Read the full story from BuzzFeed.
People have been getting poisoned by lead in the air for at least two millennia, according to a new study analyzing an ice core extracted from a glacier in the Swiss Alps.
Month: July 2017
Rooftop Solar Dims Under Pressure From Utility Lobbyists
Read the full story in the New York Times.
Prodded in part by the utilities’ campaign, nearly every state in the country is engaged in a review of its solar energy policies. Since 2013, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Maine and Indiana have decided to phase out net metering, crippling programs that spurred explosive growth in the rooftop solar market. (Nevada recently reversed its decision.)
Many more states are considering new or higher fees on solar customers.
Report on cutting manufacturing regulations still being developed
Read the full story in FleetOwner.
The Commerce Department said its report to President Trump on boosting the nation’s manufacturing sector though reduced regulations remains under development.
The Uninhabitable Earth
Read the full story in New York Magazine.
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak — sooner than you think.
Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, study says
Read the full story in The Guardian.
Just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, according to a new report.
The Carbon Majors Report (pdf) “pinpoints how a relatively small set of fossil fuel producers may hold the key to systemic change on carbon emissions,” says Pedro Faria, technical director at environmental non-profit CDP, which published the report in collaboration with the Climate Accountability Institute.
China just built a solar power array that looks like a panda
Read the full story from Vox.
It’s the first of many planned panda power plants meant to get kids interested in green energy.
Towns sell their public water systems — and come to regret it
Read the full story in the Washington Post.
The need to rehabilitate infrastructure is urgent for many of the nation’s 50,000 community water utilities. Broken or leaking pipes can contaminate water, flood streets, disrupt businesses and require expensive emergency repairs. Outdated treatment plants have trouble filtering out potentially harmful chemicals. Old pipes can leach dangerous levels of lead into drinking water. Some communities have higher lead levels than Flint, Mich., where a confluence of bad decisions and coverups led to widespread lead contamination.
The prospect of offloading these headaches to for-profit water companies — and fattening city budgets in the process — is enticing to elected officials who worry that rate hikes could cost them their jobs. Once a system has been sold, private operators, not public officials, take the blame for higher rates.
Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention Conference and Trade Show and P2 and Risk Management Workshop, September 19-20, 2017
The 20th Annual Pollution Prevention Conference and Tradeshow will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2017, at the Palms Banquet and Conference Center in Plainfield, Indiana. This year’s conference theme is “Celebrating 20 Years of Pollution Prevention in Indiana.”
For the twentieth year, the Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention (Partners) are hosting a statewide pollution prevention conference and trade show. Conference topics will range from new and innovative pollution prevention technologies being used in Indiana to training on how pollution prevention (P2) can save facilities money.
This year’s conference features keynote speakers Mr. Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director of the Environmental Defense Fund and Mr. Sam George, managing partner for Rivergreen Water Recycling. Mr. Neltner was a principal founder of the Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention and will share his perspective on the early days of the Partners for Pollution Prevention. Also a principal founder of the Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention, Mr. George will share his thoughts, from a manufacturing perspective, on the founding and early history of the Partners for Pollution Prevention and how it’s changed over the last 20 years.
The Partners Conference will also feature two concurrent breakout sessions and a tradeshow of exhibitors displaying their products and services to promote P2.
Cost: $100 (early-bird, ends August 15); After August 15, $125.
Pre-conference workshop
Pollution Prevention and Risk Management will be held at The Palms on September 19. This one day workshop will lead to a better understanding of environmental risk management for businesses and how to reduce those risks with pollution prevention techniques. Although all medias will be covered, there will be an emphasis on wastewater treatment risks and mitigation. The day will combine lecture with hands on exercises to lead the group towards identification of specific practices they can undertake at their facilities to reduce risk.
Cost: $150
Illinois Sustainable Technology Center annual report now available
ISTC’s annual report for the period January 1, 2016-June 30, 2017 is now available in IDEALS, the University of Illinois’ institutional repository.
The report highlights ISTC’s technical and research efforts during the period. It also provides an overview of the Center’s long running Sustainability Awards program and outreach and educational activities.
Safer Alternatives for the Automotive Industry
Commonly-used cleaners in an automotive shop can be dangerous to your health and to the environment. In addition, many operations within an automotive shop (floor cleanup, antifreeze replacement, etc.) can lead to the mismanagement and misapplication of products and, therefore, may cause serious compliance issues for your business. It is important for owners and technicians in an automotive repair shop to be informed of the chemicals contained in the products they use as well as having good working habits to reduce liability and to improve the business’s bottom line.
PPRC developed these resources to help automotive owners and technicians become informed about common chemicals found in repair shops. The resources will help Do-It-Yourselfers (DIYers) as well as industry professionals.
Attempts to limit the use of hazardous substances in Europe are being hindered by poor implementation of Europe’s chemical laws
Read the full story from the European Environmental Bureau.
Governments who want to limit the use of toxic chemicals are being set a high burden of proof while industry concerns are being accepted with little evidence by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), analysis by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has found.
US EPA issues final TSCA framework rules
Read the full story in Chemical Watch. Hat tip to Mary Buetow of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute for the pointer. Check out their bi-weekly Greenlist Bulletin.
Three final framework rules under the new TSCA, as well as scoping documents for the first ten substances subject to risk evaluation, were due to be issued by the US EPA within a matter of hours as Chemical Watch went to press today.
The release of the documents comes on the one-year anniversary of passage of the Frank R Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act – and on its statutory deadline for actions that must be completed within a year of the law’s passage.
The rules are:
- the prioritisation rule, which outlines the process by which the EPA will prioritise existing chemicals for evaluating their risks, including the criteria for designating chemical substances as high-priority or low-priority substances for risk evaluation;
- the risk evaluation rule, describing how the agency will evaluate the risk posed by existing substances to determine whether they present an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment; and
- the ‘inventory reset’ rule, which lays out how the agency will designate substances on the TSCA inventory as ‘active’ and ‘inactive’.
See also:
- From the U.S. EPA, “EPA Marks Chemical Safety Milestone on 1st Anniversary of Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act“.
- From Environmental Defense Fund, “Final TSCA framework rules retreat from best available science“.
- From Natural Resources Defense Council, “Trump EPA Weakens TSCA Rules to Favor Chemical Industry“.
- Toxics Use Reduction Institute information about the law and the new regulations.
States join lawsuit over EPA pesticide decision
Read the full story in The Hill.
Five states and the District of Columbia have joined a lawsuit over the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) March decision not to ban a controversial pesticide.
NERC and NEWMOA Enter Agreement to Jointly Address Solid Waste Challenges
Read the full story at Waste360.
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) have entered into a five-year agreement to jointly address the solid waste challenges in the northeast, including food scraps reduction, recovery and management; recyclables collection and impacts on manufacturing and end-users; product stewardship; climate and impacts on the recycling and solid waste infrastructure; and construction and demolition materials.
Webinar: Collaborating with American Indian and Hawaiian Native Partners in Air Pollution Monitoring Research
Tuesday 07/11/2017 3-4:30 pm EDT
Register at https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/us-epa-tribal-science-webinar-series
The EPA Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) Seminar Series presents the Tribal Science Webinar Series, co-hosted by the National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) and the Office of Science Policy (OSP). The webinar series provides a forum for discussion of the complex environmental issues facing many tribal and indigenous communities, and features a wide variety of expert guest speakers from government, academic institutions and other organizations. This month’s webinar focuses on air pollution monitoring research collaborations with Native American and Hawaiian Native Partners. Presenters will discuss the development and nature of their partnerships, current research activities, and strategies for community engagement. These grants were funded by the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) 2014 Request for Application (RFA) on Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities.
Agenda |
|
|---|---|
| 3:00 – 3:05 p.m. | Welcome and Introduction Mike Slimak, National Program Director, SHC, EPA |
| 3:05 – 3:10 p.m. | Speaker Introductions Cynthia McOliver, NCER, EPA |
| 3:10 – 3:15 p.m. | Overview of Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities RFA Rich Callan, NCER, EPA |
| 3:15 – 3:40 p.m. | NextGenSS: Putting Next Generation Sensors & Scientists in practice to reduce wood smoke in a highly impacted, multi-cultural rural setting Catherine Karr, University of Washington Jessica Black, Heritage University Elena Austin, University of Washington Orly Stamfer, University of Washington |
| 3:40 – 4:05 p.m. | The Hawaii Volcanic Smog Network: Tracking air quality and community engagement near a major emissions hotspot Jesse Kroll, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 4:05 – 4:30 p.m. | Questions and Answers |
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