Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee will vet options this week for the sweeping energy and climate bill, which they are expected to play a significant role inshaping.The panel will have a hearing Wednesday to explore the role for agriculture and forestry in climate change legislation. They are scheduled to hear from two major farm groups on opposing sides of the debate and question senior Obama administration officials: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House Office of Science and Technology Director John Holdren.
The hearing comes as senators consider their options for a massive cap-and-trade measure expected after the August recess. Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, who is heading up the effort, says the measure the House passed last month, H.R. 2454 (pdf), will serve as her basis for a bill.
Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and other Senate chairmen with a stake in the bill have been brought in for their contributions.
As Senate leadership aims to advance the bill this fall, agricultural interests could form a formidable coalition. Several key fence-sitters on the bill sit on the Agriculture Committee, and farm interests have wide appeal in the Senate. Each senator has some farm interests in his or her state -- unlike the House, which has more representatives from urban and suburban areas.
Boxer plans to introduce her bill the week of Sept. 8, after lawmakers return from the monthlong recess, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has set a Sept. 28 deadline for all committees to finish their work on the measure.
Harkin has said he is not sure if he will have a separate markup on the committee's contributions to the overall bill.
Agriculture concerns
Harkin and other senators on the Agriculture Committee have said they want to ensure any effort at wide-ranging climate legislation in the Senate will include all of the provisions that House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) brokered for the House cap-and-trade bill.
House leaders compromised with Peterson and included a raft of changes he suggested in order to win his and other key votes for the bill. The changes were a major victory for farm groups but a disappointment to many environmentalists who are concerned it could weaken efforts to cut down on emissions.
The much-publicized deal put the Agriculture Department, rather than U.S. EPA, in charge of programs that would offset emissions with conservation efforts on farms, ranches and forests. Peterson's language also allowed "early actors," farmers who have been doing such conservation practices for years, to participate in the program.
The language would allow certain farm projects that date back as far as 2001 to qualify. Critics are concerned that instead of reducing carbon, the program may just pay farmers for what they are already doing.
The offset market could be a boon to farmers and other landowners who plant extra trees to absorb carbon dioxide, install methane capture systems over animal waste lagoons or practice no-till farming to store carbon in the soil. The question for some environmental groups is whether these projects will measurably reduce carbon dioxide overall.
Members of the Senate EPW panel said at a hearing last week that they want to make sure the bill is not overly generous in its offset program.
"There is a tremendous amount of sequestering potential, but we have to have it work," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). "It has to have a high level of integrity, if there is too much of a loophole it will be irrelevant and ineffective."
Peterson also included a set of provisions friendly to corn-based ethanol, another important issue for Harkin and other Midwestern senators. Peterson's language would temporarily block EPA from calculating a fuel's total worldwide carbon footprint before determining whether it qualifies as a biofuel eligible for incentives. It also bars EPA for five years from including emissions from indirect land-use changes abroad.
Economic analyses
The top Republican on the Agriculture Committee wants more information on the legislation's potential economic effects. Last week he asked agency chiefs who will be testifying at the hearing to release new economic analyses of the House cap-and-trade bill.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) sent letters to Jackson and the chief economist at the Agriculture Department requesting the studies. Chambliss' requests came out of frustration over the lack of statistics and economic analyses on the bill at the farm-level, according to an aide for the second-term senator. He and other Republicans are likely to press the issue this week.
From EPA, Chambliss requested existing research the agency gained from a contract with Bruce McCarl of Texas A&M University. McCarl is a professor of agricultural economics and has specialized in climate change research, developing models that analyze global warming effects on farm economics from a variety of angles.
Chambliss requested McCarl's model, along with all data and supporting information. EPA officials said last week that his request will likely be satisfied. Dave Ryan, a spokesman for the agency, said the computer model is not EPA's property but that its custodian is open with the code and data.
"EPA is working to respond to Senator Chambliss's letter expeditiously," Ryan said.
Chambliss also requested a new study from USDA chief economist Joseph Glauber that would quantify the potential for the offset market and assess the effects that increased energy costs from the House bill could have on farmers and food costs.
USDA is already working on an analysis of some of the costs and benefits of the bill. William Hohenstein, director of USDA's global change program office, said the agency is examining how the bill will effect costs of fuel and fertilizer and its incentives for renewable energy, as well as the impacts and costs of climate change.
Schedule: The hearing is Wednesday, July 22, at 1 p.m. in 325 Russell.
Witnesses: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson; John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology; Roger Johnson, president of National Farmers Union; Bob Stallman, president of American Farm Bureau Federation; and Jo Pierce, a family tree farmer from Maine, representing the Forest Climate Working Group.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Frozen tiger, bones seized in Vietnam: monitors
frozen young tiger and several kilograms of tiger bones have been seized by police in Vietnam, where only about 50 of the animals remain, an environmental group said in a statement received Monday.
Hanoi's environmental police found the frozen tiger, weighing 57 kilograms (125 pounds), in the boot of a "suspicious" taxi they stopped in the capital early last Thursday, the TRAFFIC wildlife trade monitoring network said.
They also found 11 kilograms of limb bones believed to come from two tigers, it said.
Environmental police believe the tiger had been transported from central Vietnam but it is not yet known whether it was a native big cat or whether it was wild or captive, said TRAFFIC.
The tiger seizure is the third in Hanoi this year after six tiger skins were found at a store in January and 23 kilograms of frozen tiger parts were recovered the following month, TRAFFIC said.
"These seizures show us just how serious the threat to Asia's remaining wild tigers is," said Nguyen Dao Ngoc Van, of TRAFFIC's Hanoi office.
Vietnam is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which lists tigers as a protected and endangered species.
Tigers are threatened by the loss of natural habitat from Asia's rapid urbanisation, and are also hunted for fur and body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Hanoi's environmental police found the frozen tiger, weighing 57 kilograms (125 pounds), in the boot of a "suspicious" taxi they stopped in the capital early last Thursday, the TRAFFIC wildlife trade monitoring network said.
They also found 11 kilograms of limb bones believed to come from two tigers, it said.
Environmental police believe the tiger had been transported from central Vietnam but it is not yet known whether it was a native big cat or whether it was wild or captive, said TRAFFIC.
The tiger seizure is the third in Hanoi this year after six tiger skins were found at a store in January and 23 kilograms of frozen tiger parts were recovered the following month, TRAFFIC said.
"These seizures show us just how serious the threat to Asia's remaining wild tigers is," said Nguyen Dao Ngoc Van, of TRAFFIC's Hanoi office.
Vietnam is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which lists tigers as a protected and endangered species.
Tigers are threatened by the loss of natural habitat from Asia's rapid urbanisation, and are also hunted for fur and body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Indian spiritual leaders go green
Indian spiritual sects are using their wide reach to promote green causes, using the fact that preservation of natural elements is at the country's spiritual core.
Less than a week ago, nearly 1,000 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers set off on a 400-km spiritual trek from Kardang in Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Ladakh across five high Himalayan passes to promote protection of environment and sustainable lifestyles in the region.
The 40-day trek is to say no to plastic bags, a major pollutant in the fragile ecological zone.
The trekkers, led by the head of the 800-year-old Tibetan Drukpa Buddhist sect, Gyalwang Drukpa, will distribute canvas bags to more than 100,000 villagers along the way as a symbolic gesture to shun plastic bags and switch to carry-bags made of cloth and other eco-friendly material.
The marchers will also raise funds - $30 per km - to spread education and sustainable eco-friendly lifestyle awareness in the Himalayan villages.
'This year, we wanted to promote something that purges pollution. Since plastic litter is one of the major eco-concerns in the region, we decided to teach the villagers healthy alternatives. We are in the wheel of a revolution and the way to carry it forward is to lead a clean life.
'Thousands of disciples who visit my monastery in Hemis in Ladakh every year from Europe and Japan requested that we do something in a sustained manner to turn the wheel of revolution so that more people can identify with the spiritual movement and can make their lives better,' Gyalwang Drukpa, the head of the sect, told IANS on telephone from Manali before flagging off the march.
The sect has also been given land along the Indus river on the way to Ladkah to create new woodlands by planting trees.
The trekkers will also champion the cause of 'balanced education for children of the Himalayas' for sustainable livelihoods at the Drukpa sect's eco-friendly 'Druk White Lotus School' in Ladakh that has won international acclaim as the best green school building in Asia.
'We want more children to study in our school and learn to lead balanced lives without losing touch with their culture and environment,' the spiritual leader said.
'A clean environment is the cornerstone of a clean, healthy and strong India,' says Ramdev, co-founder of the Patanjali Yog Peeth near Hardwar.
Ramdev is leading a campaign to clean the Ganga from its source in Gangotri to Ganga Sagar where it drains into the Bay of Bengal. He is working under the banner of Ganga Raksha Manch.
'The government has granted the Ganga national heritage status after our efforts for almost a year,' the seer told IANS. Ramdev, along with representatives of at least 25 religious organisations, is also opposing unplanned industrialisation along the river.
The Ganga - the ninth longest river in the world - is contaminated almost throughout its 2,500-km course. The campaign has managed to mobilise nearly 700,000 youths at the district level.
The cause has helped the Patanjali Yog Peeth identify itself to potential new disciples, especially the youths living in the villages along the Ganga, sources in the organisation said. 'Most villages have Patanjali yoga and fitness cells,' he said.
Protection of environment and mitigating the effects of global warming also tops the agenda of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living, which has a global following.
'The only way to check environment pollution is to spread awareness. Many people in this world live without the knowledge of climate. They are immune even to changes in the cycle of seasons. They have to be educated,' Sri Sri told IANS.
The seer, who hosted a national environment summit in his retreat in 2008, has been campaigning against global warming and agri-pollution by promoting 'organic farming', plantations and traditional farm technologies.
Youngsters identify with the campaign, says the guru, whose Art of Living Foundation headquarters on the outskirts of Bangalore is a model for sustainable ecological conservation and traditional farming.
Mystic and yoga expert Jaggi Vasudev, head of the Isha Foundation, a spiritual organisation in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, is known as a global tree planter.
His foundation entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006 for an eco-conservation campaign, 'Project Greenhand', which has planted 7.5 million trees in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Most of the foundation's members are young professionals.
Less than a week ago, nearly 1,000 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers set off on a 400-km spiritual trek from Kardang in Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Ladakh across five high Himalayan passes to promote protection of environment and sustainable lifestyles in the region.
The 40-day trek is to say no to plastic bags, a major pollutant in the fragile ecological zone.
The trekkers, led by the head of the 800-year-old Tibetan Drukpa Buddhist sect, Gyalwang Drukpa, will distribute canvas bags to more than 100,000 villagers along the way as a symbolic gesture to shun plastic bags and switch to carry-bags made of cloth and other eco-friendly material.
The marchers will also raise funds - $30 per km - to spread education and sustainable eco-friendly lifestyle awareness in the Himalayan villages.
'This year, we wanted to promote something that purges pollution. Since plastic litter is one of the major eco-concerns in the region, we decided to teach the villagers healthy alternatives. We are in the wheel of a revolution and the way to carry it forward is to lead a clean life.
'Thousands of disciples who visit my monastery in Hemis in Ladakh every year from Europe and Japan requested that we do something in a sustained manner to turn the wheel of revolution so that more people can identify with the spiritual movement and can make their lives better,' Gyalwang Drukpa, the head of the sect, told IANS on telephone from Manali before flagging off the march.
The sect has also been given land along the Indus river on the way to Ladkah to create new woodlands by planting trees.
The trekkers will also champion the cause of 'balanced education for children of the Himalayas' for sustainable livelihoods at the Drukpa sect's eco-friendly 'Druk White Lotus School' in Ladakh that has won international acclaim as the best green school building in Asia.
'We want more children to study in our school and learn to lead balanced lives without losing touch with their culture and environment,' the spiritual leader said.
'A clean environment is the cornerstone of a clean, healthy and strong India,' says Ramdev, co-founder of the Patanjali Yog Peeth near Hardwar.
Ramdev is leading a campaign to clean the Ganga from its source in Gangotri to Ganga Sagar where it drains into the Bay of Bengal. He is working under the banner of Ganga Raksha Manch.
'The government has granted the Ganga national heritage status after our efforts for almost a year,' the seer told IANS. Ramdev, along with representatives of at least 25 religious organisations, is also opposing unplanned industrialisation along the river.
The Ganga - the ninth longest river in the world - is contaminated almost throughout its 2,500-km course. The campaign has managed to mobilise nearly 700,000 youths at the district level.
The cause has helped the Patanjali Yog Peeth identify itself to potential new disciples, especially the youths living in the villages along the Ganga, sources in the organisation said. 'Most villages have Patanjali yoga and fitness cells,' he said.
Protection of environment and mitigating the effects of global warming also tops the agenda of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living, which has a global following.
'The only way to check environment pollution is to spread awareness. Many people in this world live without the knowledge of climate. They are immune even to changes in the cycle of seasons. They have to be educated,' Sri Sri told IANS.
The seer, who hosted a national environment summit in his retreat in 2008, has been campaigning against global warming and agri-pollution by promoting 'organic farming', plantations and traditional farm technologies.
Youngsters identify with the campaign, says the guru, whose Art of Living Foundation headquarters on the outskirts of Bangalore is a model for sustainable ecological conservation and traditional farming.
Mystic and yoga expert Jaggi Vasudev, head of the Isha Foundation, a spiritual organisation in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, is known as a global tree planter.
His foundation entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006 for an eco-conservation campaign, 'Project Greenhand', which has planted 7.5 million trees in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Most of the foundation's members are young professionals.
Clinton seeks to narrow gap on climate change
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Indian capital Sunday hoping to narrow a wide gap with her hosts on fighting climate change ahead of a high-stakes conference later in the year.
On the second leg of her first visit to India since becoming chief US diplomat in January, Clinton will also hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna on a range of issues from regional security and counter-terrorism, to trade and arms control.
Clinton kicked off her visit in Mumbai on Saturday by calling for a global fight against terrorism after paying tribute to victims of last year's deadly attacks on the Indian financial capital.
With her on the trip is her special climate envoy Todd Stern, who is tasked with bridging substantial divisions between Washington and Delhi on how best to tackle climate change.
Before leaving for India, Clinton said that she and Stern "hope that we can, through dialogue, come up with some win-win approaches".
The Washington administration is also looking towards a December summit in the Danish capital Copenhagen intended to secure a new international agreement on climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
India -- like fellow developing heavyweight China -- has refused to commit to carbon emission cuts in the new treaty until developed nations, particularly the United States, present sufficient targets of their own.
New Delhi has consistently said any pact should not hinder the economic growth of developing countries.
The subject was raised at a meeting Clinton had in Mumbai with Indian business leaders, including Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, which deals in oil and gas exploration among other business.
Ambani argued that India and the United States need to establish "self-sustaining institutions" to produce clean technology, rather than debating who has the right to pollute and how much.
"The time is now, and my perception is, the Indian corporate (world) is ready to do more," he said.
Amrita Patel, head of the National Dairy Development Board, took the United States and the West to task.
"The West, having consumed most of the resources, has to drive it (the climate change fight)," Patel said, echoing official positions. "There is a moral responsibility that the US has."
Clinton said that President Barack Obama's administration has begun to take action on climate change, after his predecessor George W. Bush played down the the problem.
As she did during a visit to China, which has overtaken the United States as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, Clinton acknowledged that the United States had "made mistakes" in its own industrial advance.
She has also defended the right of emerging countries to improve their living standards.
But she added: "We also hope that a country like India, which is growing and mobilising so much development, will not make the same mistakes."
Although she did not expect the world to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to fighting global warming, she said: "There does have to be a framework that India and China in particular sign on to that produces results."
Clinton will Sunday visit the ITC hotel chain's Green Building in Delhi, the first non-commercial complex in India to be awarded a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating, the highest given by the US Green Building Council.
The building is designed to use as much natural light as possible, has windows that allow in light but not heat in order to reduce the need for energy-consuming air conditioners, and has a water recycling plant.
Clinton's talks with the prime minister as well as her counterpart Krishna are scheduled for Monday after which she flies to Thailand.
Indo-US relations were frosty during the Cold War and deteriorated after New Delhi tested an atom bomb in 1998 but thawed after former US president George W. Bush signed a civilian nuclear technology deal with India last year.
Clinton's visit could see an announcement on the two locations India has chosen for US firms to build multi-billion-dollar nuclear power plants, aides said.
On the second leg of her first visit to India since becoming chief US diplomat in January, Clinton will also hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna on a range of issues from regional security and counter-terrorism, to trade and arms control.
Clinton kicked off her visit in Mumbai on Saturday by calling for a global fight against terrorism after paying tribute to victims of last year's deadly attacks on the Indian financial capital.
With her on the trip is her special climate envoy Todd Stern, who is tasked with bridging substantial divisions between Washington and Delhi on how best to tackle climate change.
Before leaving for India, Clinton said that she and Stern "hope that we can, through dialogue, come up with some win-win approaches".
The Washington administration is also looking towards a December summit in the Danish capital Copenhagen intended to secure a new international agreement on climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
India -- like fellow developing heavyweight China -- has refused to commit to carbon emission cuts in the new treaty until developed nations, particularly the United States, present sufficient targets of their own.
New Delhi has consistently said any pact should not hinder the economic growth of developing countries.
The subject was raised at a meeting Clinton had in Mumbai with Indian business leaders, including Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, which deals in oil and gas exploration among other business.
Ambani argued that India and the United States need to establish "self-sustaining institutions" to produce clean technology, rather than debating who has the right to pollute and how much.
"The time is now, and my perception is, the Indian corporate (world) is ready to do more," he said.
Amrita Patel, head of the National Dairy Development Board, took the United States and the West to task.
"The West, having consumed most of the resources, has to drive it (the climate change fight)," Patel said, echoing official positions. "There is a moral responsibility that the US has."
Clinton said that President Barack Obama's administration has begun to take action on climate change, after his predecessor George W. Bush played down the the problem.
As she did during a visit to China, which has overtaken the United States as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, Clinton acknowledged that the United States had "made mistakes" in its own industrial advance.
She has also defended the right of emerging countries to improve their living standards.
But she added: "We also hope that a country like India, which is growing and mobilising so much development, will not make the same mistakes."
Although she did not expect the world to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to fighting global warming, she said: "There does have to be a framework that India and China in particular sign on to that produces results."
Clinton will Sunday visit the ITC hotel chain's Green Building in Delhi, the first non-commercial complex in India to be awarded a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating, the highest given by the US Green Building Council.
The building is designed to use as much natural light as possible, has windows that allow in light but not heat in order to reduce the need for energy-consuming air conditioners, and has a water recycling plant.
Clinton's talks with the prime minister as well as her counterpart Krishna are scheduled for Monday after which she flies to Thailand.
Indo-US relations were frosty during the Cold War and deteriorated after New Delhi tested an atom bomb in 1998 but thawed after former US president George W. Bush signed a civilian nuclear technology deal with India last year.
Clinton's visit could see an announcement on the two locations India has chosen for US firms to build multi-billion-dollar nuclear power plants, aides said.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Waste companies face inqury as British rubbish is returned from Brazil
More than 1,400 tonnes of potentially hazardous waste, including nappies, condoms, syringes and bags of blood, will be returned to Britain from Brazil as UK authorities investigate whether they were illegally exported.
The Environment Agency today said plans were being made to bring back the rubbish which is thought to have been transported from Felixstowe to three Brazilian ports.
Five Brazilian companies which imported waste between February and May have already been fined, although they said they thought they were receiving plastic for recycling.
The head of Brazil's environment agency, Roberto Massias, last week called for "repatriation of this garbage", saying his country was not .
The UK agency's director of waste, Liz Parks, told the BBC that arrangements were being made to bring back the waste, although it could take a number of weeks.
She also warned that British courts took the dumping of hazardous waste seriously. "We do prosecute people. We've had a number of successful prosecutions in recent years. And in fact in the crown court, people can be fined unlimited amounts and prison sentences are imposed."
Brazil has maintained that the cargo, which also included domestic waste, such as food and cleaning product containers, broke an international convention on movement of hazardous waste to which both countries are signatories.
A spokewoman for the UK agency said this country had taken a "strong global lead" in moves to protect the enviroment and human health.
"Where the Environment Agency detects or is made aware of the illegal export of waste, it works with all relevant partner authorities to ensure the environmentally sound management of any illegal shipments – including the poossible return of wastes to the UK.
"If any company is found to have contravened the strict controls on the export of waste as set out by the Basel convention, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to take enforcement action."
The Environment Agency today said plans were being made to bring back the rubbish which is thought to have been transported from Felixstowe to three Brazilian ports.
Five Brazilian companies which imported waste between February and May have already been fined, although they said they thought they were receiving plastic for recycling.
The head of Brazil's environment agency, Roberto Massias, last week called for "repatriation of this garbage", saying his country was not .
The UK agency's director of waste, Liz Parks, told the BBC that arrangements were being made to bring back the waste, although it could take a number of weeks.
She also warned that British courts took the dumping of hazardous waste seriously. "We do prosecute people. We've had a number of successful prosecutions in recent years. And in fact in the crown court, people can be fined unlimited amounts and prison sentences are imposed."
Brazil has maintained that the cargo, which also included domestic waste, such as food and cleaning product containers, broke an international convention on movement of hazardous waste to which both countries are signatories.
A spokewoman for the UK agency said this country had taken a "strong global lead" in moves to protect the enviroment and human health.
"Where the Environment Agency detects or is made aware of the illegal export of waste, it works with all relevant partner authorities to ensure the environmentally sound management of any illegal shipments – including the poossible return of wastes to the UK.
"If any company is found to have contravened the strict controls on the export of waste as set out by the Basel convention, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to take enforcement action."
Myriad chemicals enter environment
Hazardous materials spill in Ventura County. A lot.
There were 100 gallons of acetone, styrene and other flammable chemicals dumped into an Oxnard street after a 2007 tractor-trailer crash.
More than 200 gallons of sulfuric acid emptied into Ventura’s storm drains after a spill at a linen supply company in 2006.
A few cups of cyanide after an unsuccessful suicide attempt in Oxnard had to be dealt with. And then there are the more than 15,000 gallons of gas and diesel spilled after car accidents, 10 million gallons of sewage that flowed into the county’s streams and more than 540,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled onto the ground during oil production.
All told, more than 13 million gallons of pollutants have spilled on the ground and into the waterways around Ventura County in the past five years.
A Star investigation that compiled all the spills reported to the county in those five years shows an array of chemicals often make their way into the environment. More than 90 different materials spilled on the roads, front yards and beaches around the county.
The majority are single incidents of spills, though there are some patterns.
Oil spills are a regular feature in the oil fields around the county.
The old Santa Paula wastewater treatment plant dumped nearly 300,000 gallons of sewage and chlorinated water into the Santa Clara River. After the city negotiated a deal to avoid millions in fines for pollution, a new plant is being built.
“It’s a disturbing picture, and it’s one of the problems with an industrialized society with all these chemicals,” said Ron Bottorff, executive director of Friends of the Santa Clara River. “Undoubtedly there is an impact but we don’t understand what it is.”
While the spills are cleaned up by the individuals who spilled them, those who deal with such spills acknowledge it’s impossible to retrieve 100 percent of the spilled material.
“We are shooting for 100 percent but there is not such thing as absolute zero,” said Ventura Fire Marshal Brian Clark.
The data show what spills were reported to the county under Proposition 65, which is a public right to know law of potentially dangerous chemicals in the environment.
Greg Smith, manager of the Ventura County Environmental Health Division Hazardous Materials Program, said he believes the majority of the spills are reported, but not all. Smaller businesses that use the chemicals don’t have the manpower to deal with spills so they likely go unreported, he said.
Paul Jenkin, environmental director with the Surfrider Foundation’s Ventura chapter, said while a gallon of antifreeze or a few barrels of crude oil may not seem like much, the numbers can add up quickly.
“It’s not just one thing, it’s everything added up all together cumulatively,” he said. “We don’t have a good idea of how it’s affecting our ecosystem and our oceans because you add it all up and it’s a lot more than one sewage spill. This is what I call legalized pollution.”
Smith said hazardous materials have been a part of society since the days of hunting and gathering stopped. Romans had lead; other societies polluted the air with coal.
He says society is slowly moving away from the very noxious materials in favor of easier to handle ones that don’t pose such a threat to the environment, but the impacts are still there.
“While we are doing a good job, we can do better,” he said.
Discussions
There were 100 gallons of acetone, styrene and other flammable chemicals dumped into an Oxnard street after a 2007 tractor-trailer crash.
More than 200 gallons of sulfuric acid emptied into Ventura’s storm drains after a spill at a linen supply company in 2006.
A few cups of cyanide after an unsuccessful suicide attempt in Oxnard had to be dealt with. And then there are the more than 15,000 gallons of gas and diesel spilled after car accidents, 10 million gallons of sewage that flowed into the county’s streams and more than 540,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled onto the ground during oil production.
All told, more than 13 million gallons of pollutants have spilled on the ground and into the waterways around Ventura County in the past five years.
A Star investigation that compiled all the spills reported to the county in those five years shows an array of chemicals often make their way into the environment. More than 90 different materials spilled on the roads, front yards and beaches around the county.
The majority are single incidents of spills, though there are some patterns.
Oil spills are a regular feature in the oil fields around the county.
The old Santa Paula wastewater treatment plant dumped nearly 300,000 gallons of sewage and chlorinated water into the Santa Clara River. After the city negotiated a deal to avoid millions in fines for pollution, a new plant is being built.
“It’s a disturbing picture, and it’s one of the problems with an industrialized society with all these chemicals,” said Ron Bottorff, executive director of Friends of the Santa Clara River. “Undoubtedly there is an impact but we don’t understand what it is.”
While the spills are cleaned up by the individuals who spilled them, those who deal with such spills acknowledge it’s impossible to retrieve 100 percent of the spilled material.
“We are shooting for 100 percent but there is not such thing as absolute zero,” said Ventura Fire Marshal Brian Clark.
The data show what spills were reported to the county under Proposition 65, which is a public right to know law of potentially dangerous chemicals in the environment.
Greg Smith, manager of the Ventura County Environmental Health Division Hazardous Materials Program, said he believes the majority of the spills are reported, but not all. Smaller businesses that use the chemicals don’t have the manpower to deal with spills so they likely go unreported, he said.
Paul Jenkin, environmental director with the Surfrider Foundation’s Ventura chapter, said while a gallon of antifreeze or a few barrels of crude oil may not seem like much, the numbers can add up quickly.
“It’s not just one thing, it’s everything added up all together cumulatively,” he said. “We don’t have a good idea of how it’s affecting our ecosystem and our oceans because you add it all up and it’s a lot more than one sewage spill. This is what I call legalized pollution.”
Smith said hazardous materials have been a part of society since the days of hunting and gathering stopped. Romans had lead; other societies polluted the air with coal.
He says society is slowly moving away from the very noxious materials in favor of easier to handle ones that don’t pose such a threat to the environment, but the impacts are still there.
“While we are doing a good job, we can do better,” he said.
Discussions
U.S should share burden of cleaning up environment: Hillary
New Delhi, July 19 - ANI: The visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday agreed with the Indian concerns on climate change and said that being one of the biggest emitters of Green house gases the US should share the burden of cleaning up the environment. Addressing a meet on Climate Change held in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, Hillary Clinton said: "The challenge is to create a global framework that recognises the different needs and the responsibilities of developed and developing countries alike. And I not only understand but I agree with the concerns of countries like India. United States and other countries that have been the biggest historic emitters of Green house gases should shoulder the biggest burden for cleaning up the environment and we do sink our carbon footprint.Clinton also said that the United States would never do anything to limit the economic progress of India."First the United States does not and will not do anything that would limit the economic progress of India. We believe that economic progress of India is in everyone's interest and not just India to lift people out of poverty and to give every child born in India a chance to live up to his or her God- given potential, is a goal that we share with you," said Hillary Clinton.The United States wants India to agree to limit its carbon emissions ahead of the signing of a new UN climate treaty in Copenhagen in December, where over 190 nations will try to set emission cuts targets to 2020.Clinton, however, told media that she had productive talks with Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh.She expressed optimism that the United States and India could bridge their differences on the issue of reducing Greenhouse gases.Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh on this occasion said that India would never allow its per capita emissions to exceed that of the developed countries.In his opening remarks, Ramesh made it clear that Indias position on the ongoing climate change agreement negotiations was clear, credible and consistent. Embedded in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Bali Action Plan, we are fully alive to our global responsibilities. Even with 8-9% GDP growth every year for the next decade or two, our per capita emissions will be well below that of developed country averages, Ramesh said.If this pressure was not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours, he added.Talking about Indias economic growth he said the Indian government was ensuring that its economic growth path was ecologically sustainableGDP is increasingly Green Domestic Product, not just Gross Domestic Product. In collaboration with the UN, the Government of India is hosting an International Conference on Climate Change and Technology on October 22-23rd, 2009. The New Delhi Statement on Technology and Climate Change will be reflected in the Copenhagen Agreement. Ramesh said that India seeks to engage the United States of America purposively in areas joint research, development, demonstration and dissemination of environmental projects. - ANI
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