One of my greatest fears is that the massive environmental problems this country faces — climate change being only the most serious of them — are completely beyond the capacity of our political system to solve. There are tiny ecological Hiroshimas all over the country waiting to go off — from lagoons of pig feces to leaky superannuated nuclear waste dumps.
None of these problems are going to get better. They’re all going to get worse, and all the money seems to be on the side of people who profit from the problems and, even if one of them pops on the national radar, there comes inevitably a lavishly funded attack on the science that’s telling us what we all need to know. I honestly don’t see a way out here. You can’t compromise with chemistry. There’s no “bipartisan” solution, no difference to split. Poison has no ideology.
Plastic In The Great Lakes - The Great Lakes Are Screwed - Esquire (via dendroica)
Though, there is a bit of very good news for the Great Lakes. After years of battling environmental groups, a large ship called the S.S. Badger will no longer dump coal ash into Lake Michigan.
Coal ash is the leftovers from burning coal in power plants. Sounds harmless, but coal ash is extremely toxic. It contains powerful poisons namely mercury. Mercury bad.
For years, the S.S. Badger was allowed to dump up to 4 tons of ash into the lake every day(!). The ship will stop. For now…
(via dendroica)
In 2011, Republicans voted 77 times to undermine Clean Air Act protections, including votes to repeal the health-based standards that are the heart of the Clean Air Act and to block EPA regulation of toxic mercury and other harmful emissions from power plants, incinerators, industrial boilers, cement plants, and mining operations.
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, report, “
The Anti-Environment Record of the U.S. House of Representatives 112th Congress.”
“The groups are taking the mining company to court for violations of the Federal Clean Air Act. They claim that while Kennecott may be abiding by local permits it is failing to meet Federal standards. Dr. Moench says increased mining activity has led to increased pollution.
“The EPA must approve any increased activity on Rio Tinto’s part, and not only have they not approved it, they have specifically declined to approve it. Even though our DAQ has given them that permit the EPA has not signed off on it, and that makes it illegal.”“
Source: ABC4
Mercury pollution comes from coal power plants. Power plants are allowed, to some extent, to dump mercury and other pollutants into rivers, streams, and oceans. Most plants, you’ll notice, are located next to a river or a lake. Mercury is a toxic poison and can kill. It gets into our food supply, and is especially concentrated in fish. On December 16th, the EPA is expected to issue a ruling to lower the amount of pollution coal plants can dump into the environment.
Source: Sierra Club Mercury Awareness
