Recently in Environment Category

Source: Gifty Kwakye, Peter J. Pronovost, Martin A. Makary, Academic Medicine, Volume 85 Issue 3, March 2010

From the abstract:
Health care is one of the largest contributors to waste production in the United States. Given increased awareness of the environmental and financial costs associated with waste disposal and its public health impact, many hospitals are adopting environmentally friendly practices that reduce waste production and offer equally effective, yet less expensive alternatives. Reprocessing of medical equipment is one such practice that has gained popularity in recent years and has led to major cost savings across several medical disciplines. In this commentary, we seek to take a closer look at the practice of reprocessing, explore the evidence surrounding its safety, and suggest implications of reprocessing for medical centers.

Source: Water Online, February 24, 2010

Arsenic, Other Deadly Pollutants Found in Water From Additional Sites in DE, FL, IL, IN, MD, MI, MT, NC, NM, NV, PA, SC, TN and WV; Toxic Metals Found at Levels Up to Nearly 150 Times Federal Limits

The case for the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to stop sitting on a delayed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) coal-ash site contamination rule is even stronger than it first appeared to be, according to a major new report from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and Earthjustice. The analysis by EIP and Earthjustice identifies 31 additional coal-ash contamination sites in 14 states, which, when added to the 70 in the EPA's justification for the pending rule, brings the total of coal-fired power plant waste storage sites with poisoned water to 101.

With data showing arsenic and other toxic metal levels in contaminated water at some coal-ash disposal sites at up to 145 times federally permissible levels, the EIP/Earthjustice report identifies 31 coal-ash waste sites where groundwater, wetlands, creeks, or rivers have been polluted with "wastes (that) contain some of the earth's most deadly pollutants, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, selenium, and other toxic metals that can cause cancer and neurological harm (in humans) or poison fish." The 31 sites are located in the following 14 states: Delaware (1); Florida (3); Illinois (1); Indiana (2); Maryland (1); Michigan (1); Montana (1); Nevada (1); New Mexico (1); North Carolina (6); Pennsylvania (6); South Carolina (3); Tennessee (2); and West Virginia (2).

Source: Lisa Margonelli, New America Policy Papers, February 12, 2010

To bring cheap low carbon power onto the grid quickly and stimulate the economies of industrial and agricultural states in the South and Midwest, the federal government should create a Clean Power Authority. The CPA would purchase electricity from industry, agriculture, and municipal waste facilities at a price cheaper than that transmitted by new coal-fired generators. The carbon-heavy, struggling industrial economies of the South and Midwest have an untapped reservoir of energy that could equal the output of as many as 69 nuclear plants, but is now wasted. Just as the Tennessee Valley Authority was created to provide affordable, clean power while fostering regional economic development and preserving the environment, the CPA would foster the production of cheap, low-carbon power in the Southern and Midwestern states, stabilizing the grid, creating thousands of jobs, drawing investment to the region, making the heartland a national leader in clean power.

Source: Perspectives on Work, Vol.13 no. 2, Winter 2010
(subscription required)

In our "Green Jobs" series, we include questions Perspectives on Work posed to Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor and, of course, her answers. We also include articles on how stakeholders, including trade unionists and community activists, are stepping in to promote green jobs. Rounding out the series is the perspective of a green employer.

Articles include:
- Secretary of Labor Discusses Green Jobs
- The Promise of the New Green Economy by Barbara Byrd
- The Real Work behind Green Job Creation by Michael Peck
- Emerald Cities in the Age of Obama: A New Social Compact between Labor and Community by Jeff Grabelsky and Phil Thompson

Source: Yvonne Yen Liu and Terry Keleher, Applied Research Center, November 2009

The Green Equity Toolkit: Standards and Strategies for Advancing Race, Gender and Economic Equity in the Green Economy highlights green equity success stories and practical steps for how labor and community organizers can advocate for equity and inclusion in the green economy.

The Toolkit, developed by the Applied Research Center in conjunction with several organizational allies, includes Principles, Goals, Outcomes, Strategies, Success Indicators and Examples for making race, gender and economic equity a priority in green-collar job creation.

For instance, in Los Angeles, advocates working with Apollo Alliance forced the city to adopt a green retrofit ordinance that promises to create jobs for communities of color struggling with the economic crisis. The Detroit Community Food Security Network has influenced public policy to promote urban agriculture and access to healthy food options for residents, who are majority people of color.

In the months ahead, the Toolkit will be supplemented by Case Studies and a Model Policy Bank.

Source: James K. Boyce & Matthew E. Riddle, Political Economy Research Institute, August 2009

Fromm the summary:
This new study by James Boyce and Matthew Riddle (in partnership with the Economics for Equity and the Environment Network) shows how the increased cost of fossil fuels created by a carbon cap policy could be distributed across the population, based on the carbon footprints of households in different income brackets in each state.

With a carbon price of $25 per ton, Boyce & Riddle estimate that the annual cost to the median family ranges from $239 per person in Oregon to $349 in Indiana. Under cap-and-dividend, each person would receive dividend payments of $386 per year. The median family would end up with a net gain ranging from $37 per person in Indiana to $147 in Oregon, in addition to the benefits of curbing global warming,

At the same time a cap-and-dividend policy would send a clear price signal that burning fossil fuels has a social cost, giving businesses and consumers a strong incentive to invest in energy efficiency and clean energy.
See also:
- Press Release
- Boyce's testimony on cap-and-dividend before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee

Source: Middle Class Task Force, Council On Environmental Quality, October 2009

Making American homes and buildings more energy efficient presents an unprecedented opportunity for communities throughout the country. The Recovery Through Retrofit Report builds on investments made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) to expand the home energy efficiency and retrofit market. Home retrofits can potentially help people earn money, as home retrofit workers, while also helping them save money, by lowering their utility bills. By encouraging nationwide weatherization of homes, workers of all skill levels will be trained, engaged, and will participate in ramping up a national home retrofit market.
See also:
press release

Source: Guest Editor: Jim Young, New Solutions, Vol.19 no. 2, 2009
(subscription required)

New Solutions has been published as a special issue, Green Jobs, Green Recovery.
Articles include:
• New Solutions and the Blue Green Alliance--Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference - Craig Slatin, Editor, Beth Rosenberg, Editor, Eduardo Siqueira
• Global Warming Solutions and the Path to Recovery - David Foster
• Climate Policy Statement - The Blue Green Alliance
• A Chance to Create Jobs that Do Good - Lisa Jackson
• Growing a Strong Middle Class - Martin O'Malley
• A Case for Green Energy Manufacturing - Sherrod Brown
• Change is Happening - Amy Klobuchar
• Embracing a Clean-Energy Future - Kathleen Sebelius
• Rebuild America Clean and Green - Leo W. Gerard
• Start Your Engines - Carl Pope
• Renew, Refuel, and Rebuild - Allison Chin
• Green Jobs to Meet America's Biggest Challenges - Peter Lehner
• Ensuring that Green Jobs are Good Jobs - Sharon Beard
• Changing Course--And the World - Terence M. O'Sullivan
• Jobs and The Environment - Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
• Massive Public Investment Needed to Grow Green Economy - Communications Workers of America
• Together We'll Take America Back - Van Jones
• Global Green New Deal - Achim Steiner
• A Strategic Approach to a Green Economy - Richard L. Trumka
• Blue and Green Working Together - James P. Hoffa
• Green Jobs and a Strong Middle Class - John D. Podesta
• We Want a Made-in-the-U.S.A. Economy - Phil Angelides
• Repowering America - Alliance for Climate Protection
• Wind Energy Can Power a Strong Recovery - Denise Bode

Source: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices, September 29, 2009

As governors across the country look at ways they can help build a green economy in their state, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) has commissioned Collaborative Economics Inc. (CEI) to prepare a profile of each state's "green" economy. State profiles can be found by clicking on the map above. This data is designed to provide a detailed, empirical account of each state's existing assets across multiple green sectors and serve as a foundation for identifying future growth areas and related needs. The profile is based on a methodology presented by CEI at the NGA Center's Green Economy State Roundtable in April.

Source: Royal Society, RS Policy document 10/09, RS1636, September 2009

From the summary:
Man-made climate change is happening and its impacts and costs will be large, serious and unevenly spread. The impacts may be reduced by adaptation and moderated by mitigation, especially by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. However, global efforts to reduce emissions have not yet been sufficiently successful to provide confidence that the reductions needed to avoid dangerous climate change will be achieved. This has led to growing interest in geoengineering, defined here as the deliberate large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment to counteract anthropogenic climate change.