Center for American Progress / by Ellen-Marie Whelan and Lesley Russell http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/07/public_health_plan.html [Press release] Health threats from the oil spill may linger unseen, perhaps for more than a generation. And we will not be fully prepared to address the public health problems that arise in the future unless there is an effective and coordinated handover … Continue reading »
Posted on July 13, 2010 …
Ending Our Dependence on Oil
Sierra Club and American Security Project / by Mark Bettinger, Bernard I. Finel, Ann Mesnikoff, Jesse Prentice-Dunn, and Lindsey Ross http://tinyurl.com/35355wd Facts from “Ending Our Dependence on Oil:” TRANSPORTATION: – The U.S. uses nearly 400 million gallons of oil every day moving people in automobiles, goods on freight truck, air travel, rail and transit. – … Continue reading »
Concentrating Solar Power in China and India : A Spatial Analysis of Technical Potential and the Cost of Deployment
Center for Global Development / by Kevin Ummel http://tinyurl.com/3ayhp37 Coal power generation in China and India could double and triple, respectively, over the next 20 years, which would increase exposure to fuel price volatility, exacerbate local air pollution, and hasten global climate change. Moving to concentrating solar power (CSP), a growing source of utility-scale, pollution-free … Continue reading »
The Integrated Environmental Modeling Hub (iemHUB) : EPA’s New Collaborative Web Site for Integrated Environmental Modeling
Purdue University for the EPA-supported Community of Practice for Integrated Environmental Modeling (CIEM) http://iemhub.org/ The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching a new on-line tool for scientific collaboration and knowledge sharing that was built by Purdue University with support from the agency. The Integrated Environmental Modeling Hub (iemHUB) allows environmental researchers to analyze environmental problems … Continue reading »
2011 Standards for Renewable Fuel Standard Program (RFS2) : Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Office of Transportation and Air Quality. US EPA http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/regulations.htm {From press release] The proposed 2011 overall volumes and standards are: Biomass-based diesel (0.80 billion gallons; 0.68 percent) Advanced biofuels (1.35 billion gallons; 0.77 percent) Cellulosic biofuels (5 – 17.1 million gallons; 0.004 – 0.015 percent) Total renewable fuels (13.95 billion gallons; 7.95 percent)
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) : Liability of Responsible Parties
Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/R41266/ The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) establishes a framework that addresses the liability of responsible parties in connection with the discharge of oil into the navigable waters of the United States, adjoining shorelines, or the exclusive economic zone. Among other provisions, OPA limits certain liabilities of a responsible party in … Continue reading »
China and the United States — a Comparison of Green Energy Programs and Policies
Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/R41748/ [Updated since July 2010] The key piece of legislation in recent years for advancing renewable electricity in China is the Renewable Energy Law of 2005. The law was designed to “promote the development and utilization of renewable energy, improve the energy structure, diversify energy supplies, safeguard energy security, protect the environment, … Continue reading »
Critical Infrastructures : Background, Policy, and Implementation
Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/RL30153/ The nation’s health, wealth, and security rely on the production and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, functions, and systems across which these goods and services move are called critical infrastructures (e.g., electricity, the power plants that generate it, and the electric grid upon which it … Continue reading »
FY2010 Supplemental for Wars, Disaster Assistance, Haiti Relief
Congressional Research Office www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41232.pdf Summary The Administration requested $63.4 billion in FY2010 supplemental appropriations: • $5.1 billion to replenish the U.S. Disaster Relief Fund administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); • $33 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD) primarily for deploying 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan; • $4.5 billion in war-related foreign … Continue reading »
The 2010 Oil Spill : The Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Congressional Research Office http://opencrs.com/document/R41265/ …Under relevant federal law, federal actions that may have adverse environmental effects are required to be reviewed for potential environmental harm under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This report will review those environmental procedures. While there are additional environmental obligations imposed on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) drilling by other acts, … Continue reading »
