Obama on ozone — still a difference-splitter who doesn't get it

President Obama's new announcement on tighter ozone regulations typifies six years and counting of his presidency.

Current standard is 75 parts per billion. The Environmental Protection Agency wants that cut to 60 parts per billion.

So, after kicking this can down the road a couple of years, as in:

The E.P.A. had planned to release the new ozone rule in August of 2011, but as Republicans and powerful industry groups prepared to go on attack against the plan, Mr. Obama decided to delay its release, fearing that opposition to the regulation would hurt his re-election chances in 2012.

what does Dear Leader now opt to do?

Exactly split the difference with a proposed standard of 65-70 ppb. As if that's going to magically get some Republican representative, senator or governor to give him a man hug and an environmentalism bromance.

Right:

The proposed ozone rule comes as the longstanding battle over Mr. Obama’s use of the Clean Air Act to push his environmental agenda is erupting in Congress and the courts. The ozone rules are expected to force the owners of power plants and factories to install expensive technology to clean the pollutants from their smokestacks. 

Next year, the E.P.A. is expected to make final two more historic Clean Air Act rules aimed at cutting planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. Those rules, which are intended to curb pollutants that contribute to climate change, could lead to the shutdown of hundreds of power plants and freeze construction of future coal plants. 

The Republican-majority Congress, to be led by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the incoming majority leader, has vowed to block or overturn the entire group of rules. In a separate development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to take up a challenge led by industry groups against another E.P.A. rule intended to curb emissions of mercury from coal plants. 

“We’re facing a series of regulations, and the cumulative cost of compliance and the burden of permitting is significant,” said Cal Dooley, president of the American Chemistry Council, a group which has lobbied aggressively against the rules. “An industry such as ours is poised to make significant investments in growth, but these regulations make that harder.”

Splitting the difference, Mr. Dear Leader, will stave off none of this.

That said, except for a neoliberal angle of more government investment in solar power research and development, I think Obama's even loss of an environmentalist than Bill Clinton. 

Texas is No. 1 — in mercury

Per the Environmental Integrity Project, Texas power plants are collectively No. 1 in the nation in mercury emissions.

And, worse, they're individually No. 1 — and Nos. 3-5, too:
1. Luminant Generation, Martin Lake Steam Electric Station & Lignite Mine in Rusk County, TX (1,501 lbs. of mercury emissions);
2. Southern Co., Gaston Steam Plant in Shelby, AL (1,244 lbs. of mercury emissions);
3. Luminant Generation, Big Brown Steam Electric Station & Lignite Mine in Freestone County, TX (1,240 lbs. of mercury emissions);
4. Luminant Generation, Monticello Steam Electric Station & Lignite Mine in Titus County, TX (911 lbs. of mercury emissions);
5. Luminant Generation, Sandow Steam Electric Station in Milam County, TX (841 lbs. of mercury emissions).

You'll also note another common factor — Luminant, the former generating arm of TXU.

Full report (PDF) is here.

#Mercury, #CO2: Environment takes two dings in court

The second may actually be the more serious in the long term, given today's political environment on global warming issues.

A George W. Bush-appointed Federal district court judge has blocked enforcement of California's greenhouse gases law, the much-trumpeted effort that folks like oil companies have previously tried to kill by ballot initiative.

This time, it's the ethanol folks, and getting a win, at least for now.


Judge O'Neill said that this was interference into interstate commerce.


But ... given that California has latitude for tougher state standards on car emissions than national EPA standards, given that courts have ruled EPA can indeed regulate CO2 as a pollutant, and given that a major source of CO2 is either cars running on  various sources of CO2 emissions, or power plants from out of state supplying part of California's electricity, I'm halfway hopeful the judge's injunction will get overturned by the Ninth Circuit. But, this one could wind up at SCOTUS level.


The other? A federal appeals court has blocked enforcement of the EPA's new mercury rules. And, in a "shock me," this is the legal action pushed by  Luminant, aka the power generating part of the former TXU, and the state of Texas.


Why does Rick Perry hate kids near power plants?


And, Luminant says now that coal plants it was going to mothball Jan. 1 will keep running instead.


So, it has admitted it can live without those plants, it just doesn't want to.

Some fresh air for the Best Southwest?

How much will the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed cuts in mercury emissions from cement kilns affect TXI and other Midlothian (Texas) cement-makers, and by extension, air quality in Cedar Hill and other southern Dallas suburbs?

It’s to be hoped that the new regs not only reduce mercury emissions, but produce better accountability from TXI et al in tracking just how much they do emit.

Happy Earth Day!

Do NOT buy cheap made-in-China CFLs

I had the light guts of a cheap made-in-China compact fluorescent light separate itself from the screw-in socket base of the bulb last night, no doubt due to cheap and minuscule amounts of glue used. I’ve had similar problems before with cheap made-in-China three-way splitters for electrical outlets.

Anyway, the guts fell out of the socket base, and broke when hitting my kitchen table.

And, if you’re familiar with CFLs, you know what that means — mercury problem.

I forgot, and touched it with my bare hands, though holding my breath. With elemental mercury, the inhalation danger is far worse — though still not earth-shaking — than is the skin adsorption danger. Nonetheless, it’s mercury, and I wasn’t 100 percent cautious.

If there’s no blogging after this, I died.