All New Cars in CA Have Environmental Impact Labels
As of January 1, every 2009 model year and newer car sold in California now carries a label that ranks that vehicle’s environmental impact. The label can be found under the hood on the emissions control information label. There are two rankings (global warming score and smog score) on a scale from 1 to 10, with five being the average score in the state. The more environmentally friendly a car is, the higher the ranking.
Check out this link to see the top 10 cleanest cars.
Tennessee Coal Ash Flood 3x Bigger Than First Thought
The coal ash spill that contaminated nearby neighborhoods and rivers in Roane County, Tennessee is actually three times bigger than initially estimated by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The NY Times reports:
Authority officials initially said that about 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash had spilled when the earthen retaining wall of an ash pond breached, but on Thursday they released the results of an aerial survey that showed the actual amount was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep. The amount now said to have been spilled is larger than the amount the Authority initially said was in the pond, 2.6 million cubic yards.
The spill occurred at the Kingston Fossil Plant, one of the authority’s largest electrical generating sites, located on the banks of the Emory River about 40 miles west of Knoxville. The ash ponds were separated from the river only by earthen walls. Environmentalists have long argued that coal ash, which can contaminate groundwater and poison aquatic environments, should be stored in lined landfills. But hundreds of plants around the country, most located near rivers that supply the water they need to operate, have similar ponds and mounds of coal ash on site.
The Colorado River, and the Civilization Dependent Upon it, Faces Dramatic Threats
Although climate change takes most of the headlines nowadays, the environmental threats we are facing are even more widespread. While climate change will exacerbate many of these problems, there are a number of other external issues that must also be urgently addressed.
One of those environmental disasters that is being worsened by climate change, but which also is being worsened by external events, is the destruction of the Colorado River.
SignOnSanDiego expands on this crisis:
The Colorado River has endured drought, climate changes, pollution, ecological damage from dams and battles by 7 states to draw more water. Now energy companies are sucking up the river’s water to support increased development of oil, natural gas and uranium deposits. Yet, the river must provide drinking water for 1 out of 12 Americans and 15% of our crops. READ MORE
NASA: Reducing smog and soot can have immediate impact on climate change
A study indicating that cutting smog and soot has an immediate effect on climate change was released this week by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Sciences. The study comes at an interesting time, since the California Air Resources Board is voting today to dramatically regulate the soot emissions from heavy diesel trucks in the state.
According to the NASA study, cutting soot emissions will not only improve human health, but it will make an immediate impact on reducing climate change. READ MORE
First-in-nation proposal in CA to drastically curb diesel emissions
California is proposing a first-in-the-nation regulation that would require nearly all heavy trucks that operate in the state to install a filter on their exhaust pipes to reduce diesel soot emissions by 85%. The proposal comes before the California Air Resources Board on Friday.
If passed, it would take effect in 2010, with 2014 as the deadline for almost all retrofits. The filters would cost truck operators around $15,000 to $20,000 per truck. The second and potentially more burdensome phase of the proposal would require older trucks to upgrade their engines to reduce emissions.
Diesel soot is a particularly harmful pollutant. Medical research indicates that it is among the most harmful types of air pollution, as it can lodge deep in human lungs, can penetrate the walls of blood vessels, and contains more than 40 cancer causing chemicals. READ MORE
Study: climate change causing longer and nastier allergy seasons
A study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology looks at the possibility that climate change is producing longer and more intense allergy seasons. Increased CO2 in the atmosphere causes allergy causing ragweed plants to grow even bigger and nastier, which leads to more of their pollen being released into the air. Additionally, warmer temperatures push back the first frost of the winter, which normally helps to conclude the allergy season.
While the lengthening allergy season cannot definitively be attributed to climate change, since there are numerous factors that can effect micro-climates and ecosystems, it is another in a long line of studies that have shown we are likely changing our environment in strange and unsettling ways. Unfortunately, if the ice all melts and the temperatures spike, allergies will probably be the least of our concerns.
Los Angeles and Central Valley smog cause more deaths than car accidents
A simple $90,000 study found that more deaths in two major regions of California are caused by respiratory illness stemming from particulate pollution in the air than from car crashes. The study, conducted at Cal State Fullerton analyzed the data already on record for two of the state’s major air pollution centers– the San Joaquin Valley and the South Coast Air Basin. These two regions– basically the southern half of the agricultural Central Valley and the Los Angeles basin, are notorious for particulate pollution.
The study concluded that by just meeting federal ozone and particulate standards in these two regions, $28 billion would be saved annually from premature deaths, missed work, and other health related costs. READ MORE
60 Minutes on American e-waste being dumped in China
60 Minutes had an interesting piece on American e-waste being illegally shipped to China, where it is recycled in an incredibly dangerous and pollution causing process.
Note: unfortunately, CBS requires you to sit through a commercial before the above clip, so I will replace this one with a YouTube version if/when available.
Walmart removes the BPA but leaves the contaminants
While Walmart was one of many companies that removed bottles containing BPA from their shelves, they forgot to look at what was inside those bottles. In a report released last month by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Sam’s Choice bottled water, produced by Wal-Mart was found to have high levels of contamination including toxic byproducts of chlorination. After testing 10 different bottled water companies in North Carolina, California, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland, EWG discovered that both Sam’s Choice and Acadia of Giant Food supermarkets had higher levels of cancer-causing contaminates than the water industry’s voluntary standards, as well as exceeding legal-limits in California. READ MORE
Canary in the climate and loss of biodiversity
There are two major concerns regarding plant and animal species extinctions that are caused by humans. First, there is the “canary in the climate” issue. Like a canary in a coalmine, the death of other living species (or their radical shift in habitats) is a warning sign. While humans have an incredible ability to adapt, that capacity is not unending. READ MORE
Federal agency to sue California ports over emissions rules
The Federal Maritime Commission decided this week to seek an injunction against the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to block aspects of their Clean Trucks program. The Commission found the program would cause “unreasonable” increases in shipping costs.
The Clean Trucks program was implemented this year to address the massive amounts of pollution coming out of these two ports, which account for 40% of all US international trade. The program calls for a ban on all trucks built before 1989, which emit up to 90% more air pollution than modern rigs. If the injunction is granted, the port may have to wait until 2012, when federal emissions standards kick in, before this problem is addressed.
FDA’s declaration that BPA is not harmful was based on chemical industry’s report
Previously, we’ve looked at the potential dangers of BPA, which is a chemical found in many plastics and aluminum can linings. Our most recent post on the subject noted that the FDA found that the chemical is not dangerous to human health at typical exposure levels. However, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week that the FDA’s report was “written largely by the plastics industry and others with a financial stake in the controversial chemical” (italics added). READ MORE
CA beaches get high marks but Los Angeles is the exception
The end of the summer report on California beach pollution is out and the overall results indicate a relatively clean summer for the state’s beaches. The state has 514 beaches rated in the report, 91% of which received an A or B grade, indicating excellent or very good water quality conditions.
However, this news should not be seen as too much of an accomplishment. The main source for the decreasing pollution levels is the statewide drought that entered its second year. Since runoff is the biggest source of ocean pollution, the lack of rain prevented inland waste from being driven to ocean. Presumably when the drought ends, ocean pollution will pick back up.
More bad news was that Los Angeles County received the lowest grades in the state. Of the 25 beaches monitored in the county, half of them received a grade of C or below. According to the city, the Los Angeles River is the main source of fecal bacteria in the local beaches. Gross.
However, San Diego County, whose southern beaches are traditionally closed intermittently due to sewage spills in the Tijuana River, actually received 100% A or B marks this summer.
FDA claims BPA is safe for humans
Following up on earlier posts we had about the potential dangers of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in plastic products, the FDA just released a draft report indicating their belief that the chemical is not dangerous to human health at typical exposure levels. The report states: “Safe or safety means that there is reasonable certainty in the minds of competent scientists that the substance is not harmful under the intended conditions of use,” but “complete certainty of absolute harmlessness is scientifically impossible to establish”
This opinion is in line with that issued by the European Food Safety Authority last month, but is still in conflict with the Canadian government’s view of the chemical. Regardless of the EPA’s stance, some companies, such as Walmart and Nalgene, have responded to the public’s concern and have removed certain products containing BPA from their stores and product lines.
Analysis of T. Boone Pickens’ interview with the LA Times
Our favorite wind farmer, T. Boone Pickens sat down with the LA Times last week for a great interview. We will paraphrase some of the highlights of that chat and add our own analysis here:
- Regarding the source of our high gas prices:
Pickens says, of the 85 million barrels of oil used by the world each day, the U.S. accounts for 21 million. Quoting him, “that’s 25% we’re using, with [only] 4% of the population and 3% of the reserves.” Pickens uses this fact to illustrate that it is not Exxon-Mobile or speculators to blame, but instead simply a situation where demand is outweighing available supply.
Regardless, the wildly disproportionate consumption of oil by the U.S. compared to our reserves further indicates the silliness of thinking we can drill our way out of this problem, as Pickens often notes, despite our politicians’ pandering on this issue.
- Regarding Al Gore and climate change:
Pickens indicates that while he believes that human caused climate change is occurring, that issue is on “page 2.” For Pickens, our dependence on foreign oil, to the tune of $700 billion per year, is on “page 1.”
Fortunately for good environmentalists and good patriots alike, for the most part, these two interests remain generally aligned, thereby permitting a win-win situation where we could both get off foreign oil and decrease the effects of climate change with the same plan.
- Regarding how we can enact the solution:
Pickens states, “I think that if Congress would do something like Eisenhower did in the Interstate highways - that is to say, an emergency, which it is. It’s like war, and we need to address it in a non-partisan way…. We have the vast resources of wind and solar, but the naysayers say wait a minute, solar isn’t there yet. Don’t worry about it; I have enough faith in America….”
This is where Pickens exhibits his most optimism, and we, and others, have the most apprehension. Congress has shown a complete inability to move towards a solution and there is a little indication that they are getting their act together.
- Regarding the development of the transmission lines and infrastructure necessary to move wind energy generated in the middle of the country to the east and west coasts:
Pickens says, “let the government do it. If they don’t want to, industry will do it. Industry will be quicker; you know that. We can get it done a lot faster…. You would be surprised how much you can get done in 10 years.”
However, if the task does fall on the private sector, the federal government would still be required to create the regulatory environment necessary to make the project economically feasible.
- Regarding people who say we should shift our vehicles to electricity instead of natural gas, as Pickens proposes:
Pickens indicates that he is in favor of the electric car, however the technology is not there yet to allow it to be a real solution. Instead, natural gas should be the bridge that we use in the short-term to get to a point where we can find a real lasting solution for clean cars. Basically, Pickens is saying we have a present danger, and need an immediate solution. In the long-term, he thinks we will transition our cars off of natural gas.
Describing this, he states, “You have to kind of accept that. You get people that say, well, I want to go to the electric car quicker. Well, the 700 [billion dollars per year] keeps ticking on you on the electric car. We’re not there on the electric car. Am I opposed? No I’m not opposed. I’m for electric; I’m for anything that gets that number down.”
- And regarding leadership:
“What’s been missing for 40 years is a plan. We’ve never had a plan; there’s no energy plan. And it all comes to the fact that it’s a leadership problem.”
Exactly.
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Private Leaders
