There are health tests we need, and those we don't. Pelvic ultrasound? Sounds ultrasuspicious. Occult blood test? Only if it comes with an exorcism. Urinalysis? Great, now I'll be kicked off the tour...
It's tough to know which of these are truly essential, especially when they're packaged with dozens of other tests and called an "executive health exam." And yet thousands of men sign up for these screenings — at an out-of-pocket cost of up to $10,000 apiece — based on the sales pitch that a test may uncover a hidden health condition.
Of course, 10 grand might be worth it if all that random screening actually did any good: But a seminal study by the Rand Corporation found that patients who had the most screenings over 5 years were no healthier than those given less medical attention. This isn't to say executive health exams are scams. They can be quite valuable — if you know which of the procedures are worthwhile. So we asked our experts to create an a la carte menu to bring to your GP. Think of these as the best tests for a recession.
Cardiac CT angiographyThese colorful 3-D images allow radiologists to calculate one of your most important heart numbers: your coronary artery calcium score, a measure of how much plaque is piling up in your arteries. A 2007 study of over 10,000 people published in the journal Atherosclerosis reported that calcium scores alone can predict heart attacks, while a 2003 study found that a high calcium score is associated with a tenfold increase in heart-disease risk. This is compared with a less-than-twofold increase in risk from traditional risk factors such as diabetes and smoking. The test has one significant downside: The radiation exposure from your average cardiac CT is equal to 600 chest x-rays, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This produces a 1-in-5,000 risk of cancer, another study reveals. Who needs it: Men with some of the risk factors for heart disease whose physicians may be on the fence about starting treatment. "In these medium-risk cases, cardiac CT scans and calcium scoring can provide the extra level of information that we feel we need," says Gerald Fletcher, M.D., a professor of cardiology at the Mayo Clinic. The lower the calcium score, the lower the risk. If you reach 112, your physician might recommend aspirin or statins. Cost: $350 to $900. Most insurance companies will reimburse you if you've previously had an abnormal stress test or chest pain. Bone density scanThink osteoporosis affects only old ladies? Fact is, men begin losing bone mass at age 30. That's why it's important to assess the state of your skeleton now with a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, which uses low-radiation X-rays to gauge bone mineral density (it can also measure body fat percentage). "DEXA scans allow us to identify people at high risk for fracture so they can start treatment to strengthen their bones before a fracture occurs," says Murray J. Favus, M. D., director of the bone program at the University of Chicago medical center. Your doctor might suggest adding strengthening workouts to your exercise program and supplementing your daily diet with up to 1,000 milligrams of calcium and up to 400 IU of vitamin D.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Southern governors hear warning on climate change
Global climate change over the next 20 years will cause intense droughts in the Southwest, floods in the Northeast threatening the coastline and urban areas, and significant storm damage along the Gulf Coast, a panel of Southern governors was told yesterday.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Engel, director of the Climate Change and State Stability program of the National Intelligence Council, told the governors that the changes could also affect U.S. national-security interests -- aggravating poverty, degrading the environment and destabilizing fragile government regimes of nations around the world.
He said that although the U.S. will be "less affected and better equipped than the vast majority of nations to deal with climate change," it will still face challenges. Engel said these range from the costs to control emissions and respond to emergencies, to safeguarding against the potential for terrorists to "obtain and utilize" nuclear material and expertise that will increase as more countries pursue nuclear power as an energy source.
The sobering assessment, accompanied by a presentation on energy and climate security from former U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., kicked off the Southern Governors' Association's annual meeting at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa near Williamsburg.
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is the outgoing chairman of the association, which has 16 states and two territories as members, ranging geographically from Puerto Rico to Maryland to Florida, and west to Texas.
Eleven chief executives showed up for this year's conference, which is traditionally held in the summer at a five-star resort. Financed by state dues and corporations, it is equal parts policy conference and expenses-paid junket for governors' families and top staff.
Northrop Grumman Corp., the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Altria Group Inc., Dominion Resources Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Capital One Financial Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. were among the 70 industry groups that bankrolled half the costs of this year's meeting, attended by roughly 400 people.
Notably absent was Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, recently embroiled in a sex scandal with an Argentine woman.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was to succeed Kaine as chairman of the SGA next year, also opted out, having announced this year that he will run for the U.S. Senate. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a rising star in the Republican Party rumored to be mulling a run for president in 2012, also did not attend.
Kaine's theme for this year's meeting was climate change, energy and the environment.
"I think that opened all of our eyes," Kaine said after the climate-change presentation. "This is a big issue, where economics, the environment and national security all intersect."
Kaine's mission was to build regional consensus on how the South -- which produces a disproportionate share of the nation's energy for its size -- can develop more cost-effective and efficient ways of generating power while reducing greenhouse gases and mitigating impact on the environment.
Governors were treated to a detailed analysis of 23 climate-policy options and costs for their region compiled by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Climate Strategies.
Transportation, electricity consumption and industrial fuel use account for more than four-fifths of the greenhouse-gas emissions in the region, according to the preliminary results of the analysis.
The reduction in the growth rate of emissions brought on by reduced energy consumption and new fuel-consumption standards is expected to reduce overall emissions by 10 percent between now and 2020.
Specific numbers for each state were not presented, but governors were thankful for having data and cost information from which they could begin to devise an energy policy.
"I think the biggest bang for the buck because you both save money and you remove a lot [of greenhouse gases] is in the conservation and efficiency investments," Kaine said after the presentation.
However, with great diversity among the states in the SGA in terms of size, development and resources -- as well as politics -- agreement on a regional strategy is, as Kaine put it, "a work in progress."
A number of governors expressed concern that costs to make the South more "green" and efficient be shared among other states in the nation that benefit from the energy the region provides.
"Obviously we all agree on the goals of trying to approach this climate-change issue -- that's cleaning up our air and holding down greenhouse-gas emissions," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.
"The issues that we're wrestling with are in the details of how we do that, the cost of doing it and how those costs are distributed."
Last night, Kaine hosted conference attendees with a dinner on the lawn of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg, and tonight he'll host a black-tie-optional Virginia State Dinner in the ballroom of the resort.
The conference, which concludes tomorrow, also will brief governors on efforts to upgrade the nation's electricity grid.
Governors will also discuss regional transportation issues and the impact of federal health-care reform, which will feature a presentation by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Engel, director of the Climate Change and State Stability program of the National Intelligence Council, told the governors that the changes could also affect U.S. national-security interests -- aggravating poverty, degrading the environment and destabilizing fragile government regimes of nations around the world.
He said that although the U.S. will be "less affected and better equipped than the vast majority of nations to deal with climate change," it will still face challenges. Engel said these range from the costs to control emissions and respond to emergencies, to safeguarding against the potential for terrorists to "obtain and utilize" nuclear material and expertise that will increase as more countries pursue nuclear power as an energy source.
The sobering assessment, accompanied by a presentation on energy and climate security from former U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., kicked off the Southern Governors' Association's annual meeting at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa near Williamsburg.
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is the outgoing chairman of the association, which has 16 states and two territories as members, ranging geographically from Puerto Rico to Maryland to Florida, and west to Texas.
Eleven chief executives showed up for this year's conference, which is traditionally held in the summer at a five-star resort. Financed by state dues and corporations, it is equal parts policy conference and expenses-paid junket for governors' families and top staff.
Northrop Grumman Corp., the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Altria Group Inc., Dominion Resources Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Capital One Financial Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. were among the 70 industry groups that bankrolled half the costs of this year's meeting, attended by roughly 400 people.
Notably absent was Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, recently embroiled in a sex scandal with an Argentine woman.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was to succeed Kaine as chairman of the SGA next year, also opted out, having announced this year that he will run for the U.S. Senate. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a rising star in the Republican Party rumored to be mulling a run for president in 2012, also did not attend.
Kaine's theme for this year's meeting was climate change, energy and the environment.
"I think that opened all of our eyes," Kaine said after the climate-change presentation. "This is a big issue, where economics, the environment and national security all intersect."
Kaine's mission was to build regional consensus on how the South -- which produces a disproportionate share of the nation's energy for its size -- can develop more cost-effective and efficient ways of generating power while reducing greenhouse gases and mitigating impact on the environment.
Governors were treated to a detailed analysis of 23 climate-policy options and costs for their region compiled by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Climate Strategies.
Transportation, electricity consumption and industrial fuel use account for more than four-fifths of the greenhouse-gas emissions in the region, according to the preliminary results of the analysis.
The reduction in the growth rate of emissions brought on by reduced energy consumption and new fuel-consumption standards is expected to reduce overall emissions by 10 percent between now and 2020.
Specific numbers for each state were not presented, but governors were thankful for having data and cost information from which they could begin to devise an energy policy.
"I think the biggest bang for the buck because you both save money and you remove a lot [of greenhouse gases] is in the conservation and efficiency investments," Kaine said after the presentation.
However, with great diversity among the states in the SGA in terms of size, development and resources -- as well as politics -- agreement on a regional strategy is, as Kaine put it, "a work in progress."
A number of governors expressed concern that costs to make the South more "green" and efficient be shared among other states in the nation that benefit from the energy the region provides.
"Obviously we all agree on the goals of trying to approach this climate-change issue -- that's cleaning up our air and holding down greenhouse-gas emissions," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.
"The issues that we're wrestling with are in the details of how we do that, the cost of doing it and how those costs are distributed."
Last night, Kaine hosted conference attendees with a dinner on the lawn of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg, and tonight he'll host a black-tie-optional Virginia State Dinner in the ballroom of the resort.
The conference, which concludes tomorrow, also will brief governors on efforts to upgrade the nation's electricity grid.
Governors will also discuss regional transportation issues and the impact of federal health-care reform, which will feature a presentation by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Post-affair Ensign gets mixed results in Nevada
Two months after a weary looking John Ensign hastily confessed to having an extramarital affair with a former campaign aide who was his best friend's wife, the Nevada senator set out to reconstruct his image before a forgiving crowd in the Fernley Community Center.
On a hot August afternoon before plates of catered lasagna, he opened a speech with a promise to make up for his "big mistake" by working harder than ever.
But Ensign's determination to move on and rebuild his trust with voters after apologizing for the affair was met with mixed reviews during two days of carefully scripted appearances, his first events in the state since the scandal erupted.
Reaction to comments Ensign made to The Associated Press before the speech - how his indiscretion was different from Bill Clinton's because the ex-president lied under oath and his unwillingness to answer lingering questions about his own affair - show he has more work to do before he can put the scandal behind him.
The Nevada Republican was welcomed Wednesday with a standing ovation from about 100 people at a sweltering chamber of commerce luncheon in the rural agricultural community some 40 miles from Reno and far from the media scrutiny that has dogged him since his June 16th admission.
"We had a distraction go on for the last six or seven weeks in my life. I think it would be inappropriate to start any other way than to say I'm sorry," Ensign said.
That was good enough for Peggy Gray, president of the Fernley Republican Women.
"There are a lot more important things going on in Congress than that," Gray said.
"At least he didn't go to the Mustang Ranch," said Jane Lewis, editor of the local political group's newsletter, referring to one of Nevada's legal brothels.
Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said it made sense for Ensign to launch the rebuilding effort in a "relatively safe environment" in front of a largely GOP group before he hosted a bipartisan environmental summit the next day at Lake Tahoe.
"This is something of a classic image control move," Herzik said. "He also got back to policy issues."
Before the scandal, the handsome son of a Las Vegas casino mogul known for his affiliation with the conservative Christian group the Promise Keepers was a rising GOP star with presidential aspirations.
During a June visit to Iowa, Ensign gave a lecture about conservative values and told AP in an interview, "Our party got away from its basic principles."
Two weeks later with rumors swirling, he announced at a news conference in Las Vegas that he had carried on the extramarital affair with a staffer for much of last year.
Ensign, 51, resigned as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee the next day.
The woman, Cindy Hampton, was treasurer for two Ensign-controlled campaign committees. Hampton's husband, Doug, was Ensign's administrative assistant in his Washington, D.C., Senate office and the families were longtime friends.
Doug Hampton later said Ensign paid Cindy Hampton more than $25,000 in severance when she left her job. The next day, Ensign said his parents had written a check for $96,000 to the Hamptons and two of their children. He described the money as a gift that was not related to any campaign or official duties.
He has refused to discuss it further.
A poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in mid-July showed the number of voters with a favorable opinion of Ensign dropped 22 points to 31 percent after he acknowledged the affair. The former congressman who was first elected to the Senate in 2000 won't be up for re-election until 2012.
Before his Fernley appearance, Ensign had spent eight days in a secluded vacation with his family at Lake Tahoe where he lived for much of his youth and starred on the high school basketball and golf teams.
Prior to that, he had been "fairly invisible, which let media focus gradually fade," Herzik said. "He'll get more media scrutiny, but unless there is more to come out, media hounding on this will ultimately fade as it is `old news.'"
Fernley Mayor LeRoy Goodman said he thinks Ensign is still quite electable.
"I think he handled it well coming out forthright," Goodman said.
But the forthright approach disappeared at Lake Tahoe, a day after newscasts and talk radio shows were filled with his explanation of the distinction between his affair and Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
"I said everything I was going to say yesterday," Ensign told reporters before turning and walking away.
Ensign had told The Associated Press in Fernley that he was convinced Clinton had committed a felony by perjuring himself in front of a grand jury examining the Lewinsky affair.
"I haven't done anything legally wrong," he said.
Betsy Dart, one of the few people who didn't stand to clap for Ensign in Fernley, doesn't see it that way.
"I beg to differ," said Dart, who views the affair as "a common human failing" but finds it hypocritical that Ensign "was one of the people who was very vocal about President Clinton during the impeachment hearings."
A government watchdog group calling for a Senate ethics probe of Ensign seized on his legal distinction.
"One politician comparing his illicit affair to another's is a sure sign his career is in trouble," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The host of a conservative radio talk show in Reno has uncharacteristically joined those calling for Ensign's resignation.
"It may be legally different, but is it different in terms of him representing us and him doing what he should have been doing?" KKOH's Bill Manders said while devoting most of his two-hour show to the topic in the hours after Ensign's Clinton comments.
"Sen. Ensign sat right there in that chair and talked to me about family values and the whole time knew he was doing this," he told his listeners who usually are most upset about illegal immigration, taxes and gun rights. "I'm not going to let him move on until he answers some questions."
On a hot August afternoon before plates of catered lasagna, he opened a speech with a promise to make up for his "big mistake" by working harder than ever.
But Ensign's determination to move on and rebuild his trust with voters after apologizing for the affair was met with mixed reviews during two days of carefully scripted appearances, his first events in the state since the scandal erupted.
Reaction to comments Ensign made to The Associated Press before the speech - how his indiscretion was different from Bill Clinton's because the ex-president lied under oath and his unwillingness to answer lingering questions about his own affair - show he has more work to do before he can put the scandal behind him.
The Nevada Republican was welcomed Wednesday with a standing ovation from about 100 people at a sweltering chamber of commerce luncheon in the rural agricultural community some 40 miles from Reno and far from the media scrutiny that has dogged him since his June 16th admission.
"We had a distraction go on for the last six or seven weeks in my life. I think it would be inappropriate to start any other way than to say I'm sorry," Ensign said.
That was good enough for Peggy Gray, president of the Fernley Republican Women.
"There are a lot more important things going on in Congress than that," Gray said.
"At least he didn't go to the Mustang Ranch," said Jane Lewis, editor of the local political group's newsletter, referring to one of Nevada's legal brothels.
Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said it made sense for Ensign to launch the rebuilding effort in a "relatively safe environment" in front of a largely GOP group before he hosted a bipartisan environmental summit the next day at Lake Tahoe.
"This is something of a classic image control move," Herzik said. "He also got back to policy issues."
Before the scandal, the handsome son of a Las Vegas casino mogul known for his affiliation with the conservative Christian group the Promise Keepers was a rising GOP star with presidential aspirations.
During a June visit to Iowa, Ensign gave a lecture about conservative values and told AP in an interview, "Our party got away from its basic principles."
Two weeks later with rumors swirling, he announced at a news conference in Las Vegas that he had carried on the extramarital affair with a staffer for much of last year.
Ensign, 51, resigned as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee the next day.
The woman, Cindy Hampton, was treasurer for two Ensign-controlled campaign committees. Hampton's husband, Doug, was Ensign's administrative assistant in his Washington, D.C., Senate office and the families were longtime friends.
Doug Hampton later said Ensign paid Cindy Hampton more than $25,000 in severance when she left her job. The next day, Ensign said his parents had written a check for $96,000 to the Hamptons and two of their children. He described the money as a gift that was not related to any campaign or official duties.
He has refused to discuss it further.
A poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in mid-July showed the number of voters with a favorable opinion of Ensign dropped 22 points to 31 percent after he acknowledged the affair. The former congressman who was first elected to the Senate in 2000 won't be up for re-election until 2012.
Before his Fernley appearance, Ensign had spent eight days in a secluded vacation with his family at Lake Tahoe where he lived for much of his youth and starred on the high school basketball and golf teams.
Prior to that, he had been "fairly invisible, which let media focus gradually fade," Herzik said. "He'll get more media scrutiny, but unless there is more to come out, media hounding on this will ultimately fade as it is `old news.'"
Fernley Mayor LeRoy Goodman said he thinks Ensign is still quite electable.
"I think he handled it well coming out forthright," Goodman said.
But the forthright approach disappeared at Lake Tahoe, a day after newscasts and talk radio shows were filled with his explanation of the distinction between his affair and Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
"I said everything I was going to say yesterday," Ensign told reporters before turning and walking away.
Ensign had told The Associated Press in Fernley that he was convinced Clinton had committed a felony by perjuring himself in front of a grand jury examining the Lewinsky affair.
"I haven't done anything legally wrong," he said.
Betsy Dart, one of the few people who didn't stand to clap for Ensign in Fernley, doesn't see it that way.
"I beg to differ," said Dart, who views the affair as "a common human failing" but finds it hypocritical that Ensign "was one of the people who was very vocal about President Clinton during the impeachment hearings."
A government watchdog group calling for a Senate ethics probe of Ensign seized on his legal distinction.
"One politician comparing his illicit affair to another's is a sure sign his career is in trouble," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The host of a conservative radio talk show in Reno has uncharacteristically joined those calling for Ensign's resignation.
"It may be legally different, but is it different in terms of him representing us and him doing what he should have been doing?" KKOH's Bill Manders said while devoting most of his two-hour show to the topic in the hours after Ensign's Clinton comments.
"Sen. Ensign sat right there in that chair and talked to me about family values and the whole time knew he was doing this," he told his listeners who usually are most upset about illegal immigration, taxes and gun rights. "I'm not going to let him move on until he answers some questions."
EPA sets legal limits for water pollution in Fla.
Environmental groups on Friday lauded long-awaited action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set legal limits for farm and urban runoff polluting Florida's waterways, limits that could serve as a model for other states.
A consent decree signed Wednesday settled a lawsuit filed last year by the Sierra Club, Florida Wildlife Federation and others against the EPA seeking to get the federal agency to set numeric standards for runoff such as fertilizers and animal waste.
The settlement marks the first time the EPA has forced numeric limits on so-called nutrient runoff on a state. A handful of other states, at the urging of the EPA, have already acted to set their own standards. The rest have only vague limits on waste and fertilizer pollution, but many of those are in the process of developing numeric limits.
Environmentalists say rain sends the runoff into rivers and lakes, nourishing algae blooms that poison the ecosystems.
The agreement means "real protection for Florida's waters," said Earthjustice attorney Colin Adams, speaking at a news conference in Tampa. The public interest law firm had filed the suit in federal court on behalf of the environmental groups.
"For the first time, EPA will begin the process to address massive fertilizer and human and animal waste pollution problems that increase dead zone areas along practically every U.S. coastline," Adams said.
He said numeric limits, which still have to be determined, will make it easier for the government to go after major polluters and help farmers regulate agricultural runoff.
The groups credited President Barack Obama's administration with quick action on the matter after years of what they called "foot-dragging" by the Bush administration.
The EPA acknowledged in a statement Friday that standards are necessary "to protect Florida waters from the impacts of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution."
The statement said the agency will work closely with scientists from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to develop "scientifically defensible" water quality standards.
Under the settlement, the EPA has until Jan. 14 to propose the new pollution limits for Florida's lakes, rivers and creeks, and until October 2010 to finalize the rules.
The Sierra Club's Cris Costello said the agreement was expected to move the EPA to set similar standards in other states.
"We believe this should and will be held up by the EPA as a model," she said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement Friday that it has been working for years to establish its own guidelines for such runoff. In a 2008 report, the department concluded that half of the state's rivers and more than half of its lakes had poor water quality.
"To ensure that there is no duplication of work, we will continue to work with EPA in the same manner they have worked with us," the statement said.
The EPA acknowledged more than 10 years ago that Florida needed to promptly develop runoff standards to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act. Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters."
The agency noted then that "nutrient pollution is the leading cause of impairment in lakes and coastal waterways." The agency also said the nutrients in runoff had been linked to so-called "dead zones" in the Gulf of Mexico.
A consent decree signed Wednesday settled a lawsuit filed last year by the Sierra Club, Florida Wildlife Federation and others against the EPA seeking to get the federal agency to set numeric standards for runoff such as fertilizers and animal waste.
The settlement marks the first time the EPA has forced numeric limits on so-called nutrient runoff on a state. A handful of other states, at the urging of the EPA, have already acted to set their own standards. The rest have only vague limits on waste and fertilizer pollution, but many of those are in the process of developing numeric limits.
Environmentalists say rain sends the runoff into rivers and lakes, nourishing algae blooms that poison the ecosystems.
The agreement means "real protection for Florida's waters," said Earthjustice attorney Colin Adams, speaking at a news conference in Tampa. The public interest law firm had filed the suit in federal court on behalf of the environmental groups.
"For the first time, EPA will begin the process to address massive fertilizer and human and animal waste pollution problems that increase dead zone areas along practically every U.S. coastline," Adams said.
He said numeric limits, which still have to be determined, will make it easier for the government to go after major polluters and help farmers regulate agricultural runoff.
The groups credited President Barack Obama's administration with quick action on the matter after years of what they called "foot-dragging" by the Bush administration.
The EPA acknowledged in a statement Friday that standards are necessary "to protect Florida waters from the impacts of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution."
The statement said the agency will work closely with scientists from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to develop "scientifically defensible" water quality standards.
Under the settlement, the EPA has until Jan. 14 to propose the new pollution limits for Florida's lakes, rivers and creeks, and until October 2010 to finalize the rules.
The Sierra Club's Cris Costello said the agreement was expected to move the EPA to set similar standards in other states.
"We believe this should and will be held up by the EPA as a model," she said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement Friday that it has been working for years to establish its own guidelines for such runoff. In a 2008 report, the department concluded that half of the state's rivers and more than half of its lakes had poor water quality.
"To ensure that there is no duplication of work, we will continue to work with EPA in the same manner they have worked with us," the statement said.
The EPA acknowledged more than 10 years ago that Florida needed to promptly develop runoff standards to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act. Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters."
The agency noted then that "nutrient pollution is the leading cause of impairment in lakes and coastal waterways." The agency also said the nutrients in runoff had been linked to so-called "dead zones" in the Gulf of Mexico.
China says 2 environment officials investigated
Two environmental officials were being investigated Saturday after more than 1,300 children were sickened with lead poisoning caused by pollution from a manganese processing plant in central China.
The probe comes as officials seek to punish those responsible for the poisoning from the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in Wenping township in Hunan province. Days earlier, reports said emissions from a lead smelter in another province had sickened hundreds.
The plant in Wenping opened in May 2008 without the approval of the local environmental protection bureau, within 500 yards (meters) of a primary school, a middle school and a kindergarten.
The government of Wugang city in Hunan province said in a statement late Friday that two officials from the city's environmental protection bureau were being investigated for dereliction of duty. It did not provide details.
Zhang Aiguo, director of the Wugang environment bureau, told AP reporters it had tried to stop the plant from operating when the bureau learned it had not completed an environmental evaluation.
"We sent them a notice to stop production and they did stop," Zhang said. "But then, I guess a couple of months ago, maybe the metals industry started to recover a bit and they started production there again without letting us know."
Fears of poisoning began to spread among villagers in early July when many children became susceptible to colds and suffered fevers and other ailments, state media said.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday that 1,354 children who live near the plant - nearly 70 percent of those tested - were found to have excessive lead in their blood. Lead poisoning can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and memory loss
The government statement said 17 children who had high levels of lead poisoning were being treated at a hospital and receiving further tests. Calls to the city government and health bureau rang unanswered Saturday.
At the Hunan Province Industrial Contaminant Disease Prevention Hospital in the provincial capital of Changsha, nurses and doctors handed out medicine and monitored children who sat on beds and stood in hallways, accompanied by parents.
A man surnamed Xiang said his 3-year-old son Xiang Yucun had been under observation for 10 days since excessive lead was found in his blood.
"I heard that there was a problem with the lead poisoning in the town, so I went to have him checked. That is how we found out," Xiang said.
The hospital's deputy director, Zhang Yirui, said treatment to remove the lead is available but may have adverse side effects.
"In children, expelling the lead like this is a harsh process for the body because a lot of other nutrients and things the body needs are also lost," Zhang said. "So we deliberate it carefully before we use the medicines with the children."
Residents say hundreds of villagers rioted on Aug. 8 after news broke about the lead poisoning. One woman said a crowd of about 600 to 700 people overturned four police cars and smashed a local government sign.
In Shaanxi province in northern China, at least 615 out of 731 children in two villages near the Dongling smelter in the town of Changqing have tested positive for lead poisoning
The probe comes as officials seek to punish those responsible for the poisoning from the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in Wenping township in Hunan province. Days earlier, reports said emissions from a lead smelter in another province had sickened hundreds.
The plant in Wenping opened in May 2008 without the approval of the local environmental protection bureau, within 500 yards (meters) of a primary school, a middle school and a kindergarten.
The government of Wugang city in Hunan province said in a statement late Friday that two officials from the city's environmental protection bureau were being investigated for dereliction of duty. It did not provide details.
Zhang Aiguo, director of the Wugang environment bureau, told AP reporters it had tried to stop the plant from operating when the bureau learned it had not completed an environmental evaluation.
"We sent them a notice to stop production and they did stop," Zhang said. "But then, I guess a couple of months ago, maybe the metals industry started to recover a bit and they started production there again without letting us know."
Fears of poisoning began to spread among villagers in early July when many children became susceptible to colds and suffered fevers and other ailments, state media said.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday that 1,354 children who live near the plant - nearly 70 percent of those tested - were found to have excessive lead in their blood. Lead poisoning can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and memory loss
The government statement said 17 children who had high levels of lead poisoning were being treated at a hospital and receiving further tests. Calls to the city government and health bureau rang unanswered Saturday.
At the Hunan Province Industrial Contaminant Disease Prevention Hospital in the provincial capital of Changsha, nurses and doctors handed out medicine and monitored children who sat on beds and stood in hallways, accompanied by parents.
A man surnamed Xiang said his 3-year-old son Xiang Yucun had been under observation for 10 days since excessive lead was found in his blood.
"I heard that there was a problem with the lead poisoning in the town, so I went to have him checked. That is how we found out," Xiang said.
The hospital's deputy director, Zhang Yirui, said treatment to remove the lead is available but may have adverse side effects.
"In children, expelling the lead like this is a harsh process for the body because a lot of other nutrients and things the body needs are also lost," Zhang said. "So we deliberate it carefully before we use the medicines with the children."
Residents say hundreds of villagers rioted on Aug. 8 after news broke about the lead poisoning. One woman said a crowd of about 600 to 700 people overturned four police cars and smashed a local government sign.
In Shaanxi province in northern China, at least 615 out of 731 children in two villages near the Dongling smelter in the town of Changqing have tested positive for lead poisoning
Pass U.S. climate law, then strengthen: Waxman
The United States can follow California's lead of raising climate change goals over time, a congressional leader on global warming initiatives said on Friday.
Representative Henry Waxman, the Democrat who navigated a climate change bill through the U.S. House of Representatives this year, urged his counterparts in the Senate to move quickly on its bill.
"Get your act together. Get a bill passed," Waxman said during a University of California, Los Angeles, climate change panel monitored by webcast.
Lawmakers could then iron out the details on a final version that would be put up to both chambers.
Many in Congress are eager to pass climate change legislation in the face of global warming and to solidify a leadership role for the United States before international talks in Copenhagen in December.
But the U.S. climate change bills being debated in Congress have divided legislators by region of the country, political party and more. A bill passed the House with major changes from its original, and the Senate is tackling health care first, so it may be months before a Senate version is ready for a vote.
Waxman used California as a model.
California leads the nation on climate change legislation, with targets for renewable energy and a regional carbon trading market set to launch in 2012, absent a federal plan.
The state has raised its goals over the years to the governor's current target of one third of electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2020. The original target of 20 percent of electricity from renewable electricity by 2017 has been changed a number of times.
The House bill would require 20 percent of electricity from renewables and energy efficiency gains by 2020, Waxman said.
"I would have liked a more aggressive approach," Waxman said, but the bill had to face political realities.
"So what we did is look to California's example. ... We can strengthen the renewable standards over time. The essential thing is to get something in place and get going with this now, as California has done."
Representative Henry Waxman, the Democrat who navigated a climate change bill through the U.S. House of Representatives this year, urged his counterparts in the Senate to move quickly on its bill.
"Get your act together. Get a bill passed," Waxman said during a University of California, Los Angeles, climate change panel monitored by webcast.
Lawmakers could then iron out the details on a final version that would be put up to both chambers.
Many in Congress are eager to pass climate change legislation in the face of global warming and to solidify a leadership role for the United States before international talks in Copenhagen in December.
But the U.S. climate change bills being debated in Congress have divided legislators by region of the country, political party and more. A bill passed the House with major changes from its original, and the Senate is tackling health care first, so it may be months before a Senate version is ready for a vote.
Waxman used California as a model.
California leads the nation on climate change legislation, with targets for renewable energy and a regional carbon trading market set to launch in 2012, absent a federal plan.
The state has raised its goals over the years to the governor's current target of one third of electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2020. The original target of 20 percent of electricity from renewable electricity by 2017 has been changed a number of times.
The House bill would require 20 percent of electricity from renewables and energy efficiency gains by 2020, Waxman said.
"I would have liked a more aggressive approach," Waxman said, but the bill had to face political realities.
"So what we did is look to California's example. ... We can strengthen the renewable standards over time. The essential thing is to get something in place and get going with this now, as California has done."
CM was warned of drought last month: Pachauri
In less than 24 hours after the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s admission that the country is facing draught like situation, another revelation came to the fore on Saturday — the Maharashtra Chief Minister was warned of drought only last month by none other than the chief of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) R K Pachauri.
Pachauri was speaking from Delhi at a teleconference on ‘International Conference on Reverence for Mother Earth: Solutions to Combat Global Warming’, organised in the city. Chairman of Vanrai Mohan Dharia presided over the conference. Pachauri said he had a meeting with the Chief Minister last month where he discussed various issues related to climate change. “I had informed the CM about the extreme precipitation events taking place due to climate change. We had predicted that some rural parts of Maharashtra might face draught owing to extreme precipitation events,” he said. Pachauri said the heavy rains in Mumbai in 2005 had also happened due to extreme precipitation events. “These events are going to multiply in coming years. Though there may be heavy rains in some parts, most of the tropical and sub-tropical areas may be receiving lower rainfall,” he said.
He said the climate change was a symptom of a larger problem. “Issues like implementation of sustainable development policies should be looked into seriously. There is a need to make changes in lifestyle and make it more in harmony with the nature,” he said.
Referring to global warming, Pachauri said the IPCC has projected increase of 1.1 to 6.4 degree Celsius in the next century. “The signs of this increase are already evident in the form of intense heat waves across the world. In 2003, around 35,000 people died in Europe due to heat waves. It has reduced the crop yield too. In India, the effect is seen in decreasing wheat production,” he said.
“The lack of reverence to mother earth is compounding the issue. However, solutions are there. Reducing greenhouse gases by reducing burning of fossil fuels can be done immediately,” he said. He, however, warned that it should be done at a much faster rate.
Eminent scientists Raghunath Mashelkar, Vijay Bhatkar, vice consular of the US Dines Tidwell, Vandana Chavan of NGO Alert were also present on the occasion. President of World Foundation on Reverence for All Life Bahri B R Malhotra welcomed the guest, secretary J G Patil proposed the vote of thanks.
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Pachauri was speaking from Delhi at a teleconference on ‘International Conference on Reverence for Mother Earth: Solutions to Combat Global Warming’, organised in the city. Chairman of Vanrai Mohan Dharia presided over the conference. Pachauri said he had a meeting with the Chief Minister last month where he discussed various issues related to climate change. “I had informed the CM about the extreme precipitation events taking place due to climate change. We had predicted that some rural parts of Maharashtra might face draught owing to extreme precipitation events,” he said. Pachauri said the heavy rains in Mumbai in 2005 had also happened due to extreme precipitation events. “These events are going to multiply in coming years. Though there may be heavy rains in some parts, most of the tropical and sub-tropical areas may be receiving lower rainfall,” he said.
He said the climate change was a symptom of a larger problem. “Issues like implementation of sustainable development policies should be looked into seriously. There is a need to make changes in lifestyle and make it more in harmony with the nature,” he said.
Referring to global warming, Pachauri said the IPCC has projected increase of 1.1 to 6.4 degree Celsius in the next century. “The signs of this increase are already evident in the form of intense heat waves across the world. In 2003, around 35,000 people died in Europe due to heat waves. It has reduced the crop yield too. In India, the effect is seen in decreasing wheat production,” he said.
“The lack of reverence to mother earth is compounding the issue. However, solutions are there. Reducing greenhouse gases by reducing burning of fossil fuels can be done immediately,” he said. He, however, warned that it should be done at a much faster rate.
Eminent scientists Raghunath Mashelkar, Vijay Bhatkar, vice consular of the US Dines Tidwell, Vandana Chavan of NGO Alert were also present on the occasion. President of World Foundation on Reverence for All Life Bahri B R Malhotra welcomed the guest, secretary J G Patil proposed the vote of thanks.
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