Free Republic

Seattle is in violation of the Clean Air Act for the first time since the 1990s. Going over the legal limit for smog over the weekend means officials here will have to start hammering out a plan to improve air quality. That could feature a number of measures to put the brakes on pollution, including requiring reformulated, more expensive gasoline for the region. The final violation of the smog standard needed to push the Emerald City and the Puget Sound region into official violation of the act occurred Saturday afternoon, when a monitor at Enumclaw in south King County went...

A federal ban on ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), to conform to the Clean Air Act, is, ironically, affecting 22.9 million people in the United States who suffer from asthma, says Scientific American. Generic inhaled albuterol -- the most commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication that requires CFCs to propel it into the lungs -- will no longer be legally sold after December 21, 2008. As more patients see their prescriptions change and costs go up -- the reformulated brand-name alternatives can be three times as expensive, raising the cost to about $40 per inhaler -- many question why this ban must begin...

MINNEAPOLIS -- A new ordinance in Minneapolis limits vehicle idling at three minutes. Mayor R.T. Rybak says the idea is to reduce air pollution. City Council member Sandy Colvin Roy says cars don't need more than one minute to warm up, even in the winter. The ordinance limits most vehicles idling to three minutes, except in traffic.

The Minneapolis City Council and Mayor R.T. Rybak approved changes Friday, to the city’s vehicle idling ordinance that aims to reduce air pollution. The ordinance limits most vehicle idling to three minutes, except in traffic. "Most of the air pollution in Minneapolis comes from vehicles and cutting down in idling is one easy thing we can all do for our environment, our health, and the health of our neighbors," said Mayor R.T. Rybak. Vehicle motors release particulate matter, dirt, nitrous oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the air. These chemicals are linked to increased rates of cancer, heart...

State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst said it’s time for Texas transportation officials to talk about real reforms to address the public outrage over the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. The Brenham Republican’s reaction followed Thursday’s actions taken by the Texas Transportation Commission. The panel adopted a set of guiding principals and policies which will govern the development, construction and operation of all toll road projects on the state highway system and the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor. Bob Colwell, Texas Department of Transportation public information officer for the Bryan district, said the adoption of the guidelines does not reflect the final approval of Interstate 69...

Albany, N.Y.- New York environmental officials have proposed a statewide ban on open burning, to reduce pollution and the risk of wildfires. Current rules exempt the state's 850 towns with fewer than 20,000 people. The Department of Environmental Conservation says burn barrels release 17 times more dioxin and 40 times more ash than permitted incinerators. The proposed ban would make some exceptions, including small campfires and cooking fires, ceremonial fires and certain types of agricultural waste burning. The DEC has scheduled seven public hearings across the state between June 23 and July 2.

Air pollution interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the essential process of pollination, a study by three University of Virginia researchers suggests. Their findings may help unlock part of the mystery surrounding the current pollination crisis that is affecting a wide variety of crops. [...] This phenomenon triggers a cycle, the authors noted, in which the pollinators have trouble finding sufficient food, and as a result their populations decline. That, in turn, translates into decreased pollination and keeps flowering plants, including many fruits and vegetables, from proliferating....

As the state's population continues to grow in its urban centers, expansion plans for the highway system continue to be the focus for transportation improvements. The Trans Texas Corridor proposal is aimed to alleviate traffic congestion, improve air quality and provide safer traveling for drivers, among other goals. In 2002, Texas Governor Rick Perry released the plan to create the passageway, which spans northeast from Laredo to Oklahoma and is set to total 4,000 miles in the next 50 years. The $140 billion project calls for the incorporation of new toll roads, commuter railways, power lines and gas pipelines, while...

Kern County supervisors have approved plans to build a corn-powered ethanol plant north of Bakersfield. The project from Cilion Inc., approved Tuesday night, is slated to generate as many as 55 million gallons of the fuel additive each year. Environmental justice advocates rallied against the project, saying it would pump out nitrous oxide emissions that would worsen air quality in the polluted San Joaquin Valley. Planners say the project's value to the community trumps the environmental concerns. Two weeks ago, Hanford city leaders approved another ethanol plant to be based in Kings County, but agreed to pay a $1 million...

South Texas is not only going to get its first interstate - it is also going to get a second and a third. State transportation officials knew one of three southern highways - U.S. Highway 281 in Hidalgo County, U.S. Highway 77 in Cameron County or U.S. Highway 59 in Webb County - would eventually become part of an interstate stretching from the Texas-Mexico border to Texarkana, in the northeast part of the state. Only Webb County is currently served by an interstate. The state's Trans-Texas Corridor plan calls for an Interstate 69 extension linking South Texas to points north,...

One major concern I discussed a few weeks ago regarding the Trans Texas Corridor is where the land will come from. Another concern is where the money will come from. Official government websites for the TTC assure that public-private partnerships will shield the taxpayer from bearing too much of the cost burden, but a careful reading shows the door is definitely open to public funding sources, while at the same time there is no doubt of the intention to charge tolls on the road. Taxpayers already pay for their transportation system through hefty gasoline taxes, vehicle registration fees, and other...

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court today struck down a market-based effort by the Bush administration to regulate emissions of mercury from coal- and oil-fired power plants, agreeing with critics that the Environmental Protection Agency had violated the Clean Air Act when it established the rule. A coalition of environmental groups and 17 states, California among them, challenged the policy, which was slated to take effect in 2010. The EPA had planned to establish a mandatory national cap on mercury emissions and then allow power plants that fail to meet their targets to buy credits from less-polluting plants. Environmentalists have...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been notified by one of the nation's largest American Indian tribes that it intends to sue over the agency's lack of action on an air permit application for a proposed coal-fired power plant. The Navajo Nation's Dine Power Authority and Houston-based Sithe Global Power have partnered to build the $3 billion Desert Rock plant, which would be capable of producing electricity for more than 1 million homes across the Southwest. Navajo Deputy Attorney General Harrison Tsosie told The AP on Wednesday that the tribe and Sithe applied for an air permit in May 2004...

A U.S. Senate committee has passed landmark legislation aimed at combating global warming by limiting carbon dioxide emissions. The vote was timed to coincide with the U.N. conference on climate change taking place in Bali, Indonesia. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill. The bill would set caps on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from electric utility, transportation and manufacturing industries beginning in 2012 with the goal of cutting emissions 60 percent by 2050. It would create an incentive system that would give credits to industries that cut pollution. Industries that failed to reduce emissions would be forced to buy credits...

New Mexico is cruising into the legal fight over California's "clean car" program. The state and local air-quality boards voted about midnight Tuesday to enact strict low-emission standards for new cars and trucks. But the sweeping regulations already face a legal challenge from the auto industry and four state lawmakers. Their lawsuit— filed earlier Tuesday, before the regulations had been adopted— says the state Environmental Improvement Board lacks authority to adopt the regulations. If successful, the suit could result in the pollution regulations going before the Legislature next year. "The point is not whether those emission regulations are a good...

PHOENIX -- State environmental officials took the first steps Monday to banning the sale of vehicles that don't meet standards for reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The state Department of Environmental Quality started crafting a rule to adopt the same vehicle emission standards approved by the California Air Resources Board. That state has directed that all manufacturers reduce greenhouse gas emissions of their vehicles by an average of 30 percent by 2016. DEQ Director Steve Owens said he is looking at something a little less aggressive, perhaps phasing in the new emission standards beginning in 2011 and not hitting that 30...

First the people in the towers died. Then the rescue workers. Now first responders are succumbing to a 9/11 illness. The next victims: tens of thousands of ordinary citizens who worked and lived in Lower Manhattan—all of whom were told that the air was safe. While the people who died in the towers and the first responders have gotten much attention from the nation and the press—witness the lead feature from 60 Minutes last night on first responders—the ordinary citizens have gone relatively unnoticed. So Discover has released a package that focuses directly on this final group of 9/11 victims....

A report left out of the public spotlight for more than six months reveals that officials at the Texas Department of Transportation want to toll interstate highways and shelter private investors from paying income taxes on toll revenue. On Feb. 28, Texas transportation officials submitted the report to the 110th Congress entitled “Forward Momentum.� The report did not attract much attention at the time. State lawmakers have only recently begun to speak out about it. Texas state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, called the recommendations a form of double taxation, according to The Associated Press. In the report, TxDOT urges federal...

UN official: Rich countries pay poor to cut CO2 By Paul Eccleston Last Updated: 1:01pm BST 22/08/2007 A top UN official has triggered a row by claiming rich countries should be allowed to buy their way out of cutting carbon emissions. Two men fish in a lake next to a copper-smelting plant in Chelyabinsk, Russia Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said developing countries could be paid to make the cuts. But environmental groups condemned the remarks and said the consequences of climate change could only be solved by all countries - both...

Beijing's overall air quality improved during the four-day test period ahead of next August's Olympic Games in which more than a million cars each day were barred from the roads, according to the Beijing Environment Protection Monitoring Center. A police officer stops a car with an even-numbered license plate on a main thoroughfare in Beijing during the first of a four-day air quality experiment for the Olympics, August 17, 2007. [Xinhua]  The test resulted in the removal of cars from roads in downtown Beijing and the air quality was classified as "fairly good" for the duration of the four days. "The index of inhalable particular matter...

The eyes of New Jersey's 9/11 responders will be on Washington today as former governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman will appear before a congressional committee to testify about her then-agency's role in protecting the safety of recovery workers in lower Manhattan during the days and weeks following the World Trade Center's destruction. Whitman has been accused by some members of Congress, 9/11 recovery workers and their unions of misleading them about the levels of airborne toxins caused by the Twin Towers' collapse and for failing to ensure all recovery workers wore respirators. In fact, the chairman of the...

DMV probe keeps bikers off road Orange County kit bike owners aren't sure when they'll be able to ride or sell hand-built vehicles. Friday, June 22, 2007 BRIAN JOSEPH SACRAMENTO -- Dain Gingerelli says he locked up a sure sale of his motorcycle in April – about $10,000 for a kit bike he built himself. But two months later, the bike is gathering dust in his garage and the cash is in someone else's pocket. What happened? The state Department of Motor Vehicles, Gingerelli said, blocked the sale. It turns out Gingerelli used a kit made by Custom Chrome Inc....

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Air quality remains a major concern for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a top official organizing China's first Games said Wednesday. Factories belching pollution as they fuel breakneck economic growth and dust blowing from thousands of local work sites and western deserts frequently brown the sky over China's capital. While pollution controls are having an effect — Beijing experienced 241 "good air quality days" last year, up from 100 in 1998 — there's room for progress, said Wang Wei, secretary general of the Games' organizing committee. "We want to make sure the athletes have the best air...

For days, the dramatic story gripped the nation: Cesar Borja, a retired NYPD officer who had worked at Ground Zero after 9/11, died of pulmonary fibrosis just hours before his son and namesake - campaigning for ailing first-responders - was a guest at President Bush's State of the Union Address. Days later, the younger Borja met with the president, who pledged an additional $25 million in federal aid (on top of the $75 million already allocated) for first-responders. High drama? Try hype, courtesy of The Daily News, the circulation-starved daily which had seemingly gotten its hooks into a good one....

The South Coast Air Quality Management District sued state public utility officials, claiming the liquefied natural gas that officials approved for use in California could worsen air pollution. Energy providers plan to spend about $3 billion on the construction of seven natural gas terminals on the coast of California and Baja in Mexico. The air-quality agency alleges that natural gas could set back progress toward clean air. The lawsuits were filed with the California appeals court and the state Supreme Court. The California Public Utilities Commission has approved a standard that will allow oil companies and other energy providers to...

The French painter Claude Monet is being used as an environmental monitor, for scientists believe his legendary paintings of the Houses of Parliament can serve as a useful indicator of smog levels in late 19th-century London. Monet's so-called London series was painted during visits between 1899 and 1905, capturing scenes that are often astonishing for their grey and purplish haze. Many experts have assumed, though, that this extraordinary effect was an Impressionistic embellishment. Environmental researchers at the University of Birmingham in central England analyzed nine out of 19 Monet paintings of the Houses of Parliament, painted between 1899 and 1901....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. residents can breathe a bit easier than they did a decade ago, as the number of days that air quality was deemed unhealthy has fallen, according to a report by the American Lung Association on Thursday. The report found real improvement in air quality over much of the United States, due in part to reduced emissions from power plants. Significant benefits were seen in the eastern United States, said Janice Nolen, the association's director of national policy. "It's encouraging news, we're very pleased at the improvement," Nolen said by telephone. "However, cleaner is not clean enough."...

April 27, 2006 -- People in the U.S. are breathing cleaner air than a year ago, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. So says the American Lung Association's (ALA) "State of the Air 2006." The annual report focuses on particle pollution (soot) in the air, as well as ozone levels (smog). Last year's winners and losers for year-round soot pollution didn't change. Cheyenne, Wyo. still has the least year-round soot pollution, while the Los Angeles area has the most year-round soot pollution, according to the ALA. Sooty air showed a "general decline" since the ALA's 2005 report, largely...

New Yorkers and Californians breathe in the dirtiest air in the nation and face higher cancer risks than the rest of the nation, according to the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Oregon, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey had the third, fourth and fifth worst air in the nation, respectively, the EPA said. Rural residents of Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana breathed the cleanest air. New York's cancer risk is estimated to be 68 residents per million. In California, the risk is 66 residents per million.

Sharp rise in CO2 levels recorded By David Shukman BBC science correspondent Scientists fear high carbon levels will trigger sudden changes US climate scientists have recorded a significant rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, pushing it to a new record level. BBC News has learned the latest data shows CO2 levels now stand at 381 parts per million (ppm) - 100ppm above the pre-industrial average. The research indicates that 2005 saw one of the largest increases on record - a rise of 2.6ppm. The figures are seen as a benchmark for climate scientists around the globe....

'Open skies' air treaty threat · Draft pact curbs UK power to fight global warming · Restricting night flights would need US approval Andrew Clark, transport correspondent Monday February 20, 2006 Guardian Britain could lose its ability to impose environmental taxes, restrictions and safeguards on airlines under a draft treaty between the EU and US which curtails the power of national governments. The draft treaty, meant to liberalise aviation, includes a little noticed clause requiring EU states to reach agreement with each other and with the US before taking measures to tackle noise or pollution from airlines. The text of...

WASHINGTON - States no longer will have to add corn-based ethanol or MTBE to gasoline to fight pollution - a requirement that costs as much as 8 cents a gallon - under rules announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency. They eliminate a mandate from the 1990 Clean Air Act that gasoline used in metropolitan areas with the worst smog contain 2 percent oxygen by weight. The law did not say which oxygenate must be used, but most refiners use either ethanol or methyl tertiary butyl ether, known as MTBE. California, New York and Connecticut unsuccessfully had asked the EPA...

Three months after his initial choice of an industry lobbyist was condemned by environmentalists and rejected by Democratic legislators, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday appointed a respected air-quality scientist to chair the California Air Resources Board. The Republican governor's choice of Democrat Robert F. Sawyer — a UC Berkeley emeritus energy professor who has been active on air-quality issues for decades — is not expected to generate any significant opposition from environmental groups or the Legislature. The appointment of Sawyer, 70, must be confirmed by the state Senate. The job pays $117,818 a year. "I am honored Gov. Schwarzenegger has...

Kevin Brown's most feared opponent on the sandlot or basketball court while he was growing up wasn't another kid. It was the polluted air he breathed. "I would look outside and I would see him just leaning on a tree or leaning over a pole, gasping, gasping, trying to get some breath so he could go back to playing," recalls his mother, Lana Brown. Kevin suffered from asthma. His mother is convinced the factory air that covered their neighborhood triggered the son's attacks that sent them rushing to the emergency room week after week, his panic filling the car. "I...

MONTREAL - Clamping down on automobile emissions and plugging city buildings into wind or solar power, U.S. governors and mayors are stepping in to help head off climate change where they say the federal government is failing. "Together we can make a huge difference," Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said Thursday as he and other U.S. city executives worked the corridors of the U.N. climate conference in Montreal. They said they hoped to spur the Bush administration to take the lead. But although federal action is needed, "we cannot afford to wait for federal action," said K.C. Golden, an environmental consultant...

Starting today, all eligible Texans can vote on whether to make nine changes to the state constitution. The propositions include one that affects the Texas railroad industry which, though not the most controversial issue on the ballot, is quickly coming under voter scrutiny. Proposition 1 is listed on the ballot as “the constitutional amendment creating the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund and authorizing grants of money and issuance of obligations for financing the relocation, rehabilitation, and expansion of rail facilities.” The amendment would create the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement fund. According to a summary of the proposition, it's...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration proposed new regulations Thursday that could allow the nation's dirtiest power plants to release more air pollutants each year — and possibly undercut lawsuits aimed at forcing companies to comply with the Clean Air Act. The proposal follows a June federal court ruling that said power plants can throw more pollutants into the air each year when they modernize to operate for longer hours. It's the latest in a series of attempts by the Environmental Protection Agency to make the nearly 30-year-old Clean Air Act rules for coal-fired power plants more industry-friendly. Some changes were...

.... Shutting down the two reactors would mean immediate, substantial increases in the emissions, because it would increase reliance on fossil fuel plants, probably tripling emissions in Vermont and doubling them in New Jersey.....Some environmentalists say the goals can be met even without the two nuclear plants, Vermont Yankee and Oyster Creek, and without other nuclear plants whose licenses will expire in the next few years....."We just have to bust the myth that we need to be using more energy," said Rob Sargent, senior energy policy analyst for the State Public Interest Research Groups, a nonprofit consumer organization.....The debate has...

NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE NEW ORLEANS (NNS) -- Members of Naval Environmental Preventive Medicine Unit (NEPMU) 2’s Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit (FDPMU) East continued their efforts to establish a safe environment for relief workers and residents recovering from the impact of Hurricane Katrina Sept. 13. FDPMU East, currently deployed to Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) New Orleans, conducted environmental monitoring of residential areas of the St. Benard Parish affected by contamination of oil from a nearby oil refinery as a result of damages sustained Aug. 29 from Hurricane Katrina. The survey, which was coordinated...

A desire for better fitness, terrorist bombing of buses and subways, and exorbitant energy taxes that pushed gasoline prices past $7.40 a gallon have Londoners in record numbers garaging their cars in favor of bicycles for their commutes. The trend has brought cheers from environmentalists seeking to reverse the Industrial Revolution, transportation planners looking to reduce traffic congestion and health experts who say the benefits of cycling -- improved circulation, weight loss and better overall fitness -- are manifest. Authorities say cycling in London is up by 25 percent in the past year, aided by a noticeable spike in bikes...

Officials in New York and eight other Northeastern states have come to a preliminary agreement to freeze power plant emissions at their current levels and then reduce them by 10 percent by 2020, according to a confidential draft proposal. The cooperative action, the first of its kind in the nation, came after the Bush administration decided not to regulate the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Once a final agreement is reached, the legislatures of the nine states will have to enact it, which is considered likely. Enforcement of emission controls could potentially result in higher energy prices in...

EPA acts to reduce haze at U.S. parks New rules will require listing of emission sources Visitors to Guadalupe Mountains National Park savor the 360-degree views from Texas' tallest peak and night skies so black it's possible to see almost every star in the sky. Except on the days when haze clouds the view. Despite its remoteness, pollution from as far away as the southeastern United States, East Texas and western Mexico, has marred the park's scenery. New rules, finalized Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will help restore clarity not only to the vistas of Guadalupe Mountains National...

WASHINGTON - Visitors to hazy national parks and wilderness areas once again might see a clear day - even if not forever - under new rules that will require power plants, steel mills and other facilities to cut pollution by a million tons a year. The Environmental Protection Agency rules issued Wednesday direct state officials to specify what plants will have to make the cuts and by how much. "States are now required to go out and identify these facilities and then determine what the best available retrofit technology is," said Jeff Holmstead, head of air quality for EPA. "We...

Roused by a recent report that Californians' health is endangered as much from polluted air indoors as outdoors, a state lawmaker said Thursday she will push to give the state Air Resources Board the power to clean up indoor air. Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, said the report, which was produced by air board staff members at the request of the Legislature, was "even more damning than most people thought it would be." Lieber's comments came in an interview Thursday after a hearing on the subject by the Assembly Select Committee on Air and Water Quality, of which she is...

WASHINGTON - The lawn mower war may be heating up again. A truce reached two years ago between Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Christopher Bond, R-Mo., was on the verge of collapsing Wednesday over a Bond amendment to a spending bill for the Environmental Protection Agency that could delay - maybe permanently - state rules reducing small-engine pollution. "I am deeply concerned," Feinstein said. A spokesman for Bond insisted Feinstein was misreading the amendment. "California can still do whatever it wants," said Rob Ostrander. Not according to the California Air Resources Board, however. Barbara Riordan, acting chairwoman of the board,...

EPA Clean Air rules take effect in EastRule mandates cuts in emissions over next decade By Stephanie I. Cohen, MarketWatch Last Update: 12:19 PM ET May 12, 2005 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - New federal air rules took effect Thursday that require eastern states to reduce harmful emissions from coal-burning power plants that dirty the air of other states located "downwind" of the pollution sources. The Clean Air Interstate Rule, or CAIR rule, was published in the Federal Register Thursday, kicking off a timeline to clean up the air in 28 states and the District of Columbia by making permanent cuts in...

An article on www.nature.com tells us that the Earth's air is cleaner, but this may contribute to the greenhouse effect. This seems to go against everything we have been told for decades. According to the article reductions in industrial emissions in many countries, along with the use of particulate filters for car exhausts and smoke stacks, seem to have reduced the amount of dirt in the atmosphere and made the sky more transparent. Ok, this is good right? Not according to nature.com.

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Fewer Americans have had to breathe unhealthy levels of smog or microscopic soot in recent years, but air pollution remained a threat in counties where more than half the nation lives, the American Lung Association said in an annual report Thursday. Using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the group found that the number of counties in which unhealthy air was recorded fell significantly for the first time in six years, to 390 from 441 in last year's report. The new report covered 2001 to 2003, while the previous one analyzed pollution levels from 2000...

WASHINGTON – The Energy Information Administration said mandatory limits on all U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse" gases would not significantly affect average economic growth rates across the country through 2025. The finding contradicts President George W. Bush's repeated pronouncements that limits on carbon dioxide and other gases that warm the atmosphere like a greenhouse would seriously harm the U.S. economy.

Citizens go it alone in bid to clear air Clear Lake women take own samples to show levels are toxic By DINA CAPPIELLO The manicured lawns and neat brick homes of the LakePointe Forest subdivision, nestled on the shores of Taylor Lake, don't fit the typical image of an industrial neighborhood struggling with air contamination. Nor is this the kind of place that one would expect at the center of a covert pollution study. Yet by retrofitting a common suburban backyard lawn fixture — the birdhouse — a team of modern-day Nancy Drews are keeping tabs on the emissions coming...