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Diesel
Pollution in Ports
Most of the nation's trucks, buses, ships, trains, and off-road
machinery run on diesel engines. Despite diesel's characterization
as a clean fuel, recent studies conclude that, although diesel emits
less CO2 than petroleum, it emits more nitrous oxide and particulate
matter, contributing to smog, global climate change, and health
problems like asthma, heart disease, and cancer. The negative effects
of diesel exhaust are compounded in areas frequented by diesel users
such as marine terminals. A March 2004 report by the Natural Resources
Defense Council and the Coalition for Clean Air points to U.S. seaports
as the nation's largest and most unregulated polluters. Diesel trucks
converge at ports to load and unload shipments from diesel ships,
and often have to wait with their engines idling. Idling from diesel-powered
commercial trucks is estimated to contribute 36.2 million tons of
pollution annually, and a single cruise ship emits the diesel exhaust
equivalent of 10,000 to 12,000 cars. The busy ports at Long Beach
and Los Angeles, CA, taken together, emit more pollution than the
region's top 300 emitting industrial plants and refineries. In addition,
most major U.S. ports, including Los Angeles, Oakland, Long Beach,
New York, New Jersey, and Houston, violate federal safety standards
for ozone and particulate matter. Despite this, U.S. seaports lack
the environmental regulations imposed on almost every other major
industry. Many states faced with the problem of diesel pollution
in ports are taking innovative steps to combat diesel emissions
such as retrofitting old diesel engines with pollution control devices,
outfitting ports with electrical hookups for diesel ships and port
machinery to reduce engine idling, and reorientation of the layout
or operating times of their ports to reduce idling time. In addition,
many states regulate the idling time of trucks and other machinery
at various locations. To see more information on how states are
combating port pollution from diesel engines, visit: http://www.serconline.org/dieselPortPollution.html. |
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States
Ahead of Federal Government on Global Climate Change (Stateline
4/15)
http://www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=story&sa=showStoryInfo&id=364829
In the absence of a federal policy to combat global climate change,
at least 39 states are actively pioneering strategies to reduce
the greenhouse gases that cause such change. Regulations recently
signed into law by Washington Gov. Gary Locke will require new power
plants that burn fossil fuels to offset 20 percent of their carbon
dioxide emissions. New York Gov. George Pataki has invited neighboring
states to participate in a regional cap-and-trade system to cut
carbon dioxide gases from power plants in the Northeast. States
planning to participate are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. New England
governors signed an agreement in 2001 to create a regional Climate
Change Action Plan, which aims to reduce regional greenhouse gas
emissions to 1990 levels by 2010 and 10 percent more by 2020. Maine,
in 2003, became the first state to adopt the agreement as state
law. New Hampshire and New Jersey have committed to cutting greenhouse
gases to below-1990 levels by 2006, and Massachusetts hopes to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent from its six largest coal-burning
power plants by 2008. Other state actions include creating an inventory
of total greenhouse gas emissions and a registry for large carbon
dioxide emitters in 39 states. Fifteen states (Alaska, California,
Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin)
have adopted programs that require utilities to produce increasing
amounts of power using cleaner energy sources, such as wind and
sun. Twelve states (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin) and three cities filed suit against
the Bush administration last fall to try to force the federal government
to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants. |
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"Right
to Hunt" Laws: A Solution in Search of a Problem
Over the past six years, a wave of so-called "right to hunt"
legislative and constitutional provisions has been sweeping through
state legislatures. The movement is sponsored by the U.S. Sportsmen's
Alliance, formerly known as the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America,
the same group which co-authored the Animal and Ecological Terrorism
Act with the American Legislative Exchange Council. At least 21
states have considered these provisions, and they have passed in
at least six states. The provisions are a radical response of some
members of the hunting community to new initiatives regulating certain
types of hunting, trapping, and other perceived "threats"
to the sport. In addition, they could be used to limit the public's
use of ballot initiatives as a tool for managing wildlife. The impact
of these provisions is unclear, particularly since many of them
grant the right to hunt "in accordance with law and regulation."
They could, however, be used as a basis to challenge existing and/or
new laws and regulations in the courts, or as a defense for individual
violations of game and fish laws. Concern has also been expressed
that these provisions may interfere with endangered species protection,
Native American treaty rights, restrictions on hunting on public
lands, and firearm regulations. In most states, hunting and fishing
activities are already well protected by law. Groups opposing "right
to hunt" provisions argue that they are not only unnecessary
but also could be harmful to wildlife management by taking away
the authority of the legislature and regulatory agencies to make
hunting and fishing decisions on behalf of the public. Most important,
however, is the fact that wildlife belongs to all citizens of a
state, hunters and non-hunters alike, and is held in trust by the
state for their benefit. Establishing a constitutional right to
hunt and fish violates that basic trust responsibility, and elevates
the desires of a segment of the population over the needs of the
whole. For more information on right to hunt and fish amendments,
visit: http://www.serconline.org/huntandfish.html. |
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Massachusetts
Species Program Endangered (Providence Journal 4/13)
http://www.projo.com/ap/ma/1081881733.htm
Conservation groups say Massachusetts' endangered species
program is facing extinction because its state funding has
dried up. Gov. Mitt Romney and the legislature eliminated
funding last year for the 26-year-old program, leaving it
to get by on contributions from a checkoff on the state income
tax form and a diminishing amount of federal grant money.
The governor included no tax money for endangered species
in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year. "We
can't keep going on and on and on like this without adequate
funding," said George Darey, who chairs the Fisheries
and Wildlife Board. As state spending drops, so do federal
reimbursements, which allow the state to recoup up to 75 percent
of its own spending. Originally intended to augment spending
on such programs as bald eagle restoration, the income tax
donations had made up about one-third of program's spending,
which reached a high of $800,000 in 2001. Until this year,
the bulk of the program's funding -- more than 40 percent
-- had come from the general fund. The cutbacks left the program
with just one full-time worker to handle more than 1,700 environmental
reviews involving proposed development on lands where endangered
plants and animals are found. The administration is drawing
up a proposal that could replace some of the lost money with
fees charged to developers for reviews of their projects.
Details are still being worked out, but the fees could bring
in $100,000 in the next budget year and $250,000 the following
year. Massachusetts Audubon and several other conservation
organizations are backing a bill proposed by state Sen. Pam
Resor that would match donations to the fund with at least
$250,000 from the general fund. "The general fund match
is necessary to restore the public's trust," Audubon's
Chris Hardy said. "Private philanthropy should not be
the sole source of protection for our most imperiled plants
and animals." For more information about how your state
can help endangered species, visit: http://www.serconline.org/esa/index.html. |
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Ground-Level
Ozone Too High in 31 States (ENS 4/16)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2004/2004-04-16-02.asp
Thirty-one governors learned last week that areas of their
states do not meet new federal air quality standards for ground-level
ozone, or smog. Part or all of 474 counties nationwide are
in nonattainment for either failing to meet the eight hour
ozone standard or causing a downwind county to fail. The Environmental
Protection Agency also announced a suite of interrelated actions
known as the Clean Air Rules of 2004, which include national
tools to help states and communities meet the new eight hour
ozone standard. Ground-level ozone, a primary ingredient in
smog, is formed when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen
oxides react chemically in the presence of sunlight. Once
designations and classifications take effect on June 15, the
nonattainment states and communities must prepare a plan to
reduce ground-level ozone. They will have to implement specific
cleanup measures required under the Clean Air Act to achieve
clean air by deadlines ranging from 2007 to 2010, depending
on the extent of the local ozone pollution problem. The nonattainment
designation means states and localities will need to impose
stricter emission controls from factories and transportation.
Many states (including Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, Mississippi,
Vermont, Hawaii, and Alaska) received good news, but others
states (including Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) received the news that
reductions would need to be in place. |
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Western
Governors Focus on Clean Energy (Greenwire 4/15)
http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/Backissues/041504/041504gw.htm#1
Western states are at the forefront of increasing the production
of renewable energy to meet the nation's growing demand for
power and a balanced energy policy, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson
said last week at the Western Governor's Association (WGA).
The goal is to "develop clean energy plans for the West
to help meet our national energy needs and strengthen our
economies," according to Richardson, WGA chairman and
former energy secretary during the Clinton administration.
Richardson said the summit may result in a two-year clean
energy project for the WGA, with a focus on renewable sources
and energy efficiency. According to a letter released at the
conference, the goal for Western states is to produce at least
30,000 megawatts of renewable energy, about 10 percent of
projected demand, by 2015 and boost energy efficiency by 20
percent by 2020. Both Gov. Richardson and Colorado Governor
Bill Owens announced proposals that increase the use of solar
power in their respective states. For more information on
how your state can increase its reliance on clean energy,
visit: http://www.serconline.org/cleanenergy.html. |
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Maine
Bill to Ban Dangerous PBDEs (Scripps Howard News
Service 4/8)
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=FLAMERETARDANT-04-08-04&cat=AN
Maine will soon become the first state in the nation to ban
deca PBDEs, a type of brominated flame retardant that is used
on a variety of electronics and furniture to slow the spread
of fire. Studies have found that deca, the most commonly used
type of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), is present
in breast milk of American and European women and is accumulating
in people, wildlife, and the environment. The ban, which is
contingent on a finding that safer alternatives to deca are
available, would become effective Jan. 1, 2008. In addition,
the bill would ban the use of penta and octa PBDEs, as of
Jan. 1, 2006. California passed a measure last year to phase
out the use of penta and octa PBDEs. Washington Gov. Gary
Locke has asked state agencies to develop a plan to phase
out all PBDEs, and similar legislation has been introduced
in New York and Minnesota. For many years, scientists and
environmental groups have been raising concerns about PBDEs,
which may interfere with fetal brain development resulting
in learning, memory, and behavioral problems in children.
Maine Gov. John Baldacci is expected to sign the bill. For
more information on how your state can protect children and
the environment from dangerous PBDEs, visit: http://www.serconline.org/PBDEs.html. |
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Vermont
House Passes Bill to Require Labeling of GE Seeds (Common
Dreams 4/8)
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0409-08.htm
The Vermont House of Representatives passed the Farmer's Right-to-Know
Seed Labeling Bill (HB 777) last week. The bill defines genetically
engineered (GE) seeds as different from conventional seeds
and would mandate manufacturer labeling of all genetically
engineered seeds sold in the state. The bill will come before
the Senate for approval of changes this week and will then
be sent to Vermont Gov. Douglas. Rep. Floyd Nease, a supporter
of the bill, said that it is intended to "avoid potential
adverse affects on biological diversity from use of GE seeds."
This March, the Senate voted unanimously in favor of the Farmer
Protection Act, which seeks to hold biotech corporations liable
for unintended contamination of conventional or organic crops
by genetically engineered plant materials. That bill is now
awaiting action in the House Natural Resources Committee.
"The key piece of the Farmer's Right-to-Know Act defines
genetically engineered seeds and plants as different from
conventional varieties. This bucks the industry's claim that
GE is the same as conventional, and therefore doesn't require
any additional regulation. This bill is the first of its kind
in the U.S., and destabilizes the whole premise of 'substantial
equivalence,' which informs GMO policy at every level,"
said Amy Shollenberger, Policy Director at Rural Vermont.
For more information on how your state can regulate genetically
engineered food, visit: http://www.serconline.org/geFood/index.html. |
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Iowa
Gov. Vetoes Bill on Hydrogen Sulfide Standards (Des
Moines Register 4/14)
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040414/NEWS10/404140340/1011
Gov. Vilsack vetoed Iowa HB 2523 this week, legislations which
would have set the hydrogen sulfide air emissions limit for
livestock facilities at 70 parts per billion (ppb) per hour.
Such a high standard, says Vilsack, would afford negligible
environmental, health, and safety protections from the chemical
for areas nearby such facilities. Hydrogen sulfide gas is
a potent neurotoxin that has also been linked to reproductive
harm in animals. Minnesota and Missouri set their emissions
limits for the gas for livestock facilities at 50 ppb per
hour -- California's limit is 30 ppb per hour, the level recommended
by the authors of a new study from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. This is the level Gov. Vilsack views
as acceptable, and he anticipates that the legislature will
pass the standard. Opponents say that 30 ppb per hour far
exceeds federal emissions standards and that such a regulation
would put a burden on the state's livestock owners. For more
information on how your state can regulate air emissions from
CAFOs, visit: http://www.serconline.org/cafoAirEmissions.html. |
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Florida:
Natural Resources Committee in Fury over Manatee Bill (News-Press
4/16)
http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/040413manatees.html
The state Natural Resources Committee adjourned this week
with tempers flaring over a bill that would authorize a $750,000
study to examine the state's West Indies manatee population.
The bill's supporters believe that slow boat speed zones and
limits on boat slip numbers in 13 counties are overly restrictive
on power boat users. The standards, which began in 1989, are
designed to protect manatees -- a federally listed endangered
species -- from being killed or maimed by powerboats. According
to the bill, if certain scientific benchmarks are discovered
through the study, the boat restrictions would be lifted.
A study, which examined the status of the West Indies manatee
in Florida, was released by the Florida Marine Research Institute
in December 2002. The study recommended that the manatee be
downgraded from endangered to threatened status; however,
under Florida law, this means that the species is still at
risk of losing 50 percent of its population within the next
10 years. The committee meets one more time before the state's
legislative session closes for the year. |
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Indiana
Farmers Push for State Action to Preserve Land (Indianapolis
Star 4/13)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/137640-4104-009.html
With agricultural land being paved over at an alarming rate
in Indiana, the state's farmers are pushing for legislation
to help protect the farmland that remains. A bill, which would
have created tax incentives to leave land undeveloped for
10 years and keep the land from eminent domain, passed the
Indiana Senate this winter but died in the House. Despite
the fact that the program would have been voluntary, the bill's
detractors said that such a law would go too far in restricting
development. Some say the need to protect Indiana farmland
has not reached a critical stage. But, by the late 1990s,
the loss of farmland, particularly on the outskirts of cities
and towns, became enough of an issue that the late Gov. Frank
O'Bannon created the Indiana Land Resource Council to look
into the matter. In recent years, Ohio and Michigan each have
spent about $25 million on pilot programs, which buy and protect
farmland from development into strip malls or housing. For
innovative ideas on how your state can preserve land, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/conservationfunding/index.html. |
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