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| Wildlines
Archives |
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Volume
I, Number 48 |
December 2, 2002 |
A
publication of the State Environmental Resource Center (SERC)
bringing you the most important news on state environmental issues
from across the country. |
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Disclosing
Energy Sources
Consumers need full access to appropriate information for competitive
markets to work properly. Environmental disclosure laws require electric
utilities to disclose information regarding the source of the electricity
they provide to their customers. Usually, these laws require that utilities
disclose exactly how much of the electricity they distribute is produced
from oil, coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydro-power, renewable and/or other
sources of energy. Some of the laws also require disclosure of the environmental
impacts of the energy mix – in particular, the associated emissions of
sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and mercury. The information
is required to be presented in a clear and easy to understand manner so
that customers can easily identify the source of the electricity they
are consuming. Disclosure programs help these customers make a direct
correlation between their consumption habits and the negative environmental
and human health impacts associated with fossil fuel combustion. Over
twenty states have some form of environmental disclosure law. For more
on how your state can promote consumer education and consumer choice,
visit http://serconline.org/envirodisclosure/index.html.
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State Campaigns
Aim to Cut CO2 Emissions by 10 Percent (Albany Times-Union 11/25)
A statewide effort seeks to turn off unnecessary lights, turn down thermostats
and turn up awareness to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in New York by
10 percent. The campaign, to be called "The 10-Percent Challenge,"
was hatched last week in the Cool New York Global Warming Summit held
in Albany with more than 100 activists, teachers and environmental group
staffers. The 10-Percent Challenge is aimed at giving individuals who
feel helpless in swaying federal policy a way to act. The effort is based
on Vermont's 10-Percent Challenge. As with the Vermont model, NY’s effort
will seek participants through a Web site. The effort began two years
ago and has a goal of reducing so-called greenhouse gases by 10 percent
in 2010. The Vermont Web site (http://www.10percentchallenge.org) asks
several questions, from how many miles are driven each day to typical
heating and electricity bills. It then calculates the carbon dioxide emissions
for a business or household. The total for a household can easily exceed
26,400 pounds a year. The Web site then offers ways to reduce pollution,
including walking, biking and driving slower. The reduction is then calculated
into pounds of emissions avoided. The interactive site allows for logs
to be updated. |
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Bush Administration
to Limit NEPA (LA Times, 11/3)
The White House wants to reinterpret the National Environmental Policy
Act, which requires federal agencies to produce environmental impact statements
for projects they undertake, fund, or issue permits for. NEPA also requires
agencies to hold public hearings on projects, and to consider alternatives
to the proposed projects. The administration, saying it is cutting bureaucratic
red tape, wants to exempt projects that it claims would have no major
effect. Under this new interpretation, comprehensive environmental reviews
would become much less common. For example, the White House has proposed
exempting 10 large fire-reduction projects in federal forests, which environmentalists
say are actually an excuse for large timber harvest. The administration
also wants to exempt new oil and gas exploration projects on federal lands.
These types of projects could cause irreparable damage to public lands.
NEPA is a critical avenue for public input on the management of public
lands, and should not be weakened. |
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NH Will Join Other States
in Lawsuit against the EPA (Concord
Monitor 11/26)
New Hampshire will be the ninth state to join a suit against the
EPA in response to this rollback of air protection rules established
by the Clean Air Act. When the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1977,
it mandated strict standards controlling pollution from power plants.
However, the law allowed plants to postpone installing new anti-pollution
equipment until renovations were made or expansions were undertaken.
Unfortunately, many plants have abused a provision that allows for
‘routine maintenance of equipment’ without requiring it to be renovated
to meet the pollution standards. Many of the dirtiest power plants
and worst abusers of this loophole are located in the Midwest and
the pollution from these plants drifts east. For nearly two years,
nine Eastern states have been fighting in federal court to get some
of the Midwestern plants to follow the rules established by the
Clean Air Act and install pollution controls when they make renovations.
Recently, however, the Bush Administration announced regulatory
changes that explicitly allow plants to make major renovations without
installing pollution control equipment. |
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Maryland Conservation Project
Generates Turmoil (Capital
News Service 11/26)
The goal of the Delmarva Conservation Corridor Project is to keep
farming viable while preserving the environment but current misunderstandings
of the program are generating anxiety among some area farmers. The
primary concern of farmers is that the project will simply result
in more government meddling in their operations and more land retirement
programs that encourage farmers to take farmland out of production
in exchange for payments. However, participation in the program
will be voluntary and land retirement efforts will primarily apply
to low-yield farmland on the fringes of fields in poor soil. Officials
are planning public forums to encourage farmers to inform themselves
about the project and to give them an opportunity to voice their
concerns. |
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Penn. Legislature Adopts Industry-Friendly
Water Bill (Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette 11/27)
The Pennsylvania Legislature passed a bill last week that would
give representatives of water-intensive industries the power to
veto any future restrictions on water use. One component of the
bill orders the establishment of a 24-member Statewide Water Resources
Committee that would be packed with representatives of industries
that use lots of water. This committee would be given the right
to veto future water-use plans that could impose restrictions on
consumption. The bill now goes to Gov. Schweiker, who plans to sign
it. PA’s environmental activists have been vigorously opposing the
passage of this bill. |
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Study Finds Cost Benefits of Smart
Growth (Smart
Growth Online 11/25)
Entitled ''Linking Vision With Capital: Challenges and Opportunities
in Financing Smart Growth,'' a study was launched in 2000 by the
Research Institute for Housing America, in partnership with Rutgers
University's Center for Urban Policy Research, the Mortgage Bankers
Association and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The researchers found
the general need ''for market innovation and new products to finance
new growth patterns and redevelopment'' and ''for tools and subsidies
for affordable housing.'' Convinced that smart growth policies will
''increasingly frame'' many local real estate markets, the researchers
showed that the ''growing demand for smart lending presents lenders
with an unparalleled chance to chart their future business growth,''
while helping localities save up to $250 billion ''in public and
private costs'' by 2025. |
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Call for Nominations for 2003
National Wetlands Awards
(Env. Law Institute)
The National Wetlands Awards Program honors individuals from across
the country that have demonstrated extraordinary effort, innovation,
and excellence through wetlands programs or projects at the regional,
state, or local level. Awards are given for the following categories:
Education/Outreach, Science Research, Volunteer Leadership, Land
Stewardship and Development, and Outstanding Wetlands Program Development.
The deadline for submitting nominations is January 10, 2003. Organizations
and federal employees are not eligible. To download the nomination
form, visit http://www.eli.org/nwa/nwaprogram.htm.
For more information about the National Wetlands Awards Program,
please e-mail [email protected],
or contact Erica Pencak at 202-939-3822. |
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NCSU Gets Grant to Help Family
Hog Farms
(Raleigh News & Observer 11/25)
North Carolina State University’s Center for Environmental Farming
Systems recently received a $100,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation
to study how small family hog farms can compete with their large,
industrial counterparts. According to Nancy Creamer, Director of
the Center, the number of individual hog farmers in NC is decreasing,
even though the state’s pork production is one of the highest in
the country. This grant will support study of production alternatives
and marketing options, among other things. The Center hopes to protect
natural resources, promote economic development in rural areas,
and support small family farms. Creamer pointed out that “…there
is strong consumer demand for products that protect our environment
and our health, and that support local farmers…Connecting North
Carolina farmers more directly with those consumers and market opportunities
is a win-win for the farmers, consumers, and the environment.” For
more information on what states are doing to address the issue of
industrial farming, please see http://www.serconline.org/cafos.html.
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Delaware
Wants Bottle Deposits to Help Bridge Budget Gap
(The News Journal 11/25)
Delaware is considering classifying unclaimed bottle deposits as
abandoned property, which would allow the state to claim funds left
sitting for more than five years. The bottle bill, which requires
a five cent deposit on carbonated beverage containers, went into
affect in 1982. Since then, around 70 percent of the deposits paid
have not been claimed. No one is sure exactly how much money this
represents, since the beverage container industry doesn’t have to
report those figures. The state budget office estimates the funds
to be in the millions, however, and would like to use them to help
bridge a $95 million budget deficit. Four states (CA, HI, MA and
MI) already use unclaimed bottle deposits to fund their bottle bills
and recycling programs. For more information about beverage container
recycling, see http://www.serconline.org/bottlebill/index.html. |
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Louisiana
DEQ Wants to Allow Smog Credit Trading (Times
Picayune 11/25)
State DEQ officials are considering a program that would require
companies to reduce their nitrous oxide emissions by 30 percent,
and allow any that further reduced their emissions to sell credits
for the extra reductions to other companies. Companies buying the
credits would use them to increase the amount of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) they could emit. Together, nitrous oxides and VOCs
interact to form ozone smog, which causes health problems, especially
for people with asthma and other lung diseases. Activists in the
Baton Rouge area have criticized the plan, saying it could cause
serious increases in air pollution around some VOC sources and have
a disproportionately negative affect on low income communities.
Similar programs in other states have also been criticized for their
lack of safeguards and enforcement. It’s unclear if the program
would meet Clean Air Act and EPA standards. For more information
on combating air pollution in your state, please see http://www.serconline.org/safeair&water.html.
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For
more information about SERC, or to use our services, contact our national
headquarters at: |
State
Environmental Resource Center
106 East Doty Street, Suite 200 § Madison, Wisconsin
53703
Phone: 608-252-9800 § Fax: 608-252-9828
Email: [email protected] |
