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ACC PM 15/9/17
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Harvey Sends US Industrial Production Down Most in 8 Years
Sep 15, 2017 | The Washington Post
By Christopher Rugaber
U.S. industrial output plunged 0.9 percent in August, the most in eight years, mostly because of Hurricane Harvey’s damage to the oil refining, plastics and chemicals industries. -
(ACC Mentioned) California Passes Cleaning Product Disclosure Bill
Sep 14, 2017 | Chemical Watch
California's legislature has passed a bill that would require increased disclosure of ingredients in cleaning products. The development comes after stakeholder negotiations produced a compromise that addressed industry concerns about protecting confidential business information (CBI). -
A Sticky History: Trump Chemical Safety Nominee’s Record With DuPont and Teflon
Sep 15, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Melanie Benesh
When it comes to PFOA, an extremely potent toxic chemical formerly used to make Teflon, President Trump’s nominee to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency has a sticky history. -
How Trump Can Harness the U.S. Energy Boom
Sep 15, 2017 | The New York Times
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan
The new energy abundance in the United States has given President Trump a historic opportunity not just to expand the country’s economy at home, but also to expand its leadership globally. -
Natural Gas, Oil Loom Large in Fuel Mix for Decades — EIA
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
Fossil fuels will continue to dominate the world energy mix as far as the eye can see, according to federal energy analysts, making up 77 percent of energy use in 2040, while renewables, despite growing faster than any other fuel source during the coming years, will represent just 17 percent of world energy consumption by 2040. -
Canadian Natural Gas Prices Set to Rise Against U.S. Shale
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
An end to pipeline repairs and slowing output may ease pressure on Canadian natural gas producers battling with U.S. shale interests for market share. -
Sand-Buying Investors Descend on West Texas Desert
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
Recent innovations that have freed up energy producers to use fine-grained sands in hydraulic fracturing have sparked a land grab in parts of the West Texas desert. -
Benzene Leak Much Larger Than Houston Refinery First Thought
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
A Houston oil refinery damaged by Hurricane Harvey emitted far more benzene than previously thought, a Texas official said yesterday. -
Tell Christie: We Shouldn't Risk Oil Trains Exploding Near Schools
Sep 15, 2017 | NJ.com
Roughly 20 oil trains run through seven New Jersey counties each month along the CSX River Line - within feet of our schoolyards and backyards and town centers - all carrying millions of gallons of highly-combustible Bakken crude oil in aging tanker cars on their way to a Philadelphia refinery. -
Mayor's Plan Pushes Major Emissions Cuts for Buildings
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) yesterday announced a plan to cap fossil fuel use in large buildings, saying the city needs to crack down on energy efficiency laggards.
Industry and Association News
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Harvey Sends US Industrial Production Down Most in 8 Years
Sep 15, 2017 | The Washington Post
By Christopher Rugaber
U.S. industrial output plunged 0.9 percent in August, the most in eight years, mostly because of Hurricane Harvey’s damage to the oil refining, plastics and chemicals industries.
The storm, which slammed into the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana late last month, lowered industrial production by about 0.75 percentage point, the Federal Reserve said Friday. That suggests production would have slipped without the hurricane.
The Gulf Coast is home to many of the nation’s oil refiners, and petroleum is a key component in the manufacturing of plastics and chemicals.
Manufacturing has picked up since last summer as the dollar has fallen in value, which makes U.S. goods cheaper overseas, boosting exports. Manufacturing production fell 0.3 percent last month, though the Fed said that without the hurricane, it would have increased roughly 0.5 percent.
And a survey of manufacturing firms that preceded Harvey found that factory activity rose to a six-year high in August.
Still, the report illustrates how Harvey has disrupted the wider U.S. economy. Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the data included signs of weakness, even excluding the impact of Harvey.
“The August decline was widespread, with only the auto industry surprisingly gaining in the month,” she said.
Lee cut her estimate for third-quarter growth to 2 percent at an annual rate, from an earlier forecast of 2.4 percent. A drop in retail spending last month was also a factor. But she also expects growth to rebound in the fourth quarter as rebuilding from Harvey and Irma gets underway.
Industrial production includes mining and utilities as well as manufacturing. Utility output tumbled 5.5 percent as milder temperatures on the East Coast reduced air conditioning use.
And mining production fell 0.8 percent last month as Harvey temporarily shut down the drilling of oil and natural gas and refining operations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/harvey-sends-us-industrial-production-down-most-in-8-years/2017/09/15/7b1e1a4c-9a18-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html?utm_term=.d2d53f0cb545
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(ACC Mentioned) California Passes Cleaning Product Disclosure Bill
Sep 14, 2017 | Chemical Watch
California's legislature has passed a bill that would require increased disclosure of ingredients in cleaning products. The development comes after stakeholder negotiations produced a compromise that addressed industry concerns about protecting confidential business information (CBI).
Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign the measure, whose final version was approved by the Assembly on 12 September and the Senate a day later.
The original Cleaning Product Right to Know Act (SB 258) would have required manufacturers to list all ingredients on the label, indicate any that are "contaminants of concern", and include a pictogram communicating health concerns.
The final version requires no pictogram and the listing on the label of only those chemicals that are "of concern" because they appear on any of 23 specified lists of toxicants, maintained by the state or federal agencies in the US and other countries. The labels must also contain a website address where the full list of product ingredients can be found.Key concessions
In key concessions to industry, the final bill specifies that the requirements cover only "intentionally added" ingredients and allows manufacturers to omit listing those whose identity is considered CBI. To qualify, a substance must be included on the TSCA Confidential Inventory or the manufacturer must have claimed protection for it under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
The original bill also required labelling of any cleaning product, manufactured or sold in California on or after 1 July 2018. The final measure's online disclosure requirements take effect on 1 January 2020 and the labelling mandates a year later.
The version approved by the Senate on 30 May was opposed by many industry groups, like a similar measure that failed in 2016. Dozens of NGOs, and some manufacturers that already disclose their ingredients, supported it.
The bill's sponsor, Senator Ricardo Lara (D), convened a working group of stakeholders that negotiated for nearly six months to produce the compromise.
"Having sat through many long but unsuccessful past stakeholder processes, it was very rewarding to have our two sides come together on the intricate details to craft a new law that will help protect the health of consumer and workers, yet be workable for business," said Bill Allayaud, California director of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group.
The Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA) joined in the statement of support, saying the final measure "provides meaningful and understandable information to consumers and workers, while also protecting significant financial investments that companies have made in product innovation".
Other industry groups that were against earlier versions, such as the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), dropped their opposition without actively supporting the compromise. An analysis by legislative staff indicated that a list of more than 40 opposing organisations had been whittled down to eight, including the American Chemistry Council (ACC).
"ACC is committed to ensuring consumers have access to clear, accurate, meaningful information about products they buy," the organisation told Chemical Watch. "By not taking into account potential exposure levels, SB 258 may result in ingredient disclosure on products that imply risks for consumers when none exist. While the bill improved as it made its way through the legislature, the result is a law that remains vast in scope and poses compliance challenges, particularly for small businesses, that will likely lead to increased litigation."Other California developments
Proposition 65 enforcement
An industry-backed bill on private enforcement of Proposition 65 remains on the California Senate's agenda and could still pass before the legislative session ends on 15 September.
AB 1583 would require the attorney general, after reviewing a certificate of merit made by a person alleging a violation of Prop 65 warning requirements, to serve a letter to the notifying party and the alleged violator if it is believed the action does not have merit.
Lead poisoning
A bill to address childhood lead poisoning won final approval on 11 September. AB 1316 directs the health department to use an electronic database to collect and report data on lead levels in children, and requires health insurers to cover screening for blood lead levels in children who are at risk from lead poisoning.
FCM evaluation, salon cosmetics
Two other chemical-related proposals that passed the Assembly in the spring died quietly, when the Senate Appropriations Committee failed to send them to the Senate floor in time.
AB 958 called on the state Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) to revise its Priority Product Work Plan under the Safer Consumer Products (SCP) programme to include food contact materials (FCMs) containing perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances.
The proposal would have required the department, by 1 January 2019, to identify the product-substance pair as a draft priority product and, within a year, begin adopting regulations to address them.
AB 1575 would have mandated that professional cosmetics manufactured after 1 July 2019 bear a label of ingredients in order of weight. In floor remarks, the bill's author, Assembly member Ash Kalra (D), said the bill would apply existing industry requirements for retail cosmetics to professional products.
He said the bill had been "substantially" amended to resolve concerns from industry, and the remaining issue was aligning its language with federal Fair Packaging and Labeling Act requirements.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58699/california-passes-cleaning-product-disclosure-bill
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A Sticky History: Trump Chemical Safety Nominee’s Record With DuPont and Teflon
Sep 15, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Melanie Benesh
When it comes to PFOA, an extremely potent toxic chemical formerly used to make Teflon, President Trump’s nominee to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency has a sticky history.
Michael Dourson, whose Senate confirmation hearing could come as soon as next week, was DuPont's go-to guy when it needed a scientist to defend the compound, which has been linked to cancer; hormone disruption; and harm to the immune system, liver, fetal growth and child development.
Most infamously, PFOA was responsible for widespread drinking water contamination and a resulting health crisis near DuPont’s factory in West Virginia. Because of its widespread use for decades in hundreds of consumer products and industrial applications, today PFOA and other compounds in the family of chemicals known as PFCs contaminate tap water supplies for millions of Americans from Maine to California.
As PFOA pollution in the mid-Ohio River Valley came to light in the early 2000s, West Virginia contracted with Dourson’s science-for-hire consulting firm, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, to determine a safe level for PFOA in drinking water. West Virginia hired TERA, but the work was done with a consent order imposed on DuPont, and the company had recommended TERA to the state.
Predictably, Dourson and TERA recommended a “safe” level that was:
· 150 times less protective than what DuPont’s own scientists previously recommended;
· More than 2,000 times less protective than the health advisory level proposed by the EPA in 2016;
· 150,000 times less protective than the safe level found in the best and most current independent research, which is endorsed by EWG in our Tap Water Database; and
· Orders of magnitude less protective than any health guideline adopted by any state or government body since 2002.
DuPont (1991)
TERA (2002)
New Jersey health-based guidance (2007)
EPA short-term health advisory level (2009)
EPA health advisory for PFOA & PFOS (2016)
New Jersey proposed legal limit (2017)
EWG Standard in Tap Water Database (2017)
1 part per billion (ppb)
150 ppb
0.04 ppb
0.4 ppb
0.07 ppb
0.014 ppb
0.001 ppb
DuPont’s recommendation and TERA’s blessing of a weak PFOA standard paid off for the company. West Virginia adopted Dourson’s findings and set a safety threshold of 150 parts per billion for drinking water from 2002 to 2006, which, as reported by Sharon Lerner of The Intercept, limited the number of people near the plant DuPont was required to provide with safe drinking water. DuPont was also able to point to TERA’s study as part of its defense in various lawsuits brought against the company as a result of the contamination.
DuPont knew what it was doing when it recommended TERA. When researching companies, DuPont praised Dourson and TERA as “having a very good reputation among folks that are still in the business of blessing criteria” and as a company that could “then sell this to EPA, or whomever we desired.”Although Dourson’s work on PFOA in West Virginia is now 15 years old, PFOA contamination remains a very serious issue.
In February, DuPont reached a settlement to pay $670 million to resolve 3,550 lawsuits by citizens of West Virginia and Ohio sickened by PFOA.
· Although PFOA was phased out in 2015, its extraordinary persistence means it'll be a problem for decades to come. According to EWG's Tap Water Database, PFOA contaminates drinking water supplies for more than 7.5 million people in 27 states.
· Also in 2015, residents of Hoosick Falls, N.Y., and Bennington, Vt., discovered unsafe levels of PFOA in their drinking water. Residents were ordered not to drink it unless levels were at least 1,500 times lower than the level Dourson endorsed as safe. In July, the nearby plastics plant responsible for the contamination was added to the federal Superfund list as one of the most severely contaminated toxic waste sites in the nation.
· The same year, DuPont spun off its manufacture of PFC chemicals to a new company called Chemours. The company is under investigation by state and federal regulators for discharging GenX, a PFOA substitute, into drinking water in North Carolina. And Chemours just admitted that PFOA persists in groundwater near its North Carolina plant.
The EPA office Dourson is nominated to head will be responsible for assessing and regulating toxic substances like PFOA and GenX. His history with Teflon, and dozens of other chemicals, shows that he’s the wrong person for the job.
http://www.ewg.org/planet-trump/2017/09/sticky-history-trump-chemical-safety-nominee-s-record-dupont-and-teflon#.Wbv4grIjHIU
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How Trump Can Harness the U.S. Energy Boom
Sep 15, 2017 | The New York Times
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan
The new energy abundance in the United States has given President Trump a historic opportunity not just to expand the country’s economy at home, but also to expand its leadership globally. To maximize this opportunity, he should think about energy as more than a driver of economic growth, overcome the powerful political forces favoring isolationism and retrenchment, and rein in his tendency to alienate countries that should be energy allies of the United States.
The embrace of new technologies to extract oil and natural gas at an unprecedented rate has transformed one of America’s enduring vulnerabilities into a strategic asset. Thanks largely to fracking — hydraulic fracturing of rock — the United States is now the largest producer of oil and gas combined in the world. America consumes large quantities of energy, so this expanded production has not yet made the country energy independent. But it has greatly decreased its dependence on foreign energy: About a decade ago, the United States imported nearly two-thirds of the oil it consumed; that percentage is now closer to one-fifth. America is now the largest exporter of refined petroleum products and, in the past year, has also become an exporter of crude oil and liquefied natural gas.
The benefits of this surge in production go well beyond cheaper gasoline, an improved trade balance and a stronger economy. The boom has also improved the country’s sources of soft power, in part by underscoring America’s enduring edge in innovation and ingenuity.
The new output has forced changes in the structure of energy markets in ways that are favorable to the United States. American producers of oil from shale rock have introduced a new business model to the scene: Small investments in exploration and production can bring oil to the market quickly. This weakens OPEC, by making it more difficult for its production cuts to result in sustained increases in oil prices. For the first time in more than a century, the market determines the price of oil with much less influence from any cartel, commission or band of big oil companies.
New supplies of natural gas — and ever cheaper technologies for liquefying it and transporting it — have helped integrate formerly fractured natural gas markets and made them more efficient. These changes have empowered the consumer of natural gas over the producer — a big reversal from recent years.
The energy boom has also weakened many of America’s competitors, particularly Russia, by both decreasing its revenues and reducing its ability to use its energy resources as a political cudgel. The boom also expands opportunities for the United States to forge new partnerships. For instance, given China’s growing dependence, and America’s waning reliance, on Middle Eastern oil, Beijing may be more likely to work with the United States to stabilize that part of the world. Such changes put America in a stronger position to reinforce the international order.
Domestically, Mr. Trump has made energy a centerpiece of his efforts to strengthen our economy and create jobs, but he needs to do more than loosen restrictions on oil and gas production: Many non-energy policies of the Trump administration undermine the energy boom and all its potential advantages.
President Trump’s protectionist impulses, for instance, do not square neatly with a booming energy sector. Pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, renegotiating Nafta under the threat of withdrawal and the questioning of the free-trade agreement with South Korea weaken the strong links between trade, global growth and rising energy demand; flagging global energy demand will hurt prospects for American exports of oil and gas.
On climate, Mr. Trump’s pledge to withdraw the United States from the Paris agreement could also hurt the American energy boom. Natural gas stands to gain as the world takes strides to tackle climate change: As countries transition to more sustainable energy, they often move away from coal to natural gas. American natural gas exports could benefit from this transition — but not if countries like China and India also weaken their commitment to tackling climate change and drag their heels in curbing coal consumption.
Similarly, Mr. Trump’s talk of retrenchment overseas has made friends and foes nervous about America’s willingness to continue to use its vast sea power to maintain open shipping lanes. Over half of the world’s oil supply and a growing percentage of the natural gas it consumes is transported through these waterways.
The aggressive orientation of the Trump administration toward Mexico is also a potential problem for America’s energy sector and the pursuit of energy security. Mexico is by far the largest foreign consumer of American natural gas — a trend that will increase with recent Mexican electricity reforms. Yet President Trump’s talk about a border wall has spurred a revival in the presidential candidacy of Mexico’s own populist, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is committed to reversing these and other energy reforms. That would not only shrink the largest market for American natural gas but would also dull prospects of the United States, Canada and Mexico of reaching North American energy independence.
The Trump administration clearly recognizes that America’s energy position is a huge asset to it. But if it wants to fully embrace the opportunity at hand, it needs to integrate its welcome passion for America’s energy revolution into its broader thinking on foreign policy — and make sure that it is not undercutting the strategic value of the boom with its non-energy policies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/15/opinion/trump-energy-boom.html?_r=0
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Natural Gas, Oil Loom Large in Fuel Mix for Decades — EIA
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
Fossil fuels will continue to dominate the world energy mix as far as the eye can see, according to federal energy analysts, making up 77 percent of energy use in 2040, while renewables, despite growing faster than any other fuel source during the coming years, will represent just 17 percent of world energy consumption by 2040.
In a new forecast published yesterday, the International Energy Outlook 2017, the federal Energy Information Administration projects that zero-carbon fuel sources will lead the way in global growth rates, with renewables expanding worldwide at an average of 2.3 percent per year and nuclear power coming second at 1.5 percent growth per year through 2040.
But the agency projects that the use of liquid fuels like oil and other petroleum products, natural gas, and coal will continue to grow over the coming years.
Natural gas is the fastest-growing fossil fuel over the projection period, expanding an average of 1.4 percent per year; liquids lag behind it at 0.7 percent growth per year.
Coal use could remain flat over the projection period if the Clean Power Plan takes effect in the United States, with consumption falling in China as government policies to move away from coal take effect while its use grows in India and other energy-hungry countries. If the United States scraps the Clean Power Plan — as the Trump administration has vowed — EIA projects world coal use will grow slightly.
Overall, EIA's reference case — its outlook based on moderate assumptions about economic growth and oil prices — shows world energy consumption growing by 28 percent to reach 736 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2040. Most of that growth is concentrated outside the highly developed countries that make up the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, with more than 60 percent of world energy consumption growth projected to take place in China and India alone.
"Transportation energy use rises by nearly 30 percent, with almost all of the growth coming from non-OECD countries, as personal incomes rise and energy markets in many of these nations' rapidly growing economies become further integrated into global supply chains," said Ian Mead, EIA's assistant administrator for energy analysis, while presenting the new forecast.
Within the realm of renewable energy, EIA sees wind and solar power accounting for two-thirds of power capacity additions over the coming years, pushing the share of renewables from hydropower from 71 percent in 2015 down to 53 percent in 2040.
EIA's forecasts are used as benchmarks or reference cases by energy watchers around the world. For its latest forecast, the agency used a central case with 3 percent yearly world economic growth and oil prices reaching $109 per barrel in 2016 dollars by 2040. Its high and low oil price scenarios reflected the commodity at $43 per barrel and $226 per barrel in 2016 dollars, respectively, by the end of the forecast.Underestimating clean energy growth?
Some energy analysts say EIA is overly conservative in its estimates for the contributions from quickly growing energy sources like renewables. In response to the new figures, the Sierra Club charged that the agency "has a long history of being slow to document clean energy's rapid ascent."
"EIA is finally recognizing coal use has peaked globally, but it still misses the tectonic coal-to-clean-energy revolution happening here in the United States," said Bruce Nilles, who directs the group's Beyond Coal campaign. "Later this year, we will celebrate a major milestone when half the U.S. coal fleet that was operating in 2009 will have retired or be announced to retire."
Nilles argued that coal use "will fall off a cliff as communities, businesses and governments all over the world get more serious about public health, climate change and reducing electricity costs," describing it as an outdated energy source.
Other recent forecasts have suggested that coal and oil use may have peaked worldwide. A report last week from DNV GL, a European company that advises the maritime, oil and gas, and energy industries, predicts a falling share of oil and coal use and growing electrification of energy supply, with energy storage advances allowing three-quarters of electricity supply to come from solar and wind power by 2050 (Energywire, Sept. 5).
A forecast by McKinsey Energy Insights suggests that primary energy demand could grow by less than 1 percent through 2040, with electric vehicle adoption driving a shift away from liquid fuels (Energywire, Feb. 14).
A widely watched forecast from energy giant BP PLC earlier this year roughly aligned with EIA's predictions on overall energy use, suggesting that worldwide demand could increase by 30 percent through 2040, with renewable and natural gas growth outpacing oil and coal (Climatewire, Jan. 27).
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/15/stories/1060060763
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Canadian Natural Gas Prices Set to Rise Against U.S. Shale
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
An end to pipeline repairs and slowing output may ease pressure on Canadian natural gas producers battling with U.S. shale interests for market share.
Outages on TransCanada Corp.'s NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) pipeline system hurt prices in Canada, with producers unable to adjust quickly to decreased transport capacity. But a $1.1 billion upgrade is nearly finished, eliminating an element of volatility. Meanwhile, natural gas producers have chosen not to pursue large new projects in provinces like British Columbia and Alberta.
Analysts say that combination of factors will allow the glut in Canada's supply to subside.
"The Canadian operators — given the differential problems they've had over the past few years — they've gotten pretty adept at trying to operate this kind of environment," said Jeremy McCrea, an energy analyst in Calgary, Alberta, for Raymond James Ltd.
He added that if the differential between the price of Canadian natural gas and U.S. shale were to shrink, "they're set up to take advantage" (Kevin Orland, Bloomberg, Sept. 14).
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/15/stories/1060060717
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Sand-Buying Investors Descend on West Texas Desert
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
Recent innovations that have freed up energy producers to use fine-grained sands in hydraulic fracturing have sparked a land grab in parts of the West Texas desert.
With oil prices low, producers in the Permian Basin found well output could be increased by using local sands rather than a coarser variety sourced from Midwestern states. Investors are now jockeying to buy up areas where those sands can be mined, a trend that analysts expect will drive down sand prices after a precipitous climb earlier this year.
"Local sand is a huge disrupter that is beneficial to the shale producers," said Ben "Bud" Brigham, a geophysicist and CEO of Brigham Oil & Gas LP.
Sand miners with operations in the Midwest remain confident, as logistical challenges in Texas and an ongoing need for coarser sands have continued to ensure demand from fracking areas (Ryan Dezember, Wall Street Journal, Sept. 14).
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/15/stories/1060060723
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Benzene Leak Much Larger Than Houston Refinery First Thought
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
A Houston oil refinery damaged by Hurricane Harvey emitted far more benzene than previously thought, a Texas official said yesterday.
Local and federal officials last week began investigating a leak of benzene, a carcinogen, in a Houston neighborhood near the Valero Energy Partners LP refinery (Greenwire, Sept. 6).
One of the refinery's oil storage tanks was damaged during Harvey, leading to an Aug. 27 spill, U.S. EPA concluded in an investigation.
While Valero initially reported that 7 pounds of benzene was released in the spill, the company now believes it "significantly underestimated" the amount of the carcinogen, the state official said in an email.
The exact amount of benzene emitted remains to be determined. A spokeswoman for Valero, which has yet to file a final report on the incident with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, didn't respond to a request for comment yesterday (Alexandra Berzon, Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/09/15/stories/1060060799
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Tell Christie: We Shouldn't Risk Oil Trains Exploding Near Schools
Sep 15, 2017 | NJ.com
Ask the Teaneck Fire Chief where an oil train accident ranks among the things that keep him up at night, and Anthony Verley responds, "Well, it has to be in the top five, no doubt."
Roughly 20 oil trains run through seven New Jersey counties each month along the CSX River Line - within feet of our schoolyards and backyards and town centers - all carrying millions of gallons of highly-combustible Bakken crude oil in aging tanker cars on their way to a Philadelphia refinery.
"Just one car derailment or fire would be a disaster," Verley thinks as they pass by his station. "And multiple cars. . . ."
That would incinerate an entire town. And given that CSX had experienced two derailments in the last three years, there should be few secrets between the railroad and people like Verley, who has to know what to do if one of these a rolling bomb explodes.
Gov. Christie doesn't agree. He recently vetoed a bill that required more transparency from CSX about its schedules, tanker contents, inspection reports, and disaster response plans - claiming that the first responders already have enough information and that such "irresponsible and reckless" disclosure invites a terror risk.
Any first responder can kibosh the first assessment: "We have some of that info - there's an app we can access if we had to," Verley says. "But the department would appreciate more transparency from CSX, sure."
And Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, wrecked second argument: "I've seen them park these oil trains for hours near a middle school in Teaneck - totally unguarded - while the engineer goes off for coffee," she says. "You don't have to be a terrorist to know what's in these tankers. What a load of BS."
The Record reported that CSX lobbied the governor aggressively before his veto, and now it's time for New Jerseyans - especially those near the CSX line in Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Union, Middlesex, Somerset, and Mercer Counties - to lobby their lawmakers to override it.
Because governments that don't plan for disasters usually get burned by them.
Public deserves information about N.J. oil trains | Editorial
Such horrendous failures are paraded across our screens almost every day now, in the form of a myopia when it comes to disaster preparedness.
In Florida, it's the willful ignorance of sea level rise, which is hard to tolerate in a state with 1,350 miles of coastline. Their governor has banned state agencies from using the terms "climate change" and "global warming" in official documents. With mid-range projections of 17-inch increases in sea level by 2030, that is his way of saying that it's not his problem.
In Texas, it's a disdain of regulations, such as mandating transparency from the petrochemical companies that dominate Houston. Their governor used the chemistry lobby to get the EPA to kill a federal proposal that would require more audits and disclosure because it was "burdensome." Now 24 first responders are ill after inhaling fumes at a post-Harvey explosion at an organic pesticide plant, which was under no obligation to reveal its chemical inventory.
Nothing against Florida and Texas, but we have no great desire to be like them.
They clearly don't value prescience in their elected officials.
Scott Knowles, a Drexel professor who has analyzed the evolution of disaster responses over two centuries, made this point in an NPR interview Wednesday: "The challenge is to get out of 'event thinking,' or looking at a disaster as a distinct event with a beginning, middle and end," because many disasters are, in fact, the result of bad government decisions.
Weinberg's bill would spare us from such myopia. Her peers largely agree: The bill passed the Senate (33-5) and Assembly (54-16-4) in landslides. It's time to bring it back, if only to let people like Chief Verley rest a little easier at night.
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/09/time_for_action_on_oil_trains_editorial.html
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Mayor's Plan Pushes Major Emissions Cuts for Buildings
Sep 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) yesterday announced a plan to cap fossil fuel use in large buildings, saying the city needs to crack down on energy efficiency laggards.
Under the plan, large buildings have until 2030 to get under fossil fuel caps mandated by the city. If they don't, they'll face stiff fines proportionate to the size of the building and the size of the violation.
De Blasio said fines in the millions of dollars are conceivable. But he called the standards "ambitious but achievable."
"While the mandate will set the target, it leaves flexibility and time for building owners to make the necessary improvements that make the most sense for their building," the mayor said in a statement.
New York City has more than a million buildings, and the energy used in them accounted for 68 percent of the city's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2014. That same year, de Blasio committed the city to reducing greenhouse gases 80 percent by 2050.
To date, most of the city's progress toward that goal has come from a decarbonizing power grid — one that's already scaling up natural gas and renewable energy thanks to state policies.
But with President Trump retrenching on climate policy, de Blasio said, the need to retrofit the city's building stock has become more urgent.
Many of the city's oldest buildings still burn oil for heat and hot water, and while thousands of buildings have converted to natural gas heaters, de Blasio wants that fuel to be phased out, too.
Fossil fuels burned in buildings account for 42 percent of the city's greenhouse gas emissions, the mayor's statement said. Almost a quarter of the city's emissions come from just 14,500 of the city's "worst-performing" structures, not just because they're inefficient but because they burn fossil fuel on-site.
The policy announced yesterday, which de Blasio hopes to shepherd through City Council, aims to "frontload the most dramatic reductions into the coming decade" by mandate. The mayor said that if enacted, the policy would cut natural gas use 14 percent and fuel oil use 20 percent by 2035.
The plan would aim to hit landlords where it hurts: with fines and red tape.
"A one million square foot building operating well over its energy target would pay as much as $2,000,000 for every year over target," he said. "Failure to comply will also affect a building's ability to receive future permits for major renovations."
Rent-controlled buildings would get an extra five years, until 2035, to comply. Smaller buildings would be given access to cheap financing for efficiency upgrades.
De Blasio claimed the policy would cut the city's greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent.
The Real Estate Board of New York panned the proposal, saying it relies on a flawed metric of building energy use.
"The city's goals could inadvertently promote buildings that use less overall energy without regard to how the energy is used," John Banks, REBNY's president, said in a statement. "A trading floor with many terminals and employees might not meet targets, but an empty windowless building used for storage would meet the target."
De Blasio handily won a Democratic primary election this week, and he faces re-election in November.
City officials have said that to meet his "80x50" goal, the city needs to get at least 70 percent of its power from renewable energy. In 2014, the city got two-thirds of its power from natural gas generators and the rest from nuclear power.
The city also hopes to tackle transportation, which accounts for just over a quarter of the city's greenhouse gas emissions. Yesterday, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) announced a partnership to demonstrate electric delivery trucks in the city, funded through a $9.5 million settlement with American Electric Power Co. Inc.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/15/stories/1060060759
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