Green Options

Three more car companies received sizeable loans from the federal government yesterday, but don’t worry; it’s not another bailout. In fact, the$8 billion is just the start of a larger $25 billion project called the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM for short) that was thought up back in 2007 and funded by Congress in late 2008 during the Bush administration. The project, overseen by the Department of Energy, is a federal grant and loan initiative bent on providing [...]

Nissan has announced plans to launch the large-scale production of electric cars and batteries in the United States, with a massive 50 billion Yen ($516 million) facility in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The site will be capable of knocking-out an impressive 50,000 to 100,000 EVs by 2012, with investment possibly DOUBLING to 100 billion Yen (more than $1 Billion).

While we here at EcoLocalizer generally try to put a focus on the good eco-oriented stuff people are doing around the country, we’ll occasionally spot an egregious instance of anti-green behavior that shouldn’t go unmentioned … at least for the sake of public awareness.

And that’s the case with today’s post, in which we point out reports that a string of Burger King restaurants in Memphis have been spotted with storefront signs reading, “Global warming is baloney.”

Oregon, Sonoma County, Tucson, San Diego, Phoenix, and now Seattle. Nissan has been on a media blitz over the last few months adding partners to its growing list of electric vehicle cooperators. In doing so, a clear picture of the company’s “West Coast Plan” has emerged.

The Tennessee Valley Authority and the EPA reported that levels of pollutants such as lead and arsenic were below safe levels for drinking water in areas affected by the Kingston coal ash spill. An environmental group’s tests had dramatically different results.

[Creative Commons photo by Andrew Ciscel]

Appalachian Voices teamed up with scientists at Appalachian State University to test water samples downstream from the spill. They found contaminant levels far above what is considered safe for drinking.

Authorities are now saying that the ash leak that devastated areas surrounding the Kingston coal-fired power plant in Tennessee is over three times the original estimated size. Rather than the 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash, an aerial survey that the TVA conducted on Thursday revealed the flood was actually 5.4 million cubic yards. The spill in Tennessee is over 120 times the size of the Exxon Valdez.

[Emory River. Creative Commons photo by Chris]

Even before these updated numbers, it was the largest toxic spill in U.S. history. According to the New York Times, water in surrounding areas is showing lead and thallium contamination. These chemicals are linked to birth defects and nervous disorders.

10 minutes of raw video clips from the coal slurry pond disaster in Tennessee.

Two environmental activists were detained by the Tennessee Valley Authority police for photographing the site of last weeks ash spill. While it does not appear that they will be charged with crimes, they were unable to document the ash spill’s effects on the area and its water supply.

The men, who are from the Knoxville based United Mountain Defense, say that TVA has yet to release the water toxicity results. They say they have the right to take their own measurements and photographs unless TVA shows their results. “This is an issue of national importance,” said David Cooper. “People need to know if the water is safe or not.”

A breach in an earthen dike caused toxic ash from the Kingston coal-fired power plant to devastate over 400 acres in Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Authority estimates that 3.1 million cubic yards of ash and water leaked from the holding pond. The sludge contaminated the surrounding area and is now moving down the Emory River.

[Creative Commons photo by Daniel Johnson]

Coal plants collect the “fly ash,” a byproduct of burning coal for fuel, in order to bury or recycle it later. The scrubbers collecting the ash are in place to reduce emissions so that plants can produce “clean coal.” Disasters like this certainly call into question how clean that process really is.

Apparently the story about the coal slurry impoundment disaster in Tennessee isn’t getting much play in the mainstream media. This video should help.

Unnatural disasters have become a fact of life dependent upon fossil fuels. The latest of these disasters came early Monday morning when a coal slurry impoundment at the TVA Kingston Power Plant near Harriman, TN burst, allowing approximately 500 million gallons of toxic coal ash to rush into the surrounding community.