Arkansas Blog

Who filed the appeal?

I have not had the time dig into the myriad of regulations Bush is wiping off the slate before his departure... but found a couple of good links... and wonder what he must be doing for the coal industry. I heard one deregulation had to do with approving increased pollution over and around national parks.. and wondered how this might affect the Hempstead plant... since it will surely have long term implications over Hot Springs National Park.

http://www.propublica.org/feature/how-to-ferret-out-midnight-regs-yourself-1118

http://www.propublica.org/special/midnight-regulations/

"Who filed the appeal?"

Sierra Club and Audubon Arkansas

Kinda like the bunch unhappy with Oaklawn and trying everything to keep OJC from construction. Impediments and barriers....

Youse guys will like this about coal plants. Clicky

Im glad you guys are all hyper ventilating over a gas that you yourselves exhale everyday. Maybe the Sierra Club would like to attach meters to all of our mouths to fine us everytime we exhale.

Im sure the Sierra Club and the other environwacko's who are trying to stop jobs and revenue coming into Arkansas dont give two shits about energy prices or the livlihood of people in a depressed part of the state. And in this economy no less.

FYI Carbon Dioxide makes up less than one percent of our atmosphere, Carbon dioxide in atmospheric air is so low that capnometer readings during inhalation are nil. So can someone please tell me how a trace gas in our atmosphere of such low percentages is somehow responsible for a 2 degree mean temperature increase over the last hundred years ?

DOn't know if anyone will see this so late in the thread... last graph before the SNIP is what concerns me about AR in particular.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/washington/03mining.html?ref=us
WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday approved a final rule that will make it easier for coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys.

The rule is one of the most contentious of all the regulations emerging from the White House in President Bush's last weeks in office.

James L. Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, confirmed in an interview that the rule had been approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget. That clears the way for publication in the Federal Register, the last stage in the rule-making process.

Stephen L. Johnson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, concurred in the rule, first proposed nearly five years ago by the Interior Department, which regulates coal mining.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, dated Tuesday, Mr. Johnson said the rule had been revised to protect fish, wildlife and streams.

Mining activities must comply with water quality standards established by the federal government and the states, Mr. Johnson said.

But a coalition of environmental groups said the rule would accelerate "the destruction of mountains, forests and streams throughout Appalachia."

Edward C. Hopkins, a policy analyst at the Sierra Club, said: "The E.P.A.'s own scientists have concluded that dumping mining waste into streams devastates downstream water quality. By signing off on this rule, the agency has abdicated its responsibility."

Mr. Bush has boasted of his efforts to cooperate with President-elect Barack Obama to ensure a smooth transition, but the administration is rushing to complete work on regulations to which Mr. Obama and his advisers object. The rules deal with air pollution, auto safety, abortion and workers' exposure to toxic chemicals, among other issues.

The National Mining Association, a trade group, welcomed the rule, saying it could end years of uncertainty that had put jobs and coal production in jeopardy.

The coal industry could be the largest beneficiary of last-minute environmental rules.

"This is unmistakably a fire sale of epic size for coal and the entire fossil fuel industry, with flagrant disregard for human health, the environment or the rule of law," said Vickie Patton, deputy general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund.

The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to finish work on a rule that would make it easier for utilities to put coal-fired generating stations near national parks. It is working on another rule that would allow utility companies to modify coal-fired power plants and increase their emissions without installing new pollution-control equipment.

SNIP

I'd love to explain the causality between increased greenhouse gasses and global warming but why bother, it's not like facts are going to change an opinion that's already made. Some of the other pollution from coal consumption: acid rain, mercury in waterways, heavy metal pollution & increased radiation. The amount of radiation a coal plant worker is subjected to is easily twice that of a nuclear plant worker, sometimes more. Before you ask, I've worked there.

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." Albert Einstein