HavenWorks.com/air - Air News. Wind News.

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Air News, Wind News, Air Quality, Wind Energy, Wind Storms, Atmosphere

HavenWorks

Clean Air

Disaster

Stephen Johnson

Mary E Peters
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Wilma
Air Brought to you by the Letter a and Letter i. !-|

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Judge Blasts EPA Ground Zero Appraisal." ... ""No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws," U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts wrote, calling Whitman's actions "conscience- shocking."" -AP via -CBSNews

"Rewriting The Science." ... [NASA climate scientist Dr.James E. Hansen] "... tells correspondent Scott Pelley that the Bush administration is restricting who he can talk to and editing what he can say. Politicians, he says, are rewriting the science." ... "Hansen says his research shows that man has just 10 years to reduce greenhouse gases before global warming reaches what he calls a tipping point and becomes unstoppable. He says the White House is blocking that message."" -60 Minutes -CBSNews

AIR News:

20080829

Sarah Palin

Science

Politics

Global

Climate

Atmosphere

2008 Election

John McCain

Alaska

Arizona

"Palin Not Convinced on Global Warming." ... "Some scientists believe Alaska will be among the first to feel the impact of global warming, but [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin told voters there she wasn't sure climate change wasn't simply part of a natural warming cycle." ... ""I will not pretend to have all the answers," Palin said about global warming, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Her spokesman clarified at the time that "she's not totally convinced one way or the other. Science will tell us . . . She thinks the jury's still out."" ... "Palin shared her views in the run-up to the 2006 governor's race, at an Alaska Federation of Natives convention, where delegates passed a resolution calling for a mandatory reduction in pollution affecting the atmosphere." ... "Answering a question from the Daily News, Palin cautioned against "overreaction."" ... "Those were among the comments that brought condemnation today from Greenpeace to her selection as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running mate on the Republican ticket. The environmental group's Alaska Global Warming Campaigner, Melanie Duchin, described Palin as "one of the most anti-environment records of any governor in the United States." -By Matthew Mosk and Juliet Eilperin

-WashingtonPost

20080605

Mitch McConnell

James Inhofe

Gas

Emissions

Global

Climate

Environment

Nevada

Kentucky

Oklahoma

Law

"Republicans stall climate change bill to punish Reid." ... "When [Nevada Democratic Senator] Sen. Harry Reid rose to become the majority leader in 2007, many believed he had met his match in the Republicans’ new Senate leader, [Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell of Kentucky." ... "Shrewd parliamentarians both, they brought the prospect of each trying to outsmart the other on the Senate floor, promising good viewing." ... "Those skills were on display Wednesday when McConnell brought the Senate to a standstill." ... "Just as the chamber was about to begin a feisty debate on the most sweeping effort yet to address climate change, McConnell shut down the Senate by forcing full reading of the 491-page bill." ... "Rather than hearing a spirited battle over carbon emissions, gas prices and new fees for polluters, one lonely clerk after another read page after page of minutia to a nearly empty chamber." ... "In his own statement, Reid said: “Republicans are yet again doing everything in their power to slow, stop and stall. These petty, partisan tactics waste the American people’s time, and ignoring the crisis of global warming endangers all of us.”" ... "By early evening, with a few remaining tourists in the gallery watching the nearly empty floor, Republican [Oklahoma Senator] Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the chamber’s leading global warming skeptic, sat in waiting, prepared to object should Democrats ask for the hours-long reading to end." -

LasVegasSun.com

20080603

Brazil

Satellite

Photographs

Global

Climate

Gases

Food

Animals

Farming

Illegal

Business

"New satellite photos show Amazon deforestation exploding." ... "New satellite photographs show that the destruction of Brazil's fragile Amazon rainforest has exploded this year, fueling fears that the government's efforts to stop deforestation have been fruitless." ... "Brazil's DETER real-time monitoring system found that more than 430 square miles of forest, an area a bit smaller than the city of Los Angeles, vanished in the month of April, while about 2,300 square miles, larger than the state of Delaware, were destroyed between last August and April." ... "That nine-month total surpassed the entire acreage in the Amazon that was destroyed over the previous 12 months, according to DETER data. What's worse, the satellites couldn't see about half of the forest in April due to cloud cover, suggesting that actual deforestation likely was much greater." ... "That's raised red flags among environmentalists, who say that soybean farming, cattle production and illegal logging are destroying the world's largest rainforest despite the government's attempts to halt the deforestation." ... "Chopping down and burning the rainforest releases tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change. Brazil is the world's fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, largely because of deforestation, according to the U.S.-based World Resources Institute." ... "Worse is yet to come, environmentalists said." ... "The Amazon's dry season, when farmers do most of their burning and clearing, starts this month." -By Jack Chang

-McClatchyDC.com

20080523

Oceans - Global - Climate - Science - Environmental - Atmospheric - Industrial - Factories - Cars - History - Animals - Seattle - Washington - California - Oregon - US - Canada - Mexico - "Acidified seawater showing up along coast ahead of schedule." ... "Climate models predicted it wouldn't happen until the end of the century." ... "So a team led by Seattle [Washington] researchers was stunned to discover that vast swaths of acidified seawater already are showing up along the Pacific Coast as greenhouse-gas emissions upset the oceans' chemical balance." ... "In surveys from Vancouver Island [British Columbia, Canada] to the tip of Baja California [Mexico], reported Thursday in the online journal Science Express, the scientists found the first evidence that large amounts of corrosive water are reaching the continental shelf — the shallow sea margin where most marine creatures live." ... "Off Northern California, the acidified water was only four miles from shore." ... ""What we found ... was truly astonishing," said oceanographer Richard Feely, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. "This means ocean acidification may be seriously impacting marine life on the continental shelf right now."" ... "All along the coast, the scientists found regions where the water was acidic enough to dissolve the shells and skeletons of clams, corals and many of the tiny creatures at the base of the marine food chain. Acidified water also can kill fish eggs and a wide range of marine larvae." ... ""Entire marine ecosystems are likely to be affected," said co-author Debby Ianson, an oceanographer at Fisheries and Oceans Canada." ... "Though it hasn't received as much attention as global warming, ocean acidification is a flip side of the same phenomenon. The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from power plants, factories and cars that is raising temperatures worldwide also is to blame for the increasing acidity of the world's oceans." ... "Normally, seawater is slightly alkaline. When carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves into the water, it forms carbonic acid — the weak acid that helps give soda pop its tang. The process also robs the water of carbonate, a key ingredient in the formation of calcium carbonate shells." ... "Since the Industrial Revolution, when humans began pumping massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Feely estimates the oceans have absorbed 525 billion tons of the man-made greenhouse gas — about one-third of the total released during that period." ... "By keeping some of the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the oceans have blunted the temperature rise due to global warming. But they've suffered for that service, with a more than 30-percent increase in acidity." ... "The acidified water upwelling along the coast today was last exposed to the atmosphere about 50 years ago, when carbon-dioxide levels were much lower than they are now. That means the water that will rise from the depths over the coming decades will have absorbed more carbon dioxide and will be even more acidic." -By Sandi Doughton -SeattleTimes

20080508

Oil - Corporations - Air - Environment - Ground - Water - Safety - Health - Science - Politics - "Chevron, 11 Oil Companies to Pay $423 Million in MTBE Lawsuits." ... "Water suppliers in 17 states will collect $423 million from Chevron Corp. [Corporation], BP Plc [Public limited company] and 10 other oil companies as part of a settlement of contamination claims involving the gasoline additive MTBE." ... "The suits claim the oil companies contaminated wells and underground aquifers across the country by adding methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, to gasoline as a way to reduce air pollution. They claim the oil companies hid information showing MTBE would cause ``massive'' contamination." ... "The settlement was filed yesterday with U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York, who is presiding over the 59 settled lawsuits brought by 153 municipalities. The six oil companies and refineries that didn't settle include Exxon Mobil Corp. [Corporation], the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, according to Robert Gordon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs." ... "The municipalities ``will use the money to continue to treat water so that it is safe and pure,'' Gordon said in a phone interview." ... "MTBE reduces air pollution by making gasoline burn more completely in a car's engine. MTBE discharged into the air contaminates groundwater through rainfall. The additive has been banned in many states." ... "Estimates of the cost to treat contaminated water in the U.S. have reached $30 billion." ... "Scheindlin denied a request by the oil companies to dismiss the suits in 2005." ... "``Innocent water providers -- and ultimately innocent water users -- should not be denied relief from the contamination of their water supply if defendants breached a duty to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm from their products,'' Scheindlin said at the time." ... "The case is In Re: MTBE, 00-cv-1898, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). " -By David Glovin -Bloomberg

20080430

Agriculture - Factory - Companies - Poor - People - Nutrition - Health - US - - World - Biofuel - Air - Soil - Water - Environment - Animals - Plants - Science - "Shortages Threaten Farmers’ Key Tool: Fertilizer." ... "Some kinds of fertilizer have nearly tripled in price in the last year, keeping farmers from buying all they need. That is one of many factors contributing to a rise in food prices that, according to the United Nations’ World Food Program, threatens to push tens of millions of poor people into malnutrition." ... "Rising demand for food and biofuels prompted farmers everywhere to plant more crops." ... "Fertilizer companies are confident the shortage will be solved eventually, noting that they plan to build scores of new factories. But that will probably create fresh problems in the long run as the world grows more dependent on fossil fuels to produce chemical fertilizers." ... "The demand for fertilizer has been driven by a confluence of events, including population growth, shrinking world grain stocks and the appetite for corn and palm oil to make biofuel. But experts say the biggest factor has been the growing demand for food, especially meat, in the developing world." ... "Fertilizer is plant food, a combination of nutrients added to soil to help plants grow. The three most important are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The latter two have long been available. But nitrogen in a form that plants can absorb is scarce, and the lack of it led to low crop yields for centuries." ... "That limitation ended in the early 20th century with the invention of a procedure, now primarily fueled by natural gas, that draws chemically inert nitrogen from the air and converts it into a usable form." ... "Environmental groups fear increased use, particularly of nitrogen fertilizer made using fossil fuels. Because plants do not absorb all the nitrogen, much of it leaches into streams and groundwater. That runoff has long been recognized as a major pollution problem, and it is growing." ... "A barometer of the pollution is the rising number of dead zones where rivers meet the sea. In the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, nitrogen runoff from fields in the Corn Belt washes downstream and feeds plant life in the gulf. The algae blooms suck oxygen from the water, killing other marine life." (1, 2) -By Keith Bradsher and Andrew Martin -NYTimes

20080423

Noteworthy - Government - EPA - Opinion - Science - Politics - Food - Drug - Oceanic - Atmospheric - Climate - Health - California - Investigation - "Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years: UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported that they experienced political interference in their work over the last five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ... "UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo. "But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary culprit." -UCSUSA.org
Government - Environmental - Science - Politics - Human - Health - Law - Air - Ground - Water - Homes - Workplace - Industry - US - Global - Climate - Free Speech - Censorship - "Interference at the EPA: Science and Politics at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency." ... "The U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the simple yet profound charge "to protect human health and the environment." EPA scientists apply their expertise to protect the public from air and water pollution, clean up hazardous waste, and study emerging threats such as global warming. Because each year brings new and potentially toxic chemicals into our homes and workplaces, because air pollution still threatens our public health, and because environmental challenges are becoming more complex and global, a strong and capable EPA is more important than ever." ... "Yet challenges from industry lobbyists and some political leaders to the agency's decisions have too often led to the suppression and distortion of the scientific findings underlying those decisions—to the detriment of both science and the health of our nation. While every regulatory agency must balance scientific findings with other considerations, policy makers need access to the highest-quality scientific information to make fully informed decisions." ... "Concern over this problem led the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to investigate political interference in science at the EPA. The investigation combines dozens of interviews with current and former EPA staff, analysis of government documents, more than 1,600 responses to a survey sent to current EPA scientists, and written comments from EPA scientists." ... "The results of these investigations show an agency under siege from political pressures. On numerous issues—ranging from mercury pollution to groundwater contamination to climate change—political appointees have edited scientific documents, manipulated scientific assessments, and generally sought to undermine the science behind dozens of EPA regulations." ... "These findings highlight the need for strong reforms to protect EPA scientists, make agency decision making more transparent, and reduce politicization of the regulatory process. Congress, the next president, and the next EPA Administrator must restore independence and scientific integrity to the EPA by:"

" * Protecting EPA Scientists: Scientists should be free to report the distortion, manipulation, and suppression of their work without fear of retribution. Congress should pass a whistleblower law that includes protection for scientists. The EPA should adopt a communications policy that lets scientists speak freely to the press about their findings."
" * Making the EPA More Transparent: Too many decisions are made behind closed doors with little accountability. The EPA’s scientific findings should be freely available to the public. The EPA should open up its decision-making process to congressional and public scrutiny to help reveal misuses of science[.]"
" * Reforming the Regulatory Process: The White House should not change scientific findings in order to weaken, delay, or prevent new public protections."
" * Ensuring Robust Scientific Input to EPA's Decision Making: The EPA should review and strengthen how it uses the scientific expertise of its staff and external advisory committees to create policies—especially when scientific input is critical or required by law."
" * Depoliticizing Funding, Monitoring, and Enforcement: Problems with funding, monitoring and enforcement also need to be addressed by Congress and the next President to ensure that the EPA is the robust environmental agency that our country needs."

-UCSUSA.org/scientific_integrity/interference

Mary Peters - Covert - Language - Law - Politics - Greenhouse Gases - Clean Air Act - Environmental - Transportation - Auto - Makers - Fuel - Economy - San Francisco - California - Massachusetts - US - Global - Climate - "Bush fuel economy rules swipe at California." ... "When the [Republican President] Bush administration announced proposed regulations Tuesday to raise fuel economy standards for cars and trucks to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, even some environmentalists applauded. But then they read the fine print." ... "Tucked deep into a 417-page "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" was language by the Transportation Department stating that more stringent limits on tailpipe emissions embraced by California and 17 other states are "an obstacle to the accomplishment" of the new federal standards and are "expressly and impliedly preempted" by federal law." ... "California Attorney General Jerry Brown called it a covert assault on California's rules. Environmentalists said the language will be used by automakers in their legal challenges to two recent federal court rulings that sided with the states." ... "The language showed that beneath the bipartisan veneer of support for new fuel economy standards - approved by [the Democratic controlled] Congress and signed by [Republican] President Bush in December - the conflict is still raging between the White House and the states over who will set the nation's first limits on greenhouse gases." ... "Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who announced the proposed rules Tuesday, acknowledged that the preemption language was included in the document." ... "The Supreme Court ruled in the Massachusetts vs. EPA case last year that the Transportation Department's authority to set fuel economy standards should not impede other efforts under the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gases." ... "[California Democratic Representative and] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D[Democratic]-San Francisco [California], responded: "The administration is continuing to block climate change progress by asserting that California doesn't have the right to move forward with its own global warming regulations. That is completely unjustified."" -By Zachary Coile -SFGate.com

20080422

Smog - Science - Elderly - Children - Environmental - Safety - Government - Politics - Fuel - Industry - Clean Air - Law - "Scientists: Smog contributes to premature death." ... "Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution, a National Academy of Sciences review concludes." ... "The findings contradict arguments made by some [Republican President Bush] White House officials that the connection between smog and premature death has not been shown sufficiently and that the number of saved lives should not be calculated in determining clean air benefits." ... "The report released Tuesday by a panel of the Academy's National Research Council says government agencies "should give little or no weight" to such arguments." ... ""The committee has concluded from its review of health-based evidence that short-term exposure to ambient ozone is likely to contribute to premature deaths," the 13-member panel said." ... "It added that "studies have yielded strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone can exacerbate lung conditions, causing illness and hospitalization and can potentially lead to death."" ... "Ground-level ozone is formed from nitrogen oxide and organic compounds created by burning fossil fuels and is demonstrated often by the yellow haze or smog that lingers in the air. Ozone exposure is a leading cause of respiratory illnesses and especially affects the elderly, those with respiratory problems and children." -AP via -CNN

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Air Websites

Clean Air Act

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

CDC.gov

Air Pollution & Respiratory Health
EPA.gov

Air & Radiation

Indoor Air Quality
LBL.gov

Air Pollution
MedlinePlus.gov

Air Pollution

Indoor Air Pollution

Search Air Pollution:
in <MedlinePlus>

NOAA.gov
OSHA.gov-SLTC

Indoor Air Quality

Ready.gov

Clean Air

AF.mil - News

>Airman Magazine

Search Air News:
News Search
<Air> in:

<AllTheWeb-[News]>

<AltaVista-[News]>

<Google-[News]>

<MSN-[News]>

Specialty search:
<Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>
Search Wind News:
News Search
<Wind>in:

<AllTheWeb-[News]>

<AltaVista-[News]>

<Google-[News]>

<MSN-[News]>

Specialty search:
<Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>
Search
<Air News> in:

<Google>

<MSN>

<Yahoo>

Search
<Wind News> in:

<Google>

<MSN>

<Yahoo>

<Wind Energy> in:

<Google>

<MSN>

<Yahoo>

<Air Quality> in:

<Google-[News]>

<MSN-[News]>

<Yahoo>

<Air Force> in:

<Google-[News]>

<MSN-[News]>

<Yahoo>

<Air Force News> in:

<Google-[News]>

<MSN-[News]>

<Yahoo>

Air
Brought to you by the alphabet letter A
A
;-)

20080416

Global - Climate - Coal - Plant - Greenhouse Gas - Science - Politics - "Bush Announces Greenhouse Gas Strategy -- Surprise! It's Bad." ... "[Republican] President Bush delivered a speech today in which he outlined a new strategy to "effectively combat climate change." Unfortunately, on my initial read of excerpts from his speech, it seems deeply, deeply flawed." ... "Bush is finally publicly admitting that emissions should be curbed because they affect the climate. That's fine, but his proposed response doesn't logically follow from that statement of fact. If you think the greenhouse gas emissions are a problem, then you should craft a solution that reduces them. But Bush, instead, is suggesting that no mandatory caps be put in place, that no specific targets be fixed in the near term, and that no moratorium be called on coal plant production." ... "Essentially, he just says, let's wait ten years and then do something." -By Alexis Madrigal -Wired

20080403

Global - Climate - Atmosphere - Science - Antarctic - Ice - History - UN - San Diego - California - Iowa - US - "Dust plays huge role in climate change: Tiny particles heat up the atmosphere faster than scientist once believed. The good news is this dust can be cleaned up fairly quickly." ... "Scientists know that dust affects climate. Tiny particles create veils that reflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere. Dark particles absorb sunshine and warm things up. But as scientists look deeper into the dust-climate connection, they find that they have underestimated its importance." ... "Research published April 3 in Nature reveals the tight linkage between atmospheric dust flows and Antarctic temperatures during ice ages over the past 800,000 years. A research review published March 23 in Nature Geoscience online shows that black carbon particles in the atmosphere have a more powerful global-warming effect than any of the greenhouse gases except carbon dioxide. And these particles are 60 percent as effective as CO2 itself. That's far more powerful than the estimate in last year's report of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)." ... "The good news is that black carbon particles such as diesel soot or wood-stove smoke only stay airborne for weeks. (It takes a century to get rid of today's CO2 emissions.) This fact offers an opportunity for instant payback, say study authors V. Ramanathan at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego [California] and Gregory Carmichael at the University of Iowa in Iowa City [Iowa]. In an announcement from Scripps, the authors note that commercially available technologies exist to cut back soot emissions substantially. Using them would rapidly reduce black-carbon warming. " -By Robert C. Cowen -CSMonitor

20080331

Oil - Politics - Government - US - Calif - Global - Climate - Environmental - Emissions - Memorial Day - Driving - "Gas prices put oil executives on the hot seat." ... "Oil executives return to the hot seat Tuesday as a House panel examines rising gasoline prices and the industry’s opposition to efforts to repeal $18 billion in tax breaks. The new money would be used to pay for the development of renewable energy." ... "For the industry’s critics, the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming hearing Tuesday is another indication of the industry’s waning clout on Capitol Hill, as was the House vote earlier this year that repealed tax breaks the industry now receives." ... "But the army of lobbyists who represent the oil and gas industry has so far successfully fought back in the Senate, which has yet to pass a similar tax bill, forcing renewable energy advocates to lower their own expectations." ... "Executives from ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips were expected to testify before the House panel, which was created by [California Democratic Representative] Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.[Democratic-California]) to highlight her caucus’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the nation’s dependence on foreign oil." ... "Some oil lobbyists worried the hearing could turn raucous since prices at the pump have reached a new record — weeks before the traditional start of driving season on Memorial Day." ... "By coincidence or not, the hearing is being held the same day as “Fossil Fools’ Day,” a campaign by some environmental groups. They question the wisdom of continuing to use fossil fuels, which emit carbon dioxide when burned, as the mainstay for energy production when global temperatures are rising because of increasing greenhouse gas emissions." -By Jim Snyder -TheHill.com

20080314

Political - Government - Environmental - Air - Science - Health - People - Farm - Land - Animals - Clean Air Act - Law - Industry - Motor Vehicles - "Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest: EPA Scrambles To Justify Action." ... "The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual last-minute intervention by [Republican] President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA." ... "EPA officials initially tried to set a lower seasonal limit on ozone to protect wildlife, parks and farmland, as required under the law. While their proposal was less restrictive than what the EPA's scientific advisers had proposed, Bush overruled EPA officials and on Tuesday ordered the agency to increase the limit [of allowable air pollution], according to the documents." ... ""It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference for the president personally to override a decision that the Clean Air Act leaves exclusively to EPA's expert scientific judgment," said John Walke, clean-air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council." ... "The president's order prompted a scramble by administration officials to rewrite the regulations to avoid a conflict with past EPA statements on the harm caused by ozone." ... "Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA's past submissions to the Supreme Court, according to sources familiar with the conversation. As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard." ... "Ozone, which is formed when pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and other chemical compounds released by industry and motor vehicles are exposed to sunlight, is linked to an array of heart and respiratory illnesses." (1, 2) -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

20080313

Stephen L Johnson - Corporate - Government - Politics - Environmental - Air - Health - Science - Clean Air Act - Law - History - Vehicles - Manufacturing - Power Plants - Children - "EPA Tightens Pollution Standards: But Agency Ignored Advisers' Guidance." ... "The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday limited the allowable amount of pollution-forming ozone in the air to 75 parts per billion, a level significantly higher [meaning more polluting] than what the agency's scientific advisers had urged for this key component of unhealthy air pollution." ... "[Republican President Bush's Environmental Protection Agency] Administrator Stephen L. Johnson also said he would push Congress to rewrite the nearly 37-year-old Clean Air Act to allow regulators to take into consideration the cost and feasibility of controlling pollution when making decisions about air quality, something that is currently prohibited by the law. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that the government needed to base the ozone standard strictly on protecting public health, with no regard to cost." ... "The new pollution rules -- one of the most important environmental decisions facing the Bush administration in the president's final year in office -- will be a major factor in determining the quality of the air Americans will breathe for at least a decade. The standards, which are aimed at protecting both public health and welfare, are designed to limit the amount of nitrogen oxides and other chemical compounds released into the air by vehicles, manufacturing facilities and power plants. In sunlight, the pollutants form ozone." ... "Johnson said he did "what was required by the law and the recent scientific evidence," but his decision to set a lower but still less-restrictive limit than what the EPA's advisory committees had recommended sparked a backlash from Democratic lawmakers, public health advocates and his own independent advisers." ... "Nearly a year ago, EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee reiterated in writing that its members were "unanimous in recommending" that the agency set the standard no higher than 70 parts per billion (ppb) and to consider a limit as low as 60 ppb. EPA's Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee and public health advocates lobbied for the 60-ppb limit because children are more vulnerable to air pollution." ... "EPA and other scientists have shown that ozone has a direct impact on rates of heart and respiratory disease and resulting premature deaths. The agency calculates that the new standard of 75 ppb would prevent 1,300 to 3,500 premature deaths a year, whereas 65 ppb would avoid 3,000 to 9,200 deaths annually. " -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

20080226

Stephen Johnson - Environmental - Politics - California - Transportation - Auto - Makers - Emissions - Law - Health - Science - Clean Air Act - Enforcement -