TODAY'S ISSUE: Green Power Coming to Gwinnett Residents via EMCs
ELLIOTT BRACK: Smoking Ban Being Considered in Gwinnett County
McLEMORE'S CARTOON: What President Bush Could Have Asked the Queen
FEEDBACK: Scholarships, War Casualties Mount, and Veteran Benefits
TODAY'S QUOTE: What Was Asked To Be Inscribed on One Gravestone

"Big deal! I'm used to dust."

--Gravestone epitaph requested by Erma Bombeck (via Bo Spalding, Atlanta.)

"Now that Coalition deaths have reached the 493 mark, 417 of which are US troops, and 7,000 of our troops are being treated in Germany for injuries including lost limbs and serious brain injuries, the casualty rate is now higher than that in the entire first three years of the Vietnam war, 1961 through 1964."

-- Charles Prendergast, Los Angeles

TODAY'S ISSUE
Georgia's EMCs start generating "Green Power" electricity
By Terri Brown
Georgia EMC
Special to GwinnettForum.com

ATLANTA, Nov. 19, 2003---Green Power EMC has brought on line its second landfill-gas-to-electricity generation site in less than 30 days. The Roberts Road landfill facility in Fayette County has begun generating one megawatt of power to the statewide electric grid. Together with electricity generated at the Taylor County landfill, the site of Georgia's first renewable energy facility, Green Power EMC is now generating five megawatts of renewable energy annually.

Landfill gas is Georgia's most abundant and economical renewable resource. It is always present and must be burned off at larger landfills, whether or not energy is generated.

"When completed in 2004, Green Power EMC's total landfill gas project will generate nine megawatts of energy annually," said Michael Whiteside, Green Power EMC president. "This amount can meet the energy needs of 5,600 homes."

"It also has the same environmental benefit as taking 84,000 cars off the road, planting 114,000 acres of forest, reducing the use of 1,890 railroad cars of coal, or eliminating 900,000 barrels of oil each year," continued Whiteside.

Customers signing up for Green Power will pay an additional charge each month ranging from $3 to $5 per 150 kilowatt-hour block, depending upon the participating EMC. "A portion of that charge supports a research and development fund that will help bring to market Georgia's other more costly renewable resources, including wind, solar power and low-impact
hydroelectric generation," Whiteside said.

Members of Green Power EMC include Carroll EMC of Carrollton, Cobb EMC of Marietta, Coweta-Fayette EMC of Newnan, Habersham EMC of Clarkesville, Irwin EMC of Ocilla, Jackson EMC of Jefferson, Lamar EMC of Barnesville, Ocmulgee EMC of Eastman, Sawnee EMC of Cumming, Snapping Shoals EMC of Covington, Tri-County EMC of Gray, Walton EMC of Monroe, Coastal Electric Cooperative of Midway, Jefferson Energy Cooperative of Wrens, GreyStone Power Corporation of Douglasville, and Flint Energies of Reynolds. All are electric cooperatives owned by the members they serve.

Green Power EMC has been named a "Landfill Methane Outreach Program Energy Partner" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency Landfill Methane Outreach Program, in recognition of its development of landfill gas
energy projects.

For more information on Green Power, visit www.greenpoweremc.com or call your local electric membership cooperative.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Gwinnett Commission should ban smoking in public
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 21, 2003 -- Of all of the accomplishments of the United States, certainly one of the most amazing is the way smoking has been curtailed.

By almost every indication, smoking is greatly reduced in this country. It is an amazing accomplishment, and has resulted in better health, longer lives for Americans, and even a higher quality of life.

A few facts:

In 1965, 52 per cent of men smoked, as did 33 per cent of women.

Look at the penetration of smoking today: 25 per cent of men, and 21 per cent for women. Both men and women are to be commended, though a far greater percentage of men have stopped smoking, compared to women.

For our citizens to have attacked something which many people viewed as an unbreakable habit, and to have succeeded generally, is a major achievement.

The reduction of smoking can be seen throughout this country. More and more communities are opting to ban smoking, making this a standard in almost every area of public life. What shocks most Americans these days is to go overseas, where there is not as much of a public effort to halt smoking, and be aware of the rampant smoking in public. It lets you know how far America has come in this effort.

Now Gwinnett County's Commission is considering a ban on smoking in public places. While at one time there might have been more active resistance to this, a great majority of the people today will voice, "About time!" Most people will welcome it.

Those of us who do not smoke are beginning to sound off about those who puff away and surround us with their smoke. Not only is it rude, but it is a menace to public (and especially our own) health. We have every right, virtually a duty, to complain about those who smoke around us.

More facts:

… On average, non smokers live 13 years longer than smokers.
… Smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in America.
… One-third of all cancer deaths are attributable to smoking.
… Prenatal smoking increase the risk of premature births by 30 percent.
… Smokers are 29 percent more likely to suffer from asthma than nonsmokers.
… More women die every year due to lung cancer than breast cancer. This year 68,000 women will die from lung cancer, while 41,000 women will die from breast cancer.
… Smokers are seven times more likely to show signs of gum (periodontal) disease than those who don't smoke.
… Smokers develop facial wrinkles far faster than non smokers.

Under the ordinance that passed in DeKalb, and similar to one being considered in Gwinnett, among the places where smoking would be prohibited would be in stores, restaurants, repair shops, barber shops, car dealerships, cleaners, pool halls and professional offices. Wow! Pool halls, too, huh?

Here in Gwinnett, two cities, Loganville and Grayson, have a ban on smoking in public places. Whether the county government passes the ban, the other Gwinnett cities should address this issue, and improve the health of their residents at the same time.

Year ago, we would never have thought that major outright bans on smoking in public places was possible. It shows what happens to cause a culture change when enough people get behind a movement, even in the face of that demon called "Habit."

We applaud the effort by the Gwinnett Commission to pass this ban on smoking in public. We look to hear from Gwinnett cities soon afterward.

The latest from cartoonist Bill McLemore:

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