Pollution & Health
Chocolate Coated Coal?
The Associated Press reports that Lindt USA (that’s right, the chocolate company) and Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) served up a new form of fuel on Tuesday when they mixed 18 tons of crushed cocoa bean shells with 600 tons of coal to power an electric power plant. The shells are a byproduct of chocolate production, …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy is GM using taxpayer funds to fight clean car progress?
Just back from a weekend conference where climate litigator Matthew Pawa gave a keynote address. He’s one of the lawyers who successfully defended California’s right to demand that automakers make cars that limit their greenhouse gas emissions, calling and cross-examining witnesses in a dramatic 2007 trial that put climate change science on the stand. In …
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CONTINUE READINGThe importance of outside advisors and career staff
Dan posted recently about the decision remanding EPA’s latest revision of the particulate NAAQS, American Farm Bureau v. EPA. One thing that struck me reading the decision is the powerful role played not only by outside advisory groups but also by career agency staff. Even if they are overridden by the political decisionmakers, the views …
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CONTINUE READINGAnother Posthumous Loss for the Bush EPA
Greenwire Reports: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that U.S. EPA’s 2006 standards for fine particulate matter were, “in several respects, contrary to law and unsupported by adequately reasoned decisionmaking.” At issue was the rule that kept the primary standard for annual fine particulate matter at 15 micrograms per …
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CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court Denies Cert. in Mercury Case
The Supreme Court has declined to review a lower court opinion striking down the Bush Administration’s regulation of mercury. This isn’t a huge surprise since the Obama Admimistration indicated that the lower court opinion was consistent with its own regulatory policy, leaving only the industry to seek revieew. The lower court opinion is one of …
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CONTINUE READINGMary Nichols gets mad
Amid the general relief that California’s legislature has finally passed a budget, our state’s (and nation’s?) chief air & climate conscience makes some serious objections: California’s proposed budget contains a major provision that would weaken air pollution regulations while saving the construction industry millions of dollars. The measure, largely overlooked in a public debate focused on …
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CONTINUE READINGAnd the Beat Goes On . . .
Two recent reports drive home the fact that phasing-out harmful chemicals is typically only the beginning of effective chemical policy rather than the end. Methyl bromide, widely used in the last decade as a fumigant in California and elsewhere, is a toxic volatile organic compound and is ozone-depleting to boot. Although efforts are underway to …
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CONTINUE READINGCO2 and the Clean Air Act
New EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has granted the Sierra Club’s petition to reconsider a memorandum issued by outgoing Administrator Stephen Johnson in December. Almost two years after the Supreme Court declared, in Massachusetts v. EPA, that CO2 is an “air pollutant” for purposes of the Clean Air Act, this announcement, paired with the decision to …
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CONTINUE READINGThe future of coal-fired electric power
Tomorrow’s New York Times has an interesting article on the future of coal-fired electric power in the United States. Coal is responsible for fully 20% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, according to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. “Clean coal,” meaning coal plants that result in no net emissions of carbon dioxide, would be possible only …
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CONTINUE READINGDebunking stereotypes about sprawl and Los Angeles: Be Precise!
Eric A. Morris over at Freakonomics is challenging readers to debunk fashionable stereotypes (often promoted by the jealous folks from the Bay Area) about Los Angeles and sprawl. On Monday, he made clear what planning folks have known for a long time: LA is actually quite a dense city. But be careful how you ask …
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