[Source: Los Angeles Daily News] If there’s an award for environmental virtue signaling, California would win the prize. Yet for all the constant self-promotion, shameless grandstanding and endless moralizing, perhaps it’s time to reconsider the impact, and failures, of our current green obsessions. Take the recent fires that Gov. Jerry Brown, predictably and with little Read More…
Tag: environment
Brett Kavanaugh will mean challenging times for environmental laws
[Source: BuzzFeed News] In naming Brett Kavanaugh as his pick for the Supreme Court’s open seat, President Donald Trump is advancing a judge widely seen as unfriendly to environmental regulation. The seat opened in June with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, providing an opportunity for Trump to tilt the court rightward for years to come. Kavanaugh, Read More…
The Energy 202: Kennedy’s retirement could bring a seismic shift to environmental law
[Source: The WashingtonPost/PowerPost] Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s announcement that he will soon step down from the Supreme Court sent shock waves through Washington on Wednesday. Should President Trump and Senate Republicans succeed in replacing the swing-vote jurist with a stalwart conservative, the ideological shift could bring seismic changes to federal environmental policy. As with so many other issues, Kennedy served as Read More…
Look in the mirror for climate change
[Source: Fox & Hounds/ Ronald Stein, P.E.] Until the first steam locomotives were invented in the early 19th Century, man could travel as far as he could walk or as far as his horse would take him. Life was dirty, smelly, difficult – and short. Life expectancy was short and human misery was assured. There Read More…
OSU-designed wristbands detect environmental pollutants
[Source: KTVZ.COM news sources] Chemical-sampling wristbands made of silicone are already known as an easy-to-use method of measuring a person’s exposure to environmental pollutants. Invented at Oregon State University, the colorful wristbands absorb chemicals from the air and skin. A new OSU study shows that the wristbands are also very good at linking external chemical exposure—the Read More…
Trump’s EPA proposes to block regulators from considering a wide range of scientific studies
[Source: Los Angeles Times] The Trump administration launched an attack on the science behind many of the nation’s clean air and clean water rules, announcing a proposal Tuesday that would in effect prevent regulators from considering a wide range of health studies when they look at new regulations. The plan by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Read More…
Danish study finds plastic bags have lowest environmental impact
[Source: Plastics Today] When you take into account the science as well as the manufacturing processes involved, plastics tend to have a lower overall impact on the environment than other materials. That is what the Danish Environmental Protection Agency discovered and published in a study that analyzes the environmental impact of the production, use and Read More…
City Council to weigh environmental impacts of Port of Long Beach’s rail expansion project
[Source: Press-Telegram] City Council Chambers will soon be center stage for a David-and-Goliath battle – between a loose coalition of small businesses and Long Beach’s economic powerhouse. A study on how a proposed rail yard expansion by the Port of Long Beach will affect the environment will go before the City Council on Tuesday – Read More…
NRG subsidiary to close three power plants in Southern California
[Source: Los Angeles Times] In another sign of the state’s power glut, three Southern California gas-fired power plants owned by a subsidiary of energy firm NRG Energy Inc. will close over the next few months. The NRG Etiwanda Generating Station in Rancho Cucamonga, which began operations in 1962, will be retired as of June 1. Read More…