Culture & Ethics
New EPA air toxics report presents sobering assessment of cancer risk
A new U.S. EPA report released today presents a scary picture of our exposure to hazardous pollutants in our air. The National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment for 2002, which analyzed health data based on chronic exposure to air toxics for 124 pollutants for which those data are available. (The assessment’s name is potentially confusing; the report …
Continue reading “New EPA air toxics report presents sobering assessment of cancer risk”
CONTINUE READINGNotes From Japan
A few environmental observations from my family vacation in Tokyo. The first is an obvious one: Tokyo’s public transportation system is a marvel. Several American cities have admirable subway systems but what is so impressive about Tokyo’s is the sheer area it covers. It’s the largest subway and train system in the world. No American …
Continue reading “Notes From Japan”
CONTINUE READINGHolding Our Breath for a Test Rule for Carbon Nanotubes
Researchers recently reported new findings regarding potential occupational hazards associated with carbon nanotubes. These nano-scale cylinders have a variety of forms (single-walled and multi-walled, coated and uncoated, and so on.) They are widely available and used in a variety of manufacturing, medical and electronic applications. Previously, much attention was focused on whether when inhaled, nanotubes …
Continue reading “Holding Our Breath for a Test Rule for Carbon Nanotubes”
CONTINUE READINGFutureGen Back on Track
The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it will restart FutureGen, a large-scale demonstration project to determine the feasibility of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide generated from coal-fired power plants. As Dan described in an earlier post, the Bush Administration had cancelled FutureGen based on cost-overruns, overruns that turned out to be based in …
Continue reading “FutureGen Back on Track”
CONTINUE READINGGreen Buildings: LEEDing to Trouble?
Green construction is all the rage among legislatures, regulators and the building industry. Incentives and mandates abound at the federal, state and local level, but so too do risks of failure to meet the certification standards when all the dust settles after construction is complete. The Harvard Law School Environmental Law and Policy Clinic recently …
Continue reading “Green Buildings: LEEDing to Trouble?”
CONTINUE READINGScientific integrity at EPA
Lisa Jackson was up on Capitol Hill yesterday, telling the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works how her EPA will protect scientific integrity. The webcast is available here. In her written testimony, Jackson said: While the laws that EPA implements leave room for policy judgments, the scientific findings on which these judgments are based …
Continue reading “Scientific integrity at EPA”
CONTINUE READINGLuke Cole, Environmental Justice Activist, Killed in Car Crash
I’m very sorry to report the news that Luke Cole, long-time environmental justice advocate, was killed in a car accident this week in Uganda. Luke had taken a sabbatical from the Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment , which he headed, to travel the world (he was also my law school classmate and friend). …
Continue reading “Luke Cole, Environmental Justice Activist, Killed in Car Crash”
CONTINUE READINGNew and Noteworthy in the Eco-Blogosphere
For the environmental world at large, here are some noteworthy posts: Africa needs substantially scaled-up finance, technology and capacity-building to combat climate change 2009 Hurricane Names to Watch for, as Season Begins After a record-breaking 2008 hurricane season, the first storm has formed before the official June 1 start to the 2009 season. The hydrogen …
Continue reading “New and Noteworthy in the Eco-Blogosphere”
CONTINUE READINGBroadening the “scientific integrity” discussion
Scientific integrity was a high-profile issue under the last administration, but only in a very negative sense, with a continual drumbeat of stories accusing the Bush White House and political appointees of interfering with the proper role of science. President Obama has brought new positive attention to the topic, first with his inaugural address promise …
Continue reading “Broadening the “scientific integrity” discussion”
CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Hubris: Another Proposed “Fix” for the California Delta
Recently, California state water officials announced with considerable fanfare their latest technological “fix” for the environmental ills that have in recent years befallen the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, the Delta is in serious environmental decline–as scientists have carefully documented and which no one disputes at this …
Continue reading “Environmental Hubris: Another Proposed “Fix” for the California Delta”
CONTINUE READING