management of the Cultural Resources program in compliance with applicable Federal, state, and local standards and specific Department of the Air Force policies to ensure the successful accomplishment of the SLD 30 mission,” said Kaisersatt.

Kaisersatt also spoke on how the team felt after being notified they won the Thomas D. White award.

“The team is absolutely honored to be recognized for such an awesome achievement,” said Kaisersatt. “The policies we put in place that surround cost-effective projects, assessments, and approval efforts kept a schedule that stayed on track for critical mission requirements, so it’s definitely awesome to for our work to be noticed.”

The cultural resource management team is a part of the environmental section of the 30th Civil Engineer squadron, where they ensure environmental regulatory compliance for Space Launch Delta 30, subordinate units, and tenant organizations. This also includes routine interface with up to 18 regulatory agencies at all levels of government ensuring continued access to clean air, water and land for sustained mission requirements and potential future mission growth, and protection of natural and cultural resource assets on the installation.

The environmental section also plays a critical role in protecting the wildlife on the installation, such as the snowy plover. There are seasonal restrictions put in place that withhold access to beaches, and limit authorization to fish, for example.

Vandenberg wouldn’t feel like a national park if it weren’t for the efforts of the cultural resources management team and the environmental office in the 30th CES, congratulations team!

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Johnson Matthey said its operating profit was £222 million (US$268 million), down 30%, due to supply chain constraints in its clean air division, lower average PGM prices and a lag in recovering cost inflation.

The company, which makes catalysts for internal combustion engines, released its half year financial results yesterday.

Free cash flow at Johnson Matthey was £133 million, compared to £190 million in the prior year.

Sales of £2.0 billion, up 5%, with higher prices to partially recover cost inflation, partly offset by lower average PGM prices.

The company is maintaining its outlook. At the clean air division, it expects business conditions to get better.

“In Clean Air, supply chain disruption has eased through the first half and, whilst there is still uncertainty, we expect that automotive production volumes will improve further through the second half,” wrote the company.

“For the year 2022/23, external data currently suggests auto production will be 4% higher than 2021/22, with volumes in the second half expected to be 4% higher than the first half. There is a lag in negotiating inflation claims with OEMs, which affected our first half profits. We are focused on further recovery of cost inflation, which we expect to benefit the second half, supported by benefits from our transformation programme. With continued volume recovery, we expect Clean Air operating performance in the second half to be above the first half.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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