http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6146/604.short
....... Link between soot in the air and death rates . .. ...
Science 9 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6146 p. 604
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6146.604
NEWS & ANALYSIS
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
House Subpoena Revives Battle Over Air Pollution Studies
Kelly Servick
Chair Lamar Smith and fellow Republicans have issued the House science committee's first subpoena in 21 years, demanding that raw data from two key studies on the health effects of air pollution be made public. The same research came under attack in the late '90s, but subsequent studies have confirmed its groundbreaking findings on the link between soot in the air and death rates. Democrats call the subpoena a violation of confidentiality promised to the study participants and fear industry will misinterpret the data to undermine regulations.
http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/201307120075
Life is better: Dramatic changes - Editorial : The Charleston Gazette, Jim Haught, Executive Editor, July 12, 2013
World War II killed at least 40 million people, only a generation after World War I killed 15 million. Yet today, full-scale warfare between nations has disappeared.
When the 1900s began, average human life expectancy was only about 48 years. Now it's nearing 80.
Murder in Europe was about 100 per 100,000 population during medieval times -- but it has fallen 99 percent, to just one per 100,000 today. Lynching of blacks in the U.S. south ended.
Right after World War II, the world had only 20 democracies, but now the total is near 100.
Surprisingly, life has improved to a stunning degree. Several recent books declare that civilization has entered a new phase -- a time of humane values, orderly society and widespread public safety -- despite random terrorist attacks, gun massacres and other horrors that make headlines.
Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker -- author of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined -- calls the transformation "maybe the most important thing that has ever happened in human history."
Interviewed in the July-August issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine, Dr. Pinker said some scholars once assumed that humans have built-in "urges like revenge and dominance" making them "killer apes" with "homicidal DNA." But now it has become clear that intelligent, reasonable people can suppress lethal instincts and create law-abiding cultures in which families live peacefully. The psychologist said:
"It used to be that countries in Europe would start two new wars a year for 500 years. As of 1945, that went to zero. Military historians have just been astonished at the fact that war between developed countries has pretty much ceased to exist .... If you look at statistics on war worldwide, since 1990, they have been going down, down, down. Fewer people are killed in war than ever before."
Question: If warfare is vanishing, why does America bankrupt itself by spending $1 trillion per year for the world's largest war-making machine -- more taxpayer cost than virtually all other nations on Earth combined? What's the point of this gigantic spending? Other Western nations don't squander their assets in this manner. Today, threats arise chiefly from hidden terror fanatics and Third World civil conflicts -- small menaces against which giant armies, navies and air forces are ineffective.
Dr. Pinker attributes the general retreat of violence to democratic civilization fostered through efforts like the United Nations.
"If you live in a society where there is a rule of law for long enough, it changes your emotions," he said. " You become less likely to react with rage if someone gives you the finger or calls you a nasty name. You don't challenge them to knife fight; you walk away."
The Harvard scholar added that gun-saturated America is bloodier than other advanced nations:
"By a number of criteria, the United States is more violent than other Western democracies. Our rate of homicide is two to five times higher .... We start more wars, and 33 of the 50 states have capital punishment, which has been abolished everywhere else."
Let's all hope that America gradually joins the rest of modern cultures in the historic shift away from killing.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jim Haught
Kudos for your editorial "Life is better". But if I may, I'd like to expand that to illustrate how government intervention through regulation has also improved our lives.
First I should disclose that as a Canadian I was until my company transferred me to California, a member of the Progressive Conservative party there. While that party name may seem to be an oxymoron, the truth is it was a party dedicated to careful thoughtful progress while taking into consideration the lessons of the past, so “...we would not be doomed to repeat the mistakes!”
That's a concept that the right wing in this country has abandoned...and sadly in Canada too. Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and even Ronald Ragan are undoubtedly spinning in their graves at the obstructionist no progress attitude of the GOP today. But I digress.
As an engineer who has been challenged by air quality issues and opportunities for the last 50 years, I have seen time and time again how regulatory agencies pushed the technology envelopes and demanded cleaner air even when B.A.C.T* was not good enough or the technology beyond it was seemingly possible. Let me give you some examples. (*Best Available Control Technology)
My father when I was a teenager, had a Cadillac. That car when new had a 90 day 4000 mile warranty and was lucky to get a 11 or 12 miles to the gallon.
The California Air Resources Board, (CARB is the State’s primary air regulatory agency for mobile sources), recognizing scientifically the serious smog conditions in Southern California in particular were caused primarily by automobile emissions, began in the late 50’s, early 60’s, a process of demanding through regulations an improved control of emissions in vehicles. That process for the last 45 years has brought us today to automobiles that are 98% cleaner than they were when they started in 1968.
During those efforts, CARB realized that requiring clean emissions in new vehicles was not enough. They then demanded that the automobile companies design and build vehicles so that the emission performance would exist for the first hundred thousand miles of the vehicle's life...assuming proper maintenance.
The automobile industry fought them every step of the way. What’s the result? today’s vehicles are cleaner, far more efficient, and much better made. My wife’s 2009 Cadillac today has a six-year 100,000 mile warranty and we regularly achieve an average of 26.4 miles to the gallon. That's progress!
Let me give you another example. As an engineer I was retained by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in Los Angeles to examine the economic impact of a more Stringent rule that they were proposing to eliminate, not reduce, but eliminate all volatile organic compounds from coatings on furniture. That meant eliminating what for many years ago we all remember was the smell of drying paint. It was the evaporation of the volatile organic compounds on the manufacture of new furniture and painting of architectural elements, that was clearly in the science based opinion of SCAQMD, contributing to the smog of Southern California.
The furniture industry in Southern California, which at the time was the second-largest concentration of furniture manufacturers in United States, screamed bloody murder. Jobs! Economic chaos! You've all heard the mantra.
They argued that not only were no such coatings available at the time, (and they weren't), but that if the rule was implemented the entire industry would either die or leave Southern California and go to Mexico where no such rules existed.
SCAQMD set a goal of implementing the rule five years hence from its announcement. So it was the regulators who press the technology which, within four years, was successful. Through innovation, pressured by regulatory demands for cleaner air, VOC free coatings were made available before the fifth year arrived and are now the standard for those coatings today.
These are just two examples I offer to show how we have made major progress in cleaning up the air we breathe by regulatory agencies, in other words the government, pressing for "dramatic change" by pushing the technological envelopes.
These were not market forces that brought these changes about, but Government regulators acting with scientific evidence and thoughtful legislative support from both progressive and conservative legislators who demanded that "Life should be better" in California.
Today Obama's Pressure for "dramatic changes" in coal fired power plants is certainly and scientifically justified. As we see all around us in West Virginia the serious health damages that are caused to citizens everywhere, we must ask, no demand, that nothing less than zero emissions be tolerated. Alternative energy sources are dramatically lower in emissions. Why should we tolerate anything less... except to protect coal company profits.
And in spite of the deniers, it is now quite clear, we are by our in action and a century of the escalating emission of greenhouse gases causing serious damage to our planet. Why should we tolerate anything less than clean air and a safe planet for our grandchildren. While there may be an ER for citizens whose health is compromised by air and water pollution, there is no ER for the planet!
Yes, "Life will be better" when we stop killing each other and our planet. And the irony, which has been shown so many times before, and as I pointed out in the examples above, the economic opportunities and advantages of cleaning up our act are clearly available once we reintroduce and embrace the concept of being Progressive Conservatives.
Allan Tweddle, Charleston, WV, July 15, 2013
http://ecowatch.com/2013/court-strikes-down-epa-biomass-loophole/
Federal Court Strikes Down Biomass Carbon Dioxide Loophole
Center for Biological Diversity, July 15, 2013
On Friday, a key federal court ruling confirmed that Clean Air Act limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution apply to industrial facilities that burn biomass, including tree-burning power plants. The court vacated an exemption that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had carved out for “biogenic carbon dioxide.”
The decision, by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in Center for Biological Diversity v. EPA (D.C. Cir. No. 11-1101), found that the EPA had improperly exempted all sources of biogenic CO2 from permitting programs intended to protect people and the environment from harmful pollution.
“Burning trees to generate electricity is dangerous, polluting and ought to be limited to protect people and the environment,” said Kevin Bundy, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “This important decision will reduce respiratory ailments, protect forests and help ensure a healthier, more livable climate.”
“Today’s ruling upholds [the] EPA’s authority to regulate pollution that drives climate change. The court’s decision is grounded in an understanding that the science shows that biomass fuels, including tree-burning, can make climate disruption worse,” said Ann Weeks, legal director of the Clean Air Task Force, who argued the case for the petitioners and appeared on behalf of the Conservation Law Foundation and the Natural Resource Council of Maine.
“The court clearly noted that the atmosphere can’t tell the difference between fossil fuel carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide emitted by burning trees,” said Weeks.
“The science is clear that not all biomass burning is good for the planet and today’s ruling rightly affirms science as the guide for how [the] EPA must now move forward on biomass energy production,” said Niel Lawrence, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This decision will ultimately benefit the climate, as well as Americans who want to breathe easier and protect the forests that they love. It will also ensure that our investments in clean energy go to sources that are actually clean.”
“The court’s decision is particularly important for the Southeast. Now we have an opportunity for a more sensible, science-based policy, one that avoids clearcutting the region’s wildlife-rich forests for energy while intensifying climate change impacts,” said Frank Rambo, head of the clean energy and air program for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is representing Dogwood Alliance, Georgia ForestWatch, South Carolina Coastal Conservation League and Wild Virginia in the case.
Emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities that burn biomass can accelerate global warming and contribute to a host of respiratory and cardiac problems. Biomass-fueled power plants emit significantly more CO2 per kilowatt produced than power plants that burn fossil fuels—even coal—and it can take decades before that excess CO2 is “re-sequestered” by subsequent plant growth.
Under the Clean Air Act, facilities that are required to control their CO2 emissions must also control any “significant” emissions of other regulated pollutants, so the court’s decision also means that communities near these plants will benefit from reductions in pollution that causes asthma and other health problems.
Duane Nichols, Cell- 304-216-5535, www.FrackCheckWV.net
I think I want to read the decision and the facts of the case before I
jump to conclusions. While biomass "recycles" carbon instead of
releasing fossil carbon, biomass facilities also encourage
clear-cutting, and clear-cutting generates significantly more CO2 from
degradation of soil organic matter than from the biomass burned
directly. This "carbon debt" means that it may take 75 years before a
forest regrows and stores enough carbon to make up for what was lost by
clear-cutting. The few studies available suggest that the energy and
carbon balance for biomass may make sense for small local facilities,
but the balance tips against large industrial-scale facilities. While
it may seem counter-intuitive, the science does not automatically favor
biofuels as a solution to global warming, and we need to let reality
drive air pollution policy.
Jm Kotcon
>>> Andrew Liebhold 07/16/13 11:13 AM >>>
This strikes me as a very poorly informed decision. Burning
forest-derived
biomass is potentially highly desirable from a carbon standpoint. The
carbon contained in trees will be released into the atmosphere
regardless
of whether it does so by combustion or via decomposition, and is
therefore
a truly "carbon-neutral" source of energy. If it is utilized in place of
burning fossil fuels, it can greatly reduce net carbon emissions.
Whoever these people are in the Clean Air Task Force, Conservation Law
Foundation and the Natural Resource Council of Maine, I think they would
benefit from studying a little bit of ecosystem science. There efforts
are
clearly mis-placed which is unfortunate...
-Sandy Liebhold
On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 7:44 AM, Duane wrote:
> http://ecowatch.com/2013/court-strikes-down-epa-biomass-loophole/
>
> Federal Court Strikes Down Biomass Carbon Dioxide Loophole Center for
> Biological Diversity , July 15, 2013
>
> On Friday, a key federal court ruling confirmed that Clean Air
Actlimits on carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution apply to industrial
facilities
> that burn biomass, including tree-burning power plants.
> The court vacated an exemption that the U.S. Environmental Protection
> Agency (EPA) had carved out for “biogenic carbon dioxide.”
>
>
>
>
> The decision, by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC
Circuit
> in Center for Biological Diversity v. EPA (D.C. Cir. No. 11-1101),
found that the EPA had improperly exempted
> all sources of biogenic CO2 from permitting programs intended to
protect
> people and the environment from harmful pollution.
>
> “Burning trees to generate electricity is dangerous, polluting and
ought
> to be limited to protect people and the environment,” said Kevin
Bundy, a
> senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law
> Institute. “This important decision will reduce respiratory ailments,
> protect forests and help ensure a healthier, more livable climate.”
>
> “Today’s ruling upholds [the] EPA’s authority to regulate pollution
that
> drives climate change .
> The court’s decision is grounded in an understanding that the science
shows
> that biomass fuels, including tree-burning, can make climate
disruption
> worse,” said Ann Weeks, legal director of the Clean Air Task Force,
> who argued the case for the petitioners and appeared on behalf of the
Conservation
> Law Foundation and the Natural Resource Council of
> Maine .
>
> “The court clearly noted that the atmosphere can’t tell the difference
> between fossil fuel carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide emitted by
burning
> trees,” said Weeks.
>
> “The science is clear that not all biomass burning is good for the
planet
> and today’s ruling rightly affirms science as the guide for how [the]
EPA
> must now move forward on biomass energy production,” said Niel
Lawrence,
> senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
> “This decision will ultimately benefit the climate, as well as
Americans
> who want to breathe easier and protect the forests that they lov> also ensure that our investments in clean energy go to sources that
are
> actually clean.”
>
> “The court’s decision is particularly important for the Southeast. Now
we
> have an opportunity for a more sensible, science-based policy, one
that
> avoids clearcutting the region’s wildlife-rich forests for energy
while
> intensifying climate change impacts,” said Frank Rambo, head of the
clean
> energy and air program for the Southern Environmental Law Center,
> which is representing Dogwood Alliance , Georgia
> ForestWatch , South Carolina Coastal Conservation
> League and Wild Virginiain the case.
>
> Emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities that burn
> biomass can accelerate global warming and contribute to a host of
> respiratory and cardiac problems. Biomass-fueled power plants emit
> significantly more CO2 per kilowatt produced than power plants that
burn
> fossil fuels—even coal—and
> it can take decades before that excess CO2 is “re-sequestered” by
> subsequent plant growth.
>
> Under the Clean Air Act, facilities that are required to control their
CO2
> emissions must also control any “significant” emissions of other
regulated
> pollutants, so the court’s decision also means that communities near
these
> plants will benefit from reductions in pollution that causes asthma
and
> other health problems.
>
> Duane Nichols, Cell- 304-216-5535, www.FrackCheckWV.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> MVCAC mailing list
> MVCAC(a)osenergy.org
> http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
>
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-smog-eating-street…
TO CLEAN THE AIR, PAVEMENT THAT EATS SMOG . .. ...
What if the solution to smog was right where the rubber meets the road?
Scientists in the Netherlands have found that installing special air-purifying pavement on city streets can cut air pollution nearly in half.
Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology outfitted one block in the city of Hengelo, Netherlands, with paving blocks sprayed with titanium oxide, which has the ability to remove pollutants from the air and turn them into less harmful chemicals. The researchers left normal pavement on an adjacent street as a control.
After taking measurements for a year, the scientists found that the street outfitted with smog-eating paving blocks, also called photocatalytic pavement, reduced nitrogen oxide air pollution by up to 45% in ideal weather conditions and 19% over the course of a day.
Nitrogen oxides -- also known as NOx -- are a group of poisonous gases produced by cars and power plants that react with other compounds in the atmosphere to form smog.
The findings, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, could provide a glimpse of how cities in the future might be designed to gobble up air pollution from auto emissions.
While the air-cleaning potential of photocatalytic surfaces has been known for several years, Institution of Chemical Engineers Chief Executive David Brown said in a news release, “this latest research shows the potential of chemically engineered surfaces to further improve our quality of life, especially in major urban areas where traffic emissions are high.”
Duane Nichols, Cell- 304-216-5535.
www.FrackCheckWV.net
Thanks to Joe Osborne from GASP for helping us with our continuing education on air pollution. Joe sends this information on ground level ozone and inversions:
Ozone is almost exclusively a summer pollutant because sunlight is
necessary for ozone to form.
Temperature inversions, which tend to trap locally-generated pollutants
in valleys, can occur year-round but are somewhat more frequent in the
summer as well. That said, inversions are more likely to result in
higher concentrations of particulate matter than ozone because:
1. particulate matter pollution is present year-round, significant
ground-level ozone concentrations are not. So even though winter
inversions are less common than summer ones, when they do occur, they
may well result in unhealthy particulate matter concentrations, but are
exceedingly unlikely to result in unhealthy ozone concentrations.
2. inversions tend to occur late at night or early in the morning--times
when the sun is not shining and ozone concentrations are low.
So in the summer we're likely to see elevated ozone and PM
concentrations. In the winter, elevated ozone concentrations are almost
unheard of (outside of some rather freakish examples like the wintertime
ozone exceedances associated with oil and gas development in Wyoming),
and elevated PM concentrations occur somewhat less frequently than in
the summer, but do still occur (sometimes aided by a winter inversion).
I do a somewhat better job of explaining this (and also illustrate with
some charts) at:
http://gasp-pgh.org/2011/07/physical-activity-and-temporal-trends-in-air-qu…
Joe Osborne, Legal Director
Group Against Smog and Pollution
Office: 412.924.0604 Cell: 617.909.8365 gasp-pgh.org
> From: Group Against Smog and Pollution <jamin(a)gasp-pgh.org>
> Date: June 7, 2013 9:23:57 PM GMT+02:00
> To: duane330(a)aol.com
> Subject: Help Us Cool Off a Fire Station--by Painting the Roof White
> Reply-To: jamin(a)gasp-pgh.org
>
>
>
>
> GASP Alert
> Action and News from
> Group Against Smog and Pollution
>
>
> JOIN OUR LIST
>
> June 7, 2013
>
> Help Us Beat the Heat With a Cool Roof
> Cool Roofs, a green initiative modeled after a similar one in New York City, aims to paint over 50,000 square feet of roofs on buildings owned by the City of Pittsburgh. The white, reflective paint will keep the building cooler in warm months, which means less energy will be needed to keep the building comfortable.
>
> This will result in less coal or gas burned to heat the building, meaning less air pollution (and lower utility bills for the city). Join us Friday, June 14 for a few hours to help us paint our way to cleaner air! Learn all you need to know here, and RSVP to jamin(a)gasp-pgh.org.
>
> Friday, June 14
> Shift 1: 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
> Shift 2: 3:30 - 5 PM
> Fire Engine 15
> 7024 Lemington Avenue
> Pittsburgh, PA 15206
>
> We appreciate your participation on the GASP Alert email list. Together, we can make a difference in our region's environment. We won't trade or sell your email address with other organizations or inundate you with messages. Visit our website at gasp-pgh.org or call us at (412) 924-0604 for more information. Thank you!
> Forward email
>
> This email was sent to duane330(a)aol.com by jamin(a)gasp-pgh.org |
> Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.
> Group Against Smog and Pollution | 5135 Penn Avenue | Pittsburgh | PA | 15224
I thought this may be of interest:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/05/09/2013-10935/approval-and…
(j)(1) EPA is disapproving a narrow portion of West Virginia's August
31, 2011 submittal because it does not satisfy the requirement that
emissions of PM_2.5 and PM_10 shall include gaseous emissions which
condense to form particulate matter at ambient temperatures. This
disapproval extends only to the lack of condensable emissions within the
definition of “regulated NSR pollutant,” found at 45CSR14 section 2.66,
and does not alter EPA's October 17, 2012 (77 FR 63736
<https://www.federalregister.gov/citation/77-FR-63736>) approval of the
remaining portions of West Virginia's August 2011 SIP submittal.
(2) EPA is disapproving specific portions of West Virginia's
infrastructure SIP submissions dated December 3, 2007, December 11,
2007, April 3, 2008, October 1, 2009, October 26, 2011, and February 17,
2012 which address certain obligations set forth at CAA sections
110(a)(2)(C), (D)(i)(II) and (J) relating to the West Virginia PSD
permit program. Because West Virginia's definition of “regulated NSR
pollutant” in 45CSR14 does not address condensables for PM_2.5 and PM_10
emissions, EPA is determining that West Virginia's infrastructure SIP
submissions do not meet certain statutory and regulatory obligations
relating to a PSD permit program set forth at CAA sections 110(a)(2)(C),
(D)(i)(II) and (J) for the narrow issue of condensables as set forth in
the following table.
Submittal dates NAAQS Infrastructure element(s) disapproved in this
action
December 11, 2007; April 3, 2008 1997 PM_2.5 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II).
December 3, 2007; December 11, 2007 1997 ozone 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II).
October 1, 2009 2006 PM_2.5 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II).
October 26, 2011 2008 lead 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II), (C), and (J).
February 17, 2012 2008 ozone 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II), (C), and (J).
> From: Clean Air Council <action(a)cleanair.org>
>
> Subject: MonValley Clean Air Coalition, We Need You at 3 Important Earth Week Events
>
>
>
> Dear MonValley Clean Air Coalition,
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Earth Day is just around the corner, but there is still time to get in on some of the action. The Council invites you to come out to three important events, including our 5K Run for Clean Air this weekend, a public forum on climate change and faith, and an EPA Public Hearing.
>
>
> The Imperative to Address Climate Change: Voices of Faith Speak Out
>
> Please come out to next week's Urban Sustainability Forum event that we're hosting with partnering organizations. We hope to begin a conversation on climate change that crosses the boundaries of partisanship, economics, and faith.
>
> Monday, April 22, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
>
> The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
>
> Philadelphia, PA
>
> The Council invites you to come out to an Urban Sustainability Forum event that we're hosting with partnering organizations. We hope to begin a conversation on climate change that crosses the boundaries of partisanship, economics, and faith.
>
> At this Urban Sustainability Forum, explore how major world religions are addressing climate and how communities of faith in southeastern Pennsylvania can make a difference. The former Pope Benedict XVI called on members of the international community for a response to climate change. Christian denominations across the world have taken steps to encourage environmental stewardship in their communities. In 2009, more than 200 Muslim leaders developed a seven-year action plan on climate change. The Big Green Jewish Website campaigns to raise awareness of environmental issues in the Jewish community. We’ll discuss how to inspire environmental stewardship within communities of faith.
>
> Speakers
> (Moderator) Adam Garber, Field Director, PennEnvironment
> Mary Elizabeth Clark, Sisters of St. Joseph - Director, Earth Center; Special Assistant to the President of Chestnut Hill College for Sustainability
> Joy Bergey, Feberal Policy Director - Penn Future
> Rabbi Mordechai Leibling, Director, Social Justice Organizing Program - Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
> Reverend Jesse Brown, Founder, Executive Director,
> National Association of African Americans for Positive Imagery
> Event Details
>
>
> 5:30 pm Doors open
> 6:00 pm Program
> 7:30 pm Reception
>
>
> Please register here for your free ticket: http://interfaithclimateimperative.eventbrite.com/
>
> Come out to Support Public Health and Clean Air at EPA’s Public Hearing on Cleaner Gasoline Standards
>
> Background: EPA recently released a proposal to reduce smog-forming pollution from gasoline powered cars and trucks, known as Tier 3. These cleaner gasoline and vehicle standards will reduce air pollution, save lives, and create thousands of new jobs in an ailing economy.
>
> The EPA estimates that, by 2030, the proposed cleaner fuels and cars program will annually prevent up to 2,400 premature deaths, 23,000 cases of respiratory ailments in children, 3,200 hospital admissions and asthma-related emergency room visits. According to EPA, the total annual health-related benefits in 2030 will be between $8 and $23 billion.
>
> The standards are also a boost to the economy as upgrades to refineries to meet the cleaner gas standard will generate 24,500 jobs over the next three years. EPA estimates that proposed sulfur standards will cost refineries less than a penny per gallon of gasoline on average once the standards are fully in place.
>
> When: Wednesday, April 24th at 10am
>
> Where: Sonesta Hotel, 1800 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
>
> How: Use the link below to sign up for a slot to speak:
>
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aid04UnMQM8HdGx2U2xkZmpqbHhqUG…
>
>
>
> Celebrate Earth Week at the 5K Run for Clean Air this Saturday
>
> Saturday, April 20, 2013, 9:00 a.m.
>
> Philadelphia Museum of Art
>
> Over the past 32 years, the 5K Run for Clean Air has grown into Philadelphia’s largest Earth Day Celebration, become a certified green event, added a 3K walk, and more.
>
> Located on the beautiful banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, the Run is a celebration of sustainability, clean air, and improvements in the region’s environmental health. Clean Air Council invites you to run or walk in the 2013 5K Run for Clean Air and join Clean Air Council in making it the largest and most exciting Run yet.
>
> The 5K Run for Clean Air has something for everyone to enjoy!
>
> 5K Run: A flat, fast, scenic course along MLK Drive.
> 3K Walk: A fun and spirited stroll to celebrate Earth Day.
> Kids Fun Run: A 1/2 mile fun run for ages 6 - 12 and 250 yard dash for ages 5 & under. **NEW FOR 2013**
> 60 & Over Walk or Run for FREE* courtesy of Platinum Sponsor SCA.
> Day of Registration opens at 7:30 a.m. at the base of the Art Museum Steps.
>
> For more information, visit www.5krunforcleanair.org.
>
>
>
> Thank you for helping to protect everyone's right to breathe clean air!
>
>
> Joseph Otis Minott, Esq.
> Clean Air Council
>
> http://www.e-activist.com/ea-campaign/action.handleViewInBrowser.do?ea.camp…