Court Blocks EPA From Controlling Texas GHG Regulations

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has blocked until Friday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) plan to seize control of greenhouse gas permits from Texas.

The first federal rules on emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases took effect Sunday. Texas is the only state to refuse to implement the new rules — a position that prompted the EPA's intervention.  In its petition, the state accuses the EPA of abusing its powers by taking control of the permitting program without proper notice. The agency, in response, criticized Texas officials for filing suit instead of working with it to protect public health.

The federal rules require new controls for reducing emissions from power plants, oil refineries and other large industrial facilities. Such rules would have a profound impact on Texas, which pumps more carbon dioxide into the air than any other state. The EPA has said that 167 facilities in Texas would be subject to the new permitting requirements. (Chron, 1/4/2010)

Texas To Import Low-Level Nuclear Waste From 36 States

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission, which manages the state's radioactive-waste dump, voted 5-2 to approve rules governing the process for accepting importation of low-level radioactive-waste from 36 other states.

The waste will be stored at the 1,338-acre site in concrete-reinforced underground units. The site will permanently store low-level radioactive waste—contaminated materials and equipment from nuclear plants, research laboratories and hospitals. The material includes everything from parts from dismantled nuclear-energy plants to booties worn by scientists working in labs where radioactive materials are present. More highly contaminated waste, such as spent fuel from power plants, wouldn't be stored at the site. Waste Control Specialists LLC is the site owner.  In the Oct. 14, 2009 photo at left, canisters filled with uranium byproduct waste are placed into a burial pit at at Waste Control Specialists near Andrews, Texas. The 1,340-acre site is the nation’s only dump licensed to take all three categories of low-level waste, which come from nuclear power plants, hospitals, universities and research labs, but not nuclear fuel or weapons material. (AP)

States are responsible for handling low-level radioactive waste produced within their own borders, but space for it is limited. And the three disposal sites for it in the U.S. don't take all kinds of materials within the low-level category or can only take waste from certain states. That leaves 36 states without a permanent storage place.

Controversy had surrounded the proposal in part because the dump, set to open by year's end, was conceived and built to take waste from only two states—Texas and Vermont. Opponents also note that the site is near the Ogallala aquifer that provides drinking water to several states. Texas regulators already deemed the site safe, and thus granted a license for the project. The state will receive a cut of disposal fees as well as a $136 million fund to help pay for any future liabilities, he added.

The commissioners agreed to reserve 20% of the space for Vermont. (WSJ, 1/5/2010)

Court Gives Texas Temporary Greenhouse Gas Reprieve

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit temporarily blocked EPA's plan to strip the state of GHG permitting authority. The court agreed to an emergency request by Texas officials to stay "pending further order of the court" EPA's plan to take over GHG permitting responsibility from the TCEQ.

According to the judges:

"The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the emergency motion for a stay and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,"

They directed EPA to respond to Texas' request by Thursday and for Texas officials to file any reply to that response one day later. Just before Christmas, as it announced new GHG rules, EPA also said it planned to assume responsibility for Texas' greenhouse gas-related permitting January 2. Texas AG Greg Abbott and Gov. Rick Perry have been on an anti-EPA rampage lately, filed several lawsuits to block EPA action against Texas. The recent stay came a day after a New Orleans-based federal appeal court rejected Texas's request to stall the agency's plans. (Frank Maisano)

More on EPA Versus Texas on Climate Change Reg Fight

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking control of carbon-emission rules in Texas after Governor Rick Perry rejected new federal regulations intended to combat climate change. The EPA will decide directly on greenhouse-gas permits for companies seeking to build or upgrade power plants and oil refineries in Texas. The EPA’s nationwide carbon rules, imposed under the Clean Air Act, take effect January 2, 2011. Texas is the only state that has refused to implement the new rules.

AAEA supports EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases.  We believe the rules can lead to increased job creation via innovative methods and technologies. These standards will help American companies attract private investment to the clean energy upgrades that make our companies more competitive and create good jobs here at home.

Texas critics believe the rules are unnecessarily burdensome mandates on the state’s energy sector and  threatens hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs.  Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republicans and some Democrats in Congress are pushing to halt the EPA’s authority over greenhouse gases.

The EPA’s rules are set to start 13 months after the agency declared carbon-dioxide emissions a danger to public health and welfare. The EPA’s “endangerment finding” followed a Supreme Court ruling in 2007 that the agency has the authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.

According to EPA, most states are prepared to grant the permits starting Jan. 2. Seven have agreed to have the agency issue permits while they revise their programs to accommodate the new rules.

According to Texas EPA, Texas emits about 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, more than any other state. If Texas were a country it would be the world’s eighth-largest polluter. According to the San Francisco-based Sierra Club, Texas is home to about a fourth of U.S. oil refining capacity and has more coal-fired electrical capacity than any state in the U.S.

The EPA remains in talks with Texas and views federal control of greenhouse-gas permits in the state as a temporary arrangement.

The EPA will propose new standards for utilities by July and for oil refineries by December. Those rules will be made final for power plants by May 2012 and for refineries by November 2012, she said.

The EPA officials said today it’s too early to know what the new rules, known as “new source performance standards” for pollutants under the Clean Air Act, will entail. (Bloomberg Business Week, 12/27/2010)

Texas is making improvements toward sustainability all over the state in education, energy and the environment. Are you doing your part? Get Active. Go Green!

Education

Beginning in January, 2011, the University of Texas at Arlington will offer a Master of Science in Sustainability program in its downtown Dallas location. The one year, 36-hour program, targeted to attorneys, architects, government employees and educators, will focus on the green building (LEED) project, the Energy Star program and high-density development. Full story at UTA.

Environmental

Through a partnership between the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the University of North Texas in Arlington, four air quality monitors will be installed in North Texas to check for pollution from gas drilling. Full story at TCEQ.

Energy

According to a recent report by the Dallas Morning News, electricity prices across Texas are finally below the national average. Now, you can shop for less expensive energy! Full story at Power to Choose.

Get Active. Go Green! with delmetria millener, a freelance writer based in Texas. Contact her at thawriter@thawriter.biz.

Heal Holiday Depression Naturally

The holiday season is a time of love and happiness, joy and peace—a joining of family and friends, eating, celebration and sharing. However, for some people it can also be a time of depression and desolation. People who suffer from what experts refer to as "holiday depression" battle during the holidays with financial burdens, loneliness, unrealistic expectations, stress, fatigue, nostalgia, anxiety and other psychological factors.

But there are cures—natural cures—that not only help heal holiday depression, but prevent the disorder from returning each year. These natural remedies can also be used throughout the year anytime stress, anxiety or depression becomes an issue. These remedies are easy to pull off and do not require much preparation or activity.

To start, make sure you are eating an abundance of colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking lemon and water. The sour flavor helps activate the liver which promotes natural healing. Be sure to include green, leafy vegetables like as a nice, big salad with olive oil dressing and drink plenty of water. A spinach salad with walnuts sounds great right about now!

Getting through holiday depression doesn’t stop with what you eat. How you dress, your activities and thought process can also play a part in your high or low mood. To that end, wear bright colors when the weather’s gloomy, volunteer and ease into the holidays with thoughts of helping and hearing other people’s stories—good or bad—because it will allow you to see how valuable your contributions are and that your situation is not always as bad as you think.

During the holidays, depending on your geography, the weather is cool and breezy. So, whenever you can, get outside and take a walk or run. Breathe deeply so the fresh air can generate more oxygen to clear your head.

One thing we all need to do is minimize expectations of family and friends, to avoid unnecessary stress and intensity. Realize that the season is not about what fits your family’s or friends’ image of you and how you’re living. Trying too hard to please or convince your family and friends that you “fit” in some category or image that they have of you can rapidly spiral you into depression

The holidays are the perfect season to catch up on your rest. Getting enough sleep is critical to ending holiday depression because when you’re awake many hours, the liver cannot regenerate like it’s designed to do during late hours.

By all means, avoid consuming too much sugar, refined carbohydrates and empty calorie snacks. Instead, snack on raw vegetables or eat healthy foods you have at home before going to a party so you won’t feel obligated to pile up on energy zapping foods.

Finally, herbs are also a natural way to heal depression. St. John’s Wart and lemon balm are just two of the hundreds of natural, already prepared products that will help restore your energy. A visit to your local, natural food store can help you find out what’s available.

Other Tips:

• Take a warm shower with a cold rinse


• Get lots of natural light


• Laugh a lot to produce hormones that lift your mood


• Exercise


• Plan for next year (home projects, business projects, etc.)


• Write out at least 10 things you plan to accomplish and share with family and friends


• Practice postive self-talk

Get Active. Go Green! with delmetria millener, a freelance writer based in Texas. Contact her at thawriter@thawriter.biz.

African American Environmental Association: 25th Anniversary

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

By Norris McDonald

Today is our 25th anniversary.  We was incorporated on November 20, 1985.  The African American Environmentalist Association (AAEA) is the outreach arm of the Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy (Center).

You can see a listing of many of our activities during that time at our original website, which we converted to Multiply when the original Msn Groups platform ended).  There is more activity information at our History page. My career has been very satisfying.  From my beginning in the Fall of 1979 at the Environmental Policy Center (now Friends of the Earth) until today, the adventure has been incredible.  I started out in the Washington, D.C.-based environmental movement.  Jimmy Carter was president and was just finishing a rough 4-year run.  I shook his hand at the Democratic National Convention in New York in 1980 not knowing that Washington was about to get a completely new makeover.  The Reagan era was interesting and quite the challenge for the environmental movement.  I still remember his 'no standard standard' for appliance efficiency standards.  I also remember the Air Florida crash and the Metro subway accident on the day that I was walking back from the U.S. Department of Energy after testifying on appliance standards.

Well, without sounding like the old guy in the room sharing old war time stories that nobody really wants to hear, the situation today is as exciting as ever.  We are embarking on trying to build biomass power plants in Mississippi, California and in Kenya.  The adventure continues and I am having more fun than ever.  Our team is lean and mean and green. 

I have kept the AAEA small on purpose and will continue to do so.  I almost died from respiratory failure in 1991 and 1996 (intubated for 4 days in ICU each time).  After getting divorced and full custody of my son when he was 2 years old, I decided that I wanted to stick around to see my son grow up.  But I also wanted to continue with my entrepreneurial environmentalism.  So keeping it small worked.  Although I still struggle with a chronic acute asthma that could kill me any day, my son is now 18 and I am still 'doing my green thing.'  Life is good.  Hey, and we just opened a new Center Hollywood blog this week (Also see AAEA Hollywood).  Oh, and if you're feeling generous, feel free to click on our Donation button on our sites.