SOURCE: EPA
WHO PUTS MORE TOXIC CRUD INTO THE AIR THAN ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS?
WHY, NO ONE DOES!
THE CHART ABOVE SHOWS US THAT.
By 2012 GHG (GREENHOUSE GAS) emissions were projected to increase to more than 7,709 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which would be 26 percent above 1990 levels.
MISSED IT BY A HAIR, JUST UNDER 7,000 MILLION TONS.
WHO GIVES US MORE MERCURY TO BREATHE THAN ANYONE ELSE?
COAL-BURNING POWER PLANTS!
WHO DO WE THANK?
THE GOP'S BIG NAMES IN CONGRESS HAVE BEEN FREQUENTLY SEQUESTERED WITH A TEAM OF LAWYERS, COAL LOBBYISTS AND COAL INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES FOR OVER A YEAR NOW IN ANTICIPATION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S PUSH FOR TOUGHER REGULATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT OF LONG-STANDING REGULATIONS REGARDING AMERICA'S AIR QUALITY. THAT'S RIGHT, AMERICA, THE COAL INDUSTRY'S PROFITS TRUMP YOUR NEED FOR CLEAN AIR.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE "THE ECONOMY COMES FIRST" THINGS.
ISN'T THAT ALWAYS THE WHINE?
"THIS WILL RUIN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY!"
BUT, WILL IT BE GOOD FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS?
"WELL, YEAH, BUT IT WILL RUIN BUSINESSES!"
THERE YOU HAVE IT...BOTTOM LINE...SAME AS ALWAYS.
THE SAME PATHETIC MEWLING ECHOED ACROSS AMERICA THE MINUTE OIL PRICES FELL A NICKEL.
"THE OIL INDUSTRY IS DOOMED! LOW OIL/GASOLINE PRICES WILL RUIN THE ECONOMY!"
NEVER MIND THAT WORKING AMERICANS GOT A BREAK AT THE PUMPS AND PRICES OF EVERYTHING TRANSPORTED TO US THAT REQUIRES GASOLINE OR DIESEL TO DELIVER GOODS SHOULD HAVE FALLEN AS WELL.
(WHICH THEY DID NOT DO.)
NO, THE ONLY THING THAT FELL WAS OIL COMPANIES' PROFITS AND WE DAMN SURE CAN'T HAVE THAT, CAN WE?
'TIS A FAR, FAR BETTER THING FOR WALL STREET NAMES TO MAKE MORE MONEY THAN FOR AVERAGE CITIZEN TO SAVE A DIME!"
RIGHT?
WELL, HERE WE GO AGAIN...
NEW YORK TIMES, AUG. 3, 2015
"In the early months of 2014, a group of about 30 corporate lawyers, coal lobbyists and Republican political strategists began meeting regularly in the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, often, according to some of the participants, in a conference room overlooking the White House. Their task was to start devising a legal strategy for dismantling the climate change regulations they feared were coming from President Obama.
The group — headed in part by Roger R. Martella Jr., a top environmental official in the George W. Bush administration, and Peter Glazer, a prominent Washington lobbyist — was getting an early start.
By the time Mr. Obama announced the regulations at the White House on Monday, the small group that had begun its work at the Chamber of Commerce had expanded into a vast network of lawyers and lobbyists ranging from state capitols to Capitol Hill, aided by Republican governors and congressional leaders.
And their plan was to challenge Mr. Obama at every opportunity and take the fight against what, if enacted, would be one of his signature accomplishments, to the Supreme Court.
In devising its strategy, the group worked closely with the office of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader whose coal-producing home state also stands to suffer under the regulation.
While Mr. McConnell opposes the climate change regulations, his advisers knew that he had little chance of enacting legislation to block them in Congress.
Instead, Mr. McConnell has taken the unusual step of reaching out directly to governors and attorneys general, urging them to refuse to submit compliance plans for the regulations, and encouraging a state-by-state rejection of the rules.
[K]ey strategists joining the original planning were Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a former attorney general there, and Scott Pruitt, the attorney general of Oklahoma. Both already had experience suing the Obama administration over major Clean Air Act regulations.
An important ally in the effort was the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a conservative advocacy group that pushes policy through state legislatures.
Typically, the council’s committees of corporate members will craft a model bill designed to push through policies it supports, such as rolling back environmental regulations.
While it is not unusual for major corporations to sue the federal government over environmental regulations, people involved in the effort to craft a legal strategy against the climate change rules said the time, labor and coordination of the effort were unusual.
“The final rule is built on a rock-solid legal foundation,” said Thomas Reynolds, a spokesman for the agency.
“E.P.A. is using its clear authority under the Clean Air Act to set emission standards for air pollutants,” he said. “The rule is wholly consistent with the law, and we are confident it will withstand any and all legal challenges.”
Even before Mr. Obama began speaking Monday, Mr. McConnell said he would do everything in his power to combat the rules..."
NEVER MIND THE NBC REPORT (AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS) AND THE AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION DATA THAT SHOWED QUITE CLEARLY THAT 4 IN 10 AMERICANS ARE BREATHING IN SMOG INSTEAD OF AIR EVERY DAY.
NEVER MIND THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WITH ASTHMA, ALLERGIES AND OTHER RESPIRATORY DISORDERS WHO SUFFER THROUGH ALL THOSE "BAD AIR QUALITY" DAYS.
TWO OF MY OWN CHILDREN, IN THEIR EARLY YEARS, WERE REPEATEDLY HOSPITALIZED BY ASTHMATIC/ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO AIR QUALITY AND POLLUTANTS,
MAYBE NONE OF THOSE PLANNING TO FIGHT AGAINST CLEANER AIR HAD CHILDREN WHO SUFFERED AS SO MANY DO, AS MINE DID.
MAYBE THEY DIDN'T HAVE A RELATIVE WHO NEVER SMOKED IN HER LIFE DIE OF PNEUMOCONIOSIS ("BLACK LUNG DISEASE") BECAUSE OF A COAL PROCESSING PLANT BUILT ACROSS THE ROAD FROM HER HOUSE.
THREE SHORT YEARS AFTER THAT "GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY" PLANT WENT UP, THE DIAGNOSIS CAME IN, AND A YEAR LATER...GONE.
PEOPLE WHO NEVER WORK A DAY INSIDE A COAL MINE GET THAT INCURABLE DISEASE.
ALL IT TAKES IS A LITTLE CONSTANT EXPOSURE.
CHILDREN HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH IT FOR DECADES.
COAL MINERS HAVE NOTORIOUSLY SUCCUMBED TO IT.
IT MADE THE NEWS...FOR AWHILE.
THE HAZARDS OF SUCH A THING AS A "COAL YARD" WASN'T KNOWN AMONG OLDER PEOPLE (OR ANY PEOPLE?) IN APPALACHIA BACK IN THE 1960s.
NO AIR CONDITIONING, RAISE THE WINDOWS TO LET IN THE BREEZE IN SUMMER, CLEAN THE SCREENS SEVERAL TIMES...NOBODY PUT THE TWO TOGETHER...HOW DID COAL DUST ON THE SCREENS MAKE PEOPLE SICK, KILL PEOPLE?
SURE, THE COAL DUST SETTLED ON EVERYTHING, MADE A MESS, RUINED THE LAUNDRY HANGING OUTSIDE TO DRY IF THE WIND CAME FROM THE DIRECTION, OF THAT "COAL YARD", GOT TRACKED-IN BY EVERYBODY AND WAS HARD TO CLEAN OFF THE FLOORS, BUT...
WHO KNEW?
BUT WE KNOW NOW!
WE DO KNOW NOW, SO WHY WOULD ANYONE NOT WANT TO SAFEGUARD HUMAN LIVES FROM SUCH A THING?
THESE GUYS!
"Within minutes of the announcement, West Virginia’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, stepped before a bank of cameras for a news conference at the Greenbrier resort in his home state.
Flanked by Mike Duncan, the president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, one of the nation’s top coal lobbying groups, and Greg Zoeller, the attorney general of Indiana, Mr. Morrisey announced that a group of at least 15 Republican state attorneys general were preparing to jointly file a legal challenge to Mr. Obama’s proposal.
“The final rule announced Monday blatantly disregards the rule of law and will severely harm West Virginia and the U.S. economy,” Mr. Morrisey said.
THE "ECONOMY" OF THE BIG COAL BUSINESSES ALL COME FIRST.
THEY DON'T WANT TO SHELL OUT FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT WOULD REDUCE EMISSIONS.
THEY DON'T WANT TO SPEND ONE CENT ON IMPROVING AIR QUALITY.
THEY DON'T CARE HOW MANY LIVES POOR AIR QUALITY AFFECTS.
IT'S ABOUT THE ECONOMY.
THE END.
THEY REFUSE TO COMPLY, JUST AS THEY HAVE BEEN REFUSING TO COMPLY FOR DECADES.
PAY THE FINES, KEEP POLLUTING.
PAY THE CIVIL LAWSUITS, KEEP POLLUTING.
THEY HAVE FOUND LEGAL LOOPHOLES TO CONTINUE TO SEND UP CLOUDS OF TOXINS DAY AFTER DAY SIMPLY BECAUSE TO CHANGE THAT WOULD BITE INTO THEIR PROFITS.
BUT THEY LOVE TO PAY THEIR LAWYERS!
AND MILLIONS SPENT IN COURT IS JUST FINE!
HERE'S THEIR BEST LOOPHOLE. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:
"The coal industry sued the government for the same reason it has countless times over the decades.
Cleaning up pollution costs money.
Business owners and other industry backers argue that the law requires the E.P.A. to weigh those costs against ANY potential health benefits of a regulation.
Industry supporters point to a single phrase in the law —
that the agency must regulate pollutants only when
“appropriate and necessary” — to mean that if a regulation
would cost too much in their eyes, it’s not appropriate."
THEY SUED AGAIN BACK IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR.
MARCH 23, 2015, NYT
Clean Air Act and Dirty Coal at the Supreme Court
Congress passed the legislation in 1970 and substantially strengthened it in 1990 to safeguard human health from air pollution generated by power plants, vehicles, incinerators and other sources.
One of the most toxic of these pollutants is mercury, a heavy metal that accumulates in waterways and the fish Americans eat.
[M]ercury is particularly dangerous to the vulnerable, developing brains and nervous systems of young children and fetuses...
But the agency DOES consider the financial impact of its regulations later in the process, when it sets the actual emissions standards.
At the beginning of the process, when it is deciding whether a substance like mercury endangers human health and thus must be regulated — which the law requires it to do — cost is not a factor."
DO YOU SEE WHAT WE'RE UP AGAINST?
ONE WORD SUMS IT UP....GREED.
THE COAL BURNERS DON'T PUT ANY DOLLAR VALUE ON HUMAN LIVES.
THEY ONLY VALUE PROFITS.
BUT THERE MAY BE "MITIGATING FACTORS" THE OLD COAL BOYS COULD TRY, IF THEY WERE HONEST ENOUGH!
(1) IF AMERICANS DIDN'T HAVE TO BREATHE IN MERCURY AND OTHER HEAVY METALS FROM POWER PLANTS (AND LET'S BY ALL MEANS INCLUDE NUCLEAR PLANTS IN THIS!), WHY, THEIR HEALTH MIGHT IMPROVE AND THERE GO THE OUTRAGEOUS PROFITS THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES RAKE IN FROM SICK AMERICANS!
HEALTHY AMERICANS WOULD COLLAPSE THE ECONOMY!
(2) IF AMERICANS TURNED TO ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES IT WOULD BANKRUPT THE ENTIRE COAL AND NUCLEAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES.
ECONOMIC RUIN EXPANDS!
THE SKY IS FALLING!
IS THIS THE REAL REASON THE COAL INDUSTRY IS PREPARED FOR SUCH A COSTLY COURT FIGHT?
ARE THEY AFRAID FOR AMERICANS TO GET A REAL TASTE OF SOLAR ENERGY?
AFTER ALL, THE GOP CONGRESSMEN AND SOME AMONG THE DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS, HAVE HELPED BLOCK THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALL ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES SINCE COAL AND WOOD WERE THE MAIN METHODS USED FOR HEATING AMERICAN HOMES!
THAT'S A LONG FIGHT!
HERE'S A PART OF THE OBAMA PLAN:
Low Income Solar:
"Last month, the White House announced a new initiative to increase access to solar energy for all Americans, in particular low-and moderate income communities, and build a more inclusive workforce.
The initiative will help families and businesses cut their energy bills through launching a National Community Solar Partnership to unlock access to solar for the nearly 50 percent of households and business that are renters or do not have adequate roof space to install solar systems and sets a goal to install 300 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy in federally subsidized housing by 2020.
Through this initiative housing authorities, rural electric co-ops, power companies, and organizations in more than 20 states across the country committed to put in place more than 260 solar energy projects and philanthropic and impact investors, states, and cities are committed to invest $520 million to advance community solar and scale up solar and energy efficiency for low- and moderate- income households.
The initiative also includes AmeriCorps funding to deploy solar and create jobs in underserved communities and a commitment from the solar industry to become the most diverse sector of the U.S. energy industry."
MAY LIGHTNING STRIKE THE WHITE HOUSE FOR SUGGESTING THAT, SAY THOSE WHO LOVE COAL AND NUKES.
AND, BTW, IS THIS ONE OF THE VIDEOS NASA MADE AVAILABLE TO AMERICANS THAT THE GOP CONGRESSMEN TOOK SUCH OFFENSE TO AND TOLD NASA TO "STOP DABBLING IN THAT CLIMATE CHANGE MALARKEY"?
THEY DID CUT NASA'S BUDGET TO THE BONE.
Feb 19, 2009
THEY DID CUT NASA'S BUDGET TO THE BONE.
Feb 19, 2009
This narrated video shows a flyover of the Vulcan fossil fuel CO2 emissions on Google Earth. This emissions data product along with the Google Earth representation can be found at www.purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan.
It represents all fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the United States. The data product was constructed by researchers at Purdue University in collaboration with researchers at Colorado State University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and was funded by NASA and DOE with additional support from Purdue's Showalter Trust and Knauf Insulation.
It represents all fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the United States. The data product was constructed by researchers at Purdue University in collaboration with researchers at Colorado State University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and was funded by NASA and DOE with additional support from Purdue's Showalter Trust and Knauf Insulation.
OOPS!
COAL COMPANIES SURE DIDN'T WANT THAT MADE PUBLIC!
DAMN THE INTERNET!
WELL, THE GOP EVEN TRIED TO ACTUALLY DAMN THE INTERNET AS WELL, DIDN'T THEY?
TOO MUCH INFORMATION AT OUR FINGERTIPS!
INTERNET ACCESS WILL RUIN THE ECONOMY!
AND THE EPA...THE EPA WILL RUIN THE ECONOMY!
The coal industry argues that costs must be considered at the outset because, it says, they are central to the question of whether to regulate at all.
In this case, reducing mercury emissions is expected to cost almost $10 billion, but the industry says it will provide at most $4 million to $6 million in benefits.
[NOTE: CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES PUT THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO DIE PREMATURELY FROM TOXINS IN OUR AIR, ESPECIALLY MERCURY AND OTHER HEAVY METALS, AT 11,000 PER YEAR. THE COAL BURNERS JUST GAVE US THE VALUE THEY PLACE ON 11,000 HUMAN LIVES...$4 TO $6 MILLION DOLLARS.]
That is an absurdly low range based on a single statistic: the estimated increase in lifetime earnings for people whose I.Q.s will presumably be higher if their prenatal mercury exposure is lower.
According to the E.P.A., the benefits of an overall reduction in mercury and other toxic air pollutants that the new standards would achieve should be valued at between $37 billion and $90 billion.
Burning coal is a dirty business, but it can be made cleaner.
The federal law balances the need for affordable electricity with reduction of significant threats to human health.
The Supreme Court has upheld the E.P.A.’s authority to carry out that law’s purpose with broad discretion. There is no reason to upset that deliberate balance, or unreasonably limit the agency’s authority, now"
THE EPA ALSO FOUND:In 2011, coal-burning power plants were the largest anthropogenic source of mercury emissions to the air in the U.S., accounting for 49 percent of all domestic anthropogenic mercury emissions that year.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE VALUE PLACED ON HUMAN LIVES.
IT'S ALSO ABOUT RECOGNIZING THOSE WHO PLACE LITTLE TO NO VALUE ON A HUMAN BEING.
I'VE SAID FOR OVER 40 YEARS NOW THAT ANYONE, ANY INDUSTRY WHO KNOWINGLY TAINTS, IN ANY WAY, OUR FOOD, OUR WATER OR OUR AIR SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH PREMEDITATED MURDER.
IF WE CAUGHT SOME "TERRORIST" DUMPING EVEN A VIAL OF MERCURY INTO OUR WATER SUPPLY, WE'D ALL AGREE HE WAS TRYING TO KILL PEOPLE.
IF WE CAUGHT SOME CHEF PUTTING GROUND GLASS IN THE FOOD HE SERVED, HE'D MIGHT BE TRIED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER, OR IF SOMEONE ATE THAT AND LIVED, THE CHEF MIGHT BE CHATGED AT LEAST FOR ENDANGERING HUMAN LIVES.
BUT WE ALLOW INDUSTRY, ALL INDUSTRY, TO DO THIS SAME TYPE THING DAY IN AND DAY OUT TO NOT JUST A FEW, BUT TO ALL OF US!
IT'S A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE TO SEE YOUR CHILD GASPING FOR BREATH, TURNING BLUE, HEARING A PEDIATRICIAN TELL YOU THE CHILD IS CRITICAL, THAT HE IS DOING ALL THAT CAN BE DONE... ALL BECAUSE A CROP-DUSTER PLANE FLEW ACROSS A FIELD 8 MILES DOWN THE ROAD AND THE WIND WAS BLOWING OUR WAY...ALL BECAUSE SOME IDIOT BURNED A FEW HUNDRED OLD TIRES 3 MILES AWAY AND, AGAIN, THE WIND WAS NOT IN OUR FAVOR...ALL BECAUSE SOMEONE WHO "DIDN'T KNOW BETTER" GAVE THE CHILD A 'TREAT' WITH MSG OR MALT IN IT.
THE HUMAN BODY IS FRAGILE, HINGES ON A CERTAIN BALANCE, AND MINISCULE AMOUNTS TOO MUCH OF ALMOST ANYTHING A HUMAN SYSTEM FINDS TOXIC CAN KILL!
NO TWO HUMAN SYSTEMS ARE IDENTICALLY THE SAME.
SOME OF US CAN LIE DOWN ON POISON IVY AND NEVER SHOW A RASH, OTHERS WILL PRESENT WITH RASH FROM THEIR HAIRLINE TO THE SOLES OF THEIR FEET JUST FROM BRUSHING AGAINST A SINGLE LEAF.
WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL OF EVERY HUMAN'S RIGHT TO LIFE, TO AS GOOD A LIFE AS CAN BE HAD.
NO ONE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO ROB US OF THAT.
WHEN WE KNOW THERE CAN BE HARM, LET US DO ALL WE CAN TO PREVENT IT.
FURTHER READING:
~ AIR QUALITY IN AMERICA
~ Which places have the best and worst air quality?
~ Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
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