EPA Close to Declaring CO2 a Dangerous Pollutant

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says that CO2 will be declared a dangerous pollutant within a few months. This move could help push climate change legislation through Congress at a pace slightly faster than that of a melting iceberg.

A formal “endangerment finding” would force the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act regardless of whether Congress passes a final climate change bill. Top senators have recently declared that they plan to delay introducing legislation that would cap carbon emissions.

From SF Gate:

The EPA kick-started the regulatory process in April when it proposed declaring carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases as pollutants that jeopardize the public health and welfare. EPA scientists believe the greenhouse gases contribute to global warming by trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The EPA can formalize the finding anytime, now that it has closed a 60-day public comment period that netted more than 300,000 responses.

President Obama and Jackson have said they would prefer that Congress – rather than the EPA – take the lead in implementing new greenhouse gas limits. Businesses and energy industry leaders also have largely favored congressional action over EPA-imposed limits, because they believe lawmakers are better positioned to combine economic safeguards with any new carbon cap.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases qualified as pollutants and could be regulated, if the government were to determine that they threatened the public.

No doubt, this news will immediately cause opponents of climate change action to howl about CO2 being the source of life on this planet, and predict fines for exhaling. “Everybody hold your breath!” Har har har.

Common sense should tell these people that such a fear is absurd, but you know what they say about common sense. Climate change deniers don’t have any.

Link [SF Gate]

EPA to Investigate Waste Dumping in Poor U.S. Communities

With the news about Britain getting caught dumping toxic waste in Brazil and Ghana, the injustice of hazardous dumping in third-world countries is getting some much-deserved press and analysis. But what about poor communities right here in the U.S. that are experiencing the same thing? Industry polluters abuse low-income and minority communities across the country, something that activists like Robert Bullard and Irma Muñoz often refer to as ‘environmental racism’.

According to the L.A. Times, this practice will finally be getting some attention from the federal government. The EPA has announced its intention to look into the impact of hazardous waste recycling plants in poor communities.

From the L.A. Times:

The move hearkens back to a Clinton-era executive order that required federal agencies to consider the impact of their policies on disadvantaged communities. Although the Bush administration largely ignored the mandate, Obama-appointed EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson has promised to analyze those impacts.

Under the Bush administration, hazardous waste recycling plants had a free pass to process more than 1 million pounds of toxic material without federal oversight. In Los Angeles and other areas, such plants are disproportionately located in low-income communities and communities largely populated by non-whites, maps created by Earthjustice show.

For example, coal ash from a spill in east Tennessee last December has been relocated to areas largely populated by black people in Alabama and Georgia, noted Robert Bullard of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

That last bit is pretty shocking. The TVA already ruined the lives of hundreds of people in Harriman, Tennessee when the coal ash spill occurred last December and their idea of cleaning it up is to move it to poor Southern communities? It’s an outrage.

The EPA needs to tackle the problem at the source  – making life hell for the companies that carry out these injustices in the first place. A little karma would do them some good.

Link [LA Times]
Photo credit: WeAct.org

Great Green Job of the Week: Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s State and Local Climate and Energy Program seeks a highly motivated and energetic person to help support state and local governments pursuing climate change mitigation.

Position Overview:

The incumbent will be responsible for a range of policy and analytic efforts involving co-benefits of greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation strategies, especially energy efficiency and renewable energy.  The incumbent will work directly with state and local officials to identify opportunities for promoting GHG reducing activities within current and potential future regulatory state and federal constructs.

The incumbent will be part of a dynamic team that conducts and provides technical and analytical assistance to states and localities.

Responsibilities:

Duties may include:

• Researching, analyzing and documenting climate change issues that relate to states and localities
• Helping assess co-benefits associated with a range of policies and programs
• Initiating and developing guidance documents and tools
• Working directly with state and local officials, across EPA and the federal government to evaluate options and develop recommendations
• Managing contracts, grants and/or interagency agreements

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will have strong analytic skills, experience working on clean energy and air quality policies, particularly with state officials and the ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical audiences, orally and in writing.  A background in policy, engineering, economics or some other field using quantitative and/or technical skills is desired.

To Apply:

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please contact Lorretta Aiken by Friday, June 26, 2009. Include a statement that explains your interest and how your background matches the position.

This invitation for resumes is an opportunity for you to introduce yourself to us. It is not an official job application process. All job openings will be announced in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ez-hire website.

EPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Selection for this position will be based solely on merit without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, national origin, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, marital or family status or any other non-merit factors. Applicant must be a U.S. Citizen.

Contact Information:
Lorretta Aiken
aiken.lorretta@epa.gov
http://www.epa.gov

Link [Green Dream Jobs]

EPA Bans Highly Toxic Pesticide

A toxic bird-killing, worker-poisoning pesticide will no longer appear in our food after an EPA decision to ban the chemical concoction. Tests have shown carbofuran to be highly toxic to mammals, marine animals, freshwater fish, birds and other creates and causes damage to the nervous system in humans, including respiratory paralysis and death.

From NRDC:

Initially, EPA had said that although uses of the pesticide in the U.S. would be cancelled, it would still be allowed as a contaminant on imported coffee, sugarcane, rice, and bananas. This would have meant that the manufacturer, FMC Corp., could still sell carbofuran in other countries that grow these foods  for U.S. markets, thus putting at much greater risk those foreign workers, their families, and their environment. Today’s decision will prevent all food contamination, including imports.

There are still two non-food uses of carbofuran that will remain: spinach seeds and pine seedlings will still be allowed to be treated with a granular form of carbofuran. EPA said that its future intentions are to cancel these uses as well, although today it is only the food uses that are being cancelled.

Isn’t it sad how we get all worked up over incidences in which the EPA actually, you know, does its job, protecting the environment and such? We got used to the EPA being not just ineffective but at times counterproductive under the Bush administration, so now every time Obama’s EPA makes a halfway decent decision we’re cheering them on like rabid football fans.

Link [NRDC]

EPA Cracks Down on Mercury Pollution from Cement Kilns

The Feds have finally gotten serious about cracking down on mercury pollution produced by cement kilns. On April 21st, just in time for Earth Day, the EPA released new regulations that will cut airborne mercury pollution by 81%-93% – a huge victory for environmental law firm EarthJustice, which has been fighting for regulation for years.

From the EarthJustice press release:

Led by Lisa Jackson, the EPA Administrator newly appointed by President Obama, EPA is proposing first time standards for cement kilns of mercury, hydrochloric acid, and toxic organic pollutants such as benzene.  In addition, the agency is strengthening the outdated standards for particulate matter to better control kilns’ emissions of lead, arsenic, and other toxic metals.

Earthjustice prevailed in a string of lawsuits aimed at forcing EPA to set limits for airborne mercury pollution from cement kilns for nearly a decade. Such limits were due under the federal Clean Air Act in 1997.

“This is great news and is a promising sign that the new leadership at EPA and in the White House is serious about protecting public health and the environment,” said Earthjustice attorney Jim Pew. “By stopping pollution at its source, we can keep mercury from poisoning the fish we eat. Bit by bit, we can reclaim our nation’s waters and protect our children’s health and our environment from dangerous mercury pollution.”

Although cement kilns have avoided controlling their mercury pollution until now, they are one of the largest sources of mercury emissions nationwide and the worst mercury polluters in some states. But kilns can curb their mercury emissions by using cleaner raw materials, cleaner fuels, and readily available technology like scrubbers and activated carbon injection.

Even small doses of mercury are extremely dangerous. Just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate a 20-acre lake and make the lake’s fish unsafe to eat.

Check out EarthJustice’s flyover of the Cupertino cement kiln in the hills outside San Francisco:

As Treehugger reports, this rule will also make it more difficult for coal-fired electrical utilities to compete on price with natural gas-fired electricity and/or renewable energy:

As Treehugger reports, this rule will also make it more difficult for coal-fired electrical utilities to compete on price with natural gas-fired electricity and/or renewable energy:

Coal-fired electrical generating plants currently send most of their mercury emissions skyward, as vapor carried along with hot gases flowing up the smokestacks. Because mercury is a metal vapor in hot stack gas, it is dissociated from particulate matter and therefore is not captured in conventional pollution control devices like a bag filter. Hence, relatively little mercury ends up in the fly ash produced by utilities. (Mercury does coalesce into aerosols and dust particles down wind from the discharge point.)

If coal-fired utilities are forced by coming regulation to add mercury pollution controls, they are likely to end up diverting a great deal of the captured mercury to the fly ash, increasing the mercury concentration of fly ash, which is commonly added to cement kiln feed. Cement kilns will not be able to serve as de-facto disposal facilities – which amounts to nothing more than shifting the mercury from one stack to another. Thus, utilities that once were giving away fly ash to cement kiln operators will now have to pay to dispose of it instead, increasing the cost of coal-fired electricity.

Check out an interactive web feature at the EarthJustice website that illustrates how cement manufacturing creates mercury pollution, as well as this interactive map showing the locations of cement kilns nationwide.

Link [Treehugger] + [EarthJustice]
Photo credit: Flickr user Tarboat

EPA FAIL: No Plans to Remove Rocket Fuel from our Drinking Water

When Bush was president, the EPA was practically useless. We couldn’t count on them to get anything important done – for us, anyway. They were more than happy to help out their industry buddies, though. Well, despite a fresh new EPA that’s seemingly more on top of things than their predecessors, perchlorate – also known as rocket fuel – is still present in abundant quantities in our drinking water.

Studies have found perchlorate not just in tap water but in milk, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots – even human breast milk and urine, showing just how widespread the contamination really is. Yet Bush’s EPA decided not to protect us from it – and so far, Obama’s EPA hasn’t reversed that decision, despite the recent finding of alarming quantities of the substance in infant formula.

From NRDC Switchboard:

Instead, EPA had said that a national primary drinking water regulation for perchlorate would not present “a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public water systems.”

In addition to its failure to take action on perchlorate in drinking water, EPA has proposed a Health Advisory Level (HRL) of 15 micrograms per liter (µg/L, equal to parts per billion, ppb) of perchlorate in drinking water, which EPA says would be used as a cleanup level in contaminated sites. However, EPA’s own scientific experts calculated that if drinking water were contaminated at that level approximately 400,000 children under one year old would be drinking unsafe levels of perchlorate daily (i.e. they would exceed EPA’s calculated daily allowable level (reference dose, RfD) of 0.7 microgram per kilogram body weight per day (µg/kg bw/d).

The report from government scientists last month found that levels of perchlorate in some milk-based infant formula and formula reconstituted with contaminated drinking water were so high that infants drinking these contaminated food sources would exceed the RfD for perchlorate.

You might be thinking, “Well, then maybe it’s okay for us to drink rocket fuel.” Wrong. The ill health effects of perchlorate contamination have been documented for decades. Prolonged exposure can cause impaired thyroid function, which can then lead to obesity or extreme weight loss, infertility and Grave’s Disease. The EPA itself found in 1995 that laboratory animals developed thyroid disorders after two weeks of drinking perchlorate-laced water.

No amount of rocket fuel in our water is acceptable – especially in conjunction with all of the other chemicals that are allowed in ‘small amounts’. The EPA needs to take action, and they need to do it now.

Link [NRDC Switchboard]
Photo credit: David Leonard

EPA Halts Mountaintop Removal Mining Projects

The Environmental Protection Agency has put hundreds of mountaintop removal mining projects on hold while they evaluate the impact on streams and wetlands, officials announced on Tuesday. Mountaintop removal mining is an extremely environmentally damaging process, which allows coal mining companies to dump waste from mountaintop mining into certain waterways.

From The Huffington Post:

The EPA said in a statement that it would be actively involved in the review of the long list of permits awaiting approval by the Corps, a signal that the agency under the Obama administration will exercise its oversight.

The EPA has the authority to review and veto any permit issued by the Corps under the Clean Water Act, but under the Bush administration it did that rarely.

“If the EPA didn’t step in and do something now, all those permits would go forward,” said Joe Lovett, executive director for the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment. “There are permits that will bury 200 miles of streams pending before the Corps.”

The EPA action stunned the coal industry, which had been breathing easily since the mid-February ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Last month, an appeals panel in Richmond, Virginia overturned a lower court’s ruling that would have required the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct more extensive reviews, hence the coal industry’s surprise. A spokesman for the National Mining Association called the hold on the permits “troubling”.

Does this mean mountaintop removal is on its way out? We can only hope that it’s a signal of a new beginning, but it will undoubtedly take a while before the process is stopped completely, if that ever even happens. But, this is a very encouraging sign. The campaigns to draw attention to the issue seem to be working.

It’s just amazing that we’re not writing negative posts about how the EPA is screwing the environment and human health anymore!

Link [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

How Green is Obama’s New Team?

Now that Barack Obama is officially President of the United States, we’ve got four years of new leadership to look forward to and his team will undoubtedly get started on new measures so fast it’ll make our heads spin. But, when it comes to that new team – from the EPA chief to the National Security Advisor – how much can we expect in terms of environmental progress? Just how green is Obama’s new staff?

Naturally, Grist.org has the scoop. They’ve compiled background information on each team member and what the environmental community thinks of them.  Here are a few of the top names – see the rest over at Grist.org.

EPA Administrator: Lisa Jackson

While many enviros have had nice things to say about Jackson, she’s been a controversial figure in New Jersey, where she served as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection from February 2006 to November 2008. Some N.J. groups say she’s done great work on climate, energy, and clean water, but others have been critical, particularly of her handling of toxic waste sites.

More background on Jackson.

Secretary of Energy: Steven Chu

Background on Chu.

Watch Chu talk about climate change and renewable energy.

Secretary of the Interior: Ken Salazar

Some grassroots conservationists from the West are unhappy with the Salazar nomination, though some big, national green groups are saying nice things about him.

Background on Salazar.

Secretary of Agriculture: Tom Vilsack

The sustainable-agriculture community is disappointed in the choice of Vilsack, who has been a big booster of agribusiness and genetically modified crops. But a long-time Iowa organic farmer and food activist says Vilsack is someone progressives can work with.

Read a 2007 interview with Vilsack.

Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change: Carol Browner

Background on Browner.

Browner, who was EPA administrator during the entire Clinton administration, has been a long-time acolyte of Al Gore.

Link [Grist.org]

Obama Will Likely Allow States to Toughen Air Quality Rules

California and other states will most likely be given permission to toughen air quality rules soon after Obama takes office, forcing automakers to produce cars that are far more efficient than those allowed under current federal standards.

More than a dozen states will be able to enforce their own greenhouse gas emission standards on automobiles, rules that are key to fighting global warming.

From the LA Times:

“This is an essential piece of the nation’s environmental strategy,” said Tim Carmichael, president of the Coalition for Clean Air. Environmentalists estimate that cars create about a quarter of U.S. carbon emissions.

But it’s a nightmare scenario for automakers, which argue that complying with the California guidelines would create regulatory headaches and a technology burden that could add at least $1,000 and as much as $5,000 to the cost of each vehicle.

As such, the prospect of the waiver is creating a fierce debate about automotive regulation, pitting concerns about the environment against the deeply troubled finances of an industry that has thrown itself at the mercy of Washington just to remain solvent.

Unsurprisingly, automakers are calling foul, with GM corporate spokesperson Greg Martin complaining that asking GM to meet California emissions standards is like asking a cancer patient to “finish chemo and then go run the Boston Marathon.” Automakers have opposed California’s standards in court for years.

Honda is the only company that has accepted reality and begun preparing for new emissions standards, making plans for a fleet that’s even more efficient than is called for under the strict California rules.

Mary Nichols, chairwoman of California’s Air Resources Board, says the likelihood of getting a waver from new EPA chief Lisa Jackson to go ahead with implementing and forcing their emissions regulations is over 95%.

Automakers have had years and years to prepare for this, and most of them have dragged their feet, focusing on fighting the rules instead of figuring out how to comply with them. It’s about time they were forced to be accountable for the damage their vehicles are doing to the environment.

As Honda’s VP of government affairs said, “Any company that is not assuming a constant rate of improvement in fuel economy and carbon emissions is making a big mistake.”

Link [LA Times]
Photo credit: LeHighValleyLive.com

Top Compounds in U.S. Drinking Water Include Pharmaceuticals, Hormones

What’s lurking in your drinking water? According to a recent study, we’re all imbibing low levels of pharmaceuticals and hormonally active chemicals every time we use water from our taps. The Southern Nevada Authority in Las Vegas screened tap water from 19 US water utilities for 51 different compounds between 2006 and 2007, and gave us the lowdown on the 11 most frequently detected compounds.

From New Scientist:

• Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease

• Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union, but still used in the US, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behaviour

• Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilising drug used to treat bipolar disorder, amongst other things

• Estrone, an oestrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish

• Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug

• Meprobamate, a tranquiliser widely used in psychiatric treatment

• Naproxen, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory linked to increases in asthma incidence

• Phenytoin, an anticonvulsant that has been used to treat epilepsy

• Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used against the Streptococcus bacteria, which is responsible for tonsillitis and other diseases

• TCEP, a reducing agent used in molecular biology

• Trimethoprim, another antibiotic

Shane Snyder of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Christian Daughton of the EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory say that these compounds don’t pose a significant public health threat because they’re found in concentrations that are millions of times lower than in a medical dose. Still, several point to potential for risk, says Daughton, especially for the fetus and those with severely compromised health.

It seems inevitable that a slow buildup of such compounds in our bodies over time would cause some problems, however. Daughton emphasizes that the presence of such pharmaceuticals in our drinking water and in the environment should make us acutely aware of the chemical sea that surrounds us. We’re exposed to unprecedented levels of chemicals that may ultimately have profound effects on the entire planet.

Snyder tells us that “contamination is a fact of modern life”, but that doesn’t mean we should continue to allow these compounds to build up in our drinking water. The US government doesn’t even regulate the presence of pharmaceuticals and other compounds in our water, and it’s hard to trust an agency that has allowed safety issues to go unchecked in the past.

Link [New Scientist]
Photo credit: Flickr user aka Kath

Scientists Calling for Urgent Study of Phthalates

The National Research Council is calling upon the EPA to study the cumulative effects of exposure to phthalates, a class of hormone-mimicking chemicals found in items like cosmetics, toys, air fresheners, plastic containers and other household products.

Humans are being exposed to hormone-disrupting chemicals at a far greater rate than ever before, and we don’t yet know what the long-term effects might be. Research has already shown that phthalates can affect the reproductive organs of young boys, causing smaller penis size. It’s been theorized that such exposure could lead to fertility problems later in life.

A new law will ban several types of phthalates from children’s products starting in February, and the EPA will soon require cosmetics manufacturers to report whether their products contain phthalates, but you still won’t be able to tell by reading the ingredients – and phthalates are in plenty of other products.

From the NRC report, via The Daily Green:

Recent animal studies have increased understanding of the potential risks from phthalates, although few human studies on the health effects of phthalates are available … To decide whether a cumulative risk assessment is warranted, two factors needed to be determined: whether humans are exposed to multiple phthalates at any given time, and whether sufficient evidence exists linking exposures to similar adverse health effects. The committee established that recent studies have shown widespread human exposure to multiple phthalates, including in utero exposure.

Then, the committee reviewed animal research and found that exposure to various phthalates in lab animals produced similar health outcomes, including a range of effects on the development of the male reproductive system. The most notable effects in male rats are infertility, undescended testes, malformation of the penis, and other reproductive tract malformations. However, the severity of effects differs among phthalates; some exhibit less severe or no effects. Furthermore, the age of the animals at the time of exposure is critical to the severity of the effects. For example, the fetus is most sensitive. Given that multiple human exposures to phthalates occur and that research shows exposure to different phthalates leads to similar outcomes in lab animals, a cumulative risk assessment is called for, the committee said.

The animal studies reviewed by the committee also indicated that some phthalates reduce testosterone concentrations. Depending on when this drop occurs, it can cause a variety of effects in animals that are critical for male reproductive development. Other chemicals known as antiandrogens, which prevent or inhibit male hormones from working, can produce similar effects in lab animals. The committee recommended that phthalates and other chemicals that affect male reproductive development in animals, including antiandrogens, be considered in the cumulative risk assessment. A focus solely on phthalates to the exclusion of other chemicals would be artificial and could seriously underestimate risk, the committee emphasized.

Currently when conducting cumulative risk assessments, EPA often considers only chemicals that are structurally related, on the assumption that they have the same chain of reactions that lead to a final health outcome. That practice ignores how exposures to different chemicals may result in the same health effects. The conceptual approach taken for phthalates — to consider chemicals that cause similar health effects — should also be applied when completing any cumulative risk assessment, the committee said. For instance, EPA could evaluate the risk of combined exposures to lead, methylmercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls because all contribute to cognitive deficits consistent with IQ reduction in children.

It’s about time phthalates were given in-depth study. When you think about it, as consumers we really don’t have any idea what is in most of the products we buy. Manufacturers can get away with putting all kinds of chemicals in their products because the chemicals haven’t proven to be dangerous. But if no one has ever checked to see whether they’re dangerous, we could go on using them unaware for years. Scary.

Link [The Daily Green]
Photo credit: Flickr user Gaetan Lee

Obama Fills Energy and Environmental Protection Agency Posts

We’ve finally got answers as to who’s going to be filling important energy and environmental posts in the Obama administration. Sources say the nominees are as follows (from The Daily Green):

Steven Chu, Energy Secretary

The Department of Energy is mostly about nuclear weapons and nuclear power, along with a bunch of energy industry analysts, but it also holds the biggest grouping in the world of renewable energy researchers. Chu — unlike Al Gore, that other Nobel Prize winner — doesn’t believe that the world has all the technology it needs to solve the global warming crisis … which means he’s likely to push for increased research. That’s a good thing. Also a good thing: He believes there’s a global warming crisis.

Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator

A former Clinton EPA official and more recently the head of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, Jackson has a mixed record in the most densely populated U.S. state, if local environmental groups are to be believed.

The New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club had kind words about Jackson, according to the Associated Press, but a coalition of smaller groups expressed concerns about the agency’s allegedly lax enforcement of environmental laws, like the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.

“While I like her personally, I have found her leadership of the NJDEP to be remarkable in its failures, and shudder at the thought of her leading our nation’s environmental protector,” Bob Spiegel, the executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, wrote to the Obama Administration recently.

Carol Browner, Energy Czar

Browner is a well-respected environmental advocate, having led Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, advised Gore as a senator, led Clinton’s EPA, chaired the National Audubon Society, and most recently acted as a private attorney and investment adviser on issues related to climate, energy and the environment.

The only question is exactly what she’ll do, since her title and responsibilities aren’t clearly outlined.

Nancy Sutley, Chair, Council on Environmental Quality

Sutley, the Los Angeles Deputy Mayor for energy and environment, has been involved in that city’s significant greening efforts, such as its goal of drawing 10% of its power from the sun, its requirement that public buildings meet LEED green building standards, its effort to improve carpooling and public transportation in the notoriously freeway-based region and its plan to plant 1 million trees.

We reported on the possibility of Lisa Jackson becoming EPA administrator back in early November just after the elections, and opinions about her are mixed. She did spend 16 years in the EPA in Washington and New York before becoming New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner.  Granted, she has had to deal with a lot in New Jersey in the two short years she held that position.

“In New Jersey, you’re working on contaminated sites, you’re working on open space, endangered species, clean water. New Jersey is the laboratory for environmental protection. Whatever bad happens in the environment, it happens in New Jersey first. It is a good proving ground,” said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Still, we would have felt much more at ease with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was said to be a potential candidate. Kennedy has a long and storied record of fighting passionately for the environment, while Jackson’s accomplishments are a bit hazy. Time will tell.

So, this group doesn’t include Al Gore (you should all have seen that coming), but the bottom line is, it’s a vast improvement over the Bush appointees.

Link [The Daily Green]

EPA Creates Most Wanted List of Eco-Criminals

The EPA unveiled a most wanted list of their own on Wednesday, full of environmental fugitives accused of ‘assaulting nature’. Their crimes? Smuggling chemicals that damage the earth’s ozone layer, dumping hazardous waste into oceans and trafficking in polluting cars. Names and mug shots of the 23 fugitives are listed on the EPA website, along with the details of the allegations against them.

From MSNBC:

Those listed include:

• Mauro Valenzuela, who in 1996 is alleged to have illegally transported hazardous waste oxygen generators onboard ValuJet flight 592 without proper markings and other safety measures. The jet crashed, killing all 110 passengers and crew onboard. Valenzuela failed to appear in federal court nine years ago.
• John Karayannides, who allegedly helped orchestrate the dumping of 487 tons of wheat tainted with diesel fuel into the South China Sea in 1998. Karayannides is believed to have fled to Athens, Greece.
• The father and son team of Carlos and Allesandro Giordano, who were arrested in 2003 as the owners of Autodelta USA, a company that was illegally importing and selling Alfa Romeos that did not meet U.S. emission or safety standards. The two men are believed to be hiding out in Italy.
• Raul Chavez-Beltran, who ran an environmental cleanup company in El Paso, Texas, that is accused of transporting hazardous waste from factories along the Mexican border and improperly disposing and storing it in the U.S. In one case, he allegedly stockpiled mercury-laced soil from an environmental spill in a warehouse.

What I want to know is, where the hell is George W. Bush on this list? He’s done more harm to the environment than any of the people named here. His administration has made literally hundreds of harmful environmental roll-backs during his 8 long, painful years in office, and he’s still not done! As we speak, this dangerous eco-criminal is holed up in our nation’s capital devising ways to gut 30 years of environmental law. Isn’t it about time for a citizen’s arrest?

Link [MSNBC]

Coal Industry in Limbo Over Regulating Greenhouse Gases

Scores of new coal-burning power plants were set to begin construction soon, but the plans are now on hold as the industry awaits decisions by the Obama administration about the regulation of greenhouse gases.

Coal industry lawyers are nervous after the Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel recently rejected a federal permit for a Utah Plant, which one lawyer described as “a punt to the Obama adminstration”. The panel said that the EPA’s Denver office had failed to adequately support its decision to create the plant without requiring controls on carbon dioxide.

From MSNBC:

The matter was sent back to that office, which must better explain why it failed to order limits on carbon dioxide. This is “an issue of national scope that has implications far beyond this individual permitting process,” the panel said.

EPA spokesman Jonathan Shrader said the agency was reviewing the ruling by the appeals panel, which traditionally gives great deference to agency decisions.

Environmentalists and lawyers representing industry groups said the ruling puts in question permits — some being considered, others approved but under appeal — of perhaps as many as 100 coal plants.

“It’s going to stop everything while EPA mulls over what to do next” about how the federal Clean Air Act is to be used to control carbon dioxide, said David Bookbinder, a Sierra Club lawyer. “And that will be decided by the next administration.”

Though we don’t yet know exactly how Obama is going to tackle the regulation of greenhouse gases, it’s safe to assume that his approach will be different from that of George W. Bush, who opposed using the Clean Air Act to do so. The Supreme Court has told the EPA that it must decide whether carbon dioxide endangers public health and welfare, and if it does it must be regulated. Obviously, it does, but under Bush, the EPA wouldn’t admit it.

The people Obama chooses for top spots in the EPA will make all the difference in cases like this – and we’re pretty confident that for once they’ll be capable of doing the job.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Who Will Obama Choose for Important Environmental Cabinet Posts?

During these 8 long years of George W. Bush’s presidency, we’ve had little trust in the Environmental Protection Agency to do their job. Since Bush has aggressively pushed his business-first agenda and put undue influence on the EPA in their decision-making process, the agency has become little more than a front, allowing Bush and Co. to trample all over human and environmental health so corporations can pad their bank accounts even more.

In these last few months before he’s forced to vacate the White House, Bush is on the warpath along with his puppet-like EPA chief Stephen Johnson to push through as many business-friendly measures as possible. He has eased pollution restrictions on factory farms, making it easier for factory farm operations to contaminate drinking water supplies with huge amounts of waste. He has rushed to ease endangered species laws so that building projects can go forward despite encroaching upon the habitats of threatened animals.  And, quietly, amidst the excitement and chaos of the election, Bush is doing all he can to allow power plants to operate near national parks and wilderness areas.

In an Obama administration, things will undoubtedly change – in a monumental way. No longer will we shake our heads in anger and frustration over yet another EPA decision that allows businesses to get away with polluting the earth, destroying ecosystems and threatening species. Anyone Obama chooses will automatically be more effective than Jones, simply because Obama actually cares about the environment. But Obama has an opportunity here to choose a true environmental leader – someone who will take the job of protecting the environment seriously.

One prominent name that’s been bandied about as of late is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said to be Obama’s first choice. Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and has long worked toward cleaning up the water supply in New York City. The outdoorsman’s obvious personal dedication makes him a popular choice among environmentalists, especially given his experience fighting anti-environment legislation in Congress in 1995 and 1996.

Lisa Jackson has also been mentioned as a possibility. Jackson, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, has been tapped to co-chair Obama’s transition group overseeing the EPA. That puts her on the shortlist to be named administrator, according to anonymous sources.  Jackson was recently appointed Chief of Staff to New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, the first African-American to serve in that position in the state.

For Secretary of the Interior, The Huffington Post has speculated that Democratic congressmen Norm Dicks of Washington and George Miller of California could be in the running. The Interior Department is yet another federal agency that has been plagued by appointees that saw industry profits as more important than conservation.

Rep. Miller is a member of the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus as well as the House Natural Resources Committee, and has a long history of supporting America’s wildlife and public land systems. Rep. Dicks is also a member of the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus and is chairman of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. He recently won the 2008 Ansel Adams Conservation Award from the Wilderness Society, mostly for his efforts to increase budgets for public land systems.

Though some have mentioned Democrat Tony Knowles – the man who lost the governorship of Alaska to Sarah Palin – as a possibility, his support for drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge makes him less than palatable.

Grist has additional possibilities for both EPA Administrator and Secretary of the Interior as well as top names for Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Agriculture and possible new position ‘Climate Change Czar’. To get the names on their list, Grist spoke to campaign advisors, academics, nonprofit conservation advocates, lobbyists and others who might have the low-down.

Though Obama has been far quicker to begin the process of choosing his staff than previous presidents, don’t expect a definite appointment too soon. Officials are uncertain when Obama will be making a selection.

Whether it’s tomorrow or next month, what a relief it is to know that the environment will once again be in capable, empathetic hands.

Link [The Huffington Post] + [Politico] + [NJ.com] + [Grist]

EPA Grows a Pair and Toughens Lead Pollution Limits Despite Lobbying

The Environmental Protection Agency has finally done the right thing and reduced the legal limit of lead emissions, despite years of lobbying by industrial battery recyclers who claim the limit will put them out of business.  The lead regulations hadn’t been updated since 1978, and over 6,000 studies have shown that exposure even to miniscule amounts can cause problems like mental retardation in children, nerve damage and heart attacks.

From The Huffington Post:

“Our nation’s air is cleaner today than just a generation ago, and last night I built upon this progress by signing the strongest … air quality standards for lead in our nation’s history. These levels reduce allowable levels of lead exposure by ten times,” said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen Johnson. “When my children were young, EPA protected them by phasing out lead in … gasoline, and thanks to this standard EPA will protect my grandchildren from remaining sources of lead.”

The EPA has a long history of giving in to lobbyists’ requests at the expense of public health, and given that its main responsibility is to protect us and the environment, we hardly feel that we owe them any thanks for actually doing their job.  While toughening the lead pollution limits is extremely important, considering all of the other things they’ve failed to do, the most we can muster is a bored, toneless “whoopee”. Now get back to work, EPA!

Link [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

EPA Decides Not to Remove Rocket Fuel from Drinking Water

There’s a toxic rocket fuel ingredient in drinking water across the country, and the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t care. Though the EPA is officially in charge of protecting the public from dangers such as this, they reached the conclusion that the ingredient, perchlorate, would not result in a “meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems.”  So, despite the fact that perchlorate – which has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at dangerously high levels – interferes with thyroid function and could pose developmental health risks, especially for babies and fetuses, the EPA doesn’t think it’s too important.

From The Huffington Post:

The Defense Department used perchlorate for decades in testing missiles and rockets, and most perchlorate contamination is the result of defense and aerospace activities, congressional investigators said last year.

The Pentagon could face liability if EPA set a national drinking water standard that forced water agencies around the country to undertake costly clean-up efforts. Defense officials have spent years questioning EPA’s conclusions about the risks posed by perchlorate.

The Pentagon objected strongly Monday to the suggestion that it sought to influence EPA’s decision.

Of course they denied pressuring the EPA – there’d be public outrage if they admitted it. That’s the Bush administration’s way – they make the decisions that are advantageous to themselves, and lie to everyone about their methods and motivations. The EPA’s decision basically amounts to announcing that they don’t care about public health. It’s pretty sick, but not surprising given what the Bush presidency has put this country through for the last 8 years.

The next president is going to have a lot to clean up, and if we want anything to get done, we’d better do all we can to ensure McCain and Palin don’t win the election.

Link [The Huffington Post]

White House Hiding Truth of $2 Trillion Benefit to Global Warming Regulations

The Wonk Room has discovered the why the Bush administration has been suppressing an EPA report on climate change regulations since December. Apparently, the documents prepared by the EPA show that the U.S. economy would not be ‘crippled’ by caps on greenhouse gases, as Bush said, but would actually benefit to the tune of $2 trillion by 2030. Had the document been published rather than stifled by the White House, it could have become a “legal roadmap for regulation of greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. economy.”

From The Wonk Room:

Even after major cuts from the December version, this document makes a mockery of President Bush’s claim in April that applying the Clean Air Act to global warming pollution “would have crippling effects on our entire economy.” In fact, after spending all of 2007 working with the Departments of Transportation and Energy to model the effects of motor vehicle greenhouse gas regulations, the EPA found the exact opposite:

Assuming gas prices in the range of $3.50 per gallon, “the net benefit to society could be in excess of $2 trillion” through 2040.

Now that the EPA’s findings have been revealed, many people are questioning whether Bush’s statements were made in good faith. Seriously? Do we really even have to ask? It should be obvious. In fact, why is this surprising to anyone at all? Nearly everything Bush and Co. have done in the last 8 years has harmed the country.

Link [The Wonk Room]
Photo credit: NationalNightmare.com

White House Suppressed EPA Report on Car Emissions

At this point, I think the question is, can the Bush administration do anything right, or are they really all just a bunch of corrupt assholes? Last December, White House officials tried to stop the EPA from submitting a proposal that would limit greenhouse-gas emissions, supposedly because they ‘threatened public welfare’. Once they found out that the EPA had sent out the email only minutes before, they wanted the email ‘recalled’.

From The Washington Post:

The EPA official who forwarded the e-mail, Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett, refused, said the sources, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.

The proposed rule was EPA’s response to an April 2007 Supreme Court ruling that the agency had violated the Clean Air Act by refusing to take up the issue of regulating automobile emissions that contribute to global warming.

Burnett, who resigned from the agency this month, sent the e-mail to the White House Office of Management and Budget at 2:17 p.m. Dec. 5 and received the call warning him to hold off at 2:25 p.m., the sources said. The EPA is expected to release a watered-down version of its original proposal within a week, highlighting the extent to which Bush administration officials continue to resist mandatory federal limits on emissions linked to global warming.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that White House officials never opened EPA’s e-mail. In March, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee disclosed documents showing that the White House had overruled EPA’s findings on the impact of vehicle emissions on climate change.

Burnett refused to comment on the White House calls but said in an interview, “In early December, I sent an e-mail with the formal finding that action must be taken to address the risk of climate change,” adding that he resigned his political appointment because the agency had been stymied in its efforts to respond to the Supreme Court. “The White House made it clear they did not want to address the ramifications of that finding and have decided to leave the challenge to the next administration. Some [at the White House] thought that EPA had mistakenly concluded that climate change endangers the public. It was no mistake.”

WTF – does the White House know how email works? They wanted it ‘recalled’? They never opened the email so the EPA rewrote it? Amazing. What a bunch of partisan rightwing hack pussies.

Apparently, the revised version that the EPA is preparing to put out no longer states that climate change is a direct threat to public welfare, is far shorter and no longer includes alternative approaches to regulate greenhouse emissions from vehicles and power plants. The White House stood on the EPA’s balls and the EPA gave in.

Is it 2009 yet?

Link [The Washington Post]

Photo credit: Flickr user KRSPO

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