The People Speak Out in Favor of Stronger Smog Standards

This is the weekly blog post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.

"I've been hospitalized many times with asthma attacks. It's scary when you can't catch your breath. When I was young, going to the hospital with asthma was a monthly thing. Now I'm on an adult dose of asthma medicine and the only other way to manage the asthma is to limit my outdoor activities. That's hard to do at 14. My doctor's even talking to me about moving away from Houston's pollution when I go to college."

Those are the words of 14-year old asthma patient Aaron Smith, who attended the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing on its proposed ozone rule in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday with his mother Rosa Smith. The Smith family lives near the Houston refineries.

Creating the Most Jobs

Glenn Hurowitz has a good column over on Grist about which industries produce the most jobs per million dollars of government money invested. Using research from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, he helped pull together this most excellent graphic:

That's certainly telling! Read the whole column for more details.

Recap of Yesterday's EPA Smog Hearings

The many people who attended yesterday's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearings on its proposed ozone/smog rule are calling them a success. The proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standard follows the recommendation of EPA scientists and numerous health groups, setting the limit between 60 and 70 parts per billion - and we strongly support this move.

We had great numbers of concerned citizens, scientists, doctors and more turn out at the hearings in Houston, Texas, and Arlington, Virginia, to talk about the need for stronger standards on ozone - which is also known as smog.

In Houston, our Lone Star chapter teamed up with the American Lung Association, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention to state the facts on the risks of smog. The coalition got some good media coverage before and after the event, including their live-blog on DailyKos - and they even made this fantastic video of it all.



Almost twenty leaders of national and local health and environmental organizations testified - as well a teen with asthma. "I've been hospitalized many times with asthma attacks. It's scary when you can't catch your breath. When I was young, going to the hospital with asthma was a monthly thing," said 14-year old asthma patient Aaron Smith, who attended the EPA hearing with his mother Rosa Smith. The Smith family lives near the Houston refineries.

"Now I'm on an adult dose of asthma medicine and the only other way to manage the asthma is to limit my outdoor activities. That's hard to do at 14. My doctor's even talking to me about moving away from Houston's pollution when I go to college."

Live-Blogging the EPA Ozone/Smog Hearings

Today we've got folks at the two Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ozone/smog rule hearings in Houston, Texas, and Arlington, Virginia. They're live-blogging right here (and tweeting), so follow along! If you need more information on just what this proposed EPA rule is on ozone (better known as smog), check out the EPA page and our blog post on how important it is. And if you're in or near Sacramento, California, the EPA hearing on this rule is Thursday, February 4th. Be there! Also, FYI, this live-blog is set to central time.

National Day of Action Against Coal Ash

This is the weekly post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.

Today, Jan 28th, Sierra Club and our allies at Earthjustice, Environmental Integrity Project, NRDC and grassroots groups across the country are participating in a national day of action to urge the Obama Administration to move forward with strong, federally enforceable rules to regulate coal ash disposal. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working on proposed rules to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash – the byproduct of burning coal for power. As expected, the coal industry is fighting to maintain the status quo on coal ash, backing a proposal that ensures coal ash is treated less responsibly than household trash.

The nearly 136 million tons of coal ash generated each year is full of harmful toxins like arsenic, lead and mercury. People living near the coal ash sites have a staggering 1 in 50 risk of cancer. Both EPA and the National Academy of Sciences have years of research making it clear that coal ash is becoming increasingly toxic and confirming time and again that coal ash poses a threat to human health.

We must treat coal waste as a hazardous substance and not take away the opportunities for residents of communities impacted by coal ash disposal to provide input on how the coal ash should be handled.

Our goal with a day of action on January 28th is to generate thousands of emails, phone calls and letters to the editor of national and local newspapers calling on the Obama Administration, to bring an end to the delay.

We hope you will share the information about the day of action with your local activists, allies, colleagues, friends, and family. Want to get involved? Here are two things you can do on Jan. 28th and beyond:

1. Email Action: Send an email directly to the White House in support of this EPA rule. Everyone who takes action on our alert will be automatically invited to submit a letter to the editor of their local newspaper as well.

2. Then, post this message as your facebook status with a link to the online action alert: "I asked President Obama to protect all US residents from hazardous coal ash sites around the country, and you can too: http://action.sierraclub.org/coalash!"

One thing is clear—coal must be cleaned up and the industry will not clean itself. Residents across the U.S. want the coal industry to clean up and not expose them to health hazards like air pollution and coal ash. We need strong regulations to hold coal accountable and speed the transition to a clean energy economy.

Global Warming Polls Show Shrinking Support for Action

If President Obama wants to lead our country on global warming via his State of the Union speech tonight, he'd better find some even more inspiring words, unfortunately. (Maybe from Hansen and the others in the videos from this Climate Crossroads post?) Americans are becoming less supportive of action on global warming - this according to two polls out in the past week.

A poll released today by George Mason University and Yale University shows that:

• Only 50 percent of Americans now say they are "somewhat" or "very worried" about global warming, a 13-point decrease.

• The percentage of Americans who think global warming is happening has declined 14 points, to 57 percent.

• The percentage of Americans who think global warming is caused mostly by human activities dropped 10 points, to 47 percent.

The poll adds that there has been an increase in the number of Americans who think global warming will never harm people in the United States or elsewhere or other species. Click here to read the release on the GMU/Yale poll.

Another poll released earlier this week from the Pew Research Center for People and the Press echoes that sentiment as well, noting that "Among 21 social and economic issues, global warming ranks last as a top priority to Americans, who view it as increasingly less urgent...Just 28% of the 1,504 adults surveyed consider 'dealing with global warming' a top priority, down from 38% three years ago." (see the graphic from Pew at the left, click to see it larger)

Things look slightly better if the question is phrased as whether "protecting the environment" is important - that comes in 16th on the list of issues.

What's the deal? The Yale and George Mason folks thinks some of it is attributed to the hacked climate change scientist emails from late last year. Despite the emails having been proven to show no impact on the reality of global warming, many Americans still seem to think that global warming is either not real, or that it's not caused by humans.

This gives President Obama and other climate and clean energy champs in Congress a long road to travel if we expect much action on global warming. Climate legislation is stalling in Congress, and even the Environmental Protection Agency's Supreme-Court-ordered-mandate to regulate global warming pollution is under attack by a resolution from Senator Lisa Murkowski and 37 other senators.

Don't worry - there is some bright news, in the form of another poll released this month by Clean Energy Works. They surveyed 800 people in 16 states and reported that 58% of them supporting "an energy bill that limits pollution and greenhouse gas emissions through what's been called a Cap and Trade plan and also invests in clean, renewable energy sources in America."

Fifty-five percent of those polled also said they'd re-elect a legislator who supported such a bill (like those in the House who voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and those in the Senate now trying to pass a similar bill).

From Clean Energy Works' poll:
The public's desire to regulate carbon polluters is so strong that, by large margins, voters believe the EPA should act if Congress doesn’t. 

• 59% of voters agree and just 39% disagree that "if Congress doesn't pass this energy bill,the Environmental Protection Agency should take action to regulate carbon polluters."

• Among Independents, support for EPA action is even stronger: 61% agree and only 37% disagree.

All is not lost, folks. American wants clean energy and action against global warming. We just need to work even harder. In the words of one of the George Mason pollers:

"The scientific evidence is clear that climate change is real, human-caused and a serious threat to communities across America," said Edward Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. "The erosion in both public concern and public trust about global warming should be a clarion call for people and organizations trying to educate the public about this important issue."

Clean Energy News of Note

There are number of good stories out on clean energy this week, so I thought I'd highlight a few. First up, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released its annual report today, with the biggest news being that wind power installation was up 39% last year but the wind power industry still lacks in manufacturing.

"The U.S. wind energy industry shattered all installation records in 2009, chalking up the Recovery Act as a historic success in creating jobs, avoiding carbon, and protecting consumers,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. Read more about this annual report and how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act affected the wind industry in AWEA's press release (which includes a link to the annual report as well).

You can even see a great map from AWEA on all the wind energy projects in the US. The NY Times, USA Today and CNN Money all have articles on the report.
  
Next up, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday "a new national air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This new one-hour standard will protect millions of Americans from peak short-term exposures, which primarily occur near major roads. Short-term exposures to NO2 have been linked to impaired lung function and increased respiratory infections, especially in people with asthma."

And guess who already hates this standard despite research showing major public health problems caused by this air pollution? The oil industry. From the Washington Post: "The American Petroleum Institute, representing the oil and gas industry, said in a statement Monday the EPA was over-regulating and that there is no scientific evidence that a short-term nitrogen dioxide standard is necessary to protect public health."

Oh Big Oil, you just like to oppose everything, don't you?

Meanwhile, speaking of EPA, the Rolling Stone is calling EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson an "Eco-Warrior" in its latest article. We couldn't agree more.

Related to that, we've got Lisa Jackson's speech from New Orleans this week, where she spoke to the "Conference on Environmental Justice, Air Quality, Goods Movement and Green Jobs." It is an excellent take on why a green economy will benefit everyone. From the speech:

Of all the potential paths forward for our economy, the green economy is the only one that presents numerous and significant opportunities for positive externalities. A green economy is the only one that offers not only new jobs, but cost savings, health benefits, and stronger national security.

Take for example, energy efficiency. A McKinsey study estimates that $520 billion invested in energy efficiency today would net $1.2 trillion dollars in energy cost savings through 2020. $2 in savings for every dollar invested – a very positive externality. Especially when you consider that electricity bills already cost black families 25% more of their income than other groups.

Think about the health benefits of a green economy. Heart disease, cancer and respiratory illness are three of the top four most fatal health threats in America. They account for more than half of the deaths in the nation – and they plague our inner cities. All three have been linked to environmental causes. A green economy would substantially reduce the pollution linked to these deadly health issues. A green economy would also reduce the economic burdens of hospital visits, medical bills and lost work and school days – especially in environmental justice communities where these problems are at their worst. Positive externalities.

I encourage you to read the whole speech - it's fantastic.

Live from the Washington Auto Show

This is a guest post by Ann Mesnikoff of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign.

The Auto Show is in Washington, DC, today and the Sierra Club Green Transportation team is there. First off - we'll be tweeting from the show at twitter.com/SierraClubLive, being sure to post many photos of the cars, too.

The focus of this year's auto shows has been the burgeoning crop of plug-in hybrids (like the Volt) and electric vehicles (like the Leaf) and the smaller cars the industry is proving can be fun, safe and efficient (and yes sexy). After all, the industry finally has new vehicle standards to aim for – 35.5 mpg or 250 grams per mile CO2 in 2016 (that's compared to a new vehicle average of 26.4 mpg or 337 g/mi CO2 in 2008)

Yes, we will visit the Advanced Technology Superhighway. But there are a few facts we will keep in mind as we tour the best and yes, the worst, of the industry's offerings.

Cars and light trucks in the US consume nearly nine million barrels of oil every day, some 142 billion gallons per year, spewing out 20% of US global warming pollution. While new vehicle fuel economy standards are heading up to a to 35.5 mpg, the fleet of 2016 vehicles is more likely to have an on road fuel economy that is perhaps 20% lower - something more like a 27 or 28 mpg (PDF). And, to get to this average, vehicle sales will have to shift significantly toward cars and away from light trucks. The new 2016 standards must be a starting point for consistent improvements if we are going to curb our addiction to oil.

Plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles are coming, but to get where we need to be for the long term, it is the larger cars and trucks that will need to make big strides. We will be looking for the technologies the industry is offering for these vehicles, not just what they have on deck to makes small cars even better.

So while we take a good look at GM's Volt, we will also be looking at the 2010 Tahoe, with its paltry 15 mpg city average. GM sold 91,578 of these in 2008; the Volt is expected to go on sale this year. We hope to see strong evidence at this year’s auto show that the industry is committed to on-going improvements in fuel efficiency for all vehicles. Look for photos of the best and worst of the 2010 DC Auto Show!

Continuing the Coal-Free College Push in 2010

This is the weekly blog post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.


Last Friday I had the pleasure of visiting Cornell University for the announcement of the school's new combined heat/power gas plant. The school built the plant as the beginning of its mission to move away from coal - university officials estimate the campus will be entirely off coal in 18 months.

This is the latest step Cornell officials have taken in the effort to make the university carbon neutral. Four years ago they built a lake water cooling system that uses cold lake water to cool all of their buildings, a step that dropped the electricity needed for their cooling by 90 percent.  This is on top of aggressive energy efficiency efforts ongoing campus wide. I had the chance to sit down with Cornell officials and chat about their changes, check out the audio here on Cornell's website.



Cornell's work is very impressive - they are showing that we can do it (video!), and we can slash our global warming pollution and we can do it quickly.

Debate Tonight: RFK, Jr., vs. Coal's Don Blankenship

Going to be in Charleston, WV, tonight? If so, you should attend this major event where Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., debates global warming and environmental issues with Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

It's sure to be exciting and while there are no seats left in the auditorium for the debate, it is being broadcast in another venue on the University of Charleston campus.

And if you can't be there in person, you can watch it online at www.cleanskies.com. It starts at 6pm and goes til 8pm (ET).

Don Blankenship is a colorful character, to say the least. And by "colorful," I mean "known for saying crazy things about coal and environment, assaulting an ABC reporter, and also listed in a recent Rolling Stone magazine article entitled 'The Climate Killers: Meet the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming:'"

12. The Coal Baron, Don Blankenship -- Global warming, he insists, is nothing but "a hoax and a Ponzi scheme." His fortune depends on such lies: Massey Energy, the nation's fourth-largest coal-mining operation, unearths more than 40 million tons of the fossil fuel each year — often by blowing the tops off of Appalachian mountains.

So there you have it. Check it out!