MVCAC January 2012

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4 participants
9 discussions

Re: [MVCAC] Fwd: {GT} Fwd: Clean Air Cities
by Barbara Howe 26 Jan '12

26 Jan '12

I would support the resolution and like Jim's comments, but I would suggest that it be residents of the City of Morgantown who make the arguments to city council and be clear that they are city residents, as they are the voters who will decide if council members who vote against this should remain on council. Barb >>> Duane 01/23/12 7:42 PM >>> From: "James Kotcon" <James.Kotcon(a)mail.wvu.edu> Date: January 23, 2012 7:33:47 PM EST To: "Chris Haddox" <Chris.Haddox(a)mail.wvu.edu>, morgantowngreenteam(a)googlegroups.com Subject: Re: {GT} Fwd: Clean Air Cities On the one hand, the "ask" for this resolution is pretty simple and includes no direct cost to the City. It simply states that the City Council urges EPA to use the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gases. As such, the resolution can be fulfilled with a 44-cent stamp, a phone call, or even with a single e-mail message. On the other hand, advocating for a 350-ppm CO2 level will be controversial, even with weasel-wording like "do our part" to achieve that level. The emphasis on endangered species might be important to the Center for Biological Diversity (and to me), but that is not the argument I would use to sway City Council. I suggest that we need to describe ancillary benefits such as the direct health benefits from controlling other air pollutants that would come as part of efforts to achieve this goal. With reductions in greenhouse gases will also come reductions in fine particulates, ozone, mercury and other pollutants, and that will generate immediate health benefits for Morgantown residents, as opposed to some long-term global reduction in climate change. I support the resolution, but I suspect it will not pass without active support from the environmental community. What next? Jim Kotcon

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Study Finds Mercury in More Northeastern Bird Species - NYTimes.com
by Duane 24 Jan '12

24 Jan '12

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/science/study-finds-mercury-in-more-north… MERCURY'S HARMFUL REACH HAS GROWN, STUDY SHOWS Duane Nichols, Cell- 304-216-5535.

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Fwd: {GT} Fwd: Clean Air Cities
by Duane 23 Jan '12

23 Jan '12

> From: "James Kotcon" <James.Kotcon(a)mail.wvu.edu> > Date: January 23, 2012 7:33:47 PM EST > To: "Chris Haddox" <Chris.Haddox(a)mail.wvu.edu>, morgantowngreenteam(a)googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: {GT} Fwd: Clean Air Cities > > On the one hand, the "ask" for this resolution is pretty simple and includes no direct cost to the City. It simply states that the City Council urges EPA to use the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gases. As such, the resolution can be fulfilled with a 44-cent stamp, a phone call, or even with a single e-mail message. > > On the other hand, advocating for a 350-ppm CO2 level will be controversial, even with weasel-wording like "do our part" to achieve that level. The emphasis on endangered species might be important to the Center for Biological Diversity (and to me), but that is not the argument I would use to sway City Council. I suggest that we need to describe ancillary benefits such as the direct health benefits from controlling other air pollutants that would come as part of efforts to achieve this goal. With reductions in greenhouse gases will also come reductions in fine particulates, ozone, mercury and other pollutants, and that will generate immediate health benefits for Morgantown residents, as opposed to some long-term global reduction in climate change. > > I support the resolution, but I suspect it will not pass without active support from the environmental community. > > What next? > > Jim Kotcon >

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Fwd: {GT} Fwd: Clean Air Cities
by Duane 23 Jan '12

23 Jan '12

P.S. LET ME PROPOSE THAT M.V.C.A.C. GO ON RECORD IN SUPPORT OF THE CLEAN AIR CITIES CAMPAIGN. DUANE > From: "Chris Haddox" <Chris.Haddox(a)mail.wvu.edu> > Date: January 23, 2012 3:26:02 PM EST > To: morgantowngreenteam(a)googlegroups.com > Subject: {GT} Fwd: Clean Air Cities > > Hi MMGT folks, > > I just got word from the Clean Air Cities person that contacted me saying that Council is going to discuss the attached resolution at it's Feb 7 meeting. > > Thoughts? > > Chris > > J. Chris Haddox, LEED AP, > Visiting Assistant Professor, Sustainable Design > Division of Design & Merchandising > West Virginia University > 704M Allen Hall Box 6124 > Morgantown, WV 26505 > > E-Mail: chris.haddox(a)mail.wvu.edu > Phone: (304) 293-3657 > Program Website: http://www.design.wvu.edu > > > >>> "Sarah Sawtelle" <ssawtelle(a)endangeredearth.org> 1/18/2012 5:44 PM >>> > Dear Mr. Haddox, > > I am writing to you with hopes that the Morgantown Green Team will > encourage the city of Morgantown to join the Center for Biological > Diversity’s Clean Air Cities campaign by passing a resolution in support > of the Clean Air Act. Could you please pass this message on to the rest of > the Green Team, and consider proposing this resolution to your city > council? > > As you know, if we want clean air and a healthy climate, we have to cut > greenhouse gas pollution. The Clean Air Act is our current best hope of > reaching this goal, but the Act and the Environmental Protection Agency > are under significant attack from the fossil fuel industry and its allies > in Congress. Cities and counties across the country can be a powerful > voice for fighting back against polluters and prompting much-needed action > in Washington. > > That's why the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute > has launched Clean Air Cities, a nationwide campaign urging cities and > counties around the United States to pass a resolution that calls on the > Obama administration and the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to make > significant reductions in greenhouse gas pollution. Boone, NC, Pittsburgh, > PA and Seattle, WA are among the cities that have already signed on. > Morgantown's commitment to sustainability suggests it would be a great > candidate to be to be the first city in West Virginia to be a Clean Air > city. > > I have attached a sample city resolution that you can look over and edit > as needed. Please let me know if you are interested in bringing this > resolution to your council, or if you have any questions about the > campaign. > > Our webpage, CleanAirCities.org, also provides important background > information. > > Please respond to Rose Braz, the Center’s Climate Campaign director, who > is coordinating this effort and can be reached by email, > rbraz(a)biologicaldiversity.org, or phone: (415) 436-9682 x 319. > > Thank you so much for your time and concern for our climate! > > Sincerely, > Sarah Sawtelle > The Center for Biological Diversity

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GISS Surface Temperature Analysis
by Duane 20 Jan '12

20 Jan '12

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2012/20120119_Temperature.pdf Summary: EARTH SURFACE TEMPERATURE ANALYSIS, James Hansen, et al. 2011 was only the ninth warmest year in the GISS analysis of global temperature change, yet nine of the ten warmest years in the instrumental record (since 1880) have occurred in the 21st century. The past year has been cooled by a moderately strong La Nina. The 5-year (60-month) running mean global temperature hints at a slowdown in the global warming rate during the past few years. However, the cool La Nina phase of the cyclically variable Southern Oscillation of tropical temperatures has been dominant in the past three years, and the deepest solar minimum in the period of satellite data occurred over the past half dozen years. We conclude that the slowdown of warming is likely to prove illusory, with more rapid warming appearing over the next few years. Duane Nichols, Cell- 304-216-5535.

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InsideEPA.com: Keystone XL Project
by Duane 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Obama's Keystone Denial Leaves Open Final Decision On GHG NEPA Guide Posted: January 18, 2012 The Obama administration's denial of a permit for the Keystone tar sands pipeline appears to have removed a high profile pressure point for administration to fully account for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) -- an issue on which the administration has yet to finalize pending draft guidance. But environmentalists and others are suggesting that if the project is re-proposed for review in the future, as its backers have indicated they are likely to do, it could be subject to a more rigorous assessment of its GHG impacts. "A decision on the pipeline proposal requires nothing less than a thorough and fair-minded analysis of its full effects on our environment and climate,” Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) President Frances Beinecke said in a statement. At the same time, the administration's decision to delay the controversial pipeline is reigniting political debate on the project, which the oil industry and many lawmakers are vowing to keep front and center as an election year issue. Ending months of speculation, President Obama in a Jan. 18 memo announced his agreement with a State Department recommendation to deny a presidential permit for the project. Obama said that the project, "as presented and analyzed at this time, does not serve the national interest." Obama cast the decision as an inevitable outcome after the department late last year said a 60-day deadline Congress set for the decision in December payroll tax legislation did not allow enough time to adequately assess the project. Congress approved the language after State said in November that review of the environmental implications of the project, particularly of a possible alternate route through Nebraska, would take until at least early 2013. The White House stopped just short of an outright rejection of the project, stating that the decision does not preclude subsequent permit applications or applications for similar projects. However, in a Jan. 18 State Department press briefing on the decision, Assistant Secretary Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones told reporters any subsequent application would "trigger a completely new review process." The statement came in response to a query on plans by TransCanada, the backer of the project, to reapply and seek expedited review. Jones said, "we cannot state that anything would be expedited at this time.” She acknowledged that current guidelines allow use of existing information as part of that process but "we would have to look at this as a completely new application." NRDC's Beinecke welcomed the administration's decision but indicated that any new application and review would still face the same opposition as the most recent review. Those objections by NRDC and others have included claims that prior environmental review by State failure to adequately account for the GHG emissions from the project, and the Obama administration has yet to finalize crucial guidance for assessing GHG emissions under NEPA. More Thorough GHG Review In mid-2011, when the department still appeared on course to approve the pipeline, EPA and environmentalists raised concerns that a decision to approve the project would ignore a then-pending draft guidance that would require agencies to conduct more thorough GHG reviews and, as required by NEPA, mitigate any environmental harms. They surmised at the time that the guidance would be shelved at least until after the 2012 campaign season. Building on that draft guidance, the White House Council on Environmental Quality in mid 2011 also floated a method for agencies to use in assessing the GHG impacts of projects on federal lands, a policy particularly relevant to environmentalists concerns about GHG implications of energy leases or other resource development on federal lands. Obama administration officials have suggested that they ultimately want to wrap both guidance documents together in one final document. That effort, however, remains pending as of the Obama administration's Keystone announcement, at a time when every GHG related effort from the White House faces white hot election year scrutiny. Meanwhile, Obama's decision sparked a firestorm of reaction both on and off Capitol Hill, with GOP lawmakers characterizing the decision as a political dodge to please environmentalists while Democrats offered more mixed reactions. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) called the move by Obama "pure politics aimed at not riling up his base during an election year." But Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who has been urging the administration to rigorously assess the project's GHG impacts, embraced the decision as rejection of a "lose-lose proposition for energy security, gas prices, a safe climate, and a healthy environment." Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) said the decision given the congressional deadline should have been no surprise, but expressed hope in a statement that the project could be revived and considered on the merits. Oil industry reaction was harsh, with American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard in a Jan.18 teleconference describing the decision as "genuflection to a handful of extreme elements" who opposed the project. Gerard said the industry would pursue both legislative and legal avenues to counter the move and predicted political consequences not just for Obama but for House and Senate races in the 2012 elections. --Doug Obey (dobey(a)iwpnews.com) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.............................<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< See also the memo "Silence is Deadly" by James Hansen of NASA and Columbia University: http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2011/20110603_SilenceIsDeadly.pdf

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Crossroads for Morgantown Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety- public health issue
by Duane 13 Jan '12

13 Jan '12

> From: "Reger-Nash, Bill" <wreger(a)hsc.wvu.edu> > Date: January 13, 2012 1:05:08 PM EST > > Subject: Crossroads for Morgantown ..... > Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety -- public health issue > > Students, faculty, staff, and friends of public health: > > We are at a crossroads for transportation and public health. The Morgantown area traffic congestion continues to increase, our air quality is borderline non compliant, and walking/bicycling are not always safe or easy. > > There are critical upcoming meetings concerning walking and bicycle safety for the Morgantown area. The community needs to make walking and bicycle safety a priority because of the public health implications. An extra 15 minutes of daily physical activity for a year represents approximately 5 lbs of fat burned for the average American adult. Let’s do what we can to make our community less car dependent for the long term. We will all breathe easier, enjoy better health, and have more prosperity. > > 1) MILE GROUND PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE SAFETY: Jan 24th 4-7 pm Easton Elementary School cafeteria – West Virginia Department of Highways presentation of preferred redesign of our infamous Mile Ground. My understanding is that their preferred alternative is NOT friendly to bicycles and pedestrians. PLEASE attend and express your concerns. > > 2) REGIONAL LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN: Jan 25th 7-9 pm South Middle School & Jan 26th 7-9 North Elementary School. These are opportunities for community input on the long-range transportation plan (LRTP). I have attached a two-page flyer. You can also visit http://www.crossroadsmon.com/. This is CRITICAL. WHY? As I've come to learn, all transportation projects using FEDERAL dollars must be approved by the local Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). This is our chance to help make the Morgantown and Mon County environment more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, and less car dependent. As a community, we can place emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle projects in the long range plan. If we succeed, then all projects should be completed in accordance with our wishes. With the support of the Greater Morgantown MPO, we have conducted preliminary pedestrian and bicycle counts and have begun to develop a data base to identify critical areas. Mr. Bill Austin, the executive director of the MPO, is a great ally to our efforts. He needs our support at these meetings. > > Let me know if you have any questions. > > Bill Reger-Nash, EdD > West Virginia University Department of Community Medicine > One Medical Center Drive, Suite 3812E > Morgantown, WV 26506-9190 > > Office Phone: 304-293-0763 > Cell Phone: 304-685-6740 > > Departmental webpage: www.hsc.wvu.edu/cmed > Bill Reger-Nash webpage: www.hsc.wvu.edu/cmed/wreger/index.asp > > Wheeling Walks > Walk 30 to 60 minutes daily. > Out the door for 30 or more! gn2001 > >

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U.S. EPA PROVIDES GREAT VALUE TO OUR SOCIETY <2012>
by Duane 12 Jan '12

12 Jan '12

EPA ANNOUNCES HISTORIC RULING TO CURB MERCURY AND OTHER POLLUTANTS FROM COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS On Dec. 21, EPA issued the first national standards to slash emissions of dangerous air pollutants (including mercury) from coal-fired power plants. EPA estimates that the new safeguards will not only decrease plant emissions of dangerous air pollutants, but will prevent premature deaths, heart attacks, and respiratory illnesses, reduce exposure to cancer causing toxins, make fish safer to eat, and provide jobs. For more information, go to http://www.epa.gov/mats/. EPA FINALIZES 2012 RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARDS On Dec. 27, EPA announced it has finalized the Renewable Fuel Standard Program's requirements to reduce 2012 greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the use of renewable fuels, blending more than 1.25 billion gallons of renewable fuels over the amount mandated for 2011. This will help reduce petroleum imports and encourage the development and expansion of the nation's renewable fuels sector. For more information on the standards and regulations, go to http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/regulations.htm. EPA RECOGNIZES JANUARY AS NATIONAL RADON ACTION MONTH Radon is a natural, radioactive gas that can seep into homes from underground and accumulate to levels that can cause lung cancer. As part of National Radon Action Month, EPA suggests Americans take the simple and affordable preventive steps to test their homes from harmful levels of radon gas, and when building a new home, use the safer radon-resistant construction techniques available. For more information on how to test, fix, and obtain a test kit, contact your state radon office: http://www.epa.gov/radon or call 1-800-SOS-RADON. EPA RELEASES 2010 TOXICS RELEASE INVENTORY NATIONAL ANALYSIS MAKING DATA MORE RELEVANT On Jan. 5, EPA released its 2010 national analysis on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report providing vital public information to the public about their communities. The TRI program publishes information on toxic chemical disposals and other releases into air, land and water, as well as waste management and pollution-prevention activities. EPA's web-based TRI tools greatly facilitate access to information, and myRTK, a new mobile application for accessing TRI data, is now available in Spanish. For more on the 2010 TRI analysis and TRI Web-based tools, go to http://www.epa.gov/tri. Duane Nichols, Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition, P. O. Box 4679, Morgantown, WV 26504

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U. S. White House has new Chief of Staff, namely, Jack Lew
by Duane 11 Jan '12

11 Jan '12

Greens say ‘good riddance’ to Daley By Ben Geman - 01/09/12 05:26 PM ET Don’t look for many environmentalists to mourn the resignation of White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, who was scorned by some activists for presiding over the controversial decision last year toscuttle tougher Environmental Protection Agency smog rules. Critics on the left say Daley, who will be replaced by Office of Management and Budget chief Jack Lew, was too close to business interests. “While Lew's environmental ethic remains to be seen, it's hard to see how he could be worse than Daley, who seemed to do whatever big business asked of him,” said Bill Snape, senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity. Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch concurred. “I say good riddance, with hopes that EPA will be permitted to do its job without Daley-style political interference on behalf of big business,” O’Donnell said. The White House decision to overrule EPA in September came after Daleyplayed an unusually direct role in the process, meeting with a suite of industry groups and environmentalists about the planned ozone regulation. More broadly,_______________________________________________ Justice mailing list Justice(a)lists.citizenscoalcouncil.org http://lists.citizenscoalcouncil.org/listinfo.cgi/justice-citizenscoalcounc… Duane Nichols, Cell- 304-216-5535.

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MVCAC January 2012