Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 3/13/18
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(ACC Mentioned) Protectionist Measures to Backfire, EU Should Lead Free Trade Push - Wacker Chief
Mar 13, 2018 | ICIS
By Jonathan Lopez
Wacker Chemie’s CEO on Tuesday made an emphatic defence of global free trade following the US President’s tariffs imposed on steel and aluminium, which Rudolf Staudigl said could backfire in coming months if other countries were to respond in kind. -
(ACC Mentioned) More Supporters Join $150 Million Marine Debris Project
Mar 13, 2018 | Resource Recycling
By Colin Staub
An industry-funded ocean plastics prevention initiative has received support from a number of new partners, including brand owners, a chemicals giant and an intergovernmental group. -
Too Little, Too Fast: EDF Comments Raise Numerous Concerns with EPA's Proposal to Expand Use of a Toxic Chemical
Mar 13, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Richard Denison
Last month EDF blogged about our request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to extend the illegally and unreasonably short 15-day comment period it had provided on a modification EPA is proposing to make to expand the ways a toxic chemical could be used, subject to certain conditions, without triggering any requirement to first notify EPA. -
In a First, California Moves to Protect People from Toxic PFAS Chemicals in Carpets
Mar 13, 2018 | Environmental Working Group
By Tasha Stoiber
In a groundbreaking move, California has proposed that carpets and rugs containing the stain-resistant fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS[1] should be considered a priority product under the state’s Safer Consumer Products program. -
Hydrocarbon UVCBs, Ethyne Are Safe, Says Draft Canadian Assessment
Mar 13, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A Canadian government assessment has provisionally concluded that six petroleum or coal-based mixtures are not harmful to humans or the environment. And it has reached the same conclusion on ethyne. -
Anses Research Programme Targets EDCs, Bisphenols
Mar 13, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A major research programme announced by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Anses, includes projects on the exposure effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and bisphenols on humans. -
(ACC Mentioned) 'The Harms of Fracking': New Report Details Increased Risks of Asthma, Birth Defects and Cancer
Mar 13, 2018 | Rolling Stone
By Justin Nobel
The most authoritative study of its kind reveals how fracking is contaminating the air and water – and imperiling the health of millions of Americans. -
Hearing Set on PHMSA's Sabine Pass Tank Shutdown Order
Mar 13, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Soraghan and Jenny Mandel
A March 21 hearing has been set for the Cheniere Energy Inc. challenge to the federal order that shut down part of its liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana after leaks from storage tanks. -
Partnership Bulking up Size of Proposed Ohio Ethane Cracker
Mar 13, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
Emboldened by a partnership with South Korea-based Daelim Industrial Co., PTT Global Chemical pcl (PTTGC) raised its stakes in Ohio on Monday, announcing that the size of its proposed ethane cracker in Belmont County would nearly double. -
Court Backs FERC, Rebuffs N.Y. Pipeline Denial
Mar 13, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
New York's blockade against natural gas pipelines was breached yesterday after a federal appeals court ruled the state had taken too long reviewing a project before denying a permit. -
Pompeo, Who Has Raised Doubts about Climate Change, Would Lead State during Key Climate Negotiations
Mar 13, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney
Mike Pompeo’s coming elevation to Secretary of State would put an official who has expressed doubts about climate science in charge of the department tasked with representing the United State at a crucial upcoming international climate summit. -
Ewire: Could Pompeo at State Department Shift Climate Policy?
Mar 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
President Donald Trump's announcement that he has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and will replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo could usher in a further rightward shift in the administration's approach to climate policy. -
18 Dems to Give Climate Speeches Today
Mar 13, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Josh Kurtz
Once a week for almost six years, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has risen on the Senate floor and offered an impassioned plea to his colleagues to address the increasing threats from climate change. He delivered the first in April 2012, accusing Congress of "sleepwalking" through the climate crisis. -
Environmentalists Threaten EPA with Suit to Force SO2 Plans
Mar 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
Three environmental groups are threatening to sue EPA over the agency's alleged failure to approve or deny several states' plans for compliance with the agency's 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), implementation of which is now years behind schedule.
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(ACC Mentioned) Protectionist Measures to Backfire, EU Should Lead Free Trade Push - Wacker Chief
Mar 13, 2018 | ICIS
By Jonathan Lopez
Wacker Chemie’s CEO on Tuesday made an emphatic defence of global free trade following the US President’s tariffs imposed on steel and aluminium, which Rudolf Staudigl said could backfire in coming months if other countries were to respond in kind.
The Munich-headquartered producer chief was speaking at a press conference following the presentation of Wacker’s full-year resultsearlier in the day.
Staudigl said that potential trade barriers were the biggest “geopolitical risk” the world would have to face this year and next, a bigger risk than Brexit, he said, although he admitted that in some areas the departure of the UK from the EU was a “disaster”.
The European chemical trade group Cefic said on 2 March it was fearing the tariffs could mean the start of trade wars, while its US counterpart the American Chemistry Council (ACC) had said before that the tariffs on steel and aluminium could harm the chemical industry's growth prospects.
The company’s CFO, Tobias Ohler, added that for the moment the US corporation tax reform approved at the end of 2017 would have not effects on Wacker’s financials.
Asked whether the lack of a government in Germany since the elections held in 2017 had affected the economy in the country, Staudigl mirrored comments from this counterpart at German chemical major BASF, who said on 27 February that at times the lack of new regulation is good for the economy.
Staudigl has always been a firm supporter of free trade. Following the latest actions coming from the US, he used Tuesday’s press conference to demand the EU take the lead on open markets.
“This topic [tariffs on steel, aluminium] is of course the result of promises made during the campaign. In a couple of weeks, things should have calmed down a little bit again, but still we see this increase in protectionism throughout the world [and] we are concerned,” said Staudigl.
“Protectionism will never produce the expected results. This is why it’s better to meet at a negotiation table and find a solution, rather than using [social media platform] Twitter to state your positions. Europe should take the lead in pushing for free and unrestrained global trade.”
The CEO went on to say that if Europe wants to be at the forefront of technological innovations which will mark industrial progress in coming decades, it would be in its own interest to remain focused on free trade.
Related to research and development (R&D) activities, the CEO said that the UK’s departure from the EU, planned for March 2019, was a “disaster” for the many projects UK and EU academics were jointly working on.
Moreover, the departure of the UK from the 28-country bloc would meant the exit of a free trade-supporter, and could embolden more protectionist tendencies.
“I’m afraid the call for more protectionism in continental Europe is going to increase, and that is a big problem,” he added.
In Germany, however, he welcomed subsidies for R&D which have been agreed by the two largest parties coming out from the September 2017 general election, the CDU and the SPD, which are set to form another ‘grand coalition’.
“We have been calling for this for a long time [and] we expect something to reach us [Wacker’s R&D projects]. Because we compete worldwide, we hear again and again how much China is investing in R&D and everything they have planned with China 2025 [strategy],” said the CEO.
“We have to take this very seriously.”
https://www.icis.com/resources/news/2018/03/13/10201927/protectionist-measures-to-backfire-eu-should-lead-free-trade-push-wacker-chief/
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(ACC Mentioned) More Supporters Join $150 Million Marine Debris Project
Mar 13, 2018 | Resource Recycling
By Colin Staub
An industry-funded ocean plastics prevention initiative has received support from a number of new partners, including brand owners, a chemicals giant and an intergovernmental group.
Closed Loop Partners announced last week that the collaborative Closed Loop Ocean effort has added The Coca-Cola Company, Dow Chemical Company, Kimberly-Clark, and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) as supporters.
The initiative launched last fall with the goal of raising $150 million to fund waste management and recycling infrastructure in Southeast Asia. The region was targeted because it is the top contributor to marine plastic debris. The group says roughly eight million metric tons of plastic enters the ocean each year from five rapidly growing economies: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
Closed Loop Ocean is focusing on funding projects to improve collection, sorting and end market development for scrap plastic in the region.
The new partners join a handful of initial supporters, including 3M, the American Chemistry Council, Ocean Conservancy, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, the Trash Free Seas Alliance and the World Plastics Council.
https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2018/03/13/more-supporters-join-150-million-marine-debris-project/
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Mar 13, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Richard Denison
Last month EDF blogged about our request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to extend the illegally and unreasonably short 15-day comment period it had provided on a modification EPA is proposing to make to expand the ways a toxic chemical could be used, subject to certain conditions, without triggering any requirement to first notify EPA. Specifically, EPA is proposing to modify the Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) applicable to the chemical – which currently limits its use to metalworking fluid – to allow the chemical also to be used as an anti-corrosive agent in in oilfield operations and hydraulic fluids.
Our request also noted that EPA had failed to provide the public with anything approaching a complete set of documents relevant to its proposal. For example, the public docket for the proposed modified SNUR lacked even a redacted copy of the Significant New Use Notice (SNUN) that triggered EPA’s consideration of the expanded use.
EPA’s proposal to amend the SNUR noted that, while EPA was expanding the allowable uses of the chemical, it was also proposing to impose additional conditions on the use. These conditions were necessary, EPA argued because of “test data on the substance and on new data regarding the expected release of formaldehyde from the substance, for skin and eye irritation, neurotoxicity, mutagenicity, oncogenicity, allergic responses, and developmental toxicity.”
Yet the docket did not include copies of these health and safety studies or the test data, despite being referred to in the proposal and in other documents that are in the docket. As a reminder, such health and safety studies and their underlying data must be made public under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). And of course, access to them is crucial if the public is expected to comment on EPA’s proposal.
A few days before the end of the 15-day comment period, EPA did grant a 17-day extension. It also added a copy of the SNUN to the docket. But it failed to add any of the health and safety studies or associated data we had identified as missing.
The comment period ended yesterday, and despite the serious time constraint and information gaps, EDF filed these extensive comments last night. In preparing our comments, however, we found that the amount of health and safety data EPA had failed to provide is even greater than we had originally thought. And our concerns over the adequacy of EPA’s review of this new proposed use and of the conditions it proposes to include in the modified SNUR have only grown.
As detailed in our comments, among the concerns we identified based on our review of the public record for this proposed SNUR modification are the following:
EPA failed to indicate anywhere in its proposal or the docket that this chemical is pending registration as a pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Yet:
The uses identified in the FIFRA registration are quite similar to the new uses addressed in EPA’s SNUR proposal.
While the FIFRA docket contains or alludes to many additional health and safety studies and data on this chemical, none of these data are included or even referenced in the docket for the SNUR, nor is there any indication that they – or the biocidal properties of the chemical – were considered in EPA’s review of the chemical under TSCA.
A number of conditions applicable to the FIFRA use, such as a prohibition on applying the chemical to water, are not being proposed by EPA to be conditions on the expanded use under TSCA.
EDF found evidence that the chemical has been marketed and sold for non-SNUR uses in the U.S. during the period after EPA had issued the initial SNUR for it and prior to EPA’s receipt of the SNUN. EPA does not appear to have been aware of these uses in reviewing the SNUN, and they raise a concern that some of the uses may have violated TSCA because they were engaged in without first notifying EPA.
Based on the public record, EPA has not sufficiently documented and justified the exposure assumptions it used as the basis for determining worker protections it is proposing to include in the proposed amended SNUR. Even if they are reasonable, EPA has also not codified into the modified SNUR any of these exposure parameters as conditions that would trigger prior notification to EPA should a manufacturer or processor intend to deviate from them.
The proposed SNUR does not include some relevant requirements that are included in an associated consent order, such as specifications for permeability testing and use restrictions for gloves.
EPA does not appear to have made any effort to account for other sources of formaldehyde exposures to the same workers using this chemical, which can itself release formaldehyde.
The precautionary statements EPA is requiring on container labels are not required to identify formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen or severe skin and eye irritant.
Instead of taking the time needed to conduct a thorough analysis of a company’s request to significantly expand the use of a toxic chemical, EPA appears to have rushed its proposal to permit the use and cut corners on assembling an adequate public record to justify its proposal. It then sought to severely limit the public’s ability to comment on its proposal.
This is no way to run a chemical safety program. We hope EPA takes these comments to heart and conducts reviews that warrant the public’s confidence.
http://blogs.edf.org/health/2018/03/13/too-little-too-fast-edf-comments-raise-numerous-concerns-with-epas-proposal-to-expand-use-of-a-toxic-chemical/
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In a First, California Moves to Protect People from Toxic PFAS Chemicals in Carpets
Mar 13, 2018 | Environmental Working Group
By Tasha Stoiber
In a groundbreaking move, California has proposed that carpets and rugs containing the stain-resistant fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS[1] should be considered a priority product under the state’s Safer Consumer Products program. This could lead to the development of safer alternatives to the use of these potentially harmful chemicals in carpets and rugs.
Carpets and rugs cover nearly half of all U.S. homes and workplaces. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has identified carpets and rugs as the largest potential sources of significant and widespread PFAS exposures, especially for children.
The proposed priority listing is an essential stage in the state’s program to assess toxic chemicals in consumer products and find alternatives. If the listing is made final, it would prompt carpet manufacturers to look for safer alternatives and help shoppers find healthier floor treatment choices for their homes. The public can submit commentssupporting the listing through April 16.
The first stain-resistant carpet was introduced in 1986 with the Stainmaster label. Other manufacturers followed with “Wear-Dated” and “Worry Free” treatments. But these treatments are far from worry free.
To repel stains, the carpet industry used the same kind of chemicals in DuPont’s Teflon cookware – poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS chemicals. The Teflon chemical, called PFOS, and its close chemical cousin PFOA, were phased out under pressure from the Environmental Protection Agencies after the revelation of secret studies by their manufacturers that found they caused cancer and birth defects in lab animals, built up in people’s bodies and did not break down in the environment. In studies of tens of thousands of people exposed to PFOS and PFOA, very small doses of the chemicals have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption, immune system harm, reproductive harm and liver damage.
The U.S. carpet industry transitioned away from its use of PFOS, PFOA and other so-called long-chain PFAS chemicals in 2008. But they’ve been replaced by a new generation of “short-chain” chemicals in this class that have many of the same potential health concerns. California regulators lists all PFAS chemicals as having the potential for bioaccumulation; cancer; developmental, endocrine and liver toxicity; and other health hazards. PFASs are found in numerous other consumer items including cookware, clothing, personal care products and cleaning products.
EWG’s 2015 review showed that the majority of PFAS in homes comes from its use on carpets and textiles. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control named carpet as the number one exposure pathway to PFAS for infants and toddlers who spend and lot of time lying, playing and crawling on carpeting. Adults can be exposed from inhalation or ingestion of dust, or dermal contact.
A 2012 study by University of Alberta researchers documented exceptionally high levels of a short-chain PFAS chemical in the blood of a Canadian family that routinely treated its carpet with 3M’s Scotchgard. The highest levels were observed in the youngest children. High levels of the same short-chain PFASs were detected in household dust and the family room carpet. Earlier research by Health Canada showed that the amounts of PFAS chemicals in household dust were directly related to the amount of carpeting in homes.
In 2017, the nonprofit Healthy Building Network reported that routine wear and tear, and any type of cleaning, dislodges PFAS chemicals from carpet fibers into air and dust. Amid mounting evidence on the hazards of these chemicals and questions on if we even need these chemicals, momentum is building to eliminate this whole class of chemicalsfrom products.
Spurred by consumer demand and the possibility of regulations, some manufacturers have started exploring alternatives to PFAS chemicals in carpets. They’re finding that carpet can be made easy to care for without toxic chemicals.
But finding information about PFAS-free carpets and rugs can be difficult. Many carpet products are not labeled and there is no comprehensive certification to ensure carpets are free of problematic PFAS chemicals. Some carpets in the U.S. are certified by Green Label Plus, which only tests for a narrow set of volatile organic compounds.
A few companies now sell PFAS-free carpets for commercial installation, but it is not certain when PFAS-free carpet will be available for residential purchases. California’s Safer Consumer Products listing has moved the issue into the spotlight, and it is now up to manufacturers to respond.
EWG recommends:
Minimizing the amount of carpet in your living space.
Choosing wood or tile floors that can be easily cleaned to remove dust.
Looking for natural fiber area rugs made of wool, jute, seagrass or sisal.
If carpet is a must, looking for a wool carpet not treated with any additional chemicals.
If you choose conventional carpet, telling the retailer you want one without fluorinated chemicals.
Vacuuming carpets frequently with a vacuum fitted with a HEPA filter to remove dust.
Visiting EWG’s Healthy Living: Home Guide for more tips about choosing better carpet.
https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2018/03/first-california-moves-protect-people-toxic-pfas-chemicals-carpets-0#.Wqf5bWpua6I
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Hydrocarbon UVCBs, Ethyne Are Safe, Says Draft Canadian Assessment
Mar 13, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A Canadian government assessment has provisionally concluded that six petroleum or coal-based mixtures are not harmful to humans or the environment. And it has reached the same conclusion on ethyne.
The mixtures are all UVCBs, substances with unknown or variable composition, complex reaction products or biological materials.
Three are generated by the petroleum industry and recycled or reclaimed by refineries.These are:
spent sulfidic caustic;
slop oil; and
naphtha waste.
The other three – montan wax, montan-wax fatty acids and montan-wax fatty acids ethylene esters – are produced from brown coal, also known as lignite. They are used in industrial processes and in products available to consumers, including cosmetics, automotive products, household cleaning products and food packaging.
Ethyne, or acetylene, is produced through partial combustion of methane and hydrocarbon cracking. It is used as a fuel and a chemical feedstock in a wide range of reactions.
In general, the authors of the draft screening assessment of the seven hydrocarbons said they did not expect exposures to the substances, or if so limited exposures, corresponding to low risk. The general population may be exposed to the three montan-wax substances through products available to consumers. But the authors said the available data indicate low hazard.
The assessment concludes that the substances do not meet the criteria set out in section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (Cepa).
4-VCH
Meanwhile, another assessment has confirmed an earlier conclusion that 4-VCH – an aromatic alkene found in some carpets and laminates – is not harmful to humans or the environment.
The substance is primarily used in industrial production of others, such as flame retardants and materials made of plastic or rubber. Additionally, it can be found as a residue in styrene-butadiene latex adhesives, used in the manufacture or installation of certain articles, such as carpets and laminates.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (Iarc) has classified it as a group 2B substance ("possibly carcinogenic to humans"), and the EU has given it a category 2 carcinogenicity classification ("suspected human carcinogen") under CLP.
But the final screening assessment from the Canadian authorities describes the risk of harm to human health and the environment, posed by the substance, as low. It concludes that it does not meet the criteria set out in section 64 of Cepa. The draft screening assessment, published last year, contained the same overall conclusion.
Next steps
The authorities assessed the substances as part of Canada's Chemicals Management Plan. Assessments conducted under the plan do not normally include consideration of occupational exposure.
The government has initiated a 60-day public consultation on the draft screening assessment of the seven hydrocarbons. Interested parties have until 9 May to submit comments.
https://chemicalwatch.com/64786/hydrocarbon-uvcbs-ethyne-are-safe-says-draft-canadian-assessment
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Anses Research Programme Targets EDCs, Bisphenols
Mar 13, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A major research programme announced by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Anses, includes projects on the exposure effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and bisphenols on humans.
Three of the projects will focus on EDCs, two on bisphenols and two others will address nanoparticles – one on biomarkers and another to study the substances' impact during pregnancy.
The EDC projects will analyse:
impact of cleaning and disinfection products on respiratory health of infants and young children, in nurseries and at home;
emissions from exposure to flame retardants in upholstered furniture and bedding; and
effects of EDCs on the aggressiveness of hormone-sensitive tumours.
The first project, which will take 36 months to complete, will include taking measurements in the environment; a detailed questionnaire; identification of product compounds via a database; and a smartphone application to scan the barcode of the product and collect information on use.
Research will include analysis of particulate matter in poorly studied locations such as shops, offices, healthcare facilities and means of transport, Anses said.
The second project will last two years and address potential risks of brominated flame retardants on human health and the environment.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are increasingly being replaced by organophosphates. These are frequently encountered in polyurethane foams in upholstered furniture, Anses said, adding their impact on health is not widely known.
Organophosphates are most commonly used as insecticides and can have a toxic effect on humans, it added.
The project aims to improve knowledge about exposure and risk, by applying new test protocols to take account of how emissions can change during the lifetime of product and the effect of use (high or low) on these.
The third project, also lasting two years, will analyse the effects of EDCs on the aggressiveness of hormone-sensitive tumour cells by using video imaging.
Some endocrine disruptors "may participate" in the growth of hormone-related tumours, for example prostate and breast cancers, Anses said. However, providing relevant tools for analysis, it added, is a major scientific challenge.
Bisphenols
One of the bisphenol projects will study the characterisation of the effects of in utero exposure to an analogue to bisphenol A – bisphenol AF (BPAF) – on the development female germ cells in humans and mice. It will take 36 months to complete.
A recent UK study has concluded that BPA alternatives, including BPAF, may mimic oestrogen in breast cancer.
And a study on BPS will contribute to the evaluation of human exposure to the substance through a physiological and comparative approach, Anses said. The objectives are to:
predict human exposure to BPS in terms of plasma concentrations, the latter being related to the effects;
evaluate the influence of absorption pathways on exposure; and
determine if BPS biomonitoring in urine could improve its exposure assessment.
Belgium is evaluating BPS as an endocrine disruptor under the Community Rolling Action Plan (Corap).
https://chemicalwatch.com/64824/anses-research-programme-targets-edcs-bisphenols
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Mar 13, 2018 | Rolling Stone
By Justin Nobel
The most authoritative study of its kind reveals how fracking is contaminating the air and water – and imperiling the health of millions of Americans.
"Our examination…uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health," states a blistering 266-page report released today by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group, Physicians for Social Responsibility. Drawing on news investigations, government assessments and more than 1,200 peer-reviewed research articles, the study finds that fracking – shooting chemical-laden fluid into deep rock layers to release oil and gas – is poisoning the air, contaminating the water and imperiling the health of Americans across the country. "Fracking is the worst thing I've ever seen," says Dr. Sandra Steingraber, one of the report's eight co-authors, a biologist who has worked as a public health advocate on issues like breast cancer and toxic incinerators. "Those of us in the public health sector started to realize years ago that there were potential risks, then the industry rolled out faster than we could do our science." In recent years, the practice has expanded from rural lands to backyards, farms, and within sight of schools and sources of drinking water. "Now we see those risks have turned into human harms and people are getting sick," says Steingraber. "And we in this field have a moral imperative to raise the alarm."
The researchers behind the report, titled "Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking," are quick to point out that fracking, or "unconventional oil and gas extraction," extends far beyond the idea of a single well obediently gurgling up natural gas or oil. Fracking is part of a complicated extraction process with a spider web of infrastructure that extends many miles from the well pad. At virtually every turn, the process contains public health hazards. Residents living near an active site breath air laced with carcinogens, including benzene and formaldehyde, and research has shown an increase risk of asthma, a decrease in infant health and worrisome effects on the development of a fetus, such as preterm births and birth defects. "Pregnant women have a major risk, not only themselves but they're carrying a fetus whose cells are multiplying continuously," says Dr. Lynn Ringenberg, a retired Army colonel and the president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. "If those cells get hit by some toxic chemical from fracking, it may not manifest itself for years."
Fracking sites have caught fire – others have exploded, as happened last month in Belmont County, Ohio – torching chemicals whose dangerous components local fire chiefs may be surprised to learn are an industry secret. Communities have long feared the fracking process can contaminate underground aquifers with hazardous chemicals and research in Texas and Pennsylvania has now confirmed this to be the case. Fracked gas flows via pipelines, whose leaks and explosions are now well-documented. Piped gas must continuously be re-pressurized at compressor stations which have been documented to emit methane, fine particulate matter, as well as benzene, formaldehyde and other known human carcinogens. Report co-author Dr. Kathleen Nolan, a pediatrician and bioethicist who has examined numerous people sickened by fracking-related contamination, describes the harrowing case of one western Pennsylvania family. "They would see a yellow fog, kind of like a chemical mist coming from the compressor station," says Nolan. "Their two youngest children, nine and 11, started having tics where their muscles would go into spasms, those spasms would persist even when they were asleep."
Then there's the issue of the waste that flows back up a fracked well. Although the industry calls it "brine" or "produced water," this material contains carcinogenic chemicals, can be flammable and, in much of the country, also contains radioactive elements from deep below the surface. Occasionally, this toxic waste is used to frack new wells. Often, it is hauled by trucks that must weave around narrow local roads to sites called injection wells, where this hazardous slurry is injected deep into the earth, a process that has repeatedly been linked to earthquakes. In 2016, in Barnesville, Ohio a truck spilled approximately 5,000 gallons of fracking wastewater when it crashed beside a stream that leads into one of the village's main reservoirs.
Last November a truck carrying fracking waste overturned near Coolville, Ohio and emptied fluid into a culvert that connects to a creek. Residents were prepared; they'd been living for years with the menace of injection wells, including what resident Susie Quinn calls a "chemical factory like smell" around their homes. Like many in the region, she spends free time researching risks the industry and her own government have failed to protect her against. More than a week after the frack truck overturned, she visited the site to take samples, but forgot gloves. "About an hour and twenty minutes later all the fingers on my left hand were burning underneath my fingernails," says Quinn. Tests later revealed the culvert was loaded with barium, as well as strontium, whose isotopes can be radioactive.
In West Virginia and Pennsylvania, radioactive fracking waste is being processed at facilities like Antero Clearwater in Doddridge County, West Virginia, which claims it can produce water clean enough to be discharged back into nearby local waterways. But Antero's website contains scant details on how this is done, and radioactivity experts, like Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, a nuclear physicist and international consultant on radioactive waste, remain concerned. "The radioactive levels at the Marcellus shale formation are off the charts," he says, referring to the gas-rich layer that underlies much of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. "What is radioactive underground is still radioactive when it’s brought to the surface," says Resnikoff. "This is not alchemy where radioactivity disappears." A tour last February with local residents through heavily-fracked Doddridge County revealed Antero's facility, located just six miles from Doddridge County High School, was emitting tremendous amounts of steam that drifted away in the wind. "There may be radioactive elements in the steam," says Resnikoff.
The "Harms of Fracking" report also highlights astonishing risks for an often overlooked group in the public health discussion on fracking: The workers. Fracking has created 1.7 million jobs, says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the industry has potentially exposed workers on the ground to extremely dangerous conditions. "These are killing jobs," says report co-author Dr. Sandra Steingraber. "We have actually detected benzene in the urine of workers at levels known to raise the risks of leukemia." Dr. Pouné Saberi, a Philadelphia-based occupational and environmental medicine physician says workers face a wealth of risks, but their injuries rarely show up in the data, for a variety of reasons. They often work as non-unionized sub-contractors, allowing parent oil and gas companies to avoid reporting injuries, and the oil and gas industry is exempt from certain worker safety rules. Also, doctors and major Pennsylvania health care providers that service the industry, potentially a valuable source of worker data, says Saberi, rarely mention anything negative about fracking. "There is a code of silence that exists," she says. Plus, workers themselves rarely report injuries or hazards, for fear of losing their jobs.
"If you asked too many questions, you were labeled a tree-hugger and you were gone," says former fracking waste truck driver Randy Moyer, who describes his stomach-turning experience on a website called Shalefield Stories. "Every day was different," he writes. "Some days I'd carry mud, but most days I'd haul wastewater from fracked wells…It was an endless parade of trucks on those back roads." Moyer was never told the contents of the waste he was hauling. At the well-site, waste was kept in a makeshift pit, and when loading his truck Moyer often had to climb in and squeegee out material. To avoid getting their boots wet, "some guys would go in there in their bare feet." Moyer was given no safety gear, aside from a flame-resistant coat, because, he explains, "If the public sees guys in hazmat suits they're going to start to ask questions." As one would anticipate from a human being with direct exposure to radioactive waste, Moyer became quite sick.
"My tongue, lips, and limbs all swelled up," he writes. "I've had three teeth snap off. The first two broke while I was eating garlic bread and spaghetti. I have burning rashes all over my body that jump from place to place." Moyer has seen over 40 specialists across West Virginia and Pennsylvania. "One told me that I had bed bugs. Another said it must be a food allergy."
The report, which is in its fifth edition, flips the narrative on an energy rush that is quite literally powering the nation. Fracking has "bolstered our economy and energy security" says Seth Whitehead, a consultant with Energy in Depth, a website affiliated with the Independent Petroleum Association of America. The numbers bear out: Fossil fuels supply the U.S. with a majority of its electricity, and gas has overtaken coal as America's number one power source. Meanwhile, about 60 percent of the gas produced in America and 48 percent of the oil now comes from unconventional oil and gas deposits. Fracking has helped ease America off foreign fossil fuels. And the boom extends far beyond the well pads.
Ethane, one of many components in fracked gas, serves as the base ingredient for the production of numerous plastics and petrochemicals. On the Gulf Coast, these industries are making big investments in infrastructure to take advantage of America's newly abundant cheap gas. "With more than $35 billion in planned chemical plant expansions in our area over the next five years, these are the 'good old days,'" Chad Burke, President of the Economic Alliance Houston Ship Channel Region, posted on the organization's website. The American Chemistry Council bullishly estimates that over the next decade the plastics industry will generate over 300,000 jobs. "The surge of natural gas production from shale has reversed the fortunes of the U.S. plastics industry," states a 2015 Council report.
But these glowing numbers rarely take into account the fracking boom's epic toll on public health, the American landscape and the world's climate. In fact, against a mounting pile of personal testimony and scientific data, the industry continues to claim it is doing nothing wrong. "The science clearly indicates that, with an emphasis on prevention…energy production can and is being done right, and that hydraulic fracturing is not leading to widespread, systemic effects to drinking water resources," Stephanie Wissman, an Executive Director with the American Petroleum Institute, stated at a recent meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission. "It's sad," Marcellus Shale Coalition spokesperson Erica Clayton Wright wrote in an email, "that some shoddy so-called 'studies' focused on attacking American energy and the tens of thousands of hardworking Pennsylvanians that work across the industry are the subject of fake news stories like these."
But the science on fracking is getting more difficult to dismiss. "With fracking," says Steingraber, "we had six peer reviewed articles in 2009 pointing to possible public health risks. By 2011 we had 42. Now there are more than 1200." Some states are indeed listening to the scientists. New York, Maryland and Vermont have banned fracking, and even Florida's state legislature is seriously considering a ban. "The chickens are going to come home to roost," says Ted Auch, an environmental scientist with FracTracker Alliance. He believes that as negative impacts on health and water supplies continue to stack up, the fracking industry will have an increasingly difficult time gaining investors, an issue highlighted in a December article in the Wall Street Journal. "Shale has been a lousy bet for most investors," the article states, referring to the deposits where fracking typically occurs. Within the past decade, says the Journal article, "energy companies…have spent $280 billion more than they generated from operations on shale investments."
As a result, many companies have taken extreme measures to politically protect their investments. Last month, Wyoming became the third state, after Iowa and Ohio, to introduce a bill criminalizing protest activities like the ones undertaken at Standing Rock. “It is a war,” says Tina Smusz, a retired emergency medicine and palliative care physician and Virginia-based member of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “And in this war one of your most valuable weapons is science.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/fracking-health-risk-asthma-birth-defects-cancer-w517809
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Hearing Set on PHMSA's Sabine Pass Tank Shutdown Order
Mar 13, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Soraghan and Jenny Mandel
A March 21 hearing has been set for the Cheniere Energy Inc. challenge to the federal order that shut down part of its liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana after leaks from storage tanks.
But the company still hopes to address its differences with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration "informally" and withdraw its request for a hearing.
The PHMSA order to shut down two tanks that leaked at Cheniere's Sabine Pass facility came at a crucial juncture for the industry. In 2016, Sabine was the first of several U.S. LNG export projects under development to start shipping gas. Around the time the order was issued, Cheniere announced a long-term LNG supply agreement with China National Petroleum Corp..
This month, Maryland's Cove Point became the second major terminal for LNG exports. And several other U.S. LNG export facilities are expected to come online either this year or next, including another Cheniere facility in Corpus Christi, Texas.
PHMSA issued the order more than two weeks after the leak incident, giving the first public notice that there had been a problem. Agency inspectors discovered that LNG had been leaking into a containment ditch around a storage tank. Further inspection revealed that natural gas vapors were leaking from 14 points around the base of a second LNG storage tank.
There also were indications that Sabine Pass personnel had been grappling with a series of storage tank issues dating back to 2008 (Energywire, March 8).
PHMSA allowed the company to continue importing and exporting gas and use three other LNG storage tanks at the site.
Cheniere requested the hearing in mid-February, challenging PHMSA's assertion that continued operation of the two tanks without fixing the problems would "be hazardous to life, property and the environment." The company said the order isn't supported by the evidence or the state of the tanks.
Natural gas is highly flammable and under certain conditions explosive. PHMSA describes LNG spills as "low-frequency, high-consequence events." The Jan. 22 incident did not result in any reported injuries, fires or explosions.
LNG is natural gas that is cooled to a liquid at minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit. Its volume is then reduced six-hundredfold. When supercooled LNG encounters ambient air temperatures, it quickly expands and turns back into a gas. Each of the tanks can store up to 3.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
It's not clear where any hearing would be held. PHMSA's order says any hearing would be held either in Houston or via telephone, "unless a different location is expressly agreed to in writing" by the agency. A company spokesman said he didn't know the location of the potential hearing, and a PHMSA spokesman has not returned messages.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/03/13/stories/1060076119
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Partnership Bulking up Size of Proposed Ohio Ethane Cracker
Mar 13, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
Emboldened by a partnership with South Korea-based Daelim Industrial Co., PTT Global Chemical pcl (PTTGC) raised its stakes in Ohio on Monday, announcing that the size of its proposed ethane cracker in Belmont County would nearly double.
The announcement came just weeks after a subsidiary of PTTGC, the petrochemical affiliate of Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company PTT pcl, said it would team up with Daelim to conduct a feasibility study and secure funding for the planned multi-billion dollar facility.
Production is now estimated at 1.5 million metric tons/year of ethylene, or at least 500,000 metric tons/year (mty) more than the company previously announced. That would put the facility in line to produce the same amount of ethylene as Royal Dutch Shell plc’s ethane cracker, which is under construction in western Pennsylvania. Shell’s facility is designed to have the capability to consume about 100,000 b/d of ethane.
Daelim Energy CEO Sean Kim, who joined Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other state officials to make the announcement Monday, said the partnership wants to build the Appalachian Basin’s “most competitive petrochemical plant.” He said the project enjoys many “strategic advantages,” including proximity to market and low-cost feedstock. While a final investment decision is not expected until later this year, Kim said, “we plan to build a very sustainable business here.”
In what JobsOhio President John Minor called another key step “toward the finish line,” PTTGC has also executed an option to buy the remainder of the nearly 500-acre site along the Ohio River where the cracker would be built. Last year, the company exercised its purchase option on a 167-acre site that was owned by FirstEnergy Corp., which formerly operated a coal-fired power plant there. In the last month, Minor said PTTGC bought the nearby 300-acre site owned by the Ohio-West Virginia Excavating Co. Minor said PTTGC has spent more than $150 million on engineering and design work.
Daelim Industrial is the parent of Daelim Group, a conglomerate that oversees 12 affiliate companies that develop and construct petrochemical facilities, power plants, commercial properties, sports facilities and resorts, among other things. The petrochemical division operates 1.95 mty of ethylene production capacity.
The agreement to partner with PTTGC was signed in January.
“We wanted to tell you that we thought this was a pivotal step, and I am extremely hopeful, in fact, listening to the language, to what they had to say today,” Kasich said of the partnership and comments made by company representatives. “I am extremely hopeful, hopeful that within a relatively short period of time, we can come back to this room and make a final announcement.”
A labor representative at the event in Columbus, which was livestreamed online, said a “couple thousand” tradesman would be needed to construct the facility if it moves forward, but Shell’s Pennsylvania plant is expected to employ 6,000 workers at peak construction and another 600 once operational in the early 2020s. While PTTGC didn’t share estimates, state officials are optimistic that the company’s partnership with Daelim would mean better things for the regional economy.
“This partnership is important for a number of reasons,” Minor said. “One, this adds a second world-class company to this project...With the addition of Daelim, the production, the output from this plant will nearly double. That’s important because it means there’s going to be greater investment in this project, in this site; it’ll mean more jobs, and it’ll ultimately have a greater impact on the region as a whole.”
PTTGC has secured commercial arrangements with producers for feedstock as well as those for utility supplies, product marketing and logistics. The company has also completed a significant amount of site preparation.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/113666-partnership-bulking-up-size-of-proposed-ohio-ethane-cracker
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Court Backs FERC, Rebuffs N.Y. Pipeline Denial
Mar 13, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
New York's blockade against natural gas pipelines was breached yesterday after a federal appeals court ruled the state had taken too long reviewing a project before denying a permit.
The case concerns Valley Lateral, a 7.8-mile pipeline proposed by Millennium Pipeline Co. New York regulators denied the project a water certificate last year. But yesterday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Millennium can go ahead and build the project because New York exceeded its time limit to review the application.
Pipeline interests were glad to hear it, because New York has rejected multiple gas projects in recent years and seemed, to some, to be writing the playbook for how to block fossil fuel infrastructure.
"The decision shows that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation cannot impede the transport of interstate natural gas by refusing to act on a request for a certification," Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State, said in a statement. "We hope this decision will force the state to recognize that natural gas can and should be a vital part of New York's energy mix going forward."
"We are very pleased with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' decision," Cathy Landry, a spokeswoman for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, said in a statement. She said the decision clarifies the time frame that states have in doing their review.
But while the 2nd Circuit's decision seems to have resolved one narrow legal question, it's unlikely to stop the larger flow of pipeline lawsuits nationally. Pipeline opponents around the country, as well as other liberal states such as New Jersey, are aware that New York's arguments have been upheld in other cases (Energywire, Nov. 27, 2017).
"NRDC is going to continue fighting harmful fracked gas pipelines in New York State and elsewhere," Kim Ong, a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said by email. "[W]hile this may be a bump in the road, it will not harm our longer term campaign to protect communities, water quality, and the climate."
The Valley Lateral case came before appeals judges because New York and federal authorities were at loggerheads. Under federal law, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission oversees permitting of interstate gas pipelines, but states get one year to review whether a project complies with their water laws.
FERC gave the green light to Valley Lateral in November 2016, pending the state Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) final sign-off.
After more than a year of back-and-forth with Millennium, the DEC rejected the project. Millennium objected, saying the state had gone past the time limit and its decision was void.
FERC agreed, saying the project could go ahead. But New York sued, saying it had acted in time because it was working with Millennium to get a complete application (Energywire, Jan. 26).
The question before the 2nd Circuit: Who's right?
The three-judge panel agreed with FERC. The judges said it's a "bright-line rule": When a party begins the application process — "requests a certification," in technical terms — states have a year to act.
The judges said this rule keeps states from stalling.
"If the statute required 'complete' applications, states could blur this bright-line rule into a subjective standard, dictating that applications are 'complete' only when state agencies decide that they have all the information they need," said the opinion authored by Judge José Cabranes, a Clinton appointee. "The state agencies could thus theoretically request supplemental information indefinitely."
The opinion added that states have the same options they always have, as long as they act on time. States can reject an application and ask for another one. They can assist with the application to address concerns.
But if states want to push the limits of the Clean Water Act, they might have a tough time in court.
New York had argued that Valley Lateral was in a legal gray area and that the state should get the benefit of the doubt. The 2nd Circuit rejected that argument, saying there's no precedent to support it.
It was not clear yesterday whether New York would appeal the decision.
"We certainly disagree with the decision, and are reviewing our options to determine any appropriate next steps regarding this pipeline project," the DEC said in a statement.
Nor was it clear just how the decision will affect the larger playing field for gas pipelines in the U.S.
Frederick Lowther, a partner at Blank Rome LLP, said it does strengthen the hand of pipeline companies somewhat.
"It basically confirms that States cannot play the game of deeming applications incomplete and thereby resetting the one-year clock," Lowther said by email. If a state denies the application, "such a denial is subject to review and the State has to defend its decision to deny."
But Ong of NRDC said the decision will just create more paperwork for everyone. States will end up denying incomplete applications, she said, and companies will have to apply all over again.
"To date, the application process has been an iterative one, where states and applicants will engage in a back and forth conversation about what information is necessary to make what is often an extremely technical, fact-based determination about the water quality impacts of a project," she said. "This back and forth will likely end."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/03/13/stories/1060076153
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Pompeo, Who Has Raised Doubts about Climate Change, Would Lead State during Key Climate Negotiations
Mar 13, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney
Mike Pompeo’s coming elevation to Secretary of State would put an official who has expressed doubts about climate science in charge of the department tasked with representing the United State at a crucial upcoming international climate summit.
President Trump on Tuesday announced Pompeo would replace the outgoing Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO who supported the Paris climate agreement and agreed that greenhouse gases warm the planet and cause climate change. Tillerson called climate change an “engineering problem.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Pompeo would lead the department as it participates in a key international climate meeting in Katowice, Poland, in December.
In contrast to Tillerson, Pompeo said on C-SPAN in 2013 that “there are scientists that think lots of different things about climate change. There’s some who think we’re warming, there’s some who think we’re cooling, there’s some who think that the last 16 years have shown a pretty stable climate environment.”
That statement contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, which has converged on the view that a strong ongoing warming trend is being caused by human greenhouse gas emissions. As a congressman, Pompeo also criticized the Paris climate agreement.
In his 2017 Senate confirmation testimony, however, Pompeo took a somewhat more moderate stand, saying that when it comes to the relationship between a changing climate and national security, the job of the CIA is to “understand threats to the world … to the extent that changes in climatic activity are part of that foreign intelligence collection task, we will deliver that information to you all and to the president.” But he added that “I frankly, as the director of CIA, would prefer today not to get into the details of climate debate and science, it just, it seems my role is going to be so different and unique from that.”
Environmental groups like the League of Conservation Voters have already begun to criticize the Pompeo appointment because of its climate change implications.
“As climate realists like Tillerson depart, and ideologues like Pompeo replace them, the voices of flat out climate change denial are now completely ascendant at the top levels of the Trump administration,” added Paul Bledsoe, who advised the Clinton White House on climate change, in a statement on the development. “The President simply will not be hearing the facts from anyone.”
Pompeo’s climate views matter because, at State, he would lead the agency as it participates in a key international climate meeting in Katowice, Poland, in December. A key focus of the meeting will be the ‘Talanoa dialogue,’ in which countries will hold a non-judgmental discussion of where the world is in its plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, what more needs to be done, and how to achieve that. The goal is advancing progress on achieving the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
The Trump administration has said that it would drop out of the Paris climate agreement, meaning that how the U.S. participates in Poland will be watched very closely indeed. The U.S. is not the only country failing to live up to its climate change promises, but it is certainly the most prominent, thanks to Trump’s withdrawal.
There’s also the contrast with Tillerson, who was on the losing side of an internal Trump administration debate over whether to abandon the Paris agreement — Tillerson wanted to stay in.
“I think Pompeo’s views are fairly negative about the Paris agreement and climate action, particularly compared to Secretary Tillerson,” said Sue Biniaz, an attorney who previously served as a top State Department negotiator on climate change in multiple administrations. “But I think it all depends on whether this becomes an area of focus, and whether people are brought in to change the policy.”
Biniaz highlighted the fact that the administration has still not appointed nominated anyone to serve as assistant secretary of State for Oceans and International, Environmental and Scientific Affairs, a division that would normally take the lead on climate change. The Senate-confirmed position is currently held by a career official serving in an acting capacity.
If there’s a nominee, that could change the Department’s trajectory significantly. “It could depend on whether someone’s appointed to deal with climate issues,” said Biniaz.
The State Department is also late on filing a required report to the United Nations on how the U.S. is addressing climate change. The Climate Action Report was due January 1. The State Department, after being pressed, had said it was planning to file the report..
“I think Pompeo’s views are fairly negative about the Paris agreement and climate action, particularly compared to Secretary Tillerson,” said Sue Biniaz, an attorney who previously served as a top State Department negotiator on climate change in multiple administrations. “But I think it all depends on whether this becomes an area of focus, and whether people are brought in to change the policy.”
Biniaz highlighted the fact that the administration has still not appointed nominated anyone to serve as assistant secretary of State for Oceans and International, Environmental and Scientific Affairs, a division that would normally take the lead on climate change. The Senate-confirmed position is currently held by a career official serving in an acting capacity.
If there’s a nominee, that could change the Department’s trajectory significantly. “It could depend on whether someone’s appointed to deal with climate issues,” said Biniaz.
The State Department is also late on filing a required report to the United Nations on how the U.S. is addressing climate change. The Climate Action Report was due January 1. The State Department, after being pressed, had said it was planning to file the report..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/03/13/pompeo-who-has-raised-doubts-about-climate-change-would-lead-state-during-key-climate-negotiations/?utm_term=.10383f54a152
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Ewire: Could Pompeo at State Department Shift Climate Policy?
Mar 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
President Donald Trump's announcement that he has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and will replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo could usher in a further rightward shift in the administration's approach to climate policy.
Trump's announcement on Twitter comes after months of uncertainty about Tillerson's position, including news reports late last year of a possible Tillerson-for-Pompeo change.
(Worth noting, a State Department spokesman said Tillerson did not speak with Trump before he was fired “and is unaware of the reason.”)
When the rumors were first floated, E&E News looked at a potential Pompeo arrival at State, noting that the former GOP House member from Kansas “could bring a careerlong skepticism of climate science with him to Foggy Bottom.”
During his January confirmation hearing, Pompeo blasted the Obama administration's claim that climate change is a major national security threat, though the report said he has “been more tight-lipped about climate science in recent months.”
Tillerson, as you might remember, unsuccessfully argued that Trump should keep the U.S. in the Paris climate agreement, and he sent a cadre of career diplomats to recent United Nations climate talks to constructively work on implementing the Paris deal.
While Pompeo has called the landmark global agreement a “radical climate change deal” in the past, Axios quoted former State Department climate adviser Andrew Light as wondering if his time at the CIA “has made any impression” on Pompeo given the widely held view in the national security establishment that climate is a major security threat.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-could-pompeo-state-department-shift-climate-policy
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18 Dems to Give Climate Speeches Today
Mar 13, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Josh Kurtz
Once a week for almost six years, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has risen on the Senate floor and offered an impassioned plea to his colleagues to address the increasing threats from climate change. He delivered the first in April 2012, accusing Congress of "sleepwalking" through the climate crisis.
Today, Whitehouse is reaching a milestone of sorts — his 200th weekly "Time to Wake Up" climate speech on the Senate floor.
But this time, he won't be alone: 17 of his colleagues — 16 Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and independent Maine Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats — will also speak on climate. The whole exercise, scheduled to kick off around 5 p.m., will last about three hours.
Besides Schumer and King, also scheduled to speak on the Senate floor this evening are: Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons of Delaware, Bill Nelson of Florida, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
Richard Davidson, a spokesman for Whitehouse, said the senator's office "put out feelers" to a wide range of his colleagues to join him on the floor to mark the occasion. But he said the lawmakers are not coordinating their speeches or dividing topics related to climate change.
"It's not that level of granularity," Davidson said.
Whitehouse is the co-founder of the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change and the Senate Climate Action Task Force. He is the lead sponsor of legislation to put a fee on carbon emissions, which, he argues, would reduce pollution and generate substantial revenue that could be returned to taxpayers.
Whitehouse once told the Associated Press that his desire to highlight the climate change issue in the Senate stems from the fact that Rhode Island is "on the receiving end" of carbon pollution, because it has no coal mines or oil wells. Wedged against the Atlantic Ocean, the tiny state is especially vulnerable to sea-level rise and has little land to give — an insight that Whitehouse credits to his wife, a marine biologist.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/03/13/stories/1060076163
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Environmentalists Threaten EPA with Suit to Force SO2 Plans
Mar 13, 2018 | Inside EPA
Three environmental groups are threatening to sue EPA over the agency's alleged failure to approve or deny several states' plans for compliance with the agency's 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), implementation of which is now years behind schedule.
Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Environmental Health and Sierra Club March 12 issued EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt a letter giving 60 days notice of their intent to sue the agency over its failure to act on state implementation plans (SIPs) for attaining the 2010 NAAQS of 75 parts per billion (ppb) averaged over one hour.
The groups say EPA has missed statutory deadlines to act on SO2 plans covering 17 areas submitted by Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
They further allege that EPA has not issued required “findings of failure to submit” to Arizona and New Jersey for SO2 SIPs for implementation of the earlier 1971 SO2 NAAQS. Those plans, due in 1992, are required to implement the 1971 standard set at 140 ppb over 24 hours and 30 ppb annually.
Once filed, the deadline suit would be the type of litigation that the Pruitt EPA has vowed not to settle with environmentalists, under Pruitt's policy of not engaging in “sue-and-settle” rule making. The policy prohibits EPA from settling suits with third parties without the input of regulated entities -- in this case the states -- but EPA has shown some signs of stepping back from that position.
Critics of the policy note that suits premised on hard deadlines EPA has missed are difficult to defend, and can result in shorter deadlines for the agency to act than negotiated settlements would.
Meanwhile, implementation of the 2010 SO2 NAAQS is far behind schedule, as states work to establish a new air quality monitoring program to determine compliance. Designation of areas attaining or not attaining the standard should now be complete in 2020 under a timetable agreed to settle litigation brought by environmentalists.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/environmentalists-threaten-epa-suit-force-so2-plans
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