The 2008 national smog standards adopted by the Bush administration will be reconsidered to ensure they are “scientifically sound and protective of human health,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.

READ MORE >>

With rising sea levels encircling Pacific Island nations, heads of state and government across the Pacific Thursday adopted a climate change declaration advocating a strong global agreement to limit warming to two degrees Celsius or less.

READ MORE >>

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, October 20, 2008 (ENS) – As early voting begins in Florida for the November 4 general election, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is encouraging candidates for political office and citizens to recycle campaign signs at the end of the election process. Recycling paper materials like campaign signs keeps waste out of landfills and allows for the reuse of materials.

Recycling campaign signs is one way citizens can help Florida achieve its new statewide recycling goal of 75 percent by the year 2020, which was passed into law earlier this year.

The Florida Energy, Climate Change, and Economic Security Act of 2008 directs the DEP to develop a program designed to achieve the 75 percent goal and submit it to the Legislature for approval by January 1, 2010.

DEP is encouraging the public to assist in developing this plan and has created a public forum where interested persons can share thoughts, suggestions and comments, as well as view the contributions of other participants.

“Achieving the new statewide recycling goal of 75 percent by 2020 will require innovative strategies by all Floridians,” said Mary Jean Yon, DEP’s director of waste management.

“Changing old habits – like recycling a political campaign sign instead of tossing it in the dumpster – is just one of many ideas to help reduce the waste stream and increase Florida’s recycling rate,” she said.

During an election year, campaign signs line the streets of Florida. Because many local governments have ordinances regarding the removal of campaign signs within a specific time after the election, campaign signs and materials can end up filling landfills around the state.

Campaign signs in a Florida
yard (Photo credit unknown)

Recycling campaign signs not only saves space at landfills, each ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water. Recycled paper also saves 60 percent energy in comparison to new paper and generates 95 percent less air pollution.

In 2006, the Florida DEP conducted a pilot program in four counties to encourage the reuse or recycling of campaign signs.

All projects incorporated radio, newspaper and public service announcements to promote and publicize the collection events.

Three of the four pilot projects established drop off locations for the county to collect the signs. The fourth project, conducted by Keep Pinellas Beautiful, contained a component where high school students would collect and dismantle the campaign signs. However, the local Code Enforcement department, because of its rules for disposition of removed signs, collected the signs before KPB or the students had a chance to pick them up. Code enforcement officials did agree to take the signs to KPB for dismantling and recycling.

“We have historically been able to recycle 100 percent of all campaign signs that we were able to obtain,” said Bill Sanders with Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Inc., who engaged local high school students to participate during the pilot program.

Charlotte County was also pleased with the participation and positive feedback received from citizens during the 2006 pilot program. “Brought back by popular demand, Charlotte County will be collecting campaign signs,” explained Barbara Kula, the county’s recycling coordinator.

Three tons of campaign signs were collected as a result of the 2006 pilot projects. Two of the counties that participated in the pilot program, Charlotte County and Pinellas County, are offering campaign sign recycling again to their residents this election year.

But the New River Solid Waste Association said that staff hours, equipment and funds would be better utilized in other recycling efforts that yield a higher volume and return, so they do not plan to continue campaign sign recycling in this and future elections.

DEP encourages candidates and citizens to check with their local recycling coordinator for recycling campaign signs options. To find out more about DEP’s campaign sign recycling pilot program, click here.

For more information on the new statewide recycling goal of 75 percent, and to share your comments on ways to achieve this goal and view comments from others on our web-based forum, visit www.dep.state.fl.us.

View This Story On Eco–mmunity Map.

DALLAS, Texas, July 3, 2008 (ENS) – With more than $100 million in funding from two state programs, the smoggy air of the Dallas-Fort Worth area has been cleared to the point that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week announced its proposed approval of the area’s clean air plan.

Tuesday, the regional EPA gathered local and state partners to publicize the fact that Dallas-Fort Worth is the first community with a clean air plan that has been proposed for approval that meets the 8-hour federal health-based standard for ground-level ozone by 2010.

Under the proposed plan, ozone forming pollutants will be reduced by 88 tons per day – about 40 tons more than the plan had first proposed.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Buddy Garcia and EPA Regional Administrator Richard Greene joined with community leaders and businesses within the nine county non-attainment area to strengthen the original plan.

“That work – a result of the North Texas can-do spirit – has moved this clean air plan across the goal line and makes it the first in the nation to gain EPA’s proposal for approval,” Greene said.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area currently does not meet the federal air quality standard for ozone, a harmful air pollutant. Ozone forms when emissions from sources such as vehicles and industry mix with sunlight. On-road and off-road vehicles and equipment make up about 70 percent of the ozone sources in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The air is clearing over Dallas-Fort
Worth as older, polluting vehicles
are replaced or retrofitted.
(Photo by Luis Tamayo)

The proposed clean air plan will improve air quality by more than 55 percent over 1999 levels, Greene said. The new plan in combination with previous plans will result in a reduction of 409 tons per day of ozone pollution.

“Today’s announcement shows that once again Texas leads the nation in developing and implementing innovative programs that reduce air pollution and improve air quality for all citizens,” said Garcia.

The nine county area in northern Texas that in the past has not attained federal benchmarks even under the old 1-hour ozone standard is now in compliance with that earlier standard through the success of its previous air quality plans, Greene said.

The plan could not have come about without the efforts of local and state partners and over $100 million in funding.

Dallas-Fort Worth has captured more dollars than other areas in the state from the popular voluntary Texas Emission Reduction Plan, known as TERP. In the last six months, the Dallas-Fort Worth area beat out all other areas, two to one, with a record-setting $84 million in applications from the $110 million TERP grant budget.

These funds apply to projects to reduce emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides from high-emitting mobile diesel sources; rebate grants for diesel on-road and non-road replacement and repower projects; and the clean school bus program of retrofits to reduce emissions of diesel exhaust, among others.

As much as 14 tons per day of pollution could be cut through the replacement and retrofit of old diesel engines, state and federal officials estimate.

AirCheckTexas brought another $21 million to North Texas to repair and replace older vehicles which typically produce more emissions than newer models.

“From the outset our phones were ringing off the hook. People were very interested in this incentive program,” said Executive Director Mike Eastland who heads the North Central Texas Council of Governments, or NCTCOG. “Within the first hour, we realized that the funding available for these projects was going to be used up very rapidly.”

“North Texas’ success with AirCheckTexas is exactly what we expected,” said Ellis County Judge Chad Adams, immediate past president of the NCTCOG. “When 6.5 million people benefit from an idea, things change. We are seeing a lot of changes in the way North Texas is tackling clean air.”

Other industry sectors also contributed to the area’s clean air effort.

The aviation industry helped by refining estimates of their operations’ pollution emissions. New accurate information allowed EPA and Texas air quality modeling experts to certify pollution reductions totaling almost 10 tons per day from the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and Love Field.

Power plants in the nine county non-attainment area all are subject to the strictest air pollution controls required for either commercial or municipal power plants in the country.

New regulations on back-up generators used by business and industry provided for some air quality improvements, about one ton per day.

Now, the Dallas-Fort Worth clean air plan, referred to as the State Implementation Plan, or SIP, will be published in the Federal Register for public review and comment after July 7.

“Our goal from day one was to encourage everyone to join an effort to bring clean air to the Dallas-Fort Worth area sooner than expected,” said Greene. “Had the SIP not been approvable, it would have resulted in years-long delays in getting the types of pollutant controls now being put in place.”

The EPA says it will consider “all relevant information” submitted during the 30-day comment period and may modify its decision to approve the plan based on new information.

For more information on the Dallas-Fort Worth clean air plan, click here [www.epa.gov].

View This Story On Eco–mmunity Map.

TRENTON, New Jersey, January 23, 2008 (ENS) – Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that New Jersey has signed on to a multi-state letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressing concern that the EPA is “unreasonably delaying” action it was directed to take by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

In addition to New Jersey, the letter to the EPA has been signed by 16 states – Massachusetts, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state. The City of Baltimore and the City of New York have signed on as well.

Addressed to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, the letter requests that EPA furnish specifics about how it intends to comply with the court mandate in writing by February 27, 2008.

The letter warns that further “unreasonable delay” will result in legal action to enforce the court’s directive.

The Supreme Court ruled last April that the EPA, despite its assertion to the contrary, has authority under the federal Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. The court also found that the EPA used improper grounds to deny a rulemaking petition filed by the states that asked the agency to do so.

The court ordered the EPA to revisit the states’ rulemaking petition, to determine whether greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles cause harmful air pollution and, if so, to develop regulations governing such emissions.

“On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court established EPA’s responsibility to regulate greenhouse gases under the federal Clean Air Act,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. “The one year anniversary of the court’s ruling is fast approaching, and it is long past time for EPA to begin exercising its regulatory authority. Further continued delay is not acceptable.”

Exhaust from vehicles
contributes to climate change,
scientists warn. (Photo courtesy
Iowa DNR)

According to Milgram, EPA indicated on several occasions in 2007 that it was moving forward on the Supreme Court’s directive and that it intended to announce draft regulations for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by year’s end. Despite its commitment, which the EPA formalized in a regulatory plan published in December 2007, the EPA allowed 2007 to come and go without taking any action, and has provided no specific sense of when or how it intends to proceed.

“Despite a compelling body of scientific evidence concerning the relationship between air pollutants and global warming, and despite having been directed to act on the regulation of greenhouse gases by the U.S Supreme Court, the EPA continues to drag its feet,” said Milgram.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard stressed that the letter reminds Johnson, “The rulemaking petition at issue in Massachusetts v. EPA was filed in 1999, now almost a decade ago. EPA’s failure to exercise its clear authority under the Clean Air Act and to act on the petition constitutes an abdication of its regulatory responsibility.”

“The time for talk is over,” Milgram declared. “New Jersey has made a firm commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in order to protect our citizens and our natural resources. It is well past time for the federal government to make the same commitment by performing its statutory duty, as directed by the court.”

“Once again the federal government’s lack of action defies all logic and obfuscates justice by failing to protect public health,” said New Jersey DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson. “In New Jersey, motor vehicles account for the largest portion of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions.”

View This Story On Eco-mmunity Map.

Member “clanmesa” recently added a “green action needed” marker to the Eco-mmunity Map. This type of marker is arguably the most important part of the map as it represents a rallying point for education and action on specific environmental problems. If you are motivated and desire to see real change take place, then consider the “green action needed” marker as a useful outreach tool that can supplement other grassroots efforts you may have in place.

The situation in San Bernadino county is very grave, as it is ranked by the EPA as one of the most hazardous areas in America in terms of air pollution and stormwater runoff. Many trains and trucking companies route transit through this county as it has become a natural confluence of shipping lanes. The resulting health hazards are contributing to lung conditions like cancer, asthma, bronchitis and various pulmonary diseases. Stormwater runoff occurs when rainfall flows over land and collects together small amounts of toxic substances that pool together and pollute reservoirs of water. Check out this informational webpage [www.pe.com] for general information on a new act that the government is considering to combat some aspects of these problems.

As far as regulating ports and the shipping that goes to and from these major areas of commerce, there are two great websites that are running petition letters which anyone can sign and help to regulate the shipping pollution in California.

Coalition for Clean Air [www.cleanports.org]

Communities for Clean Ports [www.cleanports.org]

On May 22nd, the theme on THE GREEN is “DRIVE”. Of consummate importance to nearly all Americans, driving motor vehicles has been central to the fulfillment of the “American Dream”. The road trip is a classic tradition that is still going strong today. Now that fossil fuels are tied together with terrorism, the war in Iraq and the Middle-East in general, the concept of an alternative car stands to make an impact on American society in a similar fashion to the first consumer airline.

What does the alternative car mean, what types of cars are we talking about? Right now there is a popular and currently widely available option in the hybrid car. The hybrid uses gasoline more efficiently than a standard combustion engine vehicle. Next-up is the diesel multi-fuel engine, which can run on biodiesel as well as standard diesel fuel. Biodiesel is similar to the hybrid car in that it still produces air pollution but it is less polluting to make than regular crude oil and the pollution that comes out of the tail pipe is cleaner. It also allows for a greater percentage of the fuels to be produced in America, since the crop space required for its production is very abundant in America.

Finally we come to the electric car, which is also the subject of this weeks BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET Webisode. The electric car has a battery that you charge at home, it has a limited range but otherwise performs very well. The electric vehicle does not function well for the roadtrip, but as charging stations become easier to use, perhaps this will change and instead of a gas station, you will be looking for a battery charging station. For a look into one type of electric only vehicle, check out this week’s webisode from BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET: DRIVE.

As always, make sure to tune into Sundance Channel for THE GREEN, Tuesdays at 9PM EST. Also, today’ Treehugger Post concerns the electric car, you can find it here.