By Tina Casey •
October 24, 2009
Mercury pollution is next on the list of global health threats to face concentrated action with the goal of elimination. According to Zero Mercury Working Group, yesterday the first significant steps toward a binding treaty to control mercury pollution were announced at a United Nations Environmental Program meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in advance of negotiations that will take place in Stockholm next summer.
The global nature of mercury pollution lies in its ability to travel long distances from its point of emission through the food chain. In fish it accumulates in its most toxic form, methylmercury. Zero Mercury hopes to achieve a treaty by 2013 that promotes more sustainable alternatives to mercury in products and industrial processes, with the broad goal of addressing all controllable emissions of mercury in the environment.
By Jonathan G. Dorn
Community opposition, legal challenges, and financial uncertainty over future carbon costs are prompting companies to rethink their plans for coal.
Since the beginning of 2007, 95 proposed coal-fired power plants have been canceled or postponed in the United States—59 in 2007, 24 in 2008, and at least 12 in the first three months of 2009. This covers nearly half of the 200 or so U.S. coal-fired power plants that have been proposed for construction since 2000. The vast majority of the remaining proposals are essentially on hold, awaiting word on whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is going to impose limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. With further legal challenges ahead and the regulation of CO2 imminent, 2009 may very well witness the end of new coal-fired power plants in the United States.
An April 2007 Supreme Court ruling is proving to be a seminal decision. In Massachusetts v. EPA, the Court ruled that the Clean Air Act gives the agency authority to regulate CO2 emissions and that the EPA must review whether such emissions pose a threat to public health or welfare. Complying with the Court order, new EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson submitted an endangerment finding to the White House in late March 2009 indicating that human health and welfare are indeed threatened by CO2 emissions. This finding opens the door to regulating CO2 emissions under the Clean Air Act. Such regulation would provide a backup option for curbing emissions if Congress fails to set limits on them through legislation.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
January 28, 2009
A new study shows that pollution from automobiles and coal-fired power plants is contributing to the melting of mountain snowpacks up to a month early, thereby exacerbating water shortages and other problems across the arid western United States.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
January 13, 2009
In early October, pollsters commissioned by a coal industry group interviewed 600 individuals nationwide about their attitudes towards coal. But pollsters did not seek a random survey, rather they sought the preferences of so-called “opinion elites” nationwide.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
December 19, 2008
n a memo issued by EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson on Thursday, the Bush administration has “clarified” a rule which, in essence, prevents any federal agency from denying an operating permit to new or significantly remodeled power plants based on their carbon dioxide emissions.
By Joe Mohr •
November 18, 2008
The EPA’s Appeals Board ruled last Thursday that coal-fired power plants must limit CO2 emissions.
Good news! Although it’s shocking that it took this long for a ruling that would limit CO2 emissions from new coal-fired power plants…
By Jerry James Stone •
November 13, 2008
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) ruled today that the EPA had no valid reason for refusing to limit from new coal-fired power plants the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
October 31, 2008
Spoofing on the James Bond 007 brand of spy thrillers, Greenpeace has just launched a new campaign called “Coalfinger,” aimed at stopping the construction of any new coal-fired power plants.
If you haven’t heard yet, peak oil is here: the Energy Watch Group released an analysis this week indicating that global oil production peaked last year and is now likely to start dropping by several percent annually.
Ironically, on the same day, the InterAcademy Council announced a new report titled, "Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future." While that report didn’t include the peak oil news,
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