Texas Approves New Wind Power Project
| Three senators call for EPA chief to resign Democratic senators called on Tuesday for the resignation of Stephen Johnson, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying he sided with polluters instead of fighting global warming and other ecological problems. The three senators, all active in the climate change debate, also asked the U.S. attorney general to investigate whether Johnson has made false or misleading statements in sworn testimony before the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. |
| Plan for third Heathrow runway is white elephant. Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport were branded a white elephant by former chief scientific adviser Prof. Sir David King, who has previously described climate change as “a far greater threat even than global terrorism”. |
| Texas Approves New Wind Power Project Much solar and wind power are generated far away from the real consumers. Its a great problem to transport the generated power to its genuine users because vast amount of wind and solar resources are located in remote areas. Legislatures are paying attention to the time-consuming and somewhat costly process of building and upgrading [.] |
| Wind Turbine Concept Inspired by Jet Engines According to a recent article from Greentech Media, a Massachusetts aerospace company called FloDesign is working on a wind turbine concept that could potentially be at least twice as efficient as traditional rotor blade turbines, which force air around them instead of through them. It works by channeling wind into a vortex that spins [.] |
| Beijing Pledges to Recycle Half of Olympic Waste Beijing’s 31 Olympic venues are expected to jointly produce some 14,000 tons of trash, including leftovers, paper, plastic bottles and medical waste, reports Sina.In the tradition of past host countries, Beijing has pledged to make 50 percent of this waste useful after recycling. |
| Press Release: House Committee Told Sound Regulations for Technology to Help Cut Global Warming Pollution Within Sight
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL:
10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, July 24, 2008
Contact: (Washington, DC – July 24, 2008) The United States is making significant progress toward development of a comprehensive regulatory framework for technology that would help reduce global warming pollution significantly. That was the conclusion of testimony by a Texas-based energy policy specialist this morning during a hearing before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials.
The technology, carbon capture and storage (CCS), is the process of capturing carbon dioxide from industrial processes, such as those used in coal-fired power plants, and then injecting it into deep geological formations, including deep saline reservoirs and existing oil and gas fields, where it can safely remain for thousands of years. The result would be a significant reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
“Climate change is the single most important environmental issue of our generation and thus, energy efficiency, renewables, and the successful development and deployment of CCS will be critical components in an overall national strategy,” said Scott Anderson, senior policy advisor in the Austin, Texas office of Environmental Defense Fund. “Proposed federal rules last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with state rules already in place in Washington State and pending in Kansas, show promise of our government’s increasing commitment to ensure that wide-scale CCS is done right.
“While we know today that geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide is feasible, as the technology deploys large scale, knowledge will increase correspondingly and therefore, regulations will need to be flexible, adaptive and performance-based,” Anderson added. “But that is not enough. It is essential that rules assure that risks be managed properly.”
Addressing the question of whether there should be special liability relief for CCS projects, Anderson testified that Environmental Defense Fund is not convinced that any liability relief is needed for the carbon dioxide sequestration industry in the long term, though the organization is open to exploring the possibility of special rules and institutions for early projects.
Full testimony by Scott Anderson is available in PDF format at: http://www.edf.org/documents/8124_CCS_Anderson_Testimony_July%202008.pdf
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Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. www.environmentaldefense.org
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| Press Release: MEDIA ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY, JULY 24, 10 A.M. EDT: Geologic Sequestration of CO2 Will Require Rigorous Regulatory Framework
WHAT: Geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, also known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), could significantly reduce global warming pollution from coal-fired plants and other industrial processes, but only if properly regulated. The U.S. House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials will hear testimony this week related to CCS rules proposed last week by the Environmental Protection Agency.
WHO: Scott Anderson, senior policy advisor with Environmental Defense Fund.
WHY: CCS is a major part of the solution to climate change, though only a part. Public acceptance will require rigorous and credible regulations. CCS is feasible and knowledge will increase dramatically as the technology is deployed on a large scale, but even initial regulations need to protect drinking water. For wide scale deployment, carbon cap and trade legislation must be passed.
WHEN: Thursday, July 24, 10 a.m. EDT
WHERE: Room 2322, Rayburn House Office Building
CONTACT: Scott Anderson, 512.691.3410 or
Media Contact: Chris Smith, 512.691.3451-w or 512.659.9264-c
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| Senate Democrats call for EPA chief to resign. Four Democratic senators on Tuesday called for Stephen Johnson to resign as administrator of the EPA and asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to begin an investigation into whether he lied in testimony to a Senate committee. |
| Press Release: Report: Climate Change Threatens Economy and Agriculture in Illinois
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Emily Diamond-Falk, 202-572-3365, ediamondfalk@edf.org
(Washington, DC – July 23, 2008) –A new report released today details the devastating effects climate change will have on Illinois’s economy and crop production. The study was produced by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER) at the University of Maryland. Environmental Defense Fund helped to finance the research and production of the report.
The report found that climate change will have wide-spread consequences across Illinois, including:
· Infrastructure. In 2007, Illinois suffered $272 million in insured catastrophic losses, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Those loses are likely to rise if climate change produces greater levels of precipitation. Lakefront and riverside properties are particularly vulnerable.
· Agriculture. Climate change could cause Midwest agriculture sector profits to decrease by $9 billion annually should temperatures rise 4.5° F and precipitation increase 7%.
· Health. In 1995, the deadliest heat wave on record resulted in 753 deaths in Illinois. Scientists warn that climate change could bring warmer weather affecting urban cities, like Chicago, as temperatures in cities are typically 7°F higher than in rural areas.
The study was part of the report State Economic and Environmental Costs of Climate Change, which examined the impacts of global warming on 12 states around the country. NCSL released the report today during an energy conference at the group’s Legislative Summit in New Orleans. In addition to Illinois, the report looked at how climate change will impact the economy and environment of Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
The overview of the project can be found at: http://www.ncsl.org/print/environ/ClimatechangeOver.pdf Individual states have already begun to address the issue of climate change: Six states enacted mandatory greenhouse gas reduction laws; 13 states have set voluntary targets; and 26 states have passed renewable energy portfolio standards.
“This report shows that climate change poses a great risk to the agriculture sector in Illinois," said Sara Hopper, an attorney who specializes in farm policy at EDF. “If Illinois crop production is disrupted, we could see far-reaching consequences throughout the state."
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Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org.
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| Turning Airborne Carbon Into Fuel We are already experiencing the ill effects of greenhouse gases in the form of global warming, glaciers and polar ice melting, rise in the sea level and sudden, unpredictable variation in weather, turning catastrophic sometimes. The eventual effect of global warming is sending a chill down the spines of environmentalists. Several teams of researchers [.] |
| Beijing says “sauna” haze will not last over Games Beijing authorities said sauna-like weather trapping hazy pollution in the Olympic host city will not last throughout the Games, state media reported on Tuesday, as organizers consider more pollution controls. |
| Press Release: Release would have harmed water quality and worsened flooding, environmental group says FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sean Crowley, 202-572-3331, scrowley@edf.org Sara Hopper, 202-572-3379, shopper@edf.org(Washington, DC – July 29, 2008) U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer’s decision today against allowing the penalty-free early release of millions of acres of the land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will preserve the nation’s most successful conservation program, according to Environmental Defense Fund. Some members of Congress and producer groups had lobbied the administration to release up to 24 million acres from CRP so the land could be put back into crop production. Currently, there are almost 35 million acres of land enrolled in CRP, but contracts for more than nine million acres of CRP land are due to expire over the next three years.“Secretary Schafer should be commended for resisting calls to gut the nation’s oldest and most successful farm conservation program,” said Sara Hopper, director of agricultural policy for Environmental Defense Fund and a former staff member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “Putting millions of CRP acres back into crop production would have resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in taxpayer investments in conservation and caused untold environmental damage, while providing little, if any, relief from high commodity prices.”CRP is a federal program designed to reward farmers who take fragile land out of production for 10 to 15 years and instead plant grasses or trees or restore wetlands. Up until now, CRP enrollees who terminated their contracts prior to the end of their 10- to 15-year terms had to reimburse – with interest – the federal government for the rental and cost-share payments they had received, plus pay a 25 percent penalty. Some members of Congress and producer groups had proposed that the USDA waive all these costs for program participants.Lands are enrolled in CRP precisely because they are environmentally sensitive, highly erodible, and marginally productive cropland. While these lands are generally less reliable for producing row crops, they deliver significant public benefits by retaining soil and preventing erosion, cleansing polluted runoff, providing important wildlife habitat and serving as natural flood barriers. Wetland restorations on CRP lands function as an important safety valve, reducing peak flows during storm events by holding water, filtering it, and slowly releasing it into streams and groundwater. |