EPA Adds New Clean Air Regulations Despite U.S. Congressional Opposition

Despite some recent semi-successful congressional attempts to limit clean air regulations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has just finalized the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which is designed to prevent the drift of harmful, airborne pollutants from one state to another.

Dan Lajiness protests in Houston, Texas. Photo from1999 Smog Jog.

“Nationwide, the transport rule will cut millions of tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution from power plants – emissions resulting in dangerous soot and smog in the air we’re breathing,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in remarks.

Jackson defended the need for the new rule, saying, “By reducing this ozone and particle pollution, which is linked to costly and life-threatening health problems, such as asthma, heart attacks, and premature deaths, we anticipate up to $280 billion in annual benefits (from reduced healthcare costs).”

Republicans are crying their usual mantra that anything that helps the environment will kill jobs. Republican Texas House Representative Bryan Hughes issued a statement on the Cross-State Pollution Rule, saying, “It’s no wonder that fewer and fewer people trust the federal government. If the EPA is allowed to implement this new rule, they will kill hundreds of jobs, raise the cost of electricity, and could even cause blackouts in electrical service.”

Hughes went on to say, “I spoke with officials at the Texas Attorney General’s Office to ask them for help, and I am happy to report that they are already on the job. They’ve filed papers directly with the EPA to challenge this power-grab. The next step will be to bring a case against the EPA in federal court.”

Click to read more ...

Thousands of China’s Children Suffering With Lead Poisoning From Factory Exposure

Photo courtesy of CartoonStock.com.

China has seen amazing economic growth in the last decade, but many of the country’s most vulnerable workers and their children are paying the price for that prosperity.

“Hundreds of thousands of children in China are suffering permanent mental and physical disabilities as a result of lead poisoning. Many of them live in poor, polluted villages next to and surrounded by lead smelters and battery factories,” said the new report – My Children Have Been Poisoned – from the Human Rights Watch.

“Often, their parents work in these factories bringing more lead into their homes on their clothes, boots, and hands,” said the report.

Joe Amon, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch said, “We went to four provinces (Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi, and Yunnan), and in those provinces, we went to largely rural areas, having industrial factories and full of families that were just sick.

“Sometimes they didn’t even know why they were sick. They were just struggling.  They just weren’t feeling well. They weren’t gaining any weight. The children were developmentally delayed, and the young weren’t walking and talking.”

Click to read more ...

Property Owners Beware: Weed Killer Declared Eco-Friendly Goes Awry Destroying Trees Too!

DuPont has decided to suspend the sale of its Imprelis herbicide in voluntary compliance with an order from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Tree damage related to Imprelis usage. Photo courtesy of aiTurf.

Beginning last June, the EPA started receiving complaints about damage to evergreens related to the use Imprelis. In its evaluation, the agency is investigating whether these incidents are the results of inadequate warnings and directions on the product labels, product misuse, environmental factors, or other possible causes.

Imprelis was created by DuPont for professional use only. The herbicide was intended to control a variety of unwanted broadleaf weeds in lawns, athletic fields, gold courses, parks, cemeteries, and sod farms.

The EPA is also warning that the grass clippings that have been treated with Imprelis should not be used for composting or mulching, and trees that may have been injured with the herbicide should also not be used for compost or mulch. This is because Imprelis has been absorbed into the vegetation and could continue to cause damage if reintroduced into the environment.

The current damage from Imprelis appears to be primarily affecting sensitive tree species, such as the Norway spruce and white pine, but DuPont admits that it “has also received reports of damage to other species.” The most commonly reported signs of damage have been needle browning and the curling of new growth.

Click to read more ...

Hurricane Irene’s Runoff Temporarily Closing Shellfish Harvesting in Major New York Counties

Shellfish harvesting in Nassau and Suffolk County has been suspended, starting today, by the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation as a precautionary measure to protect the public health.

Photo courtesy of Newsday.

The department is worried that stormwater runoffs associated with the hurricane’s heavy rains may have carried bacteria and pathogens into the nearby natural water systems

There is also the concern that coastal flooding caused by the heavy rains combined with the storm surge and new moon may have inundated low-lying septic systems, potentially impacting and “overwhelming” stormwater and wastewater treatment systems.

If the water in the local creeks, coves, and harbors has been contaminated, the “shellfish in the affected areas may be hazardous” to eat, said the department.

Click to read more ...

EU’s Fishing Industries Likely To Feel A Bite If Newly Proposed Sustainability Plans Are Adopted

The European Union has been overexploiting its fish populations for decades, bringing its fishing industries to the brink of collapse.

Cartoon courtesy of redgreenandblue.org.

Some may wonder what will likely feel worse – the demise of these industries under their current practices or the proposed plans to bring them back to sustainability.

In the EU’s latest attempt to turn the tide on unsustainability, Maria Damanaki, European commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, has introduced a set of new proposals to reform the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The proposed plan will deal with issues including catch limits; banning discards (tossing back fish that are too small); decentralizing the fishing system; providing financial assistance for those that implement sustainable eco-friendly fishing practices, and ending subsidies for unsustainable fishing practices.

Damanaki made her case before the European Parliament’s fisheries committee, explaining that, “75 percent of EU stocks (fish populations) are still overfished and a third of them are in a worrying state. Europe has to rely on imports for two-thirds of its fish.”

To further highlight the economic costs, she added that, “Too many fleet segments live on low profits, depending on subsidies for survival,” and that “sustainability is at the heart of proposed reform.”

Click to read more ...