Greenversations

The Environmental Protection Agency has a blog about living green called Greenversations. I wrote an article for this blog about the Oshki Ogimaag, the Grand Portage Charter School, student community cleanup. Last year the students celebrated Earth Day and spring by cleaninging up trash in their community, and they are going to do another clean-up this year. The clean-up was scheduled to happen the week around Earth Day, but due to lingering snow and wet weather, it has been postponed. It will happen this Friday at 10 am, so join us then at the school to clean up the community. Check out the EPA blog to read the article (due to editing in Washington, the blog article states that the clean-up has already happened).

To promote the clean up, the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students created posters to put up around the community. Here is a poster that Sarah created.

Take Action Now

A bill has been passed by the House of Representatives to cut funding to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other public health protection agencies. You can contact your local Senator to show support for protection of public health and ask the Senators to reinstate the funding. Go to the American Lung Association (ALA) Website to email your Senators.

Visit the ALA website.

EPA Files Objection To Coal Plant Air Permit

In a move that shows the that the new Obama administration wants to put the "EP" back in the EPA the agency has filed an objection to the Air Permit issued by South Dakota for the Big Stone II Coal fired power plant on Minnesota's western border. The state has 90 days to make changes to the air permit and the project still needs to have an environmental impact statement approved, so this is not the end for the proposed 580 megawatt plant, but even if it is eventually approved it will have more stringent air pollution controls than if the EPA had not stepped in.

Critics charge the plant will increase NOx and SO2 pollution which contribute to acid rain, increase mercury levels in the region, and add an unacceptable amount of CO2 to the atmosphere. If the price of carbon increases as part of a plan to fight climate change then the price of power from coal will skyrocket, leaving the electric customers footing the bill.

It would be better to think long term and invest in renewable energy sources and in improving the electric grid overall to make renewable sources more economical.

January Is National Radon Action Month

Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that naturally occurs in soil. Radon causes around 20,000 lung cancer deaths annually, making it the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

The EPA has declared January National Radon Action Month - a time to raise public awareness of the dangers of radon, and how to test for Radon in the home. Radon can occur in any home, but homes with basements are more at risk for elevated radon levels. Radon can enter through cracks in the foundation or the blockwork, or through the sump, or through an uncapped block wall like is commonly seen in Grand Portage. The only way to know is to test your home. Even homes that are side by side can have different radon levels.

If you would like your home tested for radon or would like to learn more about it, please call me at 475-2415 ext. 35, or stop by my office at the Trust Lands building at 27 Store Road.

Good News for Cleaner Air

In spite of intense efforts by the Bush administration to loosen rules on emissions, the EPA has dropped plans that would have allowed expansion of power plants without triggering the New Source Review portion of the Clean Air Act.

The EPA has also dropped another proposed rule change that would have allowed polluters near National Parks and other Class 1 airsheds to use computer models to average annual emissions for new air permits. Critics charge that this would mask shorter term spikes in pollutants.

By dropping these proposed changes the EPA is clearing the way for the Obama administration to set its own agenda with regards to industrial pollution controls, and I for one am looking forward to seeing who the new EPA administrator will be. Judging by the quality of appointments so far I am sure it will be someone who values science over ideology.