The Environmental Protection Agency issued the first limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. power plants, the largest source of carbon dioxide linked to climate change.
The rules will permit emissions from new power plants at about the level established for a natural-gas plant, the EPA said today in an e-mailed statement, which would effectively preclude construction of new coal-fired plants.
“We’re taking a common-sense step to reduce pollution in our air, protect the planet for our children, and move us into a new era of American energy,” Lisa Jackson, administrator of the EPA, said in a statement.
The proposed nationwide standard is the first of its kind issued by the EPA for carbon-dioxide emissions. The rule would only apply to the construction of new plants, and the administration said it would exempt plants that are proposed to be built within the next year.
The initial impact would be minimal as utilities are closing, not building, coal plants because natural gas prices are at 10-year lows. The share of coal in electricity generation dropped below 40 percent by the end of 2011, the first time it had been that low since 1978, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency in Washington.
The average U.S. coal plant emits 2,249 pounds of carbon dioxide for each megawatt hour of power produced, compared with 1,135 pounds for a natural gas plant, according to the EPA. Newer combined-cycle natural gas plants, in which the heat exhaust of a first gas-fueled turbine drives a second generator, are more efficient.
“If old King Coal isn’t dead already, he’s certainly teetering toward life support,” Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch in Washington.
Carbon-dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution have led to a warming of the earth’s temperature in the past 50 years, threatening to cause extreme weather, drought and coastal flooding, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
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Showing posts with label clean air act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clean air act. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Time to get real America = let's prevent the next mishap
According to chemical facility reports to the EPA, there are 483 U.S. chemical facilities distributed among 43 states that each put 100,000 or more Americans at risk of a Bhopal magnitude disaster. According to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory these hazards could easily result in thousands of fatalities in a matter of hours following a terrorist attack. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified 4,500 high risk chemical facilities in the U.S. The Homeland Security Council estimated that an attack on a 90 ton tank car of chlorine gas would result in: 17,500 fatalities, 10,000 severe injuries and 100,000 hospitalizations. Plant employees and communities living closest to the plants are at the greatest risk.
Hundreds of chemical facilities have eliminated the possibility of a chemical disaster by converting to inherently safer chemical processes. A famous example was the conversion of Washington, D.C.'s wastewater treatment plant from deadly chlorine gas to harmless liquid bleach within 90 days following the 9/11 attacks. This conversion eliminated a terrorist risk to more than one million people at a cost of less than $0.50 per water customer per year. More than 200 other plants have converted since 9/11 and 49 percent did it for less than $100,000. Unfortunately at this rate it will take decades to convert the 2,498 most dangerous plants and there is no requirement that the highest risk plants convert sooner even where cost-effective alternatives are readily available.
In 2002 the EPA proposed to more fully enforce the 1990 Clean Air Act to prevent chemical disasters through the use of safer chemical processes but the proposal was later killed by the White House. Until Congress acts responsibly, the only way to ensure that the DHS and EPA disaster prevention policies are implemented is to enforce the 1990 Clean Air Act's General Duty Clause (GDC). The GDC in the Clean Air Act obligates all chemical facilities to be designed and operated to prevent catastrophic chemical releases. By issuing new rules and guidance under the GDC any resulting hazard reduction would also reduce the work load on the DHS and Coast Guard as more high-risk plants become safer "de-listed" facilities subject to fewer regulations with far less liability. Such a program would also help close security gaps at water and port facilities because the Clean Air Act program already covers those facilities.
As we have seen with disasters, such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, once "fail safe" gadgets fail, it's too late to prevent a catastrophe.
The authority of the Clean Air Act should be used as soon as possible to reduce these catastrophic risks to millions of Americans so that they will no longer be targets of terrorism or Bhopal magnitude chemical accidents.
Hundreds of chemical facilities have eliminated the possibility of a chemical disaster by converting to inherently safer chemical processes. A famous example was the conversion of Washington, D.C.'s wastewater treatment plant from deadly chlorine gas to harmless liquid bleach within 90 days following the 9/11 attacks. This conversion eliminated a terrorist risk to more than one million people at a cost of less than $0.50 per water customer per year. More than 200 other plants have converted since 9/11 and 49 percent did it for less than $100,000. Unfortunately at this rate it will take decades to convert the 2,498 most dangerous plants and there is no requirement that the highest risk plants convert sooner even where cost-effective alternatives are readily available.
In 2002 the EPA proposed to more fully enforce the 1990 Clean Air Act to prevent chemical disasters through the use of safer chemical processes but the proposal was later killed by the White House. Until Congress acts responsibly, the only way to ensure that the DHS and EPA disaster prevention policies are implemented is to enforce the 1990 Clean Air Act's General Duty Clause (GDC). The GDC in the Clean Air Act obligates all chemical facilities to be designed and operated to prevent catastrophic chemical releases. By issuing new rules and guidance under the GDC any resulting hazard reduction would also reduce the work load on the DHS and Coast Guard as more high-risk plants become safer "de-listed" facilities subject to fewer regulations with far less liability. Such a program would also help close security gaps at water and port facilities because the Clean Air Act program already covers those facilities.
As we have seen with disasters, such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, once "fail safe" gadgets fail, it's too late to prevent a catastrophe.
The authority of the Clean Air Act should be used as soon as possible to reduce these catastrophic risks to millions of Americans so that they will no longer be targets of terrorism or Bhopal magnitude chemical accidents.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
21 years later Mercury, a known neuro-toxin, is regulated in power plant emissions...all the Fetuses can now concentrate on being born healthfully!!!
The American Lung Association today applauds the Obama Administration for adopting public health safeguards to reduce mercury and toxic air pollution from power plants. The new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants are long overdue and will reduce the harm from air pollution like mercury, lead, arsenic and a host of other pollutants.
"Since toxic air pollution from power plants can make people sick and cut lives short, the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are a huge victory for public health," said Albert A. Rizzo, M.D., National Volunteer Chair of the American Lung Association, and pulmonary and critical care physician in Newark, Delaware. "The Lung Association expects all oil and coal-fired power plants to act now to protect all Americans, especially our children, from the health risks imposed by these dangerous air pollutants."
The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will reduce toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants that are found in more than 40 U.S. states and are the largest producers of mercury pollution. Air pollution emitted by coal-fired power plants contains 84 of the 187 hazardous pollutants identified for control by the Clean Air Act. Many of these pollutants, such as, dioxins, arsenic, and lead, can cause cancer and cardiovascular disease; harm the kidneys, lungs, and nervous system; and even kill. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will reduce these pollutants and prevent 130,000 childhood asthma attacks and 11,000 premature deaths each year.
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments required the tighter standards on power plants in an effort to reduce toxic emissions in communities across the country. However, big polluters have fought for and won delays for more than 21 years.
"Attempts to delay or dismantle the Clean Air Act, or rules like the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, reward industry polluters and punish those most vulnerable to dirty air," said Dr. Rizzo. "These new standards mark a huge step forward in clean air protections and will be responsible for saving thousands of lives each year."
"Since toxic air pollution from power plants can make people sick and cut lives short, the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are a huge victory for public health," said Albert A. Rizzo, M.D., National Volunteer Chair of the American Lung Association, and pulmonary and critical care physician in Newark, Delaware. "The Lung Association expects all oil and coal-fired power plants to act now to protect all Americans, especially our children, from the health risks imposed by these dangerous air pollutants."
The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will reduce toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants that are found in more than 40 U.S. states and are the largest producers of mercury pollution. Air pollution emitted by coal-fired power plants contains 84 of the 187 hazardous pollutants identified for control by the Clean Air Act. Many of these pollutants, such as, dioxins, arsenic, and lead, can cause cancer and cardiovascular disease; harm the kidneys, lungs, and nervous system; and even kill. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will reduce these pollutants and prevent 130,000 childhood asthma attacks and 11,000 premature deaths each year.
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments required the tighter standards on power plants in an effort to reduce toxic emissions in communities across the country. However, big polluters have fought for and won delays for more than 21 years.
"Attempts to delay or dismantle the Clean Air Act, or rules like the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, reward industry polluters and punish those most vulnerable to dirty air," said Dr. Rizzo. "These new standards mark a huge step forward in clean air protections and will be responsible for saving thousands of lives each year."
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