EnviroPolitics Blog

On alterntive energy, stylish cows and pond scum

Harvesting the Power of Ocean & Tidal Energy – A small team of engineers based in Cornwall, England, have made a breakthrough with the development of a turbine that they claim could solve the commercial viability of tidal power. Known as the Osprey turbine, the technology can be used to create electricity offshore at sea — or in tidal rivers and inland waterways. (Renewable Energy Access.com)

Secret Kiwi fuel ingredient is pond scum – Air New Zealand and airliner manufacturer Boeing are secretly working with New Zealand-based biofuel developer Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation to create the world’s first environmentally friendly aviation fuel, made of wild algae. If the project pans out the small and relatively new New Zealand company could lead the world in environmentally sustainable aviation fuel. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Business Roundtable CEOs Take Stand on Climate Change – A broad-based group of CEOs acknowledged the reality of climate change July 17 with the release of a policy statement urging collective action. The Business Roundtable, an association of 160 CEOs from top U.S. companies, supports efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions while emphasizing energy and fuel efficiency, and the funding of green technology and science. (GreenBiz.com)

Global warming and stylish cows – PennEnvironment holds a press conference in Philadelphia to talk about the danger global warming poses to Pennsylvania. Columnist J. D. Mullane stops by “to see when the Commonwealth will be plunged into the apocalypse” and then filed this report. (Bucks County Courier-Times)

And to think I’ve been lusting for a laser printer – That laser printer sitting on your desk could be emitting high levels of potentially hazardous particles, according to a study published today.Some printers released almost as many ultra-fine particles as a smoldering cigarette, the study authors said. (Chicago Tribune)

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Week’s top environmental & political news

Some of the top stories appearing in EnviroPolitics from Aug 27-31. Captured from newspapers and other information sources in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and beyond.

New Jersey Environment

DEP orders work to stop on strip mall planned for Highlands In one of the first enforcement cases of the Highlands statute, a notice of violation has been issued to the developer of the proposed Liberty Square mall in Independence Township, Warren County. Developer Liberty Square 517 LLC missed an Aug. 10 deadline to build a foundation on the project in the strict Highlands preservation area, and a cease-and-desist order has been issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection, officials said. (Star-Ledger)
Sparta approves $2.1M for reservoir Despite the prospect of a lawsuit, the Sparta Township Council has adopted a $2.1 million bond ordinance to buy nearly one-third of a quarry founded by Thomas Edison that contains a vast spring-fed reservoir. (Star-Ledger) Smoke at chemical fire sends 15 to hospital A small chemical fire broke out Tuesday at the Permacel Inc. building in the Industrial Park, forcing several people to the hospital with respiratory problems. About 60 employees of the plant at 1990 Rutgers University Blvd. and workers in the surrounding complexes were evacuated about 10:15 a.m. as firefighters spent about 20 minutes putting out the blaze, authorities said (Asbury Park Press)Sayreville told about Superfund cleanups Twenty-five years ago, an abundance of toxic chemicals was found buried beneath the Sayreville landfill, seeping into the soil and poisoning the groundwater with pesticides. In the years that followed, state officials began a gradual cleanup of the site, removing drums of hazardous waste and installing systems to block the pollution from spreading. On Wednesday, representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection told a room of Sayreville residents their work on the landfill is nearly done. (Star-Ledger)Somerset parks employees repay county $1,697 Somerset County parks employees have reimbursed the park commission for several expenses criticized as unrelated to their jobs, but most were legitimate or judgment calls, county officials said last night.
After reviewing expense vouchers cited as “questionable” by an outside law firm, county Treasurer Brian Newman said there were no clear prohibitions against some of the payments.

Proposed power plant switching from coal to natural gas LS Power Company plans to put its Delaware River power plant online four years sooner than anticipated now that it proposes to use natural gas rather than coal to fuel the operation. (Courier-Post)Eagles and hawks are migrating south The autumn hawk-watching season takes off Saturday as thousands of raptors begin their annual southern migration. Bergen County’s prime viewing spot is in Alpine, where broad-winged hawks and bald eagles can be seen flying down the Hudson River. The viewing area, the State Line Lookout, is just off Exit 3 of the Palisades Interstate Parkway (Bergen Record)Clean Water New Jersey to honor excellence in stormwater pollution control Polluted runoff is a major threat to New Jersey’s water quality, and municipalities and other government agencies that have excelled in managing it are now eligible for special Clean Water New Jersey awards (NJ-DEP)
New Jersey Politics

Democrats seek to unload contributions from fugitive Some top New Jersey Democrats scrambled yesterday to divest themselves of at least $51,000 in campaign contributions from a donor whose fugitive status also caused embarrassment this week for presidential candidate Hillary ClintonNursing home fixing the AC after a roasting from Codey A Newark nursing home where state Sen. Richard Codey found sweltering conditions during a surprise inspection earlier this month will replace its sputtering air conditioners (Star-Ledger)Ex-mayor gets harsh term in graft case For nearly five years after pleading guilty to corruption charges, former Ocean Township Mayor Terrance Weldon remained a free man by quietly cooperating with investigations against others. But when his day of reckoning came yesterday, Weldon caught the wrath of a federal judge fed up with the seemingly endless parade of New Jersey politicians “hell-bent on corruption.” For nearly five years after pleading guilty to corruption charges, former Ocean Township Mayor Terrance Weldon remained a free man by quietly cooperating with investigations against others. But when his day of reckoning came yesterday, Weldon caught the wrath of a federal judge fed up with the seemingly endless parade of New Jersey politicians “hell-bent on corruption.” (Star-Ledger)

Could it be Lautenberg vs. Booker? With Democrats Rob Andrews, Frank Pallone and Steve Rothman unwilling to mount a primary challenge against the 83-year-old incumbent, could Booker be the guy who runs Wally Edge Blog Wesley Lance dies, shaped constitution Former Republican state Sen. Wesley L. Lance of Hunterdon County, the last survivor of the 81 delegates to the historic NJ Constitutional Convention of 1947 that created the state’s modern constitution, died Saturday. He was 98. (Star-Ledger)
Pennsylvania Environment

DEP fines Hercules Cement The Department of Environmental Protection announced today it has issued a $174,604 civil penalty against Hercules Cement Company in Stockertown Borough, Northampton County, for air quality violations between 2003 and 2006.

PPL Gas Utilities Announces Decrease in Gas Supply Rate PPL Gas Utilities’ 76,000 customers will see a decrease in their bills this fall. The company announced Friday (8/31) a
3 percent reduction in the rate customers pay for the gas supply portion of their bill. (PPL)

Hundreds protest wind turbines — Accusations flew and tempers flared Tuesday as hundreds of residents in Bedford and Somerset counties ordered Gamesa Energy to keep
wind turbines off Shaffer Mountain. (Altoona Mirror)

Cleaning up coal’s bad rap Is coal becoming a dirty word? It’s vilified as a contributor to global warming, risky to get out of the earth — as recent deaths in a Utah coal mine have reminded us — and responsible for destroying streams and valleys in Appalachia, where mountaintop removal mining remains extremely controversial. Meanwhile, pressure from environmental groups worried about climate change has forced utilities from North Carolina to Oregon to drop plans for about two dozen coal-fired power plants. NRG Energy CEO David Crane says that ‘clean coal’ has a future, despite what critics say. NRG Energy is looking to build the country’s first big coal plant to capture and store carbon dioxide.

Pennsylvania Politics

Democratic offices searched in Harrisburg State investigators last week executed a search warrant on the Capitol basement headquarters of the Democratic Office of Legislative Research in a broadening investigation into whether state employees were used to run several political campaigns last year. (Post-Gazette)

Judge: Fumo can keep Sprague as lawyer A federal judge ruled today that State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, who faces 139 charges of federal fraud and obstruction of justice, can keep Richard A. Sprague as his lawyer. The decision means the scheduled trial of one of Pennsylvania’s most powerful politicians, who had been represented by one of Philadelphia’s most prominent lawyers, is likely to proceed as scheduled for February. (Inquirer)Future of Pa. six-pack sales is now a case for justices The state Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Pennsylvanians will be able to walk into their local grocery or corner store and pick up a six-pack of beer along with toilet paper and a carton of milk.

New York/Region/World

California aims to save fish via poison The state’s latest plan to rid Lake Davis of northern pike – and protect species downstream – raises concern.(Christian Science Monitor)

Sony Develops Bio-Battery Powered by Glucose Sony’s new bio-battery that uses the sugar in carbohydrates to generate electricity — as an example, the company demonstrated using a sports drink to power a small fan or a Walkman. (GreenBiz.com)

German Biodiesel Industry Peaks, Trouble Ahead Germany’s biodiesel production capacity is set to rise to a record 5 million tons in 2007, but analysts have warned that the boom in the country’s biodiesel industry is coming to an end after the industry failed to block the government from rolling back a key tax relief scheme in court this July. (Renewable Energy Weekly)

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Princeton profs wedge into global warming

In a 2004 article in Science, Princeton University professors Robert Socolow and Stephen Pacala wrote about how they gave students 15 wedges with different colors, each representing a way to achieve a billion tons of carbon savings. Then they asked the students mix and match them to come up with a plausible strategy for keeping the 2050 emissions level equal to today’s.

Al Gore picked up the ‘wedge model’ in his book, An Inconvenient Truth, and the model–and its creators–have played an important role in the global warming discussion ever since.

EQN, the blog of Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, tracks some of the professors’ recent media appearances, including a July 15 Washington Post article, What It Would Take to Put the Brakes on Global Warming, and an essay in the July 13 issue of Science by New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt, endorsing the scientific validity of Gore’s book-turned-movie.

EQN notes that, while Socolow and Pacala’s fan club grows larger by the minute, they have their critics, including 1984 Princeton graduate Warren Meyer, who is writing a book supporting the contrarian’s view that climate change change cannot all be pinned on man-made CO2.Expect to see a lot more references to global-warming wedges as New Jersey begins to explore and debate the difficult–and likely expensive–steps necessary to reduce greenhouse gas production under the state’s recent Global Warming Act.

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Global warming made Brad leave Jennifer

Recent global warming headlines threaten us with widespread crop loss, resulting famines, the extinction of various species and literal floating crap tables in Atlantic City. How long will it take for the National Enquirer to blame screen hunk Brad Pitt’s redirection (from Jennifer Aniston to natural temperature-raiser Angelina Jolie) on anything other than greenhouse gas?

The near-hysterical drumbeat of media coverage of the climate change phenomena, is enough to chase even a relatively rational person like me into the FOX News (it’s not science, it’s all a hoax) camp.

Then what should hit my monitor but a report from the eminent scientific journal Nature on a new climate-modeling study predicting that rising levels of ozone pollution over the coming century will erode the ability of plants to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Now, that’s scary. Scarier than a Tom Cruise appearance on Oprah.

The full article can be found here, but a paid subscription is required. However, you can read a report on the Nature article, with excerpts, in Carbon sinks threatened by increasing ozone, published today in Grist.

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Here’s more on BOMA’s energy-reduction plan

Yesterday, we reported (More signs of business leaning to green) on a seven-point, energy-reduction plan that the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) is recommending to its 16,500 members.

Today’s Bergen Record carries a story which fleshes out the details and also reports on a media tour of the $500M Hearst Tower, left, which bills itself as the first green building constructed in New York City.

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Is New Jersey’s global warming law just hot air?

In New Jersey, it’s sometimes difficult to separate the Democrats from the Republicans. Public opinion polls consistently demonstrate that voters are moderate-to-liberal on virtually all important public issues. Such conformity may engender social comity, but it sure takes a lot of the fun out of public debate.

One public figure, however, who is unflagging in his efforts to shake things up is Steve Lonegan, a maverick, libertarian Republican who also happens to be the Mayor of Bogota, NJ. He’s also an unsuccessful candidate for governor and the executive director of Americans for Prosperity – New Jersey, a decidedly right-leaning organization that champions “limited government and free markets.”

In an op-ed piece that ran in yesterday’s Asbury Park Press, Lonegan challenges the wisdom of the state’s recently enacted Global Warming Response Act which sets specific deadlines for the reduction of greenhouse gases. He writes:

“It’s the height of folly to think a single state, New Jersey, can. Even if all industry ceased to exist in New Jersey, and the state never emitted another molecule of carbon dioxide, the effect on global climate would be meaningless. This is all about symbolism, of course, and Corzine and Gore hope to set an example for other states and countries, they say. Unfortunately, that symbolism will cost many New Jersey workers and entrepreneurs their livelihood. New Jersey has lost 8,000 private sector jobs in seven years, and this “politically correct” feel-good nonsense will accelerate that sorry trend.New Jersey is a major petroleum refining state and is one of the primary suppliers of petroleum products to the Northeast. It’s also one reason why gasoline prices are low in our state. This law will cripple that industry, costing the state one of its few remaining engines of growth, and it will serve as a hidden gasoline tax on every motorist in New Jersey.”

Check out the entire piece here. Then click on the “comments” line below and let us know what you think. Is the new law just political posturing or is it a responsible reaction to an undeniable environmental crisis?

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