Prof. Bill Kovarik, PhD

Recent Commentary

United Nations: Leaded gasoline to be eliminated -- Associated Press, worldwide, Oct. 27, 2011 -- Leaded gasoline became universal despite warnings from public health advocates and a scandal over the deaths in 1924 of six refinery workers in Newark, New Jersey, who were poisoned while manufacturing it and “were led away in straitjackets,” said Bill Kovarik, a journalist and communication professor at Radford University who researched the history of leaded gasoline.

“Historically, there are only a handful of major environmental victories like this,” Kovarik said. “It took 90 years to eradicate what was always a well-known poison from a product that everyone uses. It’s a great achievement, but it really says something about how public health works globally, that it took so long ... Benjamin Franklin complained about lead poisoning in print shops.”

Running on 'E' -- Norfolk Virginian Pilot, Dec. 3, 2011 -- "Ethanol isn't new. Benjamin Franklin used it for his warming pan in the 18th century, said Bill Kovarik, a professor of communication at Radford University who has studied the topic. Henry Ford built the Model T with an "adjustable carburetor" to run on gas or ethanol, Kovarik said.

What comes after ethanol? -- Roanoke Times, Sept. 4, 2011 -- Some people say that government shouldn't be in the business of choosing technologies. They say they want an unregulated marketplace. But if that were true, we wouldn't have military protection for the Persian Gulf, we wouldn't have an insurance ceiling for the nuclear power industry, and we would still be talking about taking the lead out of gasoline. We need to remember our history and use a little common sense in our energy policy before taking thoughtless actions we may later come to regret.

Hezekiah Niles: a patriotic newsmagazine editor in the 19th century --Baltimore Sun, Sept. 4, 2011 -- Niles was a devoted patriot and an editor with vision. He managed to put aside his own partisanship in order to reach out in the spirit of compromise. He hoped that spirit might hold the nation together. Although his ideas were widely accepted in the North, he found attitudes in the South hardening during his years as editor.

Public Broadcasting's Fight for Funding --Roanoke Times, Feb. 20, 2011 -- ... The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967, but the roots of educational and public broadcasting go back to the early days of radio, when communities, schools and churches started their own services, according to Radford University communications professor Bill Kovarik. "Federal licensing for commercial stations basically pushed all those educational stations off the air," said Kovarik, who has written a media history textbook titled "Revolutions in Communication."

Ethanol gets a boost -- National Public Radio, Dec. 21, 2010 -- Ethanol may seem modern, but people throughout Appalachia have been making it for hundreds of years. "We are known for our moonshine industry," says science writer Bill Kovarik with a laugh, "very well known for our moonshine industry. It is still flourishing." Kovarik, who's also a professor at Radford University, says that ethanol is, first and foremost, a way to make corn more valuable. More than a century ago, Henry Ford built cars to run on it, with just that in mind. "So, you could replace the transportation income that farmers used to have by [their] growing the fuel for the cars, instead of growing horses and feed." Prohibition killed that idea, but the farm crisis, oil shocks and environmental concerns have revived it. Lawmakers gave companies a tax credit — currently 45 cents a gallon, more than $5 billion a year — for blending ethanol with gasoline.

Where are the Steve Wozniaks of the Energy Revolution? True Slant, May 30, 2010
Why it is that the social construction of energy technology is so much more difficult than the social construction of, say, computing and the digital media revolution? Was IBM that much less of a challenge than Standard Oil? Where are the Steve Wozniaks of the energy revolution?”

A Better Law is Needed Encyclopedia Britannica Advocacy for Animals forum, May 10, 2010
It’s easy to understand the disappointment of animal rights activists following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a federal law barring the sale of videos that depict the abuse and killing of animals. On the other hand, one of our most cherished legal principles is that any that law diminishing the First Amendment right of free speech must be very narrowly defined...

Appalachian Feudalism New York Times, April 14, 2010
Why (are these mine disasters) happening? Three factors stand out: Appalachian people are have been historically oppressed, with ugly stereotypes used to justify their mistreatment. The history of coal mining in Appalachia shows over a century of constant violence against those who have stood up for human rights, for labor unions and for other reforms... And the external costs of coal, in terms of human health or the natural environment, have never been reflected in what consumers pay to keep the lights on.

Enduring legacy: Women and the Environmental Movement -Radford Women's Forum, March 9, 2010
Appreciation for the history of women, minorities, labor and social movements is long overdue, since these stories are just as close to the heart of the democratic experience, or perhaps closer, than many found in traditional American history textbooks. Especially interesting is the leading role women played in the nation’s early environmental movement. This movement began at least a century and a half ago, peaked in the Progressive era of the 1890s, and then declined during the war years in the early- to mid-20th century...