Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 17/10/17
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Trump Chemical Safety Nominee Sparks Widespread Concern
Oct 17, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Scott Faber
President Trump’s nominee to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency has raised widespread concern among public health, reproductive health, labor, business and environmental organizations. -
Canada Approves Use of Flame Retardant
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A. Miller
The Canadian government has imposed ministerial conditions for the manufacture or import of the substance benzene, 1,1′-(1,2-ethanediyl)bis(2,3,4,5,6-pentabromo)-. -
'Conflict of Interest' Row Flares in Advance of PFOA Discussions
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Nick Hazlewood
The European Commission and the consultancy it hired to work on its draft nomination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to the Stockholm Convention, have both refuted claims that it was inappropriate to use the consultancy and that doing so "created a conflict of interest cloud over the proceedings". -
Norwegian Study Flags Fluorinated Substances in Ski Wax
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Amateur skiers using ski wax in booths in Norway are being exposed to the same dangerous level of perfluorinated hydrocarbons as professional ski waxers, a pilot study by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has found. -
EU Notifies WTO of Proposed CLP Amendments
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The EU has notified the World Trade Organisation's Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade of amendments to the CLP Regulation. -
Oil Companies Defend Big Bets on Gas
Oct 17, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Lynn Cook
The world’s biggest oil companies have defended their giant bets on natural gas at a major energy conference, saying demand will soon emerge for the huge supplies of fuel they are bringing to the market. -
ExxonMobil Starts Production at New US PE Line at Mont Belvieu
Oct 17, 2017 | ICIS
By Zachary Moore
ExxonMobil has commenced production at one of two new 650,000 tonne/year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas, the US-based energy and chemicals major announced on Tuesday. -
US Shale to Help Power Shell's Multi-Billion Dollar Chemicals Drive
Oct 17, 2017 | The Telegraph
By Jillian Ambrose
Royal Dutch Shell will begin construction of a new $10bn petrochemicals site in the gas-rich Marcellus shale basin in the US within the next ten weeks as part of a radical growth plan for its petrochemicals business. -
LNG From U.S. To Remake Global Energy — Analysts
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Energywire
The U.S. boom in liquefied natural gas is transforming global markets and their geopolitical corollaries, to a degree that far exceeds many analysts' original vision of LNG-driven American energy independence. -
N.Y. And FERC at Odds Over Millennium Pipeline Project
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
New York has objected to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pipeline decision, in a case that may shape federal and state roles in approving natural gas infrastructure. -
(ACC Blog) Recently Announced OSHA Alliance Will Expand Message of Safety
Oct 17, 2017 | American Chemistry Matters
By Lee Salamone and Sahar Osman-Sypher
You may have heard that ACC recently signed an agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to form a National Alliance. The whole idea behind this voluntary partnership initiative is to continue to foster safe and healthy American workplaces operating with diisocyanate chemicals along the polyurethane value chain. -
CEI-Led Petition Urges Pruitt to Ditch Endangerment Finding
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Arianna Skibell
A conservative think tank urged U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt again today to reconsider the 2009 endangerment finding, the science that underpins his agency's climate rules. -
Some Groups Want More CO2. Here's What That Means
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Cimatewire
By Chelsea Harvey and Scott Waldman
A key argument used by climate skeptics to downplay the consequences of anthropogenic climate change is resurfacing: the idea that carbon dioxide emissions are a net positive for the planet's vegetation. -
States, Greens Ask Court to Issue Clean Power Plan Ruling
Oct 17, 2017 | Politico Pro
By Alex Guillen
A coalition of states that support the Clean Power Plan and several environmental and public health groups today called on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to issue its opinion on the Obama administration regulation, despite the Trump EPA’s ongoing efforts to repeal it. -
Exposure Before Birth Could Affect Longevity — Study
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
Exposure to air pollution in the womb could have lifelong consequences, according to a new study. -
Oil-State Conservatives Talk Climate After Hurricane Harvey
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
The low coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana stand to lose as ice caps met and seas rise. At the same time, those places depend on the petroleum industry as an economic anchor — like Jefferson County, Texas, where locals describe the chemical stink in the air as "the smell of money."
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Trump Chemical Safety Nominee Sparks Widespread Concern
Oct 17, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Scott Faber
President Trump’s nominee to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency has raised widespread concern among public health, reproductive health, labor, business and environmental organizations.
Organizations representing millions of Americans have expressed concern or opposition to the nomination of Michael Dourson to be assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, including organizations representing pediatricians, firefighters and farmworkers. Hundreds of national, state and local public health, environmental, labor, reproductiveand business organizations also oppose his nomination.
Dourson has worked on behalf of the chemical industry for decades to argue for weaker safety standards on chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive harm and brain damage. If confirmed, he would be charged with reviewing the very same chemicals he has be paid to defend by chemical companies like Monsanto, Dow and Koch Industries.
http://www.ewg.org/planet-trump/2017/10/trump-chemical-safety-nominee-sparks-widespread-concern#.WeYtBVuCzIU
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Canada Approves Use of Flame Retardant
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A. Miller
The Canadian government has imposed ministerial conditions for the manufacture or import of the substance benzene, 1,1′-(1,2-ethanediyl)bis(2,3,4,5,6-pentabromo)-.
Under these conditions, the chemical can be used "as a flame retardant component to manufacture thermoplastic/thermoset parts and coatings".
The environment minister has to be notified at least 120 days before manufacture of the substance in Canada.
The notice became effective on 3 October and was published in the Canada Gazette on 17 October.
In the same issue, the government announced that it was adding 242 substances to the Non-Domestic Substances List (NDSL).
Of those, 236 were added to part one and six to part two.
The same notice removed three substances from part three of the list.
The NDSL is an inventory of substances that are not on the Domestic Substances List (DSL) as being active in Canadian commerce, but are in commercial use internationally.
Substances on the DSL do not require notification, unless they are subject to a significant new activity (Snac) notice. Substances on the NDSL are subject to new substance notification, with lesser requirements.
https://chemicalwatch.com/60130/canada-approves-use-of-flame-retardant
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'Conflict of Interest' Row Flares in Advance of PFOA Discussions
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Nick Hazlewood
The European Commission and the consultancy it hired to work on its draft nomination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to the Stockholm Convention, have both refuted claims that it was inappropriate to use the consultancy and that doing so "created a conflict of interest cloud over the proceedings".
The Commission nominated PFOA, its salts and related compounds, in 2015, and has used Munich-based consultancy BiPRO to help draft its risk management evaluation (RME).
However, 19 NGOs have written to the EU executive expressing concern. They say it is not appropriate to use the consultancy because its "client list contains companies that make fluorinated compounds and/or use PFOA in their manufacturing processes." These companies, the letter says, include 3M and Saint-Gobain.
But Dina Pokedoff, Director of Branding and Communication for Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics said the company purchases PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) from third-party vendors and uses it in product manufacture. "In the past, these third party suppliers manufactured PTFE using PFOA, and it was a minor ingredient present in the PTFE. As part of an agreement with the US EPA to reduce environmental impact, these suppliers were required to phase out PFOA by 2015."
"Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics doesn't make fluorinated compounds and it never has," she said.
And BiPRO strongly denies a conflict of interest. Alexander Potrykus, its senior managing consultant, told Chemical Watch it is independent and works "on behalf of both public and private clients, and it is crucial for us to provide science and fact based information".NGO claim
In their letter the NGO signatories, including the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Ipen, CHEM Trust, ChemSec and the Center for International Environment Law (Ciel), write: "It is not appropriate for the EU to select an industry consultancy that serves clients making and using fluorinated chemicals, to guide a process that results in global exemption recommendations for those same industries."
And the six-paged letter calls on the Commission to stop using BiPRO for any matter related to fluorinated compounds. It argues that the EU/BiPRO draft RME creates "the impression that the EU has simply hired an industry consultancy to advance its own industry's interests.
"That's a conflict of interest and not the kind of chemical safety leadership we expect from the EU."Commission response
EU sources have, however, sought to defuse the controversy, saying that BiPRO is just one of the consultancy firms that regularly provide independent services to the Commission, following a tendering procedure.
"BiPRO does not draft the risk management assessment itself, but it provides the elements on which the Commission bases its assessment," the sources say. "For the PFOA nomination, the Commission has produced a fact based, scientific assessment, taking on board the extensive comments received during the various stakeholder consultation rounds of the POPRC [POPs Review Committee] assessment process."Convention review
The row has blown up just a week before the Stockholm Convention's POPRC meets in Rome to discuss the substance's nomination.
PFOA belongs to a group of chemicals used to make household and commercial products that resist heat and chemical reactions and repel oil, stains, grease and water. The EU nominated it to be listed on the convention because it is very persistent in the environment, it bioaccumulates, is found in remote areas and is toxic, with some evidence it causes kidney and testicular cancer.
A listing on the convention results in either the elimination of, or restriction in production and use of, a substance.RME
The risk management evaluation stage of nominating a substance to the convention looks at socio-economic issues, alternatives, risk management options and possible exemptions.
It is on the last of these that much of the contention is focused. The Commission draft includes proposals for 11 exemptions to an outright ban on PFOA. These cover all the major uses of the substance, including uses in:
· electronics;
· textiles;
· water treatment;
· firefighting foams;
· medical devices;
· film photography;
· transport of intermediates; and
· pharmaceutical production.
Exemptions under the convention can be either 'time limited' or 'time-unlimited'. The former allows production and use to continue for five years with an option for renewal. The latter allows production and use to continue indefinitely for "acceptable purposes".
The basis for the EU nomination is the regulation it published earlier this year that has ten exemptions.
Seven of the proposed exemptions in the draft convention document replicate the EU regulation. But three of the proposed exemptions would be converted from time-limited to unlimited exemptions.
And the Commission document adds another exemption for the use of perfluoro iodide in the production of perfluorooctyl bromide for pharmaceutical products.Objectivity
According to Ipen's Joe Digangi: "The listing of PFOA in the Stockholm Convention will be a key decision point about whether production and use of this persistent, toxic substance will continue ... the upcoming meeting will make important recommendations that affect the lives of millions of people."
According to Dr Digangi, the Commission's use of BiPRO calls into question the objectivity of the RME, and the assessment of the need for exemptions and evaluation of alternatives.
"It is necessary for impartial POPRC members themselves or independent, unbiased consultants to prepare the RME in order to prevent conflict of interest," he says.
And, in its comments to the draft risk management evaluation, Ipen said the RME "must include an unbiased evaluation and justification for the need for each possible exemption and a full assessment of safe alternatives."
And several other commenters brought up the issue of exemptions, including Norway, which said:
"The document gives the impression that all requests for exemptions have been accepted and that no critical review of the exception requests that have come from industry or industry organisations have been made.
"It appears that most of the exceptions included in the EU Restriction are also included automatically, without a critical review of the needs for these globally. Even when alternatives are available, exemptions are suggested."
BiPRO's Mr Potrykus said it was "important to emphasise that ... we are not the drafter of the RME. The European Commission is the drafter. BiPRO assists the EU Commission in doing this according to its mandate from [them]."
It must also be noted, he added, that the draft RME was drawn up in a transparent process. "As a consequence, [it] includes information and positions from industry as well as from governments or NGOs or other interested parties and also takes due account of the views of the POPRC."
The information compiled includes the full range of options for possible exemptions, he said. This will serve as the basis for the discussions at the upcoming POPRC meeting.
This story was amended on 17 October to clarify that Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics does not and never has produced fluorinated compounds.
https://chemicalwatch.com/59938/conflict-of-interest-row-flares-in-advance-of-pfoa-discussions
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Norwegian Study Flags Fluorinated Substances in Ski Wax
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Amateur skiers using ski wax in booths in Norway are being exposed to the same dangerous level of perfluorinated hydrocarbons as professional ski waxers, a pilot study by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has found.
Applying and brushing wax generates particles, which may be inhaled. Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), such as perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), may be bound to the particles. Such substances are persistent in the environment and toxic.
The National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI) had previously looked at the exposure of particles and volatile organic compounds from indoor air in professional ski waxers’ waxing booths, and found that the amount varied with work intensity and the use of fluorinated waxing products.
However, the professional ski waxers had small reductions in lung function tests, and there were indications that particles could induce inflammatory reactions in their lungs.
For the pilot study, the institute collected particles in indoor air at four different ski competitions during February and March this year. The results showed that the concentrations of particles in air from the waxing booths can vary widely, both during one competition and between the different competitions, it says.
The results confirm the need to abide by previous advice and recommendations on adequate ventilation, the institute says.
https://chemicalwatch.com/60140/norwegian-study-flags-fluorinated-substances-in-ski-wax
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EU Notifies WTO of Proposed CLP Amendments
Oct 17, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The EU has notified the World Trade Organisation's Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade of amendments to the CLP Regulation.
As part of the latest adaptation to technical progress, changes include new and revised entries for the harmonised classification and labelling of 34 substances and deleting 1 substance in Annex VI.
The proposed date of adoption is first quarter of 2018, and entry into force is 20 days from publication in the EU's Official Journal.
Final date for comments is 60 days from notification.
https://chemicalwatch.com/60141/eu-notifies-wto-of-proposed-clp-amendments
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Oil Companies Defend Big Bets on Gas
Oct 17, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Lynn Cook
The world’s biggest oil companies have defended their giant bets on natural gas at a major energy conference, saying demand will soon emerge for the huge supplies of fuel they are bringing to the market.
Robert Franklin, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s XOM -0.11% vice president in charge of gas and power, said natural gas demand was rising in China, where imports of liquefied natural gas are up 40% in the past year. He said he believed India would follow China’s lead soon, recalling talks this month among energy executives and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who sought ideas for switching India to a gas-based economy.
"If I’m bullish about gas generation in China and India, then I’m bullish about natural gas,” Mr. Franklin said at Oil & Money, a major energy conference in London that draws executives, investors and government officials.
Exxon and its rivals have invested over $700 billion dollars in new natural gas projects from the U.S. to Africa to Australia from 2007 to 2016, unleashing huge new quantities of gas. Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell RDS.B -0.69% PLC both say they produce more gas than oil now, and the same will be true for BP PLC within a decade—much of it via liquefied natural gas, which can bDeveloping LNG markets still lack a coherent business model, said Charif Souki, chairman of Tellurian, which develops natural-gas projects. “We lack the infrastructure,” Mr. Souki said.
The question’s urgency was underscored by an entire day of talks at Oil & Money about natural gas, the first time the organizers devoted have a day to a fuel source other than crude oil.
The fuel is widely seen as a relatively low-emissions bridge from dirtier fuels like coal to a future where renewable energy sources like wind and solar become more prominent. The U.S. remains the largest emitter of CO2 but has reduced its carbon output 21% over 10 years by shutting old coal-fired power plants and launching new natural-gas power stations.
"Governments around the world are getting on board in boosting gas supply and use,” said Ajay Shah, a vice president with Shell Energy Asia.
Fossil-fuel producers underestimate renewables growth at their peril, said Otto Waterlander, a senior partner at McKinsey and Company. The industry has consistently bet renewable energy sources would grow more slowly than they actually have, and it has underestimated how reliable those greener energy sources would be.
“Let’s be a bit more cautious on what’s coming next,” he said.
Mr. Franklin of Exxon took aim at two policies that have dented the outlook for natural-gas growth: Trump administration climate-change moves and European regulations favoring renewables.
Mr. Franklin bemoaned the U.S. move to exit from the Paris climate accord, saying that the company’s chief executive Darren Woods “implored” President Donald Trump not to walk away from the deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions. And he called European policies to promote solar and wind power growth “frankly ineffective subsidies,” saying gas-fired power stations do more to help the environment.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Trump has said he is open to negotiating a better climate deal for the U.S. The Trump administration has also made moves to support the coal industry.e shipped around the world like oil.
That new potential for natural-gas supply comes as big petrostates like Qatar and Russia also plan to produce more gas. The flood of supply has depressed LNG prices and raised uncertainty about where all the new natural gas will be consumed. Many countries don’t have the infrastructure to import the fuel or the money to make the required changes.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-companies-defend-big-bets-on-gas-1508252680
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ExxonMobil Starts Production at New US PE Line at Mont Belvieu
Oct 17, 2017 | ICIS
By Zachary Moore
ExxonMobil has commenced production at one of two new 650,000 tonne/year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas, the US-based energy and chemicals major announced on Tuesday.
The expansion is expected to raise the capacity of the Mont Belvieu PE plant by approximately 1.3m tonnes/year. The project also includes a new 1.5m tonne/year ethane cracker in nearby Baytown, Texas, which would supply ethylene feedstock to the Mont Belvieu plant.
Once the expansion is completed, the Mont Belvieu plastics plant will have a total capacity of 2.5m tonnes/year, making it one of the world’s largest PE plants.
The company intends to export much of the production from the new plant through the Port of Houston, with the first export cargoes slated later this month. Once the expansion is fully completed, the plant aims to export more than 200 containers/day of plastics.
ExxonMobil is planning to invest more than $20bn over 10 years to build and expand manufacturing facilities across the US Gulf as part of its Growing the Gulf initiative. The expansion covers 11 major chemical, refining, lubricants and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects and will create more than 12,000 full-time jobs.
https://www.icis.com/resources/news/2017/10/17/10155051/exxonmobil-starts-production-at-new-us-pe-line-at-mont-belvieu/
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US Shale to Help Power Shell's Multi-Billion Dollar Chemicals Drive
Oct 17, 2017 | The Telegraph
By Jillian Ambrose
Royal Dutch Shell will begin construction of a new $10bn petrochemicals site in the gas-rich Marcellus shale basin in the US within the next ten weeks as part of a radical growth plan for its petrochemicals business.
The oil major told investors that global demand for petrochemicals - which are used to manufacture the raw materials used to make plastics, paints and textiles - is set to grow by around 50pc by the end of the decade, making it a key area for the company’s growth.
Shell believes it can almost double the earnings from its chemicals business within the next two year to between $3.5bn to $4bn by adding three major petrochemical refineries to its portfolio before 2020.
“The biggest uplift to earnings and cash flow will probably only be in the early 2020s with the start-up of Shell's Pennsylvania ethane cracker,” said Gordon Gray, an analyst at HSBC.
The renewed interest in petrochemicals manufacturing is due to the close proximity of cheap shale gas fields, which will supply ethane, a key refinery feedstock, for rock bottom prices.
“None of this would be happening if it weren’t for shale gas,” said Tom Crotty a senior director at Ineos, the owner of the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland.
Ineos has also tapped the US shale gas boom using eight specially designed Dragon sea vessels to transport ethane from the Pennsylvania shale fields to Grangemouth.
Mr Crotty said a large source of the increased demand for petrochemical products comes from China. The Chinese state has clamped down on refineries which are flouting environmental rules and worsening the country’s air quality concerns.
Market specialists at Icis estimate that no less than 70,000 chemicals and other manufacturing plants have been shut down in just three provinces in China since July.
“It’s a major opportunity for European refiners,” said Mr Crotty. He added that in the UK it could help rebalance the economy by providing thousands more jobs in the North of the country by increasing manufacturing.
For Shell the move offers further evidence of its shift away from oil. The supermajor is increasing the proportion of gas in its exploration and production business. It is also turning towards ‘downstream’ business operations such as retail sales of fuels and lubricants.
Shell will invest in a fourth alpha olefins unit at its Geismar, Louisiana plant in the US which will start-up in the second half of next year, and a second major petrochemicals complex in Nanhai, China.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/10/17/us-shale-help-power-shells-multi-billion-dollar-chemicals-drive/
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LNG From U.S. To Remake Global Energy — Analysts
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Energywire
The U.S. boom in liquefied natural gas is transforming global markets and their geopolitical corollaries, to a degree that far exceeds many analysts' original vision of LNG-driven American energy independence.
"This bulge of LNG is going to completely upset the apple cart of world energy politics and the global competition of fuels that is still hard for people to comprehend," said Amy Myers Jaffe, an expert on energy security and geopolitics at the Council on Foreign Relations.
China and India are likely to be the fastest-growing sources of demand for gas as they seek to reduce air contamination in cities. In China, the government is already switching away from coal as a power source for factories and boilers, despite the higher cost of gas.
Executives at many oil and gas companies see LNG as an effective complement to renewables in places where governments are seeking to transition away from fossil fuels.
In some African countries, offshore terminals recently put in place are seen as a growing way to power villages in rural areas.
And analysts say U.S. gas will eventually eat away at Russia's share of European markets — despite Russia's recent gains there — as European governments seek a way of relieving dependence on a political rival (Clifford Krauss, New York Times, Oct. 16). — DI
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/10/17/stories/1060063763
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N.Y. And FERC at Odds Over Millennium Pipeline Project
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
New York has objected to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pipeline decision, in a case that may shape federal and state roles in approving natural gas infrastructure.
Last month, FERC said Millennium Pipeline Co. could start building the Valley Lateral gas pipeline, saying New York regulators had exceeded the one-year review period allotted by federal law (Energywire, Sept. 18).
In a late-Friday filing, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said it acted within the one-year period and that FERC should block construction and rehear the case. The state also argued that NYSDEC's interpretation of the relevant federal law, Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, trumps FERC's.
FERC has 30 days from the date of the filing to respond.
The legal maneuvering is being watched by pipeline companies that say states are unfairly holding up projects, as well as by anti-fossil fuel campaigners who say states are within their rights to do so.
The 7.8-mile Valley Lateral project would be the sole fuel supply for a new power plant north of New York City. The builder of that plant, Competitive Power Ventures Inc., claims the unit is 85 percent complete.
But in August, NYSDEC denied the pipeline's water permit. In September, FERC overruled that denial. While FERC has the lead role in reviewing interstate gas pipelines, under the Clean Water Act, states are allowed to review projects for compliance with their water laws.
Section 404 of the act gives states "a reasonable period of time (which shall not exceed one year) after receipt of such request." If a state takes longer than that, its jurisdiction is waived.
But when does the one-year clock begin? Millennium said it started in November 2015, when it first sent its application to NYSDEC.
NYSDEC argued the clock started in August 2016, when it first deemed the application complete. If that was the first "receipt," then the state had until August 2017 to decide.
In September, FERC sided with Millennium, warning that states shouldn't be allowed to string out water permits indefinitely.
NYSDEC fired back last week, saying the correct standard is one year from receipt of a complete application.
Moreover, it said, the state's interpretation of the statute should trump FERC's, since states are the ones who implement the Clean Water Act requirement.
"Because the Department is charged with determining whether to issue a [water quality certificate] for the Project, it — not FERC — is the appropriate agency to interpret any ambiguous terms of the CWA," NYSDEC said.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/10/17/stories/1060063793
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(ACC Blog) Recently Announced OSHA Alliance Will Expand Message of Safety
Oct 17, 2017 | American Chemistry Matters
By Lee Salamone and Sahar Osman-Sypher
You may have heard that ACC recently signed an agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to form a National Alliance. The whole idea behind this voluntary partnership initiative is to continue to foster safe and healthy American workplaces operating with diisocyanate chemicals along the polyurethane value chain.
Three groups here at ACC will lead the work with OSHA: the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) and the Diisocyanates (DII) and Aliphatic Diisocyanates (ADI) panels.
One of the things we’re most excited about is engaging with OSHA and our stakeholders in the polyurethanes industry together about product stewardship, training, outreach and awareness of both OSHA’s regulatory requirements and the resources available from OSHA and from the industry.
Working through this Alliance, ACC will be able to provide users, occupational physicians, stakeholders, OSHA representatives at the state, regional and national level, and others with information, guidance and access to training resources that will help them further protect the health and safety of workers.
How will that work? Over the past several years, the polyurethanes industry has created a multi-lingual resource library with guidance documents, training modules, videos and workshops focused on safe use and handling of diisocyanates. At the same time, OSHA has created resources to assist companies with workplace safety and compliance.
For example, OSHA’s On-site Consultation Program offers free and confidential advice to small- and medium-sized businesses in all states across the country, with priority given to high-hazard worksites. On-site Consultation services are separate from enforcement activities. Consultants from state agencies or universities work with employers to identify workplace hazards and provide advice on compliance with OSHA standards.
Throughout the two-year term of the Alliance, we will create some new tools to deepen stakeholders’ understanding or to further support specific groups of users. By collaborating with OSHA, we can reach audiences we might not have reached before. And that’s really the key for us. The more people who understand sound safety principles, the better off workers are. And so an opportunity that helps us spread the message is a positive. This Alliance with OSHA will allow us to do just that.
We’ll be seeking to raise awareness of OSHA’s rulemaking and enforcement initiatives; we’ll conduct training to educate employers, workers and OSHA officials on safety issues; and we’ll be developing effective outreach and communication efforts to increase the visibility of the partnership and its goals. The more companies that know about our work, the more good we can do to promote worker health and safety.
Making our workplaces even safer has always been a top priority for us here at ACC, and the bottom line is this partnership with OSHA is going to build on what’s already a strong foundation of product stewardship.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2017/10/recently-announced-osha-alliance-will-expand-message-of-safety/
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CEI-Led Petition Urges Pruitt to Ditch Endangerment Finding
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Arianna Skibell
A conservative think tank urged U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt again today to reconsider the 2009 endangerment finding, the science that underpins his agency's climate rules.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute's letter to Pruitt is signed by more than 60 scientists and health professionals in support of a petition to reconsider the finding for greenhouse gases.
In April, CEI along with the Concerned Household Electricity Consumers Council petitioned EPA to take a hard look at the finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare (Greenwire, April 10).
"The Endangerment Finding is the basis for a host of incredibly burdensome and wide-ranging regulations, ranging from auto fuel economy standards to the Clean Power Plan," wrote CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman. "These threaten access to affordable energy, as well as millions of jobs, and countless lives around the world."
Kenneth Haapala, president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, echoed CEI's calls in an addendum to the letter, which includes the names of scientists who question the validity of the endangerment finding.
"We the undersigned are individuals who have technical skills and knowledge relevant to climate science and the GHG Endangerment Finding," Haapala wrote. "We each are convinced that the 2009 GHG Endangerment Finding is fundamentally flawed and that an honest, unbiased reconsideration is in order."
Among those who signed the letter are economist James Wallace III and climatologist Joseph D'Aleo, who predicted "global cooling" in the 2008 edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac. While the pair have consistently criticized EPA's authority in court battles, the Supreme Court has decided three times that EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
While EPA has said it will repeal the Clean Power Plan, Obama's signature climate regulation, agency officials have remained quiet about their plans for the endangerment finding (E&E News PM, Oct. 10).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/10/17/stories/1060063855
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Some Groups Want More CO2. Here's What That Means
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Cimatewire
By Chelsea Harvey and Scott Waldman
A key argument used by climate skeptics to downplay the consequences of anthropogenic climate change is resurfacing: the idea that carbon dioxide emissions are a net positive for the planet's vegetation.
The line of reasoning is being used to push back on the underlying science of global warming. The Heartland Institute, which has sought to place climate contrarians on science advisory councils at U.S. EPA, even suggested that it might sue companies for not emitting more CO2 Climatewire, Oct. 16).
The idea that carbon has benefits has been used before. As the argument goes, plants rely on carbon dioxide to survive, and if the atmosphere contains more of the gas it could stimulate plant growth. That's a good thing for humans, who rely on them for oxygen and food, they say.
Researchers are still trying to fully understand the effects of rising CO2 levels on plants around the world. But while CO2 may indeed be a boon for vegetation in some ways, climate scientists have repeatedly pointed out that other effects of climate change may outweigh these benefits.An old argument resurfaced
Focusing on the benefits of increased atmospheric CO2 has long been a talking point among those who question the mainstream science of climate change. The Heartland plan, in particular, calls for funding to be directed to Craig Idso, who heads the Center for Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. He has long promoted the benefits of carbon dioxide. Idso's work has been supported by Heartland as well as energy companies.
Idso, who was a featured speaker at this year's Heartland conference in Washington, regularly calls CO2 the "elixir of life" and claims that the planet is headed toward explosive growth in plant life. His work frequently downplays the effect of carbon dioxide on the planet. He has claimed that increased crop yields sparked by rising CO2 levels could create an economic boost of $10 trillion by 2050.
Idso did not return a request for comment.
Those talking points can also be found in Congress. Rep. Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, argued in an essay for the Heritage Foundation that people should focus more on the benefits of rising temperatures. His piece, published in July, was named "Don't Believe the Hysteria Over Carbon Dioxide."
"While crops typically suffer from high heat and lack of rainfall, carbon enrichment helps produce more resilient food crops, such as maize, soybeans, wheat, and rice," Smith wrote. "In fact, atmospheric carbon dioxide is so important for plant health that greenhouses often use a carbon dioxide generator to increase production."The flaws in the argument
It's true that an increase in available carbon dioxide can be a boon for plants, which need it to make the food they turn into energy. In fact, recent research published in Nature Climate Change has suggested that rising CO2 levels have contributed to a global "greening" over the last few decades, or an increase in the leaves on trees and other plants, particularly in the rapidly warming Arctic.
But the idea that increasing CO2 will be a pure advantage for plants everywhere ignores the negative side effects that human-induced climate change may have on vegetation. In fact, research suggests that plants in some parts of the world — including some staple food crops for people — may actually come out the worse for it.
"There really is this fundamental tug of war between rising CO2 concentrations benefiting plants and then the effects of climate change harming plants," said William Anderegg, an expert on forests and climate change at the University of Utah.
The most obvious problem is that rising CO2 concentrations also lead to rising global temperatures — and this is not always a good thing for plants, particularly in regions that already have warm or dry climates. Plants tend to lose more water through their leaves in warmer temperatures, which can offset the benefits they enjoy from more carbon dioxide. And scientists believe that in many parts of the world, climate change will bring about an increase in extreme events, including drought, severe storms and wildfires — all of which can harm plant life.
In the last few years, multiple studies have found that rising CO2 levels — and particularly their climatic side effects — are not necessarily all good for plants, and particularly for agriculture.
Several long-term studies of grasslands, including one in California and another in Yellowstone National Park, suggest that the productivity of these ecosystems may suffer under the effects of climate change, such as increases in temperature or dryness, despite the advantages of higher CO2 levels.
Another 2016 paper in Nature Communications, focusing on agriculture in the United States, suggested that high temperatures may cause severe reductions in the production of certain major crops, including corn and soybeans. And the research indicated that higher CO2 concentrations would not be enough to significantly offset these losses.
Some research has also suggested that rising CO2 concentrations may even affect the nutritional value of crops, Anderegg pointed out, with potential health consequences for the humans who rely on them for food. A 2014 paper in Nature suggested that some beans and grains have lower concentrations of zinc and iron when they're grown under elevated CO2 concentrations.
And all of these climate-related factors aside, some scientists also believe that the advantages of rising carbon dioxide may not last forever — that, in fact, plants may eventually adjust to the higher concentrations, and the growth benefits will taper off over time.
Until that point, though, studies do indicate that more CO2 is still a boon for plants, all other factors being equal. And while plants may suffer under rising temperatures in some parts of the world, it's possible they may thrive in others (the greening in the world's northern region is an example). Scientists are now increasingly working to determine exactly how all these factors fit together and what the world's vegetation will look like in the future.
"It's still a major scientific research area to figure out when and where the CO2 effects versus the climate change effects will dominate," Anderegg said.
Of course, climate change will hardly affect the planet through its influence on vegetation alone. Even if plants do perform better in some places, the argument ignores myriad negative climate consequences caused by rising carbon emissions, from warming temperatures to severe weather events to rising sea levels.
But as far as plants are concerned, Anderegg also noted that while the science is still emerging, "on the whole, I think there's a general understanding that the impacts of climate change are materializing sooner and are more severe than they were a decade or two ago."
"The rosy optimistic scenarios where CO2 'wins' do exist, but there are also plenty of scenarios where drought and temperature and disturbances combined basically push global plants into accelerating climate change," he added.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/10/17/stories/1060063815
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States, Greens Ask Court to Issue Clean Power Plan Ruling
Oct 17, 2017 | Politico Pro
By Alex Guillen
A coalition of states that support the Clean Power Plan and several environmental and public health groups today called on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to issue its opinion on the Obama administration regulation, despite the Trump EPA’s ongoing efforts to repeal it.
EPA previously said it was considering revising the rule, but its proposed repeal means that EPA would be "in violation of its statutory duty to regulate carbon dioxide from existing power plants under the Clean Air Act, a duty the agency is not contesting it must fulfill,” the states said in a court filing.
“The Court is not required to — and should not — sign off on a further abeyance with the knowledge that the agency’s proposed path would end in a statutory violation,” the states added.
EPA last week asked for an indefinite hold on the case.
Environmental groups noted that Pruitt had justified the repeal by arguing EPA had gone beyond its statutory authority, an issue that had been argued before the D.C. Circuit and could be resolved with a ruling.
The states and groups urged the court to issue a ruling now, or otherwise to keep the case on hold for only 120 days.
This is not the first time the carbon rule’s supporters have coaxed the court to issue its ruling. Environmentalists over the summer made the same request, prompting two of the judges to warn EPA that their patience was running thin.
WHAT’S NEXT: The 60-day stay issued by the court in August has expired. It is unclear when or how the court will act next.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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Exposure Before Birth Could Affect Longevity — Study
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
Exposure to air pollution in the womb could have lifelong consequences, according to a new study.
The study, published yesterday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, found that pregnant women exposed to more air pollution gave birth to babies with shorter telomeres, or caps on the ends of chromosomes that mark biological aging.
That could lead to health effects for the child down the road, the researchers said.
The study examined 641 pregnant women from 2010 to 2014. Scientists examined readings from monitoring devices to measure particulate matter at the mothers' home addresses.
Reducing fine-particle pollution in the air could boost longevity, they suggest.
Other researchers, however, caution not to draw broad conclusions from the study yet, despite a "sound basis" for the research. Telomere length is largely inherited from parents, and it can also be affected by a variety of other factors, like stress, three scientists wrote in an accompanying editorial.
"Just to make up a possible scenario, it could be that mothers that live in more polluted areas are subjected to higher stress, which then leads to slightly shorter telomeres," they wrote (Susan Scutti, CNN, Oct. 16). — NS
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/10/17/stories/1060063819
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Oil-State Conservatives Talk Climate After Hurricane Harvey
Oct 17, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
The low coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana stand to lose as ice caps met and seas rise. At the same time, those places depend on the petroleum industry as an economic anchor — like Jefferson County, Texas, where locals describe the chemical stink in the air as "the smell of money."
Residents seemed to choose between those two last November, abandoning the county's decades-old Democratic tilt to support Donald Trump. Then came Hurricane Harvey.
As residents rebuild from the storm's tremendous damage, some conservatives are re-evaluating some of the polarizing questions around climate change.
As Joe Evans, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for local office, watched the deluge, he remembered feeling an unexpected sense of guilt: "What have we been doing to the planet for all of these years?"
Evans voted for Trump, but he says he's bothered by the "conservative echo chamber" that keeps Republicans from even talking about climate change seriously. When he was younger, he remembers conversations about the ozone layer having much less political overtones than discussions now about climate change.
"I think it's one of those games that politicians play with us," he said, "to once again make us choose a side" (Claire Galofaro, Associated Press, Oct. 16). — AAA
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/10/17/stories/1060063783
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