New US anti-pollution standards draw industry fire
The Department of Water and Power (DWP) San Fernando Valley Generating Station is seen in Sun Valley, California, 2011. US health campaigners Wednesday hailed the announcement of new anti-pollution standards for American manufacturers, but industry leaders condemned the rules for being costly and overly aggressive.
US health campaigners Wednesday hailed the announcement of new anti-pollution standards for American manufacturers, but industry leaders condemned the rules for being costly and overly aggressive.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the first national standards to control power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution would prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks annually.
"The standards will also help America's children grow up healthier -- preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 6,300 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year," an EPA statement said.
However, the National Association of Manufacturers said the government agency had "finalized one of the most costly regulations that will do more damage to our economy and job growth."
A view of downtown Los Angeles, California, is seen on a smoggy afternoon in 2006. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the first national standards to control power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution would prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks annually.
"In 2015 alone, Utility MACT will cost $11.4 billion," said NAM President Jay Timmons, referring to the rules, which he claimed typified the EPA's "overly aggressive agenda that is harming manufacturers' ability to compete.""Utility companies have made clear that they will be forced to shut down power generation plants throughout the country, and the reliability of the power grid will be threatened if this rule is implemented," he added.
But the American Lung Association welcomed the EPA standards, which also target toxic air pollution from arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium, and cyanide, and described the new regulations as "long overdue."
"Since toxic air pollution from power plants can make people sick and cut lives short, the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are a huge victory for public health," said Dr Albert Rizzo, the group's National Volunteer Chair.
"The Lung Association expects all oil and coal-fired power plants to act now to protect Americans, especially our children, from the health risks posed by these dangerous air pollutants," added Rizzo, a pulmonary and critical care specialist.
The regulations stem from the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, which placed tighter anti-pollution standards on power plants. Companies, however, have been fighting the legislation ever since.
The country's Natural Resources Defense Council also praised the new rules.
"After decades of industry-induced delay, the Environmental Protection Agency did exactly what it was designed to do: look out for our health and our environment," said Frances Beinecke, the group's president.
(c) 2011 AFP
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
32 comments
-
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments,
3 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
42 comments
-
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea,
31 comments
-
SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update),
4 comments
-
Hypothetical desert earth
21 hours ago
-
More human population = greater mass?
May 25, 2012
-
Conversion from aircraft bearing to normal degrees
May 23, 2012
-
Interpretation/Analysis of the Lab results(HEPA filter)
May 22, 2012
-
Has anyone here attended the The Urbino Summer School in Paleoclimatology?
May 22, 2012
-
Earthquakes: Mag 6 N. Italy and Mag 5.6 W. Bulgaria
May 21, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Earth
More news stories
Land and sea species differ in climate change response: study
(Phys.org) -- Marine and terrestrial species will likely differ in their responses to climate warming, new research by Simon Fraser University and Australia’s University of Tasmania has found.
4 hours ago |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
5
|
Yale study concludes public apathy over climate change unrelated to science literacy
Are members of the public divided about climate change because they don't understand the science behind it? If Americans knew more basic science and were more proficient in technical reasoning, would public consensus match ...
6 hours ago |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
12
|
10 million years needed to recover from mass extinction
It took some 10 million years for Earth to recover from the greatest mass extinction of all time, latest research has revealed.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
6 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
|
Sophisticated simulations predict future warming
The chances of our planet being hit by a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is as likely as it being hit by an increase of 1.4 degrees, new research shows. Presented in the journal Nature Geoscience, the British study ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 22, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
51
Aliens don't want to eat us, says former SETI director
Alien life probably isn’t interested in having us for dinner, enslaving us or laying eggs in our bellies, according to a recent statement by former SETI director Jill Tarter.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 25, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (15) |
41
Stunning image of smallest possible five-ringed structure
Scientists have created and imaged the smallest possible five-ringed structure – about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair – and you'll probably recognise its shape.
'Unzipped' carbon nanotubes could help energize fuel cells, batteries
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at ...
Change in developmental timing was crucial in the evolutionary shift from dinosaurs to birds: study
At first glance, it's hard to see how a common house sparrow and a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have anything in common. After all, one is a bird that weighs less than an ounce, and the other is a dinosaur that ...
Computer model used to pinpoint prime materials for efficient carbon capture
When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it's a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking.
T cells 'hunt' parasites like animal predators seek prey, study shows
By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement ...
Scientists develop ultra-sensitive test that detects diseases in their earliest stages
Scientists have developed an ultra-sensitive test that should enable them to detect signs of a disease in its earliest stages, in research published today in the journal Nature Materials.
Dec 21, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (7)
Of course, this is just my opinion; I could be wrong.
Dec 21, 2011
Rank: 2.1 / 5 (16)
Dec 21, 2011
Rank: 2.1 / 5 (14)
Most importantly, take the EPA out of the trace gas business. Regulating CO2 is an incredibly stupid idea, but even if it werent, the EPA is not set up to handle it just create energy poverty and power shortages. Congress, you need to act here.
Dec 21, 2011
Rank: 4.1 / 5 (13)
Dec 21, 2011
Rank: 3.3 / 5 (9)
""The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the first national standards to control power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution would prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks annually.""
This is good. So all these new measures pushed by the EPA will save thousands of lives each year, not to mention saving on the medical costs in finding a cure for these illnesses, doctors' and hospital visits, and funeral home expenses.
"". . .the government agency had "finalized one of the most costly regulations that will do more damage to our economy and job growth.""
This is bad. Thousands of lives saved through the new EPA regulations. . .but jobs lost due to the regulations to help prevent the loss of life.
Now just a darn minute. . . .why should all these jobs be lost and the economy damaged, while all these lives are saved and the cost in human misery is alleviated after the air, soil and water wind up being cleaned?
Dec 21, 2011
Rank: 3.9 / 5 (11)
Trying to find the logic in all this, but somehow I can't.
Dec 21, 2011
Rank: 4.2 / 5 (10)
Its a big win I think.
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 3.3 / 5 (3)
... if the investment for anti-pollution measures would have been done successive instead of wasting the money for above mentioned issues, the industry would not have any reason to cry that loud...
... and the other way round, consequential costs from this pollution - costs we all are paying for - would be reduced dramatically.
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 4.2 / 5 (5)
2009 US military budget - 680 billion.... quit whining! If the government can afford to spend this much on bullets to keep the population comfortable, they may as well be able to breath.
Hey Coolman, I here there is no EPA in Beijing, you'd like it there.
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 3.6 / 5 (9)
He oversees all policy development, communications, government relations and advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. and around the country to advance the NAM agenda
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 2.8 / 5 (11)
DaveCoolTard supports the premature deaths of 11,000 Americans annually.
That makes him complicit in 4 times as many murders as Osama Bin Laden.
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (6)
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (3)
Last year, I overheard a woman at the bank say that her electric bill for the previous month was $500 U.S. dollats. She didn't know how she could pay it. But that was a pretty common story last winter.
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 2.8 / 5 (4)
The have to improve the technology.
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (5)
Ahahahaha... What a pack of pathetic fools.
Mine was $20.
Dec 22, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
Dec 23, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
Dec 23, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
Dec 23, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
They should be several kilometers to a side, gelatinous and transparent.
Dec 23, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (7)
a.) Economic collapse:
www.stansberryres...sue.html
b.) The AGW scandal:
http://dl.dropbox...oots.pdf
Over the same time span (1971-2011)
Despite the blunders of world leaders, there is a Christmas message of Hope for everyone facing the economic turmoils and fears that Al Gore, the UN et al. promoted:
http://dl.dropbox...Fear.pdf
In fact world leaders are totally powerless over nature, or as my late brother-in-law might have said,
"Big Brother's Butt!"
Best wishes for the Holidays and the New Year!
Today all is well,
Oliver K. Manuel
Dec 23, 2011
Rank: 2.6 / 5 (5)
Dec 24, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Dec 24, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
Natural gas makes better sense for a cleaner electricity generator, as long as NatGas prices don't skyrocket as they have in the past. I think the pressure that Obama has put on the polluters is a good thing and may for some changes for the better.
Dec 25, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Dec 25, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
Dec 25, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
How can you say these are the cleanest power plants in man's history? The majority of the power plants are over 40 years old.
And, there are 10 plants that were scheduled to go offline in 2011, and 17 that are scheduled to go offline for retirement in 2012. Don't let those energy companies fool you. They will close those plants regardless of the EPA standards. 5 more will shut down in 2013, and 14 more in 2014. Only 6 new plants have been built since the EPA standards rose in 1990, and they were not fitted with the new technology, even though that technology was available at the time the new standards came out. The energy companies are planning to hold energy hostage until the government caves in or all their plants retire.
http://www.source...l_Plants
Dec 25, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Dec 26, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
On a side note, i recently got my electric bill, which has over $50 in taxes alone. This was on a $150 bill. Absolutely out of control.
Dec 26, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Wow, that is almost funny.
As luck would have it, I just paid my hydro bill for the last two months.
It breaks down as follows.
Off Peak usage $20.13
Mid Peak Usage $7.38
On Peak Usage $7.44
Total $34,95
Average per month $17.48
Power consumption is down 1% from last year, and should drop a further 25% starting the first of the new year.
Why are you such a failure?
Dec 26, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Please see the link below. I think it will change your mind.
http://www.futuri...in-soil/
If your kids like to fish in the streams/lakes and rivers around coal fired plants, I would be concerned. In fact a lot of sea food is tainted with mercury from coal plant fly ash just from the food chain and the mechanism of heavy metal bio transference.
Dec 30, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
The article makes them sound like a Government agency, but they aren't.
You better stop driving your car then. You should take a moment to read your own comment and ask yourself "does that sound like a crazy person?". Hint: the answer is "yes".
Both sides of the above debate are guilty of making misleading claims, so beware what you read and evaluate the things they say before you buy into any of it. I love it when the EPA makes those claims about how many lives will be saved and such. What a load of nonsense. They could be right, but there's no way in heck they can prove it. The actual numbers could be 100 times more than that, or 1 tenth of that, and nobody will ever know.