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Posts Tagged ‘Environmental Protection Agency’

Strengthening the EPA’s Clean Power Plan

Thursday, October 23rd, 2014
FIGURE 1. The EPA’s Renewable Energy Targets under Its Proposed Clean Power Plan Are Modest

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
This brief outlines a better way to make the most of renewable energy in the Clean Power Plan, and to strengthen its state renewable energy targets as the cost of sources such as wind and solar power decline. The UCS proposal builds on the EPA’s approach while utilizing the latest available market data, demonstrated rates of growth in renewable energy, and existing state commitments to deploy renewables. Using our recommended modifications, the EPA could nearly double the amount of cost-effective renewable energy in their state targets—from 12 per-cent of total 2030 U.S. electric sales to 23 percent (Figure 1, p. 3).

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Automobiles, CO2 and Fuel Efficiency: Trends From 1975 to 2014

Monday, October 13th, 2014
Adjusted C02 Emissions by Model Year

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Overview of Long-Term Trends While the most recent annual changes often receive the most public attention, the greatest value of the Trends database is to document long-term trends. This is because: 1) year-to-year variability can reflect short-term trends (two examples are the Cash for Clunkers rebates in 2009 and the impact of […]

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Health Benefits of Carbon Standards for Power Plants

Friday, October 3rd, 2014
Figure 1: The Co-Benefits of Carbon Standards Study

HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: CENTER FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the nation’s first-ever carbon pollution standards for existing power plants on June 2, 2014. The EPA-proposed Clean Power Plan would achieve a 30% reduction in carbon emissions from U.S. power plants below 2005 levels by 2030 (USEPA 2014a). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important greenhouse gas and a major driver of human-induced global climate change. Fossil-fuel-fired power plants are the single largest source of anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the U.S. They emitted 2.2 billion tons of CO2 in 2012 (AOE 2014) and currently account for 39 percent of total U.S. CO2 emissions (USEPA 2014b).

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EPA Program to Protect Underground Drinking Water Needs Improvement

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014
Figure 1: Injection Wells for Enhanced Production and Wastewater Disposal

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
Every day in the United States, at least 2 billion gallons of fluids are injected into over 172,000 wells to enhance oil and gas production, or to dispose of fluids brought to the surface during the extraction of oil and gas resources. These wells are subject to regulation to protect drinking water sources under EPA’s UIC class II program and approved state class II programs. Because much of the population relies on underground sources for drinking water, these wells have raised concerns about the safety of the nation’s drinking water.

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Smart Growth and Economic Success: Strategies for Local Governments

Friday, April 11th, 2014
Exhibit 1. The BLVD in Lancaster, California. Streetscape renovations and other improvements helped to revitalize the downtown area, which improved its ability to generate revenue and increased property values downtown by nearly 10 percent, nearly three times the increase in any other area of the city.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Local governments provide a wide variety of facilities and services. As budgets tighten, city leaders often struggle with how to reduce the costs of needed facilities and services and/or increase revenues without overburdening residents. At the same time that many jurisdictions grapple with rising costs for services, however, they also face stagnant or even declining revenues due to struggling local economies and/or shrinking state and federal funds.

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East Hartford, CT: Brownfields Riverfront Revitalization

Thursday, March 13th, 2014

Goodwin College used EPA Brownfields funding from several sources to address and clean up the contaminated Connecticut River sites. It is now a vibrant campus that also allows the entire community access to the Connecticut River.

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Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities

Monday, March 18th, 2013

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Chapter 1: Introduction Communities across the country are integrating smart growth, environmental justice, and equitable development approaches to design and build healthy, sustainable, and inclusive neighborhoods. Residents of Spartanburg, South Carolina, partnered with the local government, federal agencies, and industry stakeholders to create new housing, parks, businesses, and health clinics where brownfields, […]

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Smart Growth and Economic Success

Monday, December 17th, 2012

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Executive Summary Smart growth development is compact and walkable and provides a diverse range of choices in land uses, building types, transportation, homes, workplace locations, and stores. Such development projects are attractive to private-sector interests because they can find a ready market and compete financially. They appeal to local governments because they […]

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Growing Green: How Green Infrastructure Can Improve Community Livability and Public Health

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

AMERICAN RIVERS
This white paper focuses on the potential benefits to health, safety, and equitable distribution of resources for urban communities that green infrastructure can provide. Green infrastructure practices, such as rain gardens, green roofs, and permeable pavement, are designed to capture rainwater where it falls where it can infiltrate onsite to minimize pollution impacts to nearby streams and rivers.

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Why Coal Plants Retire: Power Market Fundamentals as of 2012

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

ANALYSIS GROUP, INC.
The sharp decline in natural gas prices, the rising cost of coal, and reduced demand for electricity are all contributing factors in the decisions to retire some of the country’s oldest coal‐fired generating units. These trends started well before EPA issued its new air pollution rules.

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