This facility is PSEG Solar Source’s first large-scale solar project. It is one of the largest solar projects in the state of New Jersey, which is already 2nd only to California in its amount of installed solar capacity. The MARS headquarters adjacent to the solar garden is the workplace of about 1,200 employees and is where M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies are manufactured.

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Without pavement and parking lots we would still be traveling cross-country in Conestoga wagons on 6-inch deep ruts and be breathing lungfulls of dust every time a vehicle drove by at the Kwik-E-Mart. Needless to say, pavement is one of the many things that makes modern life possible.

But, like everything else in our modern life, the more advanced we get in our ability to collect and analyze data, the more we realize that the good stuff always seems to have its awful consequences too. It’s the same story with pavement.

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The three summits of Mount Rainier: Liberty Cap, Columbia Crest,and Point Success (unaltered image)

Most of us would consider a trip to a state or national park to be a chance to get away from the pollution that plagues our cities. But it’s seldom easy to escape the effects of urban, industrial air pollution. Now, with a new art project called ECLIPSE, the web viewer or park visitor can see real time air quality data “imposed” on the otherwise scenic landscapes of our state and national parks.

ECLIPSE, based on an open source program, is the handiwork of artists Cary Peppermint and Leila Christine Nadir of EcoArtTech, and is a sponsored project of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. for its website turbulence.org.

So, how does it work? Just select a State/National park from a drop down menu, click the “apply AQI (air quality index) conditions” button, and ECLIPSE then performs two “data scraping” functions…if air quality data is available for that park, the program sorts through Flickr.com for images tagged with that particular park’s name, then, the program “corrupts” or alters the image to reflect air quality data (culled from the most recent AQI updates on the www.airnow.gov website) of the nearest, large city within a 65 mile radius.

The air quality rating system uses the following scale: good – fair – moderate – unhealthy – very unhealthy –hazardous*. The AQI rating is a measure of particulate matter in the atmosphere, based on a range of 0 – 500 parts per million, with “good” being 0 - 50 ppm, and “unhealthy” being 151 ppm or higher.

Airnow.gov maintains 300 monitoring stations in cities across the country. With the ECLIPSE program, the more pollution present in the atmosphere of the park’s nearest city, the more visually “corrupted” the image becomes. This alteration process utilizes various algorithms that affect color, saturation, and contrast, and, additionally, impose intermittent mirroring, deletion, or cropping functions on the image’s data file.

Air quality is determined by the presence of particulate matter in the lower atmosphere. Particulate matter is a complex mixture of moisture and small particles of dust, soot, soil, various acids (e.g., nitrogen or sulfur containing acids) and trace metals.

The artists’ website notes that, In 2008, the EPA’s own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Council (CASAC) protested that the EPA was not upholding its mission to protect air quality standards according to
the scale.

*Note that U.S. air quality ratings are different than Canada’s AQ rating system, for example. The U.S. system has more gradations of air quality in which “moderate” in the U.S. system is rated as “unhealthy”  on the Canadian scale. The site offers a visual comparison of air quality ratings between the US and Canadian indexes.

John Rowe, Exelon CEO, said yesterday that climate change legislation is an urgent issue. At the same time, he announced that the nation’s largest utility would not be renewing its membership with the US Chamber of Commerce because of the Chamber of Commerce’s opposition to climate legislation.

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Today the Obama Administration released a 1,200 page document of proposed regulation changes that will drastically alter the fuel economy and emissions standards that auto manufacturers are required to meet in the US. Although it could be an incredibly contentious topic, it seems that so far the proposal has gained wide support from all sides of the spectrum including environmental organizations and industry lobby groups.

The changes — which would alter both the Department of Transportation’s and the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules — call for what amounts to about a 5% increase in fuel economy standards per year from 2011 to 2016 starting with 27.3 mpg in 2011 and ending with 35.5 mpg in 2016.

In addition to the new economy standards, the White House has outlined the first ever greenhouse gas emissions limits for new cars sold in the US. Starting with model year 2016, each manufacturer’s new car fleet would have to meet an average limit of 250 grams of carbon emitted per mile driven.

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We tend to think that if a company is big, it is automatically bad and doesn’t care about it’s environmental footprint.  This couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Just take a look at the Top 10 Green Energy Users according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Surprising, isn’t it?  Now, I’m not saying that all large corporations are doing their part.  Some aren’t.  But we should applaud and recognize the ones who are.

Every year the EPA co-sponsors the Green Power Leadership Awards in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS).  The Green Power Leadership Awards recognize the leading actions of organizations, programs, and individuals that significantly advance the development of green power sources. While the DOE recognizes green power providers and the CRS recognizes advancements in the green power market, the EPA specifically focuses on outstanding green power purchasers.  So let’s take a closer look at the EPA’s 2009 Green Power Purchaser Award winners.

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Most of us think that we can do pretty much whatever we want with our property. If we own land, we can build a house, right? Well, that’s what Jack Barron of Bonner County, Idaho thought, too. However, the EPA says otherwise.

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Lead is a metal found in the earth’s crust. However, due to human activity such as mining, burning fossil fuels and manufacturing, it has become more widespread. Lead is also toxic. Lead poisoning occurs when lead builds up in the body over time. At very high levels lead can be fatal; but even in small amounts it can cause serious health problems, particularly in children under the age of 6 who can develop mental and physical impairments.

Lead emitted into the air can be inhaled or can be ingested after it settles out of the air. Lead particles that settle in soil can last for years, which continues to be a major problem, particularly around highways and urban settings. Because they are more likely to ingest lead and their bodies are developing rapidly, children are most susceptible to lead exposure. There is no known safe level of lead in the body.

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With overwhelming support from the general American people and a President who says that we really need to do something about climate change, the House of Representatives passed a landmark bill on climate change on June 20th. A victory! Or maybe not. The bill is a major step forward in gesture in many ways.

However, the House dropped or changed many instrumental parts of what is needed to reduce or limit global warming.

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In a memorandum issued last Thursday, Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stated that “water in the United States is not meeting public health and environmental goals. Too many of our streams, lakes and rivers do not meet our water quality standards.” It is the poor condition of our nation’s water that prompted Administrator Jackson to make some changes and lengthen the EPA’s stride in water protection and quality standards this week.

In order to maintain a higher water quality standard, Jackson looked at the state of things and realized that one way to clean up our rivers and streams was to clean up the streams of information that flow from administrators to the public. She decided that transparency in the agency would help create transparency in the water.

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One quarter billion dollars is a lot. An awful lot. Most people will never even come near that amount of money, but that’s what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Americans saved this past year by switching over to energy efficient homes.

In the EPA’s announcement on July 3, it was reported that 17 percent of all single family homes built across the nation in the year 2008 received the EPA’s Energy Star approval rating, which means that a homes are at least 15 percent more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30 percent more efficient than standard homes. The percentage of Energy Star homes was up from 12 percent in 2007.

The increase in Energy Star rated homes shows that home builders and home buyers are investing in homes that save money and the environment. “Every year more Americans decide to cut their energy bills and help keep the air clean in their communities by buying a new home that has earned EPA’s Energy Star,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

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When President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he allotted 20% of the funds to be used for developing a green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency improvements and other environmentally innovative projects. And Delaware’s aging water infrastructure is smiling because of it.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that $19,239,100 will be awarded to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control in order to upgrade its out-of-date water infrastructure.

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In order to cut harmful emissions from maritime vessels, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the next steps of its coordinated effort on Wednesday. The steps include creating a rule under the Clean Air Act that would establish tough engine and fuel standards for U.S. flagged ships. The proposed rule would harmonize with international standards and lead to improved air quality throughout the country.

The new proposal follows a proposal made between the United States and Canada in March that would set aside thousands of miles of coast between the two countries as an Emission Control Area (ECA). The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, will begin review of the ECA plan this month. The passage of the ECA plan would result in the enforcement of stringent standards placed on large ships that operate within 200 nautical miles of U.S. or Canadian coasts.

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These is something in this bill for almost everyone. There is also something for almost everyone to hate. Alan During gives 14 things he love and 6 he hates about Waxman-Markey.

It’s no surprise that the United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufactures oppose this bill, but so does Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Dow Chemical and Ford Motors support it.

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