Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - March 26, 2019
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(ACC Mentioned) US Chemical Output Slips in February on Broad-Based Declines
Mar 26, 2019 | Zacks.com (In Nasdaq)
By Anindya Barman,
U.S. chemical production dropped in February on a monthly comparison basis with lower output witnessed across all chemical producing regions, particularly in Gulf Coast and Ohio Valley - according to the latest monthly report from the... -
(ACC Mentioned) Report: Chemical Recycling Presents $10 Billion Opportunity In U.S.
Mar 26, 2019 | Greener Package
By Anne Marie Mohan
A new report from the American Chemistry Council finds the potential economic impact of expanding advanced plastic recycling and recovery technologies in the U.S. to be nearly $10 billion. The report examines a burgeoning class of... -
(ACC Mentioned) Sippy Cups Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth of US$ 11,684.4 Mn by 2027
Mar 26, 2019 | Market Mirror
Sippy cups are likely to constitute an approximately US$ 8 billion global market in 2019, witnessing a moderate 4.4% growth over 2018. Delivering a wide selection of products in the baby care products category, the sippy cups market is... -
(ACC Mentioned) 98% Of European Plastics Production Covered By Operation Clean Sweep
Mar 26, 2019 | Canadian Plastics
Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), the international program designed to prevent plastic pellets, flakes, and powder from being lost from factory floors and winding up in lakes and oceans, is being successfully embraced by European plastics... -
(ACC Mentioned) ACC/TSCA Attack on IRIS: Formaldehyde, Chloroprene, EtO
Mar 26, 2019 | Natural Resource Defense Council
By Jennifer Sass
Unfortunately, cancer-causing chemicals have their own lobby in Congress, the American Chemistry Council, ACC. Now, one of their own, Nancy Beck, is running the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP; the Toxics... -
Grace Notes: Retiring Democratic Senator's Major Accomplishment Happened Due To An Unlikely Partnership With David Vitter
Mar 26, 2019 | The Advocate
By Stephanie Grace
New Mexico U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, who announced this week that he would not seek reelection, is a towering figure among environmentalists, clean energy advocates and those seeking urgent action on climate change. Not exactly the... -
US Geological Survey: 750 Metric Tons of Asbestos Imported in 2018
Mar 26, 2019 | Asbestos.com
By Tim Povtak
The United States imported an estimated 750 metric tons of raw asbestos in 2018, more than double the total in 2017 and the most entering the country since 2013, according to the recently released U.S. Geological Survey Mineral... -
(ACC Mentioned) Vermont Senate Clears Bill To Amend Children's Product Reporting Scheme
Mar 26, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
An NGO-backed measure to modify Vermont’s existing reporting scheme for children’s products has passed the state Senate. The bill (S 55), like a similar one vetoed by governor Phil Scott last April, seeks to amend Act 188 – the law... -
NGO Study: Prop 65 Leads To Successful Product Reformulations
Mar 26, 2019 | Chemical Watch
An NGO study has found that two Proposition 65 private enforcement actions resulted in significantly lowered lead content in certain products. And study co-author the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) says that this is evidence... -
Walmart, Amazon Pull Paint Removers In The Face Of NGO Pressure
Mar 26, 2019 | Chemical Watch
Walmart and Amazon have both removed online listings for paint removal products containing methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), after pressure from the NGO Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. Both retailers were... -
Toxic Chemicals Can Enter Food Through Packaging. We Made A List.
Mar 26, 2019 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Tom Neltner
In the late 1980s, the Council of Northeast Governors (CONEG) was concerned that heavy metals in packaging would accumulate in recycled materials to levels that presented serious health concerns. The organization drafted model... -
Wildfire Season Planning Includes Guarding Against Toxic Smoke
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Amena H. Saiyid
When a yellowish haze of toxic smoke blanketed the sky during the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California this past November, John Balmes, a medical professor, was alarmed to find a man in a paper mask jogging in Sacramento. -
State Says Sludge Must Be Tested For PFAs Before Spreading
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
Maine officials say they'll start using new controls on the use of sludge amid concerns from a dairy farm about chemical contamination. State records say sludge spread at Stoneridge Farm in Arundel was a source of per- and... -
(ACC Mentioned) Deer Park Fire A ‘Blemish’ For The Image Of The Petrochemical Industry
Mar 26, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Marissa Luck
The Deer Park petrochemical blaze prompted school closures, shelter-in-place orders, spikes in benzene levels and ship channel closures. It also cast a shadow over a petrochemcial sector that has struggled to counter negative... -
From Texas to the World: A Flood of U.S. Oil Exports Is Coming
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Javier Blas
Oil trader Paul Vega is at the vanguard of shale’s next revolution. Driving his pick-up truck through the heartland of the Permian basin -- the vast tract of west Texas scrub where one of history’s greatest oil booms means miles-long traffic... -
Bakken Exploration Expanding into North Dakota Grasslands
Mar 26, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Interest beyond the Bakken Shale's four-county core in North Dakota is expanding to the upper Midwest grasslands, with as many as five of the state's 65 active rigs now in operation. -
Houston Ship Channel Closure Could Cost Energy Industry $1 Billion
Mar 25, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Andrea Leinfelder and Jordan Blum
A dayslong chemical fire in Deer Park did more than endanger the health of residents and pollute the environment. It potentially cost the region’s oil and gas and petrochemical sectors $1 billion in lost revenues and added expenses as it... -
In The Loop: US Imports Fewer Heavy Sour Crudes, Despite Supply Crunch
Mar 26, 2019 | S&P Global Platts
By Maria-Eugenia Garcia
Despite receiving fewer barrels of crude oil from Venezuela, US Gulf Coast refineries and terminals, including the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, have not started to import more heavy, sour crudes from other markets. On January 28... -
Texas Needs 11,000 More Miles Of Pipelines
Mar 26, 2019 | Oil Price
By Irina Slav
Texas will need an additional 10,950 miles of oil and gas pipelines to accommodate rising production over the years to 2050, an IHS Markit study quoted by S&P Global Platts has suggested. The Lone Star state is home to three of the... -
More Than $200bn To Be Invested In Us Petrochemicals
Mar 26, 2019 | Plastics in Packaging
The US petrochemicals industry is experiencing an investment renaissance, with more than $200 billion to be invested, said the senior vice president of Wood Mackenzie Chemicals at the AFPM 2019 International Petrochemical... -
The Quest for a 100% Green Grid: Five Takeaways on Getting There
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Will Wade, Brian Eckhouse, and Jim Efstathiou Jr.
New Mexico. California. Hawaii. They’re all among the states that have passed laws requiring that all of their power from clean sources in the coming decades. Puerto Rico joined the bunch on Monday with a 100 percent renewable.. -
Groups Say EPA Has Dragged Heels On Dispersant Rules
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Janet McConnaughey
Environmental groups and women from Alaska and Louisiana are threatening to sue EPA, saying the agency has dragged its heels on issuing rules for oil spill dispersants. They say dispersants such as Corexit, used during the... -
With Fire Out, Focus Turns To Enviro, Economic Fallout
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Juan A. Lozano
Businesses and residents expressed concern yesterday about the environmental and economic fallout from a fire at a Houston-area petrochemical storage farm that sent huge plumes into the air for days and prompted the partial closure... -
Ewire: With 'Green' Deal Vote, Climate Debate Takes Over Hill
Mar 26, 2019 | Inside EPA
Climate change is having a moment on Capitol Hill, with a flurry of activity expected in the coming days in both chambers after Democrats have the issue one of their top priorities this year and Republicans have sought to craft an... -
McConnell Pushing Green New Deal Vote to Put Democrats in Corner
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven T. Dennis and Laura Litvan
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is commandeering the Democrats’ Green New Deal in an attempt to expose their divisions and force some of the party’s leading 2020 presidential candidates into an awkward vote. The Green... -
Democrats Aren't The Only Ones Scrambling To Respond To The Green New Deal
Mar 26, 2019 | Politico Pro
By Zack Colman And Anthony Adragna
In a matter of months, liberal activists have upended the conversation about climate change among both parties in Washington. Democratic presidential candidates are rallying around calls from their base for immediate action to... -
Oregon Legislators Fine-Tune Cap-and-Trade Bill
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In Electric Light & Power)
By Sarah Zimmerman
Oregon lawmakers on Monday unveiled a compromise proposal to a controversial cap-and-trade bill regulating greenhouse gas emissions, responding to overwhelming opposition from businesses and agricultural groups who worry...
Industry and Association News
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) US Chemical Output Slips in February on Broad-Based Declines
Mar 26, 2019 | Zacks.com (In Nasdaq)
By Anindya Barman,
U.S. chemical production dropped in February on a monthly comparison basis with lower output witnessed across all chemical producing regions, particularly in Gulf Coast and Ohio Valley - according to the latest monthly report from the American Chemistry Council ("ACC"). Activity for the U.S. manufacturing sector - the largest consumer of chemical products - was also down in February.
The chemical industry trade group said that the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index ("CPRI") slipped 0.4% in February compared with the previous month. This follows a revised 0.2% rise a month ago and a 0.5% gain in December. The U.S. CPRI, which is measured using a three-month moving average, was created to track chemical production in seven regions nationwide.
February Data Shows Lower Regional Output
The February reading showed a decline in chemical production on a monthly comparison basis across all regions. Production in the Gulf Coast - the epicenter of the U.S. specialty chemicals and petrochemicals industry - was down 0.7% in the reported month. Production also fell 0.5% across Midwest and Southeast. Ohio Valley witnessed a 0.6% decline while output was down 0.1% in Northeast. Production also fell across Mid-Atlantic (down 0.4%) and West Coast (down 0.3%).
By segments, chemical production was mixed. Gains in inorganic chemicals, synthetic rubber, fertilizers, consumer products, manufactured fibers and other specialty chemicals were neutralized by lower production in plastic resins, organic chemicals, adhesives, pesticides and coatings.
U.S. Manufacturing Activity Dips
The manufacturing sector serves as a barometer to gauge the overall health of the U.S. economy and has a major influence on the chemical industry. The sector is a major driver for the chemical industry which touches around 96% of manufactured goods. Manufacturing activity is also a key indicator for chemical production.
According to the ACC, U.S. manufacturing activity was down 0.1% in February, the first drop since May 2018.zWithin the manufacturing sector, production rose in several chemistry end-user markets in February including food and beverages, aerospace, construction supplies, fabricated metal products, computers and electronics, oil and gas extraction, plastic products, rubber products and tires.
U.S. factory activity cooled in February as the pace of new orders, production and employment lost steam. Bad weather conditions disrupted production during the month.
Chemical Production Up Y/Y in February
While U.S. chemical production declined on a monthly basis in February, it was up year over year for the month. Per the ACC, overall chemical production spiked 4.4% on a year over year basis in February. This marks an improvement from a 4.1% growth in January.
All regions racked up gains with the biggest rise was witnessed in the Gulf Coast where output climbed 5.4% year over year in the reported month. The gain reflects higher output at new shale-advantaged plants.
U.S. Chemical Industry Set for an Upswing in 2019
The U.S. chemical industry is poised for an upside this year. The ACC expects U.S. chemical production (excluding pharmaceuticals) to rise 3.6% in 2019, following a 3.1% growth in 2018. The expansion is expected to be partly driven by growth in manufacturing and export, demand strength across major end-markets and gains in business investment. However, trade tensions pose a risk to the outlook.
The trade group also expects basic chemicals production to expand 4.8% in 2019. The specialty chemicals segment is also expected to see production growth of 2.2% in 2019. Growth in manufacturing and exports markets this year will continue to boost demand for basic chemicals. These factors coupled with growth in construction markets are also expected to drive the specialty chemicals segments.
According to the ACC, strength in export markets and higher business investment have boosted demand in major chemical end-use markets such as light vehicles and housing.
The United States also remains an attractive investment destination for chemical investment and domestic chemical industry continue to enjoy the competitive advantage of access to abundant supplies of shale gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Economics of shale gas is driving strong capital investment in new chemical projects, leading to growth in the domestic chemical industry.
Chemical Stocks Worth Considering
A few stocks currently worth a look in the chemical space are Ingevity Corporation NGVT , Innospec Inc. IOSP , W. R. Grace & Co. GRA and Israel Chemicals Ltd. ICL . Both Ingevity and Innospec sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while W. R. Grace and Israel Chemicals carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Ingevity has an expected earnings growth of 17.9% for the current year. Earnings estimates for the current year have been revised 2.7% upward over the last 60 days.
Innospec has an expected earnings growth of 3.5% for the current year. Earnings estimates for the current year have been revised 5.3% upward over the last 60 days.
W. R. Grace has an expected earnings growth of 10.4% for the current year. Earnings estimates for the current year have been revised 3.2% upward over the last 60 days.
Israel Chemicals has an expected earnings growth of 10.8% for the current year. Earnings estimates for the current year have been revised 5.1% upward over the last 60 days.
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/us-chemical-output-slips-in-february-on-broad-based-declines-cm1119808 -
(ACC Mentioned) Report: Chemical Recycling Presents $10 Billion Opportunity In U.S.
Mar 26, 2019 | Greener Package
By Anne Marie Mohan
A new report from the American Chemistry Council finds the potential economic impact of expanding advanced plastic recycling and recovery technologies in the U.S. to be nearly $10 billion. The report examines a burgeoning class of technologies that convert used plastics into a range of products and raw materials such as chemicals and chemical feedstocks for new plastics, lower-carbon transportation fuels, and other petroleum-based commodities. Says ACC, by bringing used plastics back into the manufacturing system, these technologies are a key enabler in the drive toward a circular economy for plastics.
According to the report, “Economic Impact of Advanced Plastics Recycling and Recovery Facilities in the U.S.,” if widely adopted, these processes could result in nearly 40,000 direct and indirect U.S. jobs, as much as $2.2 billion in annual payroll, and another $9.9 billion in direct and indirect economic output.
Prepared by ACC’s Economics and Statistics Department, the report updates a similar analysis completed in 2014. The earlier analysis only examined the economic potential associated with converting used plastics into synthetic crude oil. Since then, these technologies have significantly expanded their range of outputs to meet demand for specific commodities.
The latest report examines a class of advanced plastic recycling and recovery technologies commonly known as chemical recycling, which includes pyrolysis and depolymerization. These advanced technologies complement traditional recycling, also known as mechanical recycling, and could help society recover and repurpose a much broader range of post-use plastics.
“Advanced plastic recycling and recovery technologies have the potential to revolutionize the way we make, use, and reuse our plastic resources,” says Steve Russell, ACC’s Vice President of Plastics. “These technologies further demonstrate the untapped value of used plastics and have the potential to dramatically accelerate our transition to a circular economy.”
“Expanding advanced plastic recycling and recovery facilities could create thousands of U.S. jobs, result in billions of dollars in economic output, and eliminate the landfilling of 6.5 million tons of post-use recoverable plastics each year,” says Priyanka Bakaya, Founder and CEO of Renewlogy and chair of ACC’s Plastics-to-Fuel and Petrochemistry Alliance, which commissioned the study.
Notes ACC, several major plastics makers and energy companies have recently announced investments and/or agreements with advanced plastic recycling and recovery technology providers, which are helping to demonstrate and scale these processes.
Last May, plastics makers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe committed to the goal of recycling or recovering all plastic packaging in these regions by 2040. Such technologies are expected to play a crucial role in meeting these goals.
“Plastic packaging and consumer products weigh less than alternatives, helping to reduce transportation fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste,” says Russell. “Learning to treat used plastics as a resource has both economic and environmental benefits. Converting more of these materials to valuable products and raw materials will help keep plastic waste out of the environment and in productive use.”
https://www.greenerpackage.com/waste--energy/report_chemical_recycling_presents_10_billion_opportunity_us
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(ACC Mentioned) Sippy Cups Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth of US$ 11,684.4 Mn by 2027
Mar 26, 2019 | Market Mirror
Sippy cups are likely to constitute an approximately US$ 8 billion global market in 2019, witnessing a moderate 4.4% growth over 2018. Delivering a wide selection of products in the baby care products category, the sippy cups market is slated for steady growth projections over coming years.
According to a recently released market research intelligence by Future Market Insights, the global market for sippy cups continues to witness dominance of Asian countries. Although considerably high infant population and an equally surging growth rate of the same attribute for APEJ’s leading position in the global sippy cups marketplace, Europe is also represented as an important regional market.
Ecommerce Penetration Plays a Crucial Role in Market Growth
“While APEJ and Europe seem to maintain their global dominance in sippy cups market owing to the presence of a strong base for a majority of leading manufacturers and relatively higher rate of infant population growth, it is the dramatically increasing Ecommerce penetration that is prominently boosting the growth of sippy cups market across urban areas of Asia and Europe,” explains a senior market research analyst at the company.
Moreover, discussing the top selling product types segments in sippy cups market, the analyst says, “Soft spout sippy cups secure the top selling product position, whereas plastic remains a favored choice of material among manufacturers of sippy cups. Based on the age group of toddlers, sippy cups for 12-18 months are most attractive”.
When it comes to ranking the most popular distribution channel for sippy cups, the report highlights that supermarkets/hypermarkets continue to account for maximum sales of sippy cups. However, online sales are buckling-up and may demonstrate faster growth over conventional retail channels over the course of upcoming years. Almost 20% of the total baby products sale occurs online (as of H1 2018), which clearly reflects the signs of an amplified share in the near future.
Munchkin Inc. has been dedicating heavy investment in online sales, with an additional promotional value through company blogs and informative articles on baby care products.
Customization and Innovation Trend Sippy Cups Market
-Innovative, convenient, versatile, and durable sippy cups are currently shaping the revenue growth of sippy cups market.
-The report anticipates safety and additional features to emerge as the most sought after parameters influencing purchasing decisions of consumer parents.
-Customization of sippy cups is identified to be a growing trend that manufacturers are capitalizing on, in recent years.
-Baby fashion has been a significant factor positively influecing product innovation and sales across the baby care category.
-Another factor likely to hold long-term influence on sippy cups market revenue growth is the growing number of strategic mergers and acquisitions across juvenile durable goods category.
CollapseAndGo recently launched convenient on-the-go sippy cups – Collapsacup – targeting a broad range, from newborns to five years olds. These sippy cups, as are made from silicone, are bacteria-resistant, tasteless and odorless, and temperature-resistant.
Koninklijke Philips N.V., one of the major operators in the competitive landscape, is focusing on the diversification of an existing line of leak-proof, BPA-free sippy cups and bottles.
Experts Recommend Limited Use of Sippy Cups
A number of pediatricians altercate frequent use of sippy cups, as the overuse may eventually result in reliance on sippers, and an increased risk of cavities due to overexposure to sugars in the milk, juices, or formula inside. They also suggest that dependence of toddlers on sippy cups may lead to sabotaging meal times and delayed speech development.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry even recommends the transition from sippy cups to normal cups as early as possible, after the age of one year. These and more such concerns related to increasing adoption of sippy cups are likely to hold a significant impact on the sales of sippy cups, says the report.
It is ideally suggested that sippy cups should be allowed only for travel use, and ordinary cups or mugs should be brought in as better alternatives as early as possible.
BPA-free Sippy Cups Continue to Attract the Interest of Investors
BPA has been in use for plastic bottles and baby sippy cups over the past decades. However, the US FDA officially prohibited the use of BPA (bisphenol A) from baby bottles and sippy cups (post 2012) – post the revelations made by the American Chemistry Council that BPA tends to leach into food and beverage products, including water, milk, and infant formula – subsequently passing on the traces into the consumer’s body. Research says that BPA traces may later even pose adverse health effects predominantly on brain and behavior of toddlers and children.
This industrial chemical that mimics estrogen has thus been on the radar of sippy cups manufacturers and by now, the entire sippy cups market has travelled a paradigm shift to BPA-free sippy cups. As the consumer sector is witnessing a rapid influx of products labelled BPA-free, it is most likely that the focus of sippy cups and bottles manufacturers on the BPA-trend will zoom in over the coming years. Material innovation in the BPA-free segment is anticipated to remain a highly notable trend shaping the competitive landscape of sippy cups market, reports FMI.
However, although manufacturers of sippy cups and bottles have been taking into consideration the concerns over potentially hazardous health effects of BPA and thereby switching to an extensive range of similar-looking material alternatives, ongoing research continues to indicate that even ‘BPA-free’ may not be entirely safe, and have a certain set of health risks associated with it.
https://marketmirror24.com/2019/03/sippy-cups-market-to-witness-an-outstanding-growth-of-us-11684-4-mn-by-2027/
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(ACC Mentioned) 98% Of European Plastics Production Covered By Operation Clean Sweep
Mar 26, 2019 | Canadian Plastics
Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), the international program designed to prevent plastic pellets, flakes, and powder from being lost from factory floors and winding up in lakes and oceans, is being successfully embraced by European plastics processors, a new study shows.
Following the release of its first Operation Clean Sweep report in 2017, industry association PlasticsEurope made the OCS program a top priority in 2018, setting new targets for its members as part of its Plastics 2030 Voluntary Commitment.
“The number of OCS signatories doubled in Europe in 2018, reaching up to more than 500 companies handling plastics pellets,” Karl-H. Foerster, PlasticsEurope’s executive director, said in a statement. “More than 98% of the total European plastics production have now signed up to OCS.”
PlasticsEurope is also strengthening its collaboration with the entire plastics value chain. The group announced that 250 new companies signed the pledge in 2018.
“The plastics industry remains fully committed to implementing solutions to end plastic waste in the environment. Working with the value chain for the implementation of OCS is an essential part of our 2030 Voluntary Commitment. Our aim is to drive best practices in pellet management and strive towards zero pellet loss,” Foerster said, “PlasticsEurope’s objectives for 2019 are to actively contribute to global industry efforts. Together with the plastics value chain, its aim is to develop an OCS certification scheme and continue to support the implementation of the OCS program as a way to deliver its voluntary commitment.”
PlasticsEurope’s full report is available at this link.
Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) is a stewardship program of the U.S.-based Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division. The Canadian Plastics Industry Association is the Canadian licensee of OCS and promotes the program to the Canadian plastics value chain.
https://www.canplastics.com/environment/98-of-european-plastics-production-covered-by-operation-clean-sweep/1003449773/
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC/TSCA Attack on IRIS: Formaldehyde, Chloroprene, EtO
Mar 26, 2019 | Natural Resource Defense Council
By Jennifer Sass
Unfortunately, cancer-causing chemicals have their own lobby in Congress, the American Chemistry Council, ACC. Now, one of their own, Nancy Beck, is running the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP; the Toxics Office). The Toxics Office is charged with implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) as well as the pesticide regulatory laws FIFRA and FQPA.
TSCA - An Industry-Captured Office
In contrast to the industry-captured TSCA program, EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) continues to receive favorable reviews for its implementation of chemical assessments through the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program. It has been praised by the National Academies in two reviews (NAS 2018; NAS 2014), scientific experts around the world, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO 2019). IRIS assessments are generated through a transparent process that invites multiple opportunities for inter-agency review and public comment including from the chemical industry. The scientific studies supporting IRIS chemical assessments are published or otherwise publicly available, and the assessment is subjected to a rigorous public expert review prior to being finalized.
Given the differences in credibility and scientific accountability between the TSCA and IRIS chemical assessments, it is alarming that the recent GAO investigation reported that the EPA Administrator’s office is blocking IRIS assessments, while program office leadership is pulling staff from the IRIS program into the TSCA program: “…4 months after IRIS assessments were stopped from being released—28 of approximately 30 IRIS staff were directed to support implementation of [TSCA], with 25 to 50 percent of their time, according to officials” (GAO 2019).
Making matters worse, the EPA Scientific Advisory Boards that have until now provided important public oversight and expert review of Agency science are also being captured by industry. An EPA directive from former Administrator Scott Pruitt now prohibits experts from serving on the SAB if they receive EPA research grants, which blocks Academic researchers and non-industry experts (Pruitt 2017). The SAB Standing Committee on Chemical Assessments now includes industry consultants like: Richard Belzer with clients ACC and Exxon Mobil; Harvey Clewell of Ramboll with clients ACC, DuPont, Dow, and Syngenta; and, Dennis Paustenbach who argued for the safety of asbestos on behalf of the auto industry.
It is in this new climate of science-denial that the TSCA program stalled the Obama era proposed rules on methylene chloride, its toxic replacement NMP, as well as certain uses of trichloroethylene (TCE) as an aerosol degreaser and for spot cleaning in dry cleaning facilities (Dec 2016). The proposed bans for TCE and methylene chloride were informed by IRIS assessments. Just last week, the Toxics Office issued its rule on methylene chloride paint strippers that fails to protect workers—a vulnerable population it is required to protect under the TSCA law. At least four people have diedfrom methylene chloride stripping products since the original ban was proposed.
In an important test, the first draft TSCA chemical assessment under TSCA to be publicly released – for Pigment Violet 29 – is, to paraphrase Thomas Hobbes, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. It is based on only 24 studies, all sponsored by industry (see ECHA Dossier), and none made fully available to the public (see EPA documents). Many of the data tables are redacted (blacked-out completely) for the key study that forms the basis of the risk estimate (see Repro/Devel tox screening test; see my blogand NGO coalition legal and scientific comments). The assessment also estimates low exposures to the public, and particularly workers, based upon absurd and unsupported assumptions about workplace exposures and conditions. It is especially appalling that EPA is relying exclusively on Sun Chemical 'personal communication' reports for workplace exposures and other workplace information, given that its manufacturing facilities have had two recent worker deaths that resulted in citations by OSHA for violating regulations (see comments from David Michaels).
Industry attack on IRIS Assessments of Formaldehyde, Chloroprene, Ethylene Oxide
In a recent investigative report in The Intercept, Sharon Lerner identified the three biggest contributors to hazardous air pollution hotspots around the country - Chloroprene, Ethylene Oxide, and Formaldehyde (Lerner, Feb 21, 2019). If EPA protected communities from these three chemicals, it would reduce the cancer risk from air pollution by 91 percent. For many of these communities – largely low-income communities of color – the cumulative cancer risks from just these three chemicals are hundreds of times above background.
By continuing to fail to consider the cumulative impacts of exposures to multiple chemicals from multiple sources, including current exposures from legacy uses, EPA assessments are failing to reflect the toxic reality that families suffer in every state in the country. Allowing toxic emissions and hazardous exposures using risk estimates that consider only one chemical at a time fails to address the real-world impacts of coal plants, refineries, cement kilns, chemical plants, metal smelters, incinerators, highways, truck routes, shipping channels, Superfund and other hazardous waste sites.
Formaldehyde
The Toxics Office recently announced the first 20 chemicals it plans to assess as ‘high priority’ under TSCA. After having blocked the public release of the IRIS formaldehyde assessment (GAO 2019), it is alarming but not surprising that the Toxics Office now claims formaldehyde as its own, signaling a ‘do-over’. Given how the Pigment Violet 29 assessment has turned out, it seems certain that the TSCA formaldehyde assessment will be a complete capitulation to industry demands to weaken the cancer risk estimates.
Formaldehyde is used in the production of petrochemicals including agrochemicals like Roundup made by Monsanto and others. In the US, 727 industrial facilities release a total of over 19 million pounds of formaldehyde as environmental pollution. The testimony of Dr. Wilma Subra details the impact on communities, human suffering, and industry failure to control this carcinogen.
Chloroprene
A successful demonstration of the IRIS methods can be seen in the IRIS Chloroprene Assessment (IRIS 2010) and the Response to the Request for Correction by Denka Performance Elastomers (IRIS 2018). Denka – the main producer of chloroprene – argued based on an industry sponsored model from Kenneth Mundt at Ramboll Environ and lacking any new data, that EPA should weaken its inhalation risk estimate by 150-fold, reduce the cancer classification from “likely” to “suggestive”, and withdraw the Reference Concentration (RfC) completely. IRIS’ 54-page scientific response also notes that its assessment was, “reviewed by internal science experts within EPA, by science reviewers from other federal agencies, and by the White House, and it was externally peer reviewed by independent experts including opportunity for public comment. EPA notes that many of the topics and assertions raised by [Denka] in the [Request for Correction] were considered by agency and external peer reviewers during assessment development and external peer review because DuPont (the former owner of the La Place Louisiana facility that currently produces chloroprene) provided extensive comments during the public comment period.” In other words, Denka tried to argue away the cancer risks with no new data and nothing new to say, bolstered by its friends in Congress.
Ethylene Oxide
The ACC sent EPA a Request for Correction of the 2014 National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA), immediately after the data was released in 2018 asking that the IRIS assessment of ethylene oxide (EPA 2016), which forms the basis of the NATA cancer risk estimates, be withdrawn. ACC is arguing that it is a less potent carcinogen, and that, “the alleged elevated cancer risk driven by EO in the 2014 NATA has already caused alarm in some communities around facilities with EO emissions” that could have been avoided had EPA reduced the cancer unit risk estimate (ACC, p. 6).
The IRIS assessment is based on workplace epidemiologic studies – breast cancers in women workers, exposed through the normal course of earning a living and supporting a family. The human data is strengthened by rodent studies with evidence of cancer in blood and breast tissue, and cellular evidence that ethylene oxide is genotoxic and mutagenic. The IRIS assessment took 10 years to complete (from 2006 to 2016), including interagency review, external review, Science Advisor Board review, and multiple opportunities for industry and the public to comment (see details including industry interference in the NRDC ‘Delay Game’ report). All industry and public comments have been considered by the EPA and SAB. The IRIS experts even published the key findings and addressed scientific issues (Jinot et al 2018). ACC and the ethylene oxide industry have no new data and nothing new to say. It is past time for communities to be protected from harmful industrial pollutants.
Product Defense – Ramboll consultants
In addition to his work to attack the IRIS Ethylene Oxide assessment, Ramboll Environ’s Kenneth Mundt previously published an ACC-funded article denying a link between formaldehyde and leukemia (Mundt et al 2017). About 10 years earlier, Mundt was reported in the Washington Post as having buried evidence showing low exposures to chromium were toxic, going so far as to withhold the data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during its rulemaking process. Like his work on formaldehyde and ethylene oxide, Mundt’s chromium study was also funded by the ACC. The Washington Post reported, “Kenneth Mundt…did not have an explanation for why he ultimately lumped workers together differently than they were in the initial, unpublished version—a change that blended the intermediate-exposure workers with the low-exposure workers and resulted in a finding of no risk. Mundt said he was under no pressure from his industry sponsors to doctor the data.” (Rick Weiss, Washington Post, Feb 24, 2006). No pressure except an increased likelihood of more paid work, I suppose.
As a consultant for Philip Morris and the tobacco industry, Mundt attacked the National Cancer Institute’s findings that low-tar cigarettes could cause lung cancer (see 2016 investigative series by David Heath).
Incredibly, Ramboll now has a seat at the table with Harvey Clewell on the EPA SAB Standing Committee to review its Chemical Assessments.
Conclusion
The research of EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), which houses the IRIS program and the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), provides critical scientific expertise and support for regulatory and non-regulatory programs across EPA. For example, ORD has already initiated research programs and methods development to address cumulative risk impacts from multiple exposures. These and other scientific and technical programs need to be advanced, resourced, and protected.
Instead of addressing the industrial sources of its air pollution, the chemical industry and its allies at the TSCA program are attacking the IRIS assessments, scavenging off IRIS resources to staff up the industry-captured TSCA program, shifting the balance of the SAB from non-industry to industry members. Under these conditions it is inevitable that chemical assessments will be weakened, regulatory safeguards will be gutted, and preventable human suffering will rise.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/acctsca-attack-iris-formaldehyde-chloroprene-eto
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Mar 26, 2019 | The Advocate
By Stephanie Grace
New Mexico U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, who announced this week that he would not seek reelection, is a towering figure among environmentalists, clean energy advocates and those seeking urgent action on climate change. Not exactly the sort of record that would play well in many parts of Louisiana.
So it’s worth noting that one of Udall’s most significant accomplishments in Congress happened thanks to an unlikely partnership with Republican former U.S. Sen. David Vitter.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, named for the Democratic New Jersey senator who died shortly after introducing it. Carried by the bipartisan team of Udall and Vitter, the carefully crafted compromise “creates a predictable and transparent federal system to regulate the safety of chemicals based on the latest science, providing greater regulatory certainty to the chemical manufacturing industry and striking a balance between state and federal roles in chemical safety management,” according to a Udall press release issued at the time.
The idea almost died with Lautenberg, according to a story in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, before Udall took up the mantle.
“I still don’t know quite how he pulled that off,” Vitter is quoted as saying. “I still don’t quite know what the magic dust was.”
Alas, the magic dust seems to have dissipated. Vitter left Congress in 2017 and is now a Washington lobbyist. Last year, E&E News reported that the former senator was representing the chemical industry and battling with Udall over whether the Trump administration is properly implementing the measure they jointly wrote.
“Their quick retreat from common ground to familiar opposition positions is an indication to policy experts that the TSCA reform deal was an extraordinary agreement that would be impossible to make today — and one which is now being viewed very differently by the lawmakers who pushed to enshrine it in law,” the E&E report noted.
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/stephanie_grace/article_2ca3aeb8-4fde-11e9-8c1b-134c13a2bb02.html
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US Geological Survey: 750 Metric Tons of Asbestos Imported in 2018
Mar 26, 2019 | Asbestos.com
By Tim Povtak
The United States imported an estimated 750 metric tons of raw asbestos in 2018, more than double the total in 2017 and the most entering the country since 2013, according to the recently released U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries report.
For the first time, all of the imported asbestos went to the chloralkali industry, which uses it to manufacture semipermeable diaphragms to make chlorine.
The report was prepared by Daniel Flanagan, a mineral commodity specialist for the National Minerals Information Center at the U.S. Geological Survey. It is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Asbestos consumers in the United States have been dependent on imports since 2002, when the last domestic production of asbestos products ceased.
Microscopic asbestos fibers — when inhaled or ingested — can lead to serious health issues, including mesothelioma.Significant Drop Since Record High
Consumption of raw asbestos in the U.S. has dropped significantly since a record high of 803,000 metric tons in 1973.
The record low was 325 metric tons in 2015.
While no other asbestos-containing products are being manufactured in the United States, the chloralkali industry has increased its consumption significantly.
Thirty-five percent of the imported asbestos in 2010 was purchased by the industry. In 2013, it accounted for 67 percent of the asbestos.
The chloralkali industry has lobbied continually against the growing regulations on asbestos and the push to ban the mineral entirely.Latest Push to Ban Asbestos
A legislative bill that would ban asbestos by amending the Toxic Substances Control Act was recently introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The introduction of the bill came shortly after Dr. Raja Flores of Mount Sinai Medical Center wrote an op-ed urging legislators to ban asbestos.
A similar bill has been introduced throughout the last 15 years but has failed to advance through Congress.
The chloralkali industry has been the strongest critic of the latest bill, contending exposure risk is virtually nonexistent because of its wet processing of asbestos.Most Industries Found Alternatives
In many industries that once used asbestos for its ability to strengthen products and resist heat, new technology and alternative materials have replaced its use.
The USGS report does cite an unknown amount of asbestos still being imported within several products.
They include asbestos-cement pipe, rubber sheets for gaskets, brake materials, tile and wallpaper products.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized tougher restrictions that would require manufacturers to obtain approval before starting or resuming importation of asbestos products.Worldwide Consumption Falling
Worldwide consumption of asbestos also has continued to drop, according to the latest Mineral Commodity Summaries report.
Estimated worldwide consumption has gone from 2 million tons in 2010 to less than a million in 2018.
The countries that mine and produce the most raw asbestos are Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Brazil.
However, Brazil is in the process of phasing out the mining, processing, marketing and distribution of chrysotile asbestos, after voting for a ban in 2017.
Zimbabwe has considered reopening two former asbestos mines, but those plans could not be confirmed.
https://www.asbestos.com/news/2019/03/26/asbestos-imports-2018-chloralkali/
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(ACC Mentioned) Vermont Senate Clears Bill To Amend Children's Product Reporting Scheme
Mar 26, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
An NGO-backed measure to modify Vermont’s existing reporting scheme for children’s products has passed the state Senate.
The bill (S 55), like a similar one vetoed by governor Phil Scott last April, seeks to amend Act 188 – the law which authorised the state’s Chemicals of High Concern in Children’s Products Rule in 2014. If signed into law, the legislation would give the state’s health commissioner expanded authorities to regulate products and add chemicals of concern to the reportable substances list.
The Vermont Public Interest Research Group is among supporters who say the legislation is necessary to cut through ‘red tape’ for regulating products. The existing process, it said in testimony last month, has left the health commissioner "effectively and needlessly hamstrung".
But the bill has prompted criticism from industry groups, many of which have concerns about how it would amend existing scientific criteria for decision making.
For example, the bill proposes to no longer require that new chemicals be added to the state’s scheme based on the "weight of scientific evidence".
VPIRG said this is an unclearly defined term that "has been used by industry groups to stall action on chemicals at the [US EPA] for decades."
But the business alliance Associated Industries of Vermont testified that "no credible evidence" has been provided to back up the claim that a weight of evidence approach is unworkable. Rather, it says the provision ensures the state’s health commissioner does not "selectively cherry pick evidence that he or she claims to be credible" when adding chemicals to the state’s scheme.
Others, like the American Chemistry Council, protested against the bill’s proposal to strike out existing requirements that there be a probability of exposure to a chemical of high concern prior to imposing regulations.
And industry groups also raised issue with potential changes to the involvement of an ‘Act 188 Working Group’. Current law requires that the health commissioner receive approval from this stakeholder advisory group before restricting or banning a product; the bill, however, seeks to only require that the group be consulted.
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) said in its testimony that the provisions facing overhaul under S 55 were "critical factors that were part of the compromise, in 2014, that created Act 188 and [they] are consistent with other states."
"While neither side was happy with the elements of Act 188 – it still represents a compromise, under a law, which goes farther than any other state’s children’s chemicals regulatory programme."
The measure cleared the Senate on 22 March, just days after the chamber voted to advance a separate piece of legislation (S 37) that would hold companies that release toxic substance strictly liable for resulting harm.
Versions of both pieces of legislation were vetoed last session by Governor Scott. And he might be expected to again raise similar concerns about the economic impacts of the measures should they reach his desk.
But Democrats picked up additional seats in last November’s elections that would probably give them the numbers to override any veto efforts.
Lauren Hierl, executive director for the Vermont Conservation Voters, added: "We believe the strong 25-5 Senate vote indicates the legislature’s commitment to enacting this important legislation this year."
https://chemicalwatch.com/75400/vermont-senate-clears-bill-to-amend-childrens-product-reporting-scheme
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NGO Study: Prop 65 Leads To Successful Product Reformulations
Mar 26, 2019 | Chemical Watch
An NGO study has found that two Proposition 65 private enforcement actions resulted in significantly lowered lead content in certain products. And study co-author the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) says that this is evidence that Prop 65 litigation can prompt safer product reformulations nationwide.
California’s Proposition 65, which was passed by voters in 1986, requires warning on products exposing consumers to chemicals that can cause reproductive harm or cancer. A unique aspect of the law is that it allows private persons or organisations to take legal action against alleged violators – and be awarded 25% of penalties assessed.
In the study, the CEH – a frequent plaintiff in ‘private enforcement’ litigation – used a proprietary dataset and one from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to look into the long-term impact of such enforcement. It found "dramatic reductions" in chemicals of concern in the two cases it evaluated.
Data showed, for example, that faux leather purses made with lead-containing pigments declined from 34% to 8% over the course of seven years. And online sales indicated that the reduction was nationwide, the study found.
Michael Green, CEO of CEH, said the findings "illustrate why Prop 65 has been so effective in protecting millions of consumers from harmful chemicals without imposing costs on businesses and consumers."
The threat of litigation, he continued, makes "companies respond by providing products that are safer and more environmentally friendly."
Industry, however, has raised concerns that the opportunity to win settlement fees has given rise to a 'bounty hunter' environment, where the burden of proof rests on businesses to demonstrate that a warning was not necessary for a product.
The most recent annual report from California’s Office of the Attorney General shows that the total settlement payout for Prop 65 cases exceeded $25m in 2017.
https://chemicalwatch.com/75390/ngo-study-prop-65-leads-to-successful-product-reformulations
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Walmart, Amazon Pull Paint Removers In The Face Of NGO Pressure
Mar 26, 2019 | Chemical Watch
Walmart and Amazon have both removed online listings for paint removal products containing methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), after pressure from the NGO Safer Chemicals Healthy Families.
Both retailers were among the more than dozen who committed to pulling the products from their shelves, following an NGO campaign focused on the hazards the two solvents posed. Walmart committed to doing so by February of this year, and Amazon by 1 March.
But as was the case during a January investigation into five other major retailers, SCHF discovered noncompliance with the commitments after these deadlines.
In the case of Walmart, SCHF and its partners identified 90 pages on Walmart.com for products that "definitely or likely contained" either methylene chloride or NMP. A visit to Walmart retail locations found two products containing methylene chloride or NMP, on shelves in Illinois and Oregon.
Meanwhile, they found 59 such products being sold through Amazon.
With respect to Walmart, SCHF said it notified the company of the violations between 11-15 March. And while it took over a week in certain cases, by 21 March all of the listings in question had been removed.
Amazon removed the listings within 48 hours of notification by the NGO, added SCHF.
This month, the US EPA issued a final rule banning methylene chloride from consumer products. A retail prohibition comes into force 180 days after the effective date of the rule.
SCHF is among the organisations, however, that have criticised the scope of the ban, saying it only covers consumer products, especially considering that many major retailers had already committed to pulling the products.
https://chemicalwatch.com/75389/walmart-amazon-pull-paint-removers-in-the-face-of-ngo-pressure
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Toxic Chemicals Can Enter Food Through Packaging. We Made A List.
Mar 26, 2019 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Tom Neltner
In the late 1980s, the Council of Northeast Governors (CONEG) was concerned that heavy metals in packaging would accumulate in recycled materials to levels that presented serious health concerns. The organization drafted model legislation that prohibited the intentional addition of mercury, lead, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium to any component of packaging, including inks. It also set a 100 parts-per-million limit on the total amount of these four heavy metals. To ensure compliance, companies making packaging materials had to provide certificates of compliance to downstream purchasers and report compliance to the states.
CONEG also established the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse to maintain the model legislation, coordinate implementation of state legislation, and serve as a resource for companies seeking compliance information. The Council’s hypothesis: protecting virgin material from contamination will improve the recyclability of post-consumer materials and protect public health.
Key Chemicals of Concern in Food Packaging
Over the years, 19 states have adopted a variation of the model legislation. In 2018, the State of Washington took an unprecedented step of expanding its version of the legislation from heavy metals to include per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are bioaccumulating, persistent chemicals and are associated with an array of health problems including endocrine disruption and children’s developmental harm. The State was concerned that paper and cardboard food packaging treated with these chemicals may be contaminating composting and paper recycling processes post-consumer.
Beyond PFAS: More toxic chemicals of concern in food packaging
In addition to heavy metals and PFAS, EDF has identified other chemicals in food packaging and food handling equipment, whose ubiquity and potential health impacts raise serious concerns about food safety and contamination of the recycling stream. These chemicals appear in either plastic or paper packaging or both.
-Intentionally added ingredients Ortho-phthalates (primarily used in plastic but many other uses including printing inks): Studies show that these chemicals are linked to endocrine disruption, developmental and reproductive toxicity. Their contamination of food is widespread. Their safety is currently under review by FDA.
-Perchlorate (anti-static agent used in plastic for dry food and in food handling equipment): This chemical disrupts the thyroid gland’s normal function and reduces production of the thyroid hormone needed for healthy fetal and child brain development. Food contamination is widespread; especially problematic is the increase of perchlorate levels in baby food dry cereal. The safety of perchlorate is currently under review by FDA.
-Per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (grease-proofing agent used in paper packaging): PFAS, often distinguished as long-chain or short-chain, are bioaccumulating, persistent chemicals associated with an array of health problems including endocrine disruption and children’s developmental harm. There is widespread human exposure to PFAS; water and food are the likely sources. PFAS in food packaging will be banned in Washington State two years after the state finds suitably available safer alternatives or in 2022, whichever date gives manufacturers more time to redesign packaging.
-Benzophenone (used as a plasticizer in rubber articles intended for repeat use): Citing the carcinogenic evidence regarding benzophenone, FDA has banned its use as a flavor and in food packaging. The bans go into effect in 2020.
-Residual processing aids Ethyl and methyl glycol, toluene, and n-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP): These solvents, often used in printing inks, leave residues in packaging and pose a risk of reproductive or development harm. Toluene and NMP have been targeted for removal in other product categories as well. Toluene has been targeted by a number of retailers, including Amazon and Rite-Aid, for removal from personal care and beauty products. NMP has been targeted for removal from paint strippers by several retailers including Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart. EPA has proposed banning use of NMP as a paint stripper and is expected to finalize that proposal for retail sales soon.
-Bisphenol A, B, F, S (used to make epoxy lining in metal cans, to make polycarbonate plastic, and ink): One or more bisphenol compounds has been linked to endocrine disruption, developmental and/or reproductive toxicity. BPA is already banned for baby bottle use or coating of infant formula packaging. BPS became a common replacement to BPA in packaging, but recent studies demonstrate similar health concerns to BPA.
-Contaminants Heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium VI, and mercury): These chemicals are highly toxic and have been regulated in a variety of applications. EDF has demonstrated heavy metal contamination in food, particularly baby food. Though not intentionally added, contamination of food packaging may be a source. FDA’s Toxic Elements Working Group is evaluating children’s exposure to heavy metals across all foods.
See our list describing in more detail the most concerning toxic chemicals in food packaging, and why they should be addressed first.
Initial promising steps to limit toxic chemicals in packaging
Last year, the Food Safety Alliance for Packaging (FSAP), a part of the Institute of Packaging Professionals, released “Food Packaging Product Stewardship Considerations,” a set of best practices to reduce problematic chemicals in food packaging. FSAP is supported by leading food manufacturers, including Nestle and Mars. Of our list above, FSAP said: Heavy metals and long-chain PFAS must not be used; Ortho-phthalates, BPA, and toluene should not be used; Ethyl and methyl glycol use should be minimized; and Short-chain PFAS should only be used after considering alternatives.
Start Clean
We want higher recycling rates of food packaging, and we want safer food. By ensuring future food packaging is free of these chemicals, companies can improve consumer trust while minimizing the impact of future regulations on their bottom line. In addition, the risks these chemical additives and contaminants pose when used in virgin materials continue into recycled materials; unlike the purifying processes used in recycling metal and glass, conventional plastic and paper recycling processes do not remove these persistent toxic chemicals.
We maintain that any company looking to create sustainable recycling markets for food packaging, particularly those companies developing strategies to meet the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, must set tight virgin-material standards to prevent problematic contamination in post-consumer recycled materials.
Taking action today helps to protect consumer health now and in the future. We will explore options and resources available to companies as part of this series. Stay tuned.
http://blogs.edf.org/health/2019/03/26/toxic-chemicals-food-packaging-list/
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Wildfire Season Planning Includes Guarding Against Toxic Smoke
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Amena H. Saiyid
When a yellowish haze of toxic smoke blanketed the sky during the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California this past November, John Balmes, a medical professor, was alarmed to find a man in a paper mask jogging in Sacramento.
“Now that’s misuse,” said Balmes, who is an expert on the respiratory effects of air pollutants at the University of California in both Berkeley and San Francisco.While experts recommend the simple over-the-counter masks, known as N95s, to help filter out particles of smoke if people have no choice but to step outdoors, they are nowhere close to a good long-term solution for a wildfire problem that’s only likely to get worse.
“It’s the false sense of security that they get from wearing masks that is worrisome,” Balmes told Bloomberg Environment.
Experts say the public should use N95s only as a last resort if they can’t stay inside with the windows shut and the air conditioning running. That’s because the masks are good at protecting people against fine airborne particle pollution, but not against the toxics released from the burning of homes, cars, and factories.
Climate Change Adds to Urgency
State and local officials, employers, and the public are coming to grips with the fact that wildfires—and their attendant toxic smoke—need deeper solutions, as climate change is causing fires out West to erupt earlier in spring and last later into the winter, a conclusion also reached in the latest scientific assessment of U.S. climate change effects.
In fact, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency on March 22 ahead of the fire season to speed up forest management projects that can help prevent fires from spreading.
Companies do appear concerned about how best to respond to wildfire smoke, according to Joshua Henderson, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in San Francisco who represents employers and focuses on labor and safety issues.
“Every time there is [a wildfire] we have clients or other employers asking questions about what they can do,” Henderson told Bloomberg Environment.
The answer, he said, typically can be found in guidelines issued by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health for hazardous air pollutants. These range from making changes to offices such as installing air filters, and allowing employees to change their work schedules to take more breaks or work from home, to the use of protective masks like N95, he added.
Since there aren’t any hazardous air quality standards on the books for emergency wildfire workers in California, the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is now planning to ask the state’s OSHA to develop emergency regulations by July, and then put together a more concrete regulation in the future.
Toxic Chemicals Added to Mix
Along with huge damage to property, flames scorch not just the wood in forests, but the plastic, metal, and household cleaners in nearby homes, and automobiles, stores, and factories, releasing tons of air pollution and toxic emissions of chemicals like hydrogen cyanide, dioxins, and benzene.
After the wildfires last November, air quality levels across Northern California and much of Central California in places exceeded by as much as six times the level deemed healthy by the Environmental Protection Agency for people with pre-existing respiratory and heart conditions, children, and older people.
In the San Francisco Bay area, wildfire smoke has been responsible for 16 of the top 20 days since 1999 when fine airborne particle pollution exceeded safe levels, Jack Broadbent, chief executive officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said at a gathering of air quality and public health officials in early February.
How to Minimize Exposure?
Federal and state air quality and public health officials agreed on some short-term solutions to minimize exposure to wildfire smoke.
“The first message is avoid OR minimize the time spent outdoors,” Alberto Ayala, executive director for Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, told Bloomberg Environment in an email. The best solution, he said, is to stay in a room equipped with a portable high efficiency particulate air filter, or with air conditioning or heating systems that recirculate air.
Alternatives are community or senior centers, schools, and libraries that have been retrofitted with these specially designed filters.
The N95 masks, which fit snugly over the nose and mouth, can be an imperfect solution if staying at home is not an option.
But employees may not always have good options.
Base Stayed Open
For example, while the Woolsey Fire in November engulfed California’s Ventura County in flames and smoke, Point Mugu, the U.S Naval base in Ventura County, continued to operate. It was closed for only one day that month because of its proximity to the fires, not because of smoke, Hasan Jafar, who retired as the base’s air quality manager at the end of 2018, told Bloomberg Environment.
While air quality was not affected because of wind direction last year, the office remained open even when air quality was poor in 2017, he said.
Last year, employees at the Silicon-Valley based i2c Inc., were allowed to take the day off when air quality deteriorated due to the Camp Fire, according to Amir Wain, the chief executive officer of the 800-employee global company.
“We allow people to work from home several days a week,” said Wain, whose company’s secure online platform allows banks to offer credit cards and mobile payment products to customers. “Many exercised this option during the times when air quality was poor.”
But Wain has no immediate plans to install high-efficiency clean air filters in this office to ward of toxic smoke, because he sees the fires as a transient issue.
Thinning Forests
California, Oregon, and other neighboring states have developed plans to manage their forests by thinning out the underbrush and dry logs that fuel these fires. That means more planned burns, or fires deliberately set to get rid of the underbrush.
California is planning to conduct more planned burns this year to get a head start before the wildfire season, Melanie Turner, spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board, told Bloomberg Environment.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has a $1 billion plan in place that targets 90,000 acres to thin forests, clear roadways, and create fire breaks near communities to slow down the path of fast-moving wildfires, according to spokesman Scott McLean.
“There are about 147 million dead trees in California, of which about 1.5 million already have been removed through prescribed burns,” McLean said.
While the exercise of clearing forest can be useful by restoring the forest ecology, it can also be a problem if wind speed and direction don’t cooperate, leaving residential areas exposed.
That has prompted some local governments to follow the example of British Columbia in Canada, which restricted development near heavily forested areas in order to reduce the risk of spreading fires.
“What we need is a paradigm shift in thinking,” said Brian Nowicki, Center for Biological Diversity’s California climate policy director. “It is not enough to address wildfires by just thinning forests. We need to address how to protect communities.”
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State Says Sludge Must Be Tested For PFAs Before Spreading
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
Maine officials say they'll start using new controls on the use of sludge amid concerns from a dairy farm about chemical contamination.
State records say sludge spread at Stoneridge Farm in Arundel was a source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection says it's going to require testing of all sludge material licensed for land application for PFAS.
The department says it has set an "aggressive schedule for testing which must be concluded before any sludge material can be land applied."
Sludge is spread on farms to serve as fertilizer and improve soil quality in Maine and around the country. The Maine DEP says it has been used since "long before" knowledge that it might contain PFAS, a persistent pollutant.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/03/26/stories/1060129379
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(ACC Mentioned) Deer Park Fire A ‘Blemish’ For The Image Of The Petrochemical Industry
Mar 26, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Marissa Luck
The Deer Park petrochemical blaze prompted school closures, shelter-in-place orders, spikes in benzene levels and ship channel closures. It also cast a shadow over a petrochemcial sector that has struggled to counter negative stereotypes that present the industry as dirty and dangerous.
Petrochemical professionals, in interviews at two industry conferences in San Antonio last week, said that major incidents like fire at International Terminals Co. undermines much of the work that companies have done to reshape the image of their industry by emphasizing its culture of safety and environmental responsibility, as well as its role as an economic engine that attracts billions of dollars in investment, generates tens of thousands of jobs and provides the materials that make modern life possible.
But one disaster, industry professionals acknowledged, can bruise the entire industry’s reputation, potentially sparking public blowback, new regulations or increased scrutiny at a time when the industry is in the middle of boom. The Deer Park fire started March 17, damaging 11 storage tanks in a blaze that burned for days. Although there were no injuries, elevated benzene readings around the plant Thursday forced shelter-in-place orders and school closures, while toxic runoff from the site closed a seven mile seven-mile stretch of the Houston Ship Channel for three days before it was partially reopened Monday afternoon.
“I think any time there is an incident of this magnitude, it’s a blemish for the industry,” said Rachel Meidl, an energy and environment fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute.
Dark cloud over industry
Beyond the Deer Park fire, the issue of image has become growing concern not only for petrochemical companies but also for the broader energy industry as a new generation of workers want to work for companies perceived as having strong corporate responsibility and environmental records. Only 9 percent of college graduates surveyed said they want to work for energy companies, according to he global consulting firm Accenture Strategy.
Refining and petrochemical industry executives from Chevron, Motiva Enterprises, Valero Corp., Exxon Mobil and Chevron Phillips Chemical spoke at the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers conference in San Antonio last week about the need to “reshape the narrative” about their industries and counter the demonization of fossil fuels and the chemicals made from them, including plastics.
“We know what we do is good. We’re just miserable at communicating it to anyone else,” said Joe Garder, CEO of Valero Energy Corp. “And we’re communicating it now better than we have.”
But disasters such as the Deer Park fire or the Arkema plant explosion in Crosby after Hurricane Harvey or the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico make it all the more difficult to improve the energy industry’s image. Even in Houston, where petrcohemcial companies are major employers and residents tend to be more sympathetic, major disruptive accidents still stoke worry, fear and negative attitudes about the industry, analysts said.
“This is a well-educated community (familiar with the oil and gas industry) but it doesn’t mean they aren’t going to have concerns,”said Pedro Caruso, global downstream lead at the consulting, research and strategy firm Accenture. “The industry still has room for improvement in how to build trust with a society that has lost trust in them to an extent.”
Research suggests that overall public trust in the petrochemical industry and the government agencies that regulate them already is low, said Meidl of Rice University.
Meidl has spent her career working as a hazardous materials safety management administrator for the federal government and working on policy for chemical industry’s trade group, the American Chemistry Council. Regardless of whether individual companies have compiled strong safety and environmental records, well-publicized accidents, spills and other problems damage these companies’ are “painted with the same broad brush” Meidl said.
“It does raise the scrutiny for everybody and it’s difficult for the industry to regain public trust,” she said. “But I think there is so much to be said for transparency and being honest about what you know, what you don’t know, all of that enables companies to achieve social legitimacy and public trust.”
Improving safety record
Talk to anyone in the petrochemical industry and they’ll tell you safety is their license to operate. Workers start their shifts every day with safety meetings; every site has an active emergency response plan; and larger facilities have emergency personnel including professional fire and medical response personnel on site at all times.
In 2017, the incidence rate for non-fatal injuries in the petrochemical sector was less than one per 100 workers, about four times lower than the overall manufacturing industry, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Overall, the American Chemistry Council said chemical companies have reduced the number of safety incidents that result in product spills, fires, explosions or injuries by 60 percent since 1995.
“At the end of the day these companies measure their success by going 24 hours with no accidents,” Michael Kehs, managing director of the energy and industrials practice at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a global public relations consulting firm. “The important thing to remember is that in this industry, safety standards, requirements from the government and regulatory agencies - they are all stringent and extraordinarily protective given the vast majority of these volatile compounds that are handled safely every day.”
In the wake of the ITC disaster, Kehs suggested that other petrochemical companies in the area should double down on engaging with public officials, first responders, community members and even critics to and “to share their best practices they’ve implemented and any learnings (from the ITC fire).”
The ITC fire in Deer Park will undoubtedly spur other companies too look inward at their own safety processes, petrochemical industry professionals said, especially once the results of a federal investigation into the fire’s causes are released, analysts and petrochemical professionals said. Both the American Chemistry Council and the state trade group Texas Chemistry Council said they would review the findings of federal investigators to see if there are broader lessons for the rest of the industry.
Emissions still rampant
Environmentalists, however, say the public still has reason for skepticism. Major incidents may be rare, but according to a 2016 Houston Chronicle investigation, a chemical accident, spill or unauthorized release happened about every six weeks in the Houston area. While emissions of the carcinogenic chemical benzene associated with the Deer Park fire raised alarms in recent days, just 10 Texas chemical plants, storage terminals and other energy facilities poured 47,200 pounds of benzene beyond what their permits allowed in 2017, according to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality data.
In 2017, unauthorized emissions from industrial facilities, including and gas and chemical operations, grew by 27 percent to 63 million pounds of illegal air pollution, according to state data analyzed by the advocacy group Environment Texas. But despite the increased emissions, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality only fined companies 2 cents per every pound of air pollution emissions, Environment Texas found.
“That creates a culture where companies will avoid taking measures to prevent pollution and major accidents because it’s just cheaper to pay the fines if there are any fines at all,” Metzger said. “The truth is that most of these accidents are preventable or controllable if the companies made the investments in better equipment and training. Unfortunately the state, environmental agencies and the EPA aren’t creating regulatory regimes that forces that force companies to put health and safety ahead of profit.”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Deer-Park-fire-a-blemish-for-the-image-of-13717661.php
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From Texas to the World: A Flood of U.S. Oil Exports Is Coming
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Javier Blas
Oil trader Paul Vega is at the vanguard of shale’s next revolution.
Driving his pick-up truck through the heartland of the Permian basin -- the vast tract of west Texas scrub where one of history’s greatest oil booms means miles-long traffic jams -- Vega says there’s more crude being pumped than America’s refineries can absorb. Today, the primary task of trading houses like his is getting the stuff overseas.
“We buy it, we truck it, we put it on a pipeline, and there it goes to the port -- and from there to the world,” said Vega, who heads the office of global commodities trader Trafigura Group in Midland, the region’s oil industry hub.
What started as an American phenomenon is now being felt around the world as U.S. oil exports surge to levels unthinkable only a few years ago. The flow of crude will keep growing over the next few years with huge consequences for the oil industry, global politics and even whole economies. OPEC, for example, will face challenges keeping oil prices high, while Washington has a new, and potent, diplomatic weapon.
American oil exports stepped up a gear last year, jumping more than 70 percent to just over 2 million barrels a day, according to government data. Over the past four weeks, U.S. oil exports have averaged more than 3 million barrels a day --- more than what Middle East petro-state Kuwait sells.
“This is the new American energy era,” U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told an industry conference in Houston earlier this month.
Oil traders and shale executives believe U.S. crude exports are set reach 5 million barrels a day by late 2020, up another 70 percent from current levels. If the U.S. hits that target, America will be exporting, on a gross basis, more crude than every country in OPEC except Saudi Arabia. (On a net basis, the U.S. remains, just, a net importer, but that’s likely to change in the next few months.)
“The second wave of the U.S. shale revolution is coming,” said Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency. “This will shake up international oil and gas trade flows, with profound implications for geopolitics.”
The political impact is already being felt. The Trump administration has been able to impose aggressive sanctions on oil exports from Iran and Venezuela knowing the flow of crude from Texas will keep on rising. The economic impact on the U.S. is also evident: in dollar terms, the country’s petroleum trade deficit fell to its lowest in 20 years in 2018.
The U.S. is already a big exporter of refined products such as gasoline and diesel. When combined with rising crude exports, the IEA forecasts American petroleum exports will reach roughly 9 million barrels a day within five years, up from just 1 million in 2012. In the process, the U.S. will become the world’s second-largest exporter of crude and refined products by 2024, overtaking Russia and nearly topping Saudi Arabia.
Until now, the surge in U.S. oil production from the Permian and other shale basins like the Bakken in North Dakota was absorbed at home, feeding refineries in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast. Now, U.S. refiners are finding it increasingly hard to process more of the kind of light crude pumped in the Permian as their plants were built to process denser heavy crude -- the type pumped in Venezuela and the Middle East.
“The United States is probably darn close to being able to process as much light crude as it can,” Thomas J. Nimbley, the head of U.S. oil refiner PBF Energy Inc., told investors.
As a result, shale executives are traveling the world to seek new customers. Gary Heminger, the head of Marathon Petroleum Corp., for example, was recently in Singapore and South Korea looking for buyers for shale crude.
“All the incremental Permian production needs to be exported,” said Raoul LeBlanc at consultant IHS Markit Ltd. and a former head of strategy at Anadarko Petroleum Corp. “The Permian needs to find refineries willing to take U.S. light sweet crude as a base-load, most likely in Asia.“
Despite a tight oil market due to American sanctions on Venezuela and Iran mixed with OPEC production cuts, finding new buyers isn’t as easy as it sounds. The crude from the Permian is light, yielding lots of naphtha -- used in the petrochemical industry -- and gasoline, but comparatively little diesel. And most refineries want to produce diesel.
Until now, U.S. shale producers and oil traders had been selling most of their crude on spot transactions -- one at a time. As a result, American oil exports saw wildly different destinations from month to month, from Spain to Thailand to Brazil.
A few stable markets are starting to emerge. Oil refineries in Canada, Italy, the U.K., and South Korea are becoming regular buyers. And little by little, oil traders are securing long-term deals with overseas refineries, known as term contracts.
Yet, the rapid rise in oil exports is challenging. Not even Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and 1970s saw exports grow so quickly.
“The U.S. export market needs to transition from infancy to adulthood far more rapidly than any major exporter ever has,” said Roger Diwan, another oil analyst at IHS Markit.
Key for U.S. oil exports is China, mired in a trade war with Washington. Until this year, Chinese refiners were buying large chunks of American shale exports. But the flows all but dried up in August. If U.S. oil exports are going to increase at the pace that executives and traders anticipate, the shale industry needs the White House to strike a trade deal with the Chinese.
“If the China demand pull fails to materialize, for political reasons, quality mismatch or otherwise, U.S. exports will likely have to muscle their way into the global refining system, likely via price discounts,” Diwan said.
U.S. shale crude is already selling at a big discount to Brent, the international oil benchmark. West Texas Intermediate sells nearly $10 under Brent. And some of the lighter grades from the Permian, including a new stream called West Texas Light, are seeing even wider discounts.
Finding buyers for the light Permian crude isn’t the only obstacle. Pipelines and ports have become the biggest bottleneck in U.S. oil exports, with traders engineering logistically complex chains combining railways, trucks, pipelines, barges, and ship-to-ship transfers to get crude out of the country. Several ventures are aiming to build new facilities to allow exports via supertankers, which need deepwater ports.
The export surge started in late 2015 when Washington lifted a 40-year ban on most oil sales overseas, imposed in the aftermath the 1973-74 oil embargo by the Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Although the Permian isn’t growing as fast as last year, oil traders and executives still anticipate that America will add another million barrels a day this year to its production, with the bulk coming in the second half. The current slowdown, which some executives jokingly call a “fracking holiday,” is the direct result of shareholder demands for higher returns and less growth, and lower oil prices in late 2018 and early 2019. But the Permian is likely to re-accelerate in the second half of this year when new pipelines open.
If the forecast proves correct, U.S. crude production will surpass 13 million barrels a day by December, up from 11.8 million barrels a day at the end of last year and well above the previous all-time high set in 1970.
“It’s going to be less than if people were able to spend unconstrained, but there’s going to be growth, lots of it,” said Osmar Abib, chairman of global energy at Credit Suisse Group AG.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/from-texas-to-the-world-a-flood-of-u-s-oil-exports-is-coming
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Bakken Exploration Expanding into North Dakota Grasslands
Mar 26, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Interest beyond the Bakken Shale's four-county core in North Dakota is expanding to the upper Midwest grasslands, with as many as five of the state's 65 active rigs now in operation.
Subscription required for full text.
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/117829-bakken-exploration-expanding-into-north-dakota-grasslands
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Houston Ship Channel Closure Could Cost Energy Industry $1 Billion
Mar 25, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Andrea Leinfelder and Jordan Blum
A dayslong chemical fire in Deer Park did more than endanger the health of residents and pollute the environment. It potentially cost the region’s oil and gas and petrochemical sectors $1 billion in lost revenues and added expenses as it shut down one of the nation’s busiest waterways and cut off Houston companies from markets and suppliers, according to estimates.
For three days, nearly half of the 52-mile Houston Ship Channel was cut off from the Gulf Coast and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the result of contaminated runoff from the Intercontinental Terminals Co., where fire ripped through the storage facility, damaging 11 tanks holding chemicals such as naphtha and xylene, both used in gasoline, and toluene, a solvent used in nail polish remover, glues and paint thinners. Some vessels were permitted Monday morning to move through the roughly seven-mile stretch that had been closed in the Houston Ship Channel since Friday. The channel was opened to daylight traffic at 2:21 p.m.
Maria Burns, director of the University of Houston’s logistics and transportation program, estimated that closing the channel for a few days typically amounts to $500 million in the direct costs of delayed shipments and lost materials for thousands of companies. Indirect costs, such as rerouting shipments to other ports, add another $500 million.
“The Houston Ship Channel is extremely efficient. It’s the miracle of transportation,” Burns said. “When everything works perfectly, no one notices. But when there’s a major accident, it ripples all over.”
ITC’s petrochemical storage facility caught fire on March 17 and burned for days. A black plume of smoke filled the air, shutting down schools and triggering orders for residents to remain in their homes. A breached containment wall would later release foam used to put out the fires and other contaminants into the Houston Ship Channel.
Cleanup progress
ITC officials said Monday that cleanup crews had removed about 1.3 million gallons, or nearly 31,000 barrels, of an oily mixture from the Houston Ship Channel and drained the remaining chemicals from five damaged ITC tanks. The were working to empty another three damaged tanks.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality published preliminary test results of water samples taken last week, showing toxins exceeded safe concentrations around the ITC facility. The Galveston Bay Foundation is conducting its own water tests, detecting benzene, a chemical that can cause cancer, downstream nearly Lynchburg on Saturday.
Ships and barges use this waterway to carry products to and from refineries, petrochemical plants and other facilities that crowd the ship channel. On a typical day last year, activity included 42 tanker movements of liquid products, 19 freighter movements of dry goods and 391 vessel movements towing barges, according to data on the U.S. Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service Area that spans Houston, Galveston, Texas City and about 10 miles of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Movements include vessels entering the port, moving from one dock to another, or exiting the port.
Being unable to receive feedstock or ship products to markets led at least two companies to slow their production, according to reports. The news service Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reported that the chemical maker LyondellBasell and the refinery of Royal Dutch Shell were forced to reduce output. The companies declined to comment on the status of their operations.
Facilities at the Port of Houston produce about 60 percent of the country’s aviation fuel and nearly 30 percent of its gasoline. Companies typically have storage terminals to hold their products in the event of weather, including fog and hurricanes, or other incidents that shut down navigation. Hurricane Harvey, for instance, closed the ship channel for five days in 2017.
Storage can give companies a cushion of a few days before they have to slow production, although they might elect to reduce their production sooner if they fear the shutdown could linger, said Jim Kruse, director of the Center for Ports and Waterways at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
“Nobody wants to shut down because the cost of shutting down and starting back up again is horrible,” Kruse said.
Other costs associated with a channel closure come from penalties for missing delivery dates to customers and from ships sitting idle. It costs tens of thousands of dollars a day to operate a ship.
“To sit there and do nothing is rather expensive,” Kruse said.
Standing by
As of Monday morning, 63 ships were doing just that: 31 waited for the closed portion of the ship channel to reopen so they could move into or past the affected area, 31 waited to leave the ship channel and one waited to move locations within the ship channel.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Houston-Ship-Channel-closure-could-cost-energy-13716058.php?cmpid=ffcp
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In The Loop: US Imports Fewer Heavy Sour Crudes, Despite Supply Crunch
Mar 26, 2019 | S&P Global Platts
By Maria-Eugenia Garcia
Despite receiving fewer barrels of crude oil from Venezuela, US Gulf Coast refineries and terminals, including the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, have not started to import more heavy, sour crudes from other markets.
On January 28, the US imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuelan state PDVSA, which analysts widely expected would drastically cut US imports of Venezuelan crude and cause US refiners to seek alternative barrels from other Latin American countries and the Middle East.
However, while USGC refiners have cut Venezuelan crude imports, as expected, they have not made corresponding increases in imports of heavy, sour crudes from other markets, according to the latest US Commerce Department import data. And, the data shows, overall US imports of all foreign crudes by vessel has fallen sharply in the nearly two-month period since the PDVSA sanctions were put into place.
Since imposing sanctions on Venezuela, US imports of crude by vessel have averaged about 3.25 million b/d, compared to 4.26 million b/d over the same two month stretch in 2018 and 4.52 million b/d over that time period in 2017, according to Commerce data.
Since PDVSA sanctions were imposed, US imports of Venezuelan crude have fallen to an average of about 185,200 b/d, eventually dwindling to zero. The US has not imported Venezuelan crude since March 9, according to US Customs data and S&P Global Platts Analytics.
Even without sanctions, US imports of Venezuelan crude have been falling steadily for years, but averaged about 420,100 b/d over the same two-month stretch last year. While Venezuelan imports have plummeted, US imports from other countries have yet to surge, Commerce data shows.
US imports of Mexican crude, for example, averaged about 645,200 b/d over the two-month stretch since sanctions were imposed, down more than 39,000 b/d from the same timeframe last year, and imports of Saudi crude averaged about 640,000 b/d, down about 62,000 from the same stretch last year.
Imports of Iraqi crude, one of the suppliers analysts expected might fill the gap created by the loss of Venezuelan crude, fell below 314,600 b/d, less than half the amount imported over the same time a year ago.
At LOOP, a terminal designed to take in mostly heavier, sour crudes, the drop in Venezuelan and Saudi Arabian crudes imports has been more dramatic, with zero cargoes recorded for both countries so far this year. Imports of Iraqi grades also plummeted to 2 million barrels in the post-Venezuelan sanctions period, from nearly 10 million barrels in the same period of 2018, according to US Customs Bureau data.
US Gulf looks south for make-up volumes
However, there is some indication that the Latin American crudes have stepped in to take the place of missing Venezuelan and Middle Eastern barrels, in part. Latin imports to the LOOP remained slightly higher so far this year, despite the supply tightness of heavy-sour crudes produced by Mexico and Colombia and some seasonal turnarounds.
The total volume of Latin grades imported at LOOP totalled 1.7 million barrels from February 1 to March 25. That’s compared with 1.4 million barrels in the same period of last year, Platts data showed.
Last week, Pemex raised for the first time its K factor of constant terming for its formula pricing for April Maya deliveries to Asia, after dropping it for three consecutive months. The price hike was attributed to a spike in buying interest from Asian refiners due to the sanctions on Venezuelan and Iranian crudes.
US Gulf Coast refiners’ weakened appetite for foreign crudes could be an indication that more refineries are taken in domestically available crudes, including light sweets produced in major US shale basins.
The dip in imports also coincides with planned turnarounds including work being done at ExxonMobil’s 505,200 b/d Baton Rouge refinery, which scheduled to restart at the end of the month. Valero’s 215,000 b/d St. Charles refinery also undergoing maintenance most of February.
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/03/26/loop-fewer-heavy-sour-crudes/
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Texas Needs 11,000 More Miles Of Pipelines
Mar 26, 2019 | Oil Price
By Irina Slav
Texas will need an additional 10,950 miles of oil and gas pipelines to accommodate rising production over the years to 2050, an IHS Markit study quoted by S&P Global Platts has suggested.
The Lone Star state is home to three of the most prolific oil and gas deposits in the United States, including the Permian, the Eagle Ford, and the Barnett shale. Gas production from these alone will reach its peak somewhere between 2030 and 2040, at a daily rate of almost 35 billion cu ft before it starts to decline. However, there are not enough pipelines to carry the gas that will be produced in Texas.
The situation is the same in oil. The Texas shale patch is already experiencing problems because of pipeline shortages coming against steadily rising production, with the rise particularly marked in the Permian, where the Energy Information Administration expects the average daily to hit 4.177 million bpd next month. According to IHS Markit, this will further expand to 5.5 million bpd by the middle of next decade.The most vital industry information will soon be
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Since most of the gas produced in Texas is associated gas from oil fields, it’s no surprise that, according to the IHS Markit study, the largest portion of the new pipeline capacity that needs to come on stream to carry the rising flows of hydrocarbons in Texas would be for oil pipelines. These will comprise 47 percent of the total. Another 29 percent of the new pipeline networks would carry gas, the market research firm said, and the rest would be for natural gas liquids.
However, that’s not all. This production growth will spur demand for more processing capacity on the Gulf Coast. Existing refineries would need to be expanded and new ones built, and ports will also need to be expanded to handle the higher export-bound amounts of crude oil and gas heading to world markets.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Texas-Needs-11000-More-Miles-Of-Pipelines.html
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More Than $200bn To Be Invested In Us Petrochemicals
Mar 26, 2019 | Plastics in Packaging
The US petrochemicals industry is experiencing an investment renaissance, with more than $200 billion to be invested, said the senior vice president of Wood Mackenzie Chemicals at the AFPM 2019 International Petrochemical Conference this week.
Speaking at event in San Antonio, Texas, Steve Zinger said: “Since 2010, we have seen more than 300 planned chemical projects linked to shale gas, which some argue will generate almost 500,000 temporary and permanent jobs. In capital expenditure terms, this equates to over $200bn – signalling a huge increase in optimism within the industry. Most of these chemical investments have utilised gas-based chemistries and feedstocks, such as methane, ethane, propane and butane.”
Most of these US investments are expected to export to Latin America, Europe, Africa and eventually into China.
“Initially, most of the US volumes were planned to end up in China, as the country accounts for higher than 30 per cent consumption of global polyethylene. However, due to the tariffs put in place during 2018’s China-US trade war, US producers are expediting their search for higher netbacks and increasingly moving the new resin supply into domestic markets, Europe, Latin America and Africa,” explained Zinger.
“China’s manufacturing industry has experienced growth over the past two decades. As such, China has become the largest producer and consumer of most chemicals, including olefins. Going forward, at least for the next decade, China will retain this dominant share of the petrochemicals industry,” he continued.
Zinger also pointed to a new wave of refining capacity in China expected to take place in 2020, driven by several mega crude-to-chemicals projects.
“On top of the Hengli and Zhejiang PC projects, at least three other proposed mega-refinery and chemical projects are being planned in the seven designated chemical bases in China by private companies. In contrast, refinery capacity additions by Sinopec and Petrochina are slowing down,” said Zinger.
According to Wood Mackenzie Chemicals, petrochemical feedstocks made up 13 per cent of oil demand in 2018, with this figure expected to rise to almost 20 per cent by 2035.
As highlighted at the conference, there are growing number of initiatives around plastics recycling and plastics bans. “These could reduce or cause peak petrochemical demand growth in the future, especially considering a significant amount of aromatics and olefins are used within the plastics industry, for example, paraxylene for PET bottles and ethylene for polyethylene trash bags. These are the items that are targeted for increased levels of recycling and even, in some cases, replacement with non-plastics.
“Plastics producers will ultimately need to make their products more recyclable, support waste collection improvements – particularly in developing countries – and look for ways to become part of, or inject, recycling into their business or production processes,” he said. “Despite these recycling initiatives and bans, the demand outlook for olefins is very robust due to increasing standards of living in developing countries. In fact, ethylene and propylene have been consistently growing at or above global GDP growth rates. As such, we expect long-term demand growth for olefins to continue to be strong for the foreseeable future.”
https://plasticsinpackaging.com/online/more-than-200bn-to-be-invested-in-us-petrochemicals/
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The Quest for a 100% Green Grid: Five Takeaways on Getting There
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Will Wade, Brian Eckhouse, and Jim Efstathiou Jr.
New Mexico. California. Hawaii. They’re all among the states that have passed laws requiring that all of their power from clean sources in the coming decades. Puerto Rico joined the bunch on Monday with a 100 percent renewable energy goal by 2050.
But how? While reductions in wind and solar costs have helped close scores of coal plants and dramatically lowered greenhouse-gas emissions, natural gas remains indispensable. And without some scientific breakthrough, utility chiefs at the BNEF Summit in New York Monday said that pushing emissions cuts past 80 or 90 percent is a pipe dream.
“We do not have all of the technologies at our disposal right now to go to a 100 percent reduction,’’ Duke Energy Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lynn Good said.
Here’s what else executives said at the summit about the idea:
‘Admirable But Fantasy’
Ralph Izzo, chief executive officer of New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., said the key question when it comes to making electricity 100 percent clean is who will pay for it. Izzo, who stressed that he believes in climate change, said he worries people keep hearing wind and solar are cheap and, therefore, assume there’s no cost to a wholesale shift to renewables.
“The notion that you can do that in 10 years is admirable but fantasy,’’ he said.
Nukes Essential
One thing executives stressed is that nuclear power -- which unlike fossil fuels does not emit greenhouse gases -- is essential to going carbon free. “I think nuclear plays a role,” said Ben Fowke, chief executive officer of Xcel Energy Inc., which in December became the first major U.S. utility to set a goal to go carbon free.
Laboratories Key
Utilities already have a variety of weapons to lower their carbon pollution, including wind, solar, more efficient gas generators and grid-scale battery systems. Grzegorz Gorski, managing director of central generation for the French energy giant Engie SA, said his company can cut up to 90 percent of emissions with existing technology. But weeding out greenhouse gases altogether will require something revolutionary, Duke’s Good said.
Perhaps the key breakthrough will be cheaper and more powerful batteries. Or maybe it’s developing affordable systems to capture and store carbon emissions from fossil fuel plants. Or small-scale nuclear reactors. Or hydrogen. Or geothermal.
“We’ve got to be open to anything that mitigates climate change,” Xcel’s Fowke said.
Either way, those discoveries are more likely to come from national laboratories working with private investors than from utilities, Good said.
Utility DNA
Amy Grace, a BNEF analyst, said utilities are by nature slow-moving and conservative. They’ve never been big on research and development, in part because it’s tough to pass costs from experimental projects onto customers. “Asking utilities to do something like that is asking them to do something that’s not in their DNA,” Grace said.
Lynn Jurich, chief executive officer of rooftop solar developer Sunrun Inc., said in an interview that utilities shouldn’t wait around for scientists to invent a magic bullet for fighting climate change. “Where you get innovation is through actual deployment and scale,” she said.
Nonetheless Noteworthy
Even if utilities say it’s an impossible stretch, it’s noteworthy that they’re talking at all about going 100 percent carbon free, said Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.
“It’s significant that they’re even asking about this,” Hitt said. “Five years ago, they wouldn’t have been talking about getting to 100 percent.”
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/the-quest-for-a-100-green-grid-five-takeaways-on-getting-there
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Groups Say EPA Has Dragged Heels On Dispersant Rules
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Janet McConnaughey
Environmental groups and women from Alaska and Louisiana are threatening to sue EPA, saying the agency has dragged its heels on issuing rules for oil spill dispersants.
They say dispersants such as Corexit, used during the Exxon Valdez and BP PLC oil spills, were more toxic to people and the environment than oil alone, but, nearly four years after taking public comments about such rules, the agency hasn't acted.
"We depend on feeding our families from the ocean. We need the ocean to be a clean environment for our animals," Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, a plaintiff from Alaska, said in a telephone interview. With the Trump administration considering an oil and gas lease sale in Alaska's Beaufort Sea, she said, people fear both spills and dispersants.
EPA said it is reviewing a letter sent Monday to Administrator Andrew Wheeler, saying the people and groups will sue unless the agency acts within 60 days.
The letter is a legally required step before filing suit under the Clean Water Act. This lawsuit would be filed in Washington, said Jack Siddoway, a third-year law student in the University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Law Clinic.
The clinic is representing Ahtuangaruak, who lives in the Inupiat village of Nuiqsut; Kindra Arnesen of Buras, La.; Alaska Community Action on Toxics; Cook Inletkeeper, also from Alaska; and Earth Island Institute's ALERT project, which is based in Berkeley.
Arnesen said the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon spill off Louisiana severely damaged her family's commercial fishing business. Before the spill, she said, at times there were "acres and acres" of baitfish and rafts of larger fish. "After the spill, those disappeared. It was like going through a water desert," she said.
She also blames it for her family's migraines, respiratory problems and rashes so deep they caused open wounds and left scars.
EPA's oil spill response guidelines haven't been updated since 1994 to reflect research on dispersant effects after the Exxon Valdez broke open on rocks in Prince William Sound in 1989 and BP's Gulf of Mexico spill, according to the notice of intent to sue.
The public comment period on dispersants ended April 22, 2015, Siddoway said in a telephone interview.
He said revision of oil spill guidelines is listed as a long-term action on "the unified agenda, a semi-yearly kind of laundry list that EPA's working on." But that's nothing new, he said: "It's been there in various forms since 2001, even before the rulemaking was put into play."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/03/26/stories/1060129389
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With Fire Out, Focus Turns To Enviro, Economic Fallout
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Juan A. Lozano
Businesses and residents expressed concern yesterday about the environmental and economic fallout from a fire at a Houston-area petrochemical storage farm that sent huge plumes into the air for days and prompted the partial closure of the Houston Ship Channel.
The massive fire started March 17 at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. plant in the suburb of Deer Park, southeast of Houston. It left several petrochemical tanks damaged or destroyed, thrust plumes of black smoke into the air and burned on and off for days.
Some of ITC's tanks leaked oil products and a containment area was breached Friday, leading to the mixture reaching the ship channel, said company spokesman Brent Weber.
The Port of Houston is the No. 1 in the U.S. in foreign tonnage and is in the top five in the U.S. in the number of containers it handles.
The head of a maritime trade organization representing more than 200 companies at the port said the closure of several miles of the channel has slowed but not stalled commerce. The top products that pass through the ship channel include resins and plastics, chemicals, fabrics including raw cotton, and steel and metals.
Capt. Bill Diehl, president of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, said yesterday that the port is a manufacturing center for petrochemicals and supporting businesses and that those places are still operating but products may be slow to come in or out right now.
Diehl said the channel is 52 miles long and other sections have remained open. "It has an effect on business," Diehl said, "but not as much as you'd think."
ITC is facing legal challenges over the fire and spill.
Yesterday, seven people who live near the storage facility filed what is believed to be the first civil lawsuit against ITC over the fire. The suit was filed in state district court in Houston.
The residents are asking for at least $1 million in damages, accusing ITC of negligence. They allege they suffered a variety of illnesses due to the fire and the release of chemicals into the air, including bronchitis, pneumonia and itchy, burning eyes.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a lawsuit against ITC on Friday and said the state must hold the company "accountable for the damage it has done to our environment."
State and other environmental watchdogs also are continuing to test water and air.
Adam Adams, the federal on-site coordinator with EPA, said yesterday that air monitoring from his agency as well as several others in the last 24 hours had not found any hazardous conditions that would require warning the public.
"That's very positive," Adams said.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/03/26/stories/1060129387
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Ewire: With 'Green' Deal Vote, Climate Debate Takes Over Hill
Mar 26, 2019 | Inside EPA
Climate change is having a moment on Capitol Hill, with a flurry of activity expected in the coming days in both chambers after Democrats have the issue one of their top priorities this year and Republicans have sought to craft an agenda that they argue is less economically harmful.
Much of the focus today will be in the Senate, where Republicans are holding a vote this afternoon on the ambitious Green New Deal proposal, in effort to fracture the Democratic caucus and paint the plan as extreme. Democrats plan to protest the vote as a political “stunt,” while seeking to apply counter-pressure on the GOP by charging they are blocking serious efforts to address global warming.
Meanwhile, House Democrats are slated to introduce legislation March 27 seeking to require the Trump administration to stay in the Paris climate agreement and quickly develop a plan to meet the deal's carbon reduction goals, according to Politico. The bill intended to highlight President Donald Trump's decision to leave the pact and his opposition to climate policy more generally.
Observers generally agree that post-midterm advocacy around the Green New Deal has increased the focus on climate change, with many expecting the topic to approach top-tier status in the 2020 presidential campaign.
Some environmentalists thus argue Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) decision to hold on a vote on the Green New Deal will backfire because it will only serve to elevate the role of climate and put pressure on Republicans to embrace an affirmative climate policy. “I predict: McConnell will regret it,” said Bill Snape of the Center for Biological Diversity, according to E&E News.
As such, lawmakers from both parties are floating their own climate proposals that might or might not overlap with the Green New Deal. For instance, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) floated a 10-point “new Manhattan Project for clean energy,” calling for a boost in federal research and development investment in carbon capture, nuclear, electric vehicles, energy storage and other low-carbon technology.
Such a focus aligns with Alexander's role as chairman of the Senate Appropriations panel that oversees the Energy Department's research programs, though it also largely echoes Republicans' increasing embrace of “innovation” as their sole preferred climate policy response.
Another GOP lawmaker, Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL), is drafting a “Green Real Deal” resolution that also largely would focus on innovation without setting carbon emissions targets.
Democrats have long embraced low-carbon technology research, as well, though they are pushing for a more ambitious program that includes both carrots and sticks -- including imposing a price on carbon emissions to drive consumers and industry toward lower-carbon options.
In that vein, Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), chairman of the House Energy & Commerce environment subcommittee, is floating a set of “principles” for evaluating comprehensive climate legislation, the first step toward crafting a more concrete plan that would include carbon pricing and a set of complementary policies for innovation, efficiency, workforce development and infrastructure.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-green-deal-vote-climate-debate-takes-over-hill
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McConnell Pushing Green New Deal Vote to Put Democrats in Corner
Mar 26, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven T. Dennis and Laura Litvan
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is commandeering the Democrats’ Green New Deal in an attempt to expose their divisions and force some of the party’s leading 2020 presidential candidates into an awkward vote.
The Green New Deal, mostly a collection of goals for mitigating climate change rather than a fully formed plan of action, has been a favorite punching bag for McConnell and Republicans since it was rolled out with fanfare by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey.
“I could not be more glad that the American people will have the opportunity to learn precisely where each one of their senators stand on this radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy,” McConnell said March 25, ahead of a planned vote that could come as soon as March 26.
The resolution has more than 100 congressional Democrats as co-sponsors, including the six senators running for president. While Democrats are united on the need for significant action to stem climate change, they don’t agree on the specific prescriptions.
When McConnell puts the resolution on the Senate floor most Senate Democrats will be voting “present” to protest what they see as a sham vote forced by the majority leader, said Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat. The question marks are Democrats who represent solidly Republican states who might vote no and some of the six senators running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
‘Little Trap’
“This is a little trap that Sen. McConnell is trying to set here that Democrats are not going to fall into,” Morgan Gray, Markey’s legislative director, said at a conference of renewable energy executives last week. “Bringing this resolution to the floor without any hearings, without any science, without any experts, without any testimony, without any amendments, is not the way the Senate should be conducting business.”
To counter McConnell, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats are highlighting the lack of a Republican plan to address climate change, and they plan to introduce separate proposals that would get broad support within the party.
“Let’s not do a sham vote that’s meant to embarrass one person or another,”’ Schumer said on the Senate floor March 25. “This is too serious an issue for that. Republicans owe the American people some real answers, not games.”
In the House, Democrats are planning to introduce a climate resolution this week calling for the U.S. to remain part of the Paris climate accord and require the Trump administration to formulate a plan to meet its emissions reductions goal, according to a senior Democratic aide. Trump gave formal notice in 2017 that he intended to pull out of the Paris Agreement, under which the U.S. pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.
Willing to Wait
Senate Democrats don’t appear to be under any real pressure from outside progressive groups to vote for the Green New Deal at this point.
Adam Green, a co-founder of the grassroots Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said McConnell is trying to force some no votes at a time when the specifics are being worked out and many Democrats are still reviewing it. Voting present shows Democrats aren’t going to hamper things with any early dissent, he said.
”‘Present’ is saying this is a credible enough concept that we’re not going to undermine it,” he said.
McConnell’s ploy of holding a doomed-to-fail show vote that forces the minority party to take a stand on one of their controversial proposals has a long history in the Senate.
Forcing Votes
Former Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, used the tactic in 2011 when he forced Republicans to vote on a Medicare voucher program proposed by Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, who was then the House Budget chairman. That vote fueled Democrats’ messaging strategy in the 2012 elections that saw them expand their majority by two seats.
McConnell on occasion forced votes on President Barack Obama’s budgets, with no senator voting for them.
The challenge for Democrats looking ahead to 2020 campaigns is to avoid having their support for a still-evolving climate proposal tarred by Republicans attempts to portray it as an extremist agenda that would do away with hamburgers and airplane travel.
“It’s one thing to be on the campaign trail and say here is what I believe in and fill in the details,” said Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau, a former top aide to Reid. “It’s another thing to go on record and let other people fill in the details for you.“
Presidential Candidates
The six Democratic presidential contenders in the Senate have all signed on to co-sponsor the Green New Deal, but most aren’t saying yet how they will vote on the floor.
Cory Booker of New Jersey said he will vote present. A spokeswoman for Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts couldn’t say how she will vote. Spokesmen for the four other declared candidates and co-sponsors—Kamala Harris of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota—didn’t respond.
Booker has called the Green New Deal “bold,” and Harris has said it is “an investment” worth the cost. Klobuchar, however, described it as simply “aspirational” and a “jump-start” when asked about it recently.
“I am for a jump-start of the discussion and a framework as Sen. Markey has described—I am not for reducing air travel,” Klobuchar said on Fox News. “We just need to start as a country seeing it as aspiration to do better than we’re doing now.“
Another possible White House contender, Michael Bennet of Colorado, attacked McConnell when asked whether he supports it.
“What he’s trying to do is trap people on either side of that divide,” Bennet said recently on Fox News. “We need to be as strategic as he is without being as malevolent as he is.“
Undecided
Meanwhile, one Senate Democrat who has been particularly critical of the plan. Joe Manchin of West Virginia hasn’t yet decided how he will vote, said his spokesman, Jonathan Kott. Another Democrat in a strongly Republican state, Doug Jones of Alabama, said he won’t decide until right before the vote.
John Ashbrook, a Republican strategist and former senior aide to McConnell, said the trap is one of Democrats’ making.
“Socialist proposals like the Green New Deal trap Democrats between their party base who wants it and mainstream Americans who don’t,” he said. “Any Democrat who doesn’t vote against socialism will wear that decision like a sandwich board for the rest of their career.“
The GOP messaging in the debate focuses on the botched early February rollout of the proposal, which included the release of documents from Ocasio-Cortez’s office promising economic security even for those “unwilling to work,” as well as suggesting the eventual elimination of air travel and “farting cows.“
‘Dangerous Fantasy’
McConnell has accused Democrats of banning “anything with a motor that runs on gasoline” and embracing “garden variety 20th century socialism” at a cost of tens of trillions of dollars.
“This dangerous fantasy would burn through the American people’s money before it even got off the launch pad, but the cost to the Treasury is just the beginning,” McConnell said on the Senate floor this month. “It’s hard to put a price tag on ripping away the jobs and livelihoods of literally millions of Americans.“
In addition to establishing a carbon-neutral goal for greenhouse gas emissions, the proposal by Ocasio-Cortez and Markey said it would create “millions of good, high-wage jobs, and ensure prosperity and economic security for all people of the United States.“
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/mcconnell-pushing-green-new-deal-vote-to-put-democrats-in-corner
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Democrats Aren't The Only Ones Scrambling To Respond To The Green New Deal
Mar 26, 2019 | Politico Pro
By Zack Colman And Anthony Adragna
In a matter of months, liberal activists have upended the conversation about climate change among both parties in Washington.
Democratic presidential candidates are rallying around calls from their base for immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, although some moderate members are bristling at aggressive ideas such as the Green New Deal. But even as Republicans seek to exploit that divide, many GOP lawmakers are offering solutions of their own, and few besides President Donald Trump still dispute that climate change is a problem.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) presented the latest example with a floor speech Monday calling for a "new Manhattan Project for Clean Energy" that would double energy research funding and promote GOP-friendly approaches to reducing emissions, such as nuclear energy or carbon capture and sequestration. And in the House, Rep. Matt Gaetz(R-Fla.), one of Trump's closest allies, is drafting a "Green Real Deal" resolution that would acknowledge climate change as a security threat while avoiding calls for sharp reductions in fossil fuels.
"It’s important to have a Republican message on climate change that’s clear. It’s clear why we’re opposed to the Green New Deal — it’s an assault on cars and cows and combustion — but it’s not as clear what we’re for," Alexander told reporters after his speech. "I believe climate change is real. I believe humans are a major cause of it and I think a new 'Manhattan Project for Clean Energy' is something that most Republicans could support and I would hope most Democrats could too."
Alexander is working with fellow Republicans like Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on possible GOP climate approaches, he said. And GOP lawmakers in the House also say they are eager to put forward their own ideas.
“I want us to frame our position, not the other side tell Americans what we are or not [for] through their lens. It’s important for us to speak for ourselves,” Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a recent interview.
The shift in perspective comes as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prepares for a vote Tuesday on the Green New Deal resolution from progressive rock star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
McConnell has said that Democrats — especially the six Senate co-sponsors of the resolution running for president — should be willing to vote yes for something they say they support, but lawmakers have foreshadowed the outcome of the Senate vote for weeks. Democrats will remain nearly unanimous as a bloc in voting present to decry McConnell’s “cynical stunt” while continuing to accuse Republicans of failing to do anything about climate change. GOP lawmakers, meanwhile, will continue to hit the Democratic embrace of the proposal, which they’ve described as “a socialist nightmare."
Buoyed by the enthusiasm the Green New Deal has generated, Democrats are emboldened when speaking about climate change. Rather than shrink from the subject to avoid Republican barbs, they've sought to counter-attack with accusations that Trump and his allies are ignoring a crisis. Democrats say shifting to a carbon-free economy — which scientists say must happen to avoid the worst effects of climate change — will create millions of jobs and allow the U.S. to dominate new industries like renewable power or electric transportation.
Likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa, home of the nation’s first presidential caucus, now ranks it as the second-most important topic facing the nation.
"We need to treat global climate change like the existential threat that it is," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said at a presidential campaign rally Sunday in New York. "We need to pass the Green New Deal. Let's make this our generation's moonshot ... Let's invest in our crumbling infrastructure, create sustainable green jobs, and protect clean air and clean water as a human universal right."
Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) also are co-sponsoring the Green New Deal resolution in the Senate.
Beto O'Rourke, the former congressman from Texas who has been criticized by progressive activists for contributions he's received from the oil and gas industry, also has sought to capitalize on the left's newfound enthusiasm for aggressive policies.
“So, some will criticize the Green New Deal for being too bold, or being unmanageable," O'Rourke said March 14 in Iowa. "But, I'll tell you what. I haven't seen anything better that addresses this singular crisis that we face, a crisis that could, at its worst, lead to extinction."
Still, most Democratic candidates have not yet offered any detailed policy proposals for how they would bring down greenhouse gas emissions, especially on the scale scientists say would be necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change. A few weeks before protesters first stormed Nancy Pelosi's Capitol Hill office in November, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report finding that net carbon emissions would have to fall to zero by mid-century to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The nonbinding Green New Deal resolution calls for Congress to craft legislation that would hit that 1.5-degree target, but its supporters acknowledge there are ample details to be decided.
"It certainly isn’t my intention that we pass one bill that is equal in the scale to the Green New Deal," Ocasio-Cortez told POLITICO earlier this month. "What it’s saying is that whether it’s five bills, whether it’s a hundred bills — in the same way that the New Deal had New Deal projects, that’s what we’re really trying to say."
Other Democrats such as Rep. Doris Matsui (Calif.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee who is co-sponsoring the Green New Deal resolution, see a renewed chance for bipartisanship as Republicans respond to renewed voter interest and angst over climate change.
"They might not want to get there as fast as we do, but I believe in a sense with some of the other members across the aisle I think they probably are expecting us to keep pushing them forward," Matsui said of Republicans.
Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who chairs the E&C subcommittee where any climate legislation would start, has not endorsed the Green New Deal but last week put forward his own set of narrower principles for carbon pricing legislation.
"I think there’s a growing sentiment from the general public that climate change is real. I think that’s being exchanged with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle," Tonko told POLITICO last month. "And I think for people to respond to that — I think it’s becoming very difficult to just say no."
Republicans are entering the fray, too, after a long period of climate dormancy. Gaetz, who as a freshman introduced legislation to abolish the EPA in the previous Congress, is now circulating a non-binding climate change resolution.
GOP lawmakers have settled on technological innovation, in areas like carbon capture and sequestration and nuclear energy, as their preferred approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions but have forsworn more comprehensive approaches like carbon pricing or cap and trade that Democrats have put forward.
“My solutions are out there,” Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a recent interview. “I’m not the guy that thinks comprehensive is the way to go — whether it’s healthcare or climate. I’m putting forth bills that can actually make a difference and can actually get passed."
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/article/2019/03/democrats-arent-the-only-ones-scrambling-to-respond-to-the-green-new-deal-1292003
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Oregon Legislators Fine-Tune Cap-and-Trade Bill
Mar 26, 2019 | AP (In Electric Light & Power)
By Sarah Zimmerman
Oregon lawmakers on Monday unveiled a compromise proposal to a controversial cap-and-trade bill regulating greenhouse gas emissions, responding to overwhelming opposition from businesses and agricultural groups who worry the plan could put them out of work.
If passed, Oregon would become the second state in the country after California to implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program. Under the bill, the state would place an overall limit on emissions and then sell a set number of pollution permits or "allowances" to the highest bidder.
But the plan sparked criticism from both sides, drawing thousands to testify at a series of public hearings around the state over the past two months. Environmentalists complained that the program doesn't go far enough and exempts too many polluters, while businesses say the costs associated with it would mean higher fuel costs and lost jobs.
Co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction Sen. Michael Dembrow and Rep. Karin Power said the new changes are meant to address those concerns and strike a delicate balance between preserving economic interests and combatting an impending climate catastrophe.
Most notably, they're proposing to invest a majority of the funds to rural and low-income communities and added a plan to refund any additional fuel costs to those making less than their area's median income.
"The rural communities are in the front lines of climate change," said Dembrow, a Democrat from Portland. "They're going to feel those effects most directly so we want to make sure any invests coming out of this program are investing heavily in rural areas and where low-income individuals are located."
At least half of all funds must benefit rural and low-income communities, with 10 percent earmarked for federally recognized tribes. Other revenue would go to clean energy job training, wildfire prevention and a program that would fund environmentally-friendly transportation projects.
And around a fifth of the funds would be dedicated to the gasoline refund program, to help low-income individuals adjust to possible increases in gas prices as a result of the legislation.
The revised proposal now also covers emissions from waste incinerators and from fluorinated gas, which were previously exempted. Landfills will also be regulated separately.
Businesses will be allowed to discharge up to 95 percent of their emissions for free for the first three years of the program. After that, they can still receive allowances for 95 percent of their emissions if they prove to the state that they're using the best available technology.
Power, a Democrat from Milwaukie, said that they're taking a "stick and carrot approach" to encourage businesses to remain in the state while also reducing their carbon emissions.
"If you're really, truly doing what's best in class, you'll be getting allowances to reflect that investment," she said. "And if you're not, you have an incentive to move to that quickly."
The Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction will hear the details of the amendment this week, along with alternative proposals from other lawmakers. Dembrow said he's hoping for final passage within the next few weeks.
https://www.elp.com/articles/2019/03/oregon-legislators-fine-tune-cap-and-trade-bill.html
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