2020 Action

EPA’s New Standards Cut Mercury Emissions by 90%

Powering our homes should not expose our children to dangerous air pollution. Yet, many power plants across the country continuously spew tons of dangerous pollutants like soot, smog, and mercury into our air, putting children’s health at risk. These pollutants are linked to cancer, heart disease, neurological damage, birth defects, asthma attacks, and even premature death.

 

While air quality has significantly improved over the years, thanks in large part to clean air protections, toxic pollution from power plants contributes to one out of every ten women of childbearing age having enough mercury in her body to put her child at risk of neurological damage—including developmental disorders, learning disabilities, and lower IQs—should she become pregnant.

 

Thankfully, in December 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the first-ever nationwide standard for mercury and toxic air pollution from power plants. It will cut mercury emissions by 90%. The EPA also recently finalized another standard to cut soot and smog pollution from power plants. Together, these standards are expected to save thousands of lives every year.

 

But some in Congress—backed by industry lobbyists—are working overtime to pass bills to rollback the EPA’s authority to clean up soot, smog, and mercury pollution from power plants and other sources. In order to protect public health, we need our Senators to stand up to major polluters and oppose any efforts to rollback clean air protections.

Urge both your Senators to vote against any bills to block, weaken, or rollback the Clean Air Act. Point out that clean air and the new EPA standards to reduce mercury, soot, and smog are important to you—and to our nation’s children. Ask them to fully support the EPA’s first-ever nationwide standard for mercury and toxic air pollution, and its new standard to regulate soot and smog from power plants.

 

Via their websites:  www.senate.gov

Telephone: 202 224-3121 (senate switchboard)

Write: Senator (first & last name)

U. S. Senate

Washington, DC 20510

 

Thanks to Environment America for their work on this card.

 

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Photo credit:  I Love, Gatineau Park, Quebec, Canada, Dec. 9, 2011, Tim Irvin

The War isn't Over for Keystone XL

by: The EarthAction Team; Larry O'Connor, Christine Chung, and Alexandra Reissig

Environmental activists won a major victory as President Obama announced in November that construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline will be delayed until after the 2012 elections.  However, this decision only delays the threat - far from rejecting the proposal, the State Department released a statement saying that they will order a review of alternate routes for the pipeline that would avoid the Sands Hill region of Nebraska, home to the largest and most intricate wetland ecosystem in the United States. The debate over the XL pipeline is far from over.

Democracy Now! newscaster, Amy Goodman reported on Tuesday, January 31, that, “Senate Republicans have announced plans to introduce legislation allowing Congress to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite President Obama’s rejection of the controversial project. An analysis by the Public Campaign Action Fund and 350.org found that the bill’s 44 co-sponsors have received a combined $22.3 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry since 1989. One Democrat has joined the Republican effort: Joe Manchin of West Virginia. TransCanada, the company behind the $7 billion pipeline, spent $1.33 million on lobbying last year.”

In an article posted Monday, January 30th, Brian Merchant, a reporter for TreeHugger.com identified four ways in which the Pipeline could be “lurched back to life”.  The two most dangerous scenarios involve first, that the next payroll tax cut bill could include language that would explicitly state that the pipeline would be approved and second, that Joh Boehner could include a provision for approval into an upcoming infrastructure bill. 

 

EPA: Yes to Fuel Efficient Cars & Trucks

America’s dependence on oil puts our environment, economy, and national security at risk. Whether it's the scars left by devastating oil spills, the $1 billion that American families and businesses send overseas every day for oil, or the nearly 2 billion metric tons of global warming pollution emitted annually which fuels extreme weather, these problems demand that we break our dependence on oil.

 

More than 19 million barrels of oil are consumed in the United States each day, the majority of this by transportation. Passenger cars and light-duty trucks consume the largest percentage within the transportation sector.

 

President Obama recently took an important step toward addressing this problem, outlining new fuel efficiency standards to ensure new cars and light trucks meet the equivalent of a 54.5 mpg fleetwide standard by 2025. The projected annual benefits of such a standard by 2030 are enormous:

• $45 billion in savings at the gas pump

• 23 billion gallons of gasoline saved

• 280 million metric tons of global warming pollution avoided

 

Opponents of this historic standard, including the National Auto Dealers Assoc. and some members of Congress, are fighting to delay or weaken it as much as possible.

 

The EPA is holding a public comment period in Dec. & Jan. to gauge American support for the new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. These historic standards are the biggest opportunity the U.S. has to cut our oil use and reduce global warming pollution. We must keep the standards as strong as possible in order to reap their full benefits.

 

Urge the EPA to keep the new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks as strong as possible and to avoid loopholes that could undermine their environmental and economic benefits. Refer to docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2010–0799

 

Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC),

Air and Radiation Docket,

Mailcode: 2822T

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Washington, DC 20460

Attention: Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2010–0799

Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov

 

EPA Fax: 202-566-9744

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Photo credit: Cedar, British Columbia, 1971, Lois Barber

Thanks to Environment America for its help in preparing this card.

 

Obama: Say No to the Keystone XL Pipeline

The tar sands in northern Alberta, Canada is the third-largest proven reserve of crude oil in the world—and one of the dirtiest and most CO2-intensive concentrations of fossil fuel on the planet. Any substantial tapping of the Alberta tar sands means it’s “essentially game over for the climate.” – NASA scientist James Hansen.

 

TransCanada Keystone Pipeline is proposing to build the 1,700 mile Keystone XL pipeline, and pump over one million barrels of "tar sands" oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico every day.

 

President Obama alone—without input from Congress—has the power to approve or reject this pipeline. He has to sign—or not sign—a “certificate of national interest” before the pipeline can cross the Canadian/American border.

 

Tar sand is an asphalt-like mixture of sand, clay, minerals, water, and viscous oil that requires extraction, refining, and transport—all of which have tremendous environmental consequences. Once again tax payers are subsidizing the oil industry, while at the same time the oil industry is externalizing the true cost on to the environment.

 

Wetlands and forests are destroyed to expose the tar sands. Massive quantities of clean water are polluted and discarded. Huge amounts of CO2 are spewed into the atmosphere to heat and separate the oil. Pipelines carry a high risk of land and water contamination from spills and leaks.

 

Tar sands are the dirtiest and most globally damaging source of oil. If we agree to the construction of this pipeline, we will be locked into using this toxic mess for decades to come. This pipeline is NOT in our national interest.

Web: www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Tel: 202 456-1111 (9:00 am to 5:00 pm)

Fax: 202 456-2461

Mail:

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

 

Urge him to demonstrate real environmental and economic leadership by rejecting the application for a Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL pipeline to cross the border between Canada and the US. Tell him that the Keystone pipeline is not in our national interest as it represents a catastrophic threat to our environment, our climate, and our planet. Ask him to develop America’s own safe, clean, renewable energy.

See below for additional background.  The U.S. State Department will hold public meetings in September on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Visit http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov for details.

 

Photo credit: Green Tomatoes, 2008, Lois Barber.

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Background on the Keystone XL Pipeline

One year ago, 2020 Action focused on this same issue. Since then, opposition to Keystone has grown. Please take this action. We need to stop this pipeline!

 

In an editorial on July 20, 2011, the New York Times voiced its opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline for both environmental and economic reasons. Click here to read this very good piece. The editorial states, “The risks are real. An earlier pipeline — carrying tar sands oil to the Midwest and built by TransCanada, the company planning to build Keystone XL — has had several spills, including recent ones in North Dakota and Kansas.”

 

From the U.S. Department of State: "TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (Keystone) proposes to construct and operate a crude oil pipeline and related facilities to transport Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) crude oil from an oil supply hub near Hardisty, Alberta, Canada to destinations in the south central United States, including a new tank farm in Cushing, Oklahoma and delivery points in Nederland (near Port Arthur) and Moore Junction (in Harris County), Texas. In total, the proposed Keystone XL Project would consist of approximately 1,711 miles of new, 36-inch-diameter pipeline, with approximately 327 miles of pipeline in Canada and approximately 1,384 miles in the United States. The proposed Project would cross the international border between Saskatchewan, Canada, and the United States near Morgan, Montana. The proposed Project initially would have a nominal transport capacity of 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil. Because this proposed Project will cross into the United States from Canada, a Presidential Permit issued by the U.S. Department of State is required for the project to proceed. This subjects the Keystone XL Project to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires disclosure of potential environmental impacts (beneficial and adverse) and the consideration of possible alternatives."

 

The State Department released a media note on July 22, 2011 announcing additional public meetings about the Keystone XL pipeline in September 2011. By late August, they will be posting details about the dates and locations of these meetings on their website. Click here for the media note and upcoming details.

Senate Support for the FRAC Act

 

Across America oil and gas companies are pumping enormous quantities of secret toxic chemicals deep underground, and the EPA is powerless to do anything about it.

The process of fracking means pumping millions of gallons of water, chemicals, and sand into shale rock formations at high pressures to shatter the rock and release the gas. Fracking a single gas well can use millions of gallons of water and hundreds of tons of chemicals. Companies don't have to disclose the chemicals in their pumping fluids to the EPA, and the process is exempt from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

 

Senate Bill S.587, the FRAC (Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals) Act, would correct both these problems. It has been in the Senate since 2009 and needs more Senators to support it.

 

The oil and gas industry is the only industry in America that is allowed by the EPA to inject known hazardous materials—unchecked—underground adjacent to drinking water supplies.

 

Fracking is underway in 36 states. Some have regulations but they vary widely—and water doesn’t follow state boundaries. Drillers are rushing to use the technique in new areas without adequate government oversight that fully evaluates the effects on human health and the environment. Fracking depletes local water sources, and can poison drinking water, rivers, and lakes from toxic underground leaks and above ground spills. There have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination near drilling sites around the country.

Web: www.senate.gov 

Tel: 202 224-3121 (Capitol switchboard)

Mail:

Senator (first name & last name)

US Senate

Washington, DC 20510

 

Urge them to co-sponsor the FRAC Act, S. 587, that would allow the EPA to regulate fracking and force companies to disclose the chemicals they use. Tell them we need a national standard, and a way to monitor and enforce compliance to make sure fracking chemicals are publicly disclosed, and to prevent contamination of our nation’s drinking water and environment.

   

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2020 is joining with Greenpeace, CREDO Action, Food & Water Watch and many other groups in calling for this action. Add your voice! For additional information about fracking and the FRAC Act:

 

1. CREDO Action: http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/frac_act/?rc=homepage

2."Fracking," Food and Water Watch.

3. "Hydraulic Fracturing 101," EARTHWORKS.

4. "Burning Tap Water and More: GASLAND Exposes the Natural Gas Industry," Treehugger, June 25, 2010.

5. "Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers," New York Times, February 26, 2011</font>

6. S. 587: The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act

 

Photo credit: Peaches, 2008, Lois Barber.

 

Remove Taxpayer Subsidies For Nuclear Power

If corporations that own and run nuclear reactors in the U.S. were financially liable for the deaths and damages caused by a nuclear reactor catastrophe, it would be in their interest to minimize the immense risks that have become evident in Japan in recent weeks. But that is not the system in the United States.

Instead, we have the Price—Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act, passed by Congress in 1957, which limits the liability of each reactor owner to $111.9 million per “nuclear incident.” The U.S. has 104 reactors. Their combined group liability for any one “incident” is approx. $12 billion, a minuscule fraction of what Chernobyl cost ($359 billion), and what Fukushima is projected to cost ($200 billion and counting). Who would pay for the rest of the damages? American taxpayers. 

And who oversees safety at U.S. nuclear power plants? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but the corporations consistently fight them to minimize and delay safety requirements. The Price—Anderson Act creates a disincentive for corporations to spend money for our security.

To make matters worse, in its 2012 budget, the Obama administration is asking for $36 billion in loan guarantees to reimburse investors in nuclear power for any financial losses they might incur—again paid for by the American taxpayer. 

If these taxpayer subsidies were eliminated, wind and solar would be cheaper than nuclear. Moreover, they are quicker to get up and running than nuclear power, as seen in Germany, where renewables now deliver 17% of electric power.

Urge them to eliminate the proposed $36 billion in the 2012 budget for new loan guarantees to nuclear power investors. Tell them you don't want your tax money to subsidize nuclear power and pay for investment mistakes. And to revoke the Price—Anderson Act so that nuclear corporations will have the needed financial incentives to improve safety.

Via their websites: www.senate.gov

Telephone: 202 224-3121 (senate switchboard)

Write: Senator (first & last name)

US Senate, Washington, DC 20510

Photo credit:  Photo taken by Leigh Hilbert on Hawaii Island's Kalapana Gardens active lava flow February 15th, 2011 (His 60th birthday.) Lava has been flowing from the Kilauea Volcano eruption sites for twenty-eight years nearly non stop; the most active volcano in the world. Leigh has been documenting this lava for thirteen years and his dramatic images can be seen on his website www.Leigh-Hilbert-Photography.com Leigh also writes a world popular blog named Hawaiian Lava Daily: http://hawaiianlavadaily.blogspot.com/  On March 11th, 2011 surface lava stopped flowing so blog posting is less often.



Protect the EPA’s Ability to Protect Us

The attacks that are building in Congress against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its power to regulate under the Clean Air Act must be stopped. A new EPA report (see link below*), and an analysis of it by NRDC, show huge economic, public health, and environmental benefits of the Clean Air Act; from 1990 to 2020 it will save 4.2 million lives, prevent millions of illnesses, and provide economic benefits in the trillions. The reality of climate disruption makes the Clean Air Act even more critical. EPA regulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is opposed by the industries that are the biggest polluters and their supporters in Congress. Two bills have been introduced: in the House, HR 910, and in the Senate, S 482. If passed, they will permanently block the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases. They also stymie American job growth, innovation, and competitiveness.

Beyond these bills blocking regulation of CO2, the EPA opponents are attempting to eliminate funding for climate science and monitoring, clean energy research, and high-speed rail. They also aim to block EPA regulation of a wide range of other serious sources of air and water pollution through any legislative means possible.

The Senate and President Obama must stand up for the Clean Air Act, existing climate policies, and clean energy goals. The White House needs to push hard to protect the EPA and the green agenda. A recent national poll shows that Americans support EPA’s Clean Air Act authority by a two to one majority, including the vast majority of independents.





Or Contact President Obama

Contact your Senators and President Obama. Urge them to oppose all efforts to cripple the EPA and undermine the Clean Air and Water Acts. Our health, energy efficiency, and environmental safety are at stake. These programs are not only critical to our future but also highly popular with the American public.


Senators' Contact information:
 
Telephone: Call the Senate switchboard (202) 224-3121, ask for your Senator's office. Once there, ask for her/his legislative aide on defense issues and leave your message with that aide.
Online: Click here: www.senate.gov, search for your senator, and leave a message.
Write: Senator (first & last name), U.S. Senate, Washington D.C. 20510

President Obama's Contact information:

Telephone: (202) 456-1111
Online: Click here: www.whitehouse.gov
Write: President Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Drive NW, Washington D.C. 20500

*EPA Report: http://www.epa.gov/air/sect812/prospective2.html

Urge EPA to Clean Up Trucks & Buses

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) are now writing our first national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. These standards are projected to achieve 7—20% reductions in emissions and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced in the first five years of the program.
 
Trucks account for only 4% of all the vehicles on our nation's roads, but they use 20% of our fuel. The technology already exists to make them more efficient and cleaner. The EPA standards are needed to get the technology into use.
 
The EPA reports that operators of the most frequently driven trucks would see a payback on their investment within one to two years. Overall, the EPA estimates that this program will provide $41 billion in net benefits over the lifetime of model year 2014 to 2018 trucks and buses. These savings can be invested in new jobs at home rather than increasing our dependence on foreign oil and sending jobs overseas.
 
From packages shipped to friends and family, to the abundance of goods that crisscross our country daily, we need a truck fleet and buses that minimize pollution and oil use. Everyone will benefit: we’ll get cleaner air, be less dependent on oil, and help combat climate chaos.
 
The EPA has asked for public comments on their proposed standards. They have assured us that comments received after January 31 (the published end-date for the comment period) will still be received and recorded. It is important that those who support these first-ever emission standards for heavy-duty trucks and buses submit their comments as soon as possible.

Send a message to the EPA supporting their proposed national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and to improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. Include a reason why this is important to you. In your letter or email, specify the following docket number: EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0162.
 
Contact info:
 
Write:
EPA, A&R Docket and Info Center
(6102T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460
 
Email:
A-and-R-Docket@epa.gov
(Put EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0162 in the subject line)

Photo: Untitled (Help) by Tim Barber.

US Needs a New Renewable Energy Standard

Congress has worked for over a year to pass an energy and climate bill. The House passed one earlier this year, but the Senate version never had the 60 supporters needed to overcome the opposition to taking a vote on it.
 
Now is our last chance to get a renewable energy bill passed by this Congress. A bipartisan bill, S 3813, is now before the Senate. It requires electric utilities to generate 15% of their power from renewables or efficiency improvements by 2021. The House has already approved a similar bill, HR 2454. The Senate bill is far from ideal as it has been sufficiently watered-down to garner bipartisan support, but it is "the only game in town," and is an important next step.
 
It is critical that the Senate pass this bill this year or the whole process will have to start over again in the new Congress which may be even less supportive of energy and climate legislation than the current one. As stated in the RES Action Statement released by a large coalition of business, labor and other groups, our key renewable energy industries are seeing significant drops in manufacturing while investment in these industries overseas, particularly in China, is skyrocketing. We cannot afford to lose thousands of clean energy jobs across the US and we must restore our leadership and competitive position in the global renewable energy industry.

Urge them to support S 3813, the Renewable Electricity Standard. Point out that it has wide support from business because it makes the market more predictable, and from labor because America needs the jobs. Mention that a recent poll by Yale and George Mason Universities shows that 61% of Americans support an even stronger standard of 20% renewables by 2020. Now is the time for our country to take its next step toward a renewable energy future.

Contact Information:

Telephone: Call the Senate switchboard (202) 224-3121, ask for your Senator's office.
Online: Click here: www.senate.gov, search for your senator, and leave a message.
Write: Senator (first & last name), U.S. Senate, Washington D.C. 20510

Photo Credit: Untitled (Wreck Beach), Tim Barber, 2004.

May 2010 Postcard: Don't Gut the Clean Air Act

 

The Clean Air Act is the primary national legislative tool we have right now to fight climate change and we need to make sure it stays intact.  The Clean Air Act is already being used by the Obama Administration to ease our addiction to oil by tightening fuel mileage standards, and is in the initial phases of being used to crack down on the oldest, dirtiest coal plants.  These are real opportunities to transition to a clean energy future that need to be preserved.

Congress has to make a clear choice: Support the Clean Air Act to fight against climate change and support a clean energy economy that will provide millions of stable jobs for years to come, or give in to polluters that selfishly want to block America from moving to a clean energy future.

Thousands of American businesses are waiting for Congress to set a stable, predictable clean energy and climate policy that will unlock billions of dollars in job-creating clean energy investments, but the current efforts to undermine the Clean Air Act would derail this long-overdue progress. 

We need the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate global warming pollution and crack down on dirty coal power plants. If the EPA loses this power, it would strip away one of the strongest tools we have to limit carbon pollution, to transition to a clean energy economy that will create millions of jobs, and to tackle climate change.

Urge them to stop any effort to gut the Clean Air Act. 

Call: You can phone the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request. You can leave a brief message with the staff person who answers your call.

Email: You can find your Senators’ web site contacts at:http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm where you can send them a personal e-mail message. 

Write: Senator [first name, last name], US Senate, Washington, DC 20510.  (A postcard will arrive faster than a letter in an envelope.)

Photo: Tso Moriri Lake, shared by Flickr user Prabhu B under a Creative Commons license. Each 2020 Action postcard will feature a photo that celebrates the beauty and wonder of the natural world we are working to preserve.