EnviroPolitics Blog

Skyscraper-sized air purifier is scrubbing China’s dirty air

Denise Chow reports for NBC News:

It may look like just another giant smokestack, but a 200-foot tower in the central Chinese city of Xi’an was built to pull deadly pollutants from the air rather than add more. And preliminary research shows the tower — which some are calling the world’s largest air purifier — has cut air pollution significantly across a broad swath of the surrounding area.

Given those findings, the researchers behind the project say they hope to build an even taller air-purifying tower in Xi’an, and possibly in other cities around China.

“I like to tell my students that we don’t need to be medical doctors to save lives,” said Dr. David Pui, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota and one of the researchers. “If we can just reduce the air pollution in major metropolitan areas by 20 percent, for example, we can save tens of thousands of lives each year.”

The prototype tower in Xi’an cost $2 millionHow does it work? Read the full story here

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Comment deadline Friday for Delaware River fracking regs

Andrea Sears reports for Public News Service:

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The period for submitting written comments on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s draft natural-gas drilling regulations ends Friday.

Environmental groups are enthusiastically supporting the commission’s proposal to ban all high-volume hydraulic fracturing in shale within the boundaries of the Delaware River watershed. But according to Maya K. van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, they are adamantly opposed to draft regulations that would let gas and oil companies withdraw millions of gallons of Delaware watershed water for fracking in other locations, and allow the treatment, storage and disposal of fracking wastewater within the watershed.

“Fracking wastewater is so toxic that even the industry barely knows what to do with it. For the most part, they either re-frack or they send it off to places where they try to inject it into the ground to try to hide it away,” she says.

The Commission says the new rule actually would tighten restrictions on bringing fracking waste into the watershed. Help in filing written comments is available through the Delaware Riverkeeper website.

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Vote today on tougher gun laws in New Jersey

Brent Johnson reports for NJ.com:

State lawmakers are set to vote Monday on a package of bills to make New Jersey’s gun laws even tougher — and Gov. Phil Murphy has vowed to sign them all if they reach his desk.

The state Assembly will consider six measures at the Statehouse in Trenton, including one to reduce magazine capacity, another to ban armor-piercing bullets, another to make it tougher to obtain a permit to carry a handgun, and two that are designed to keep firearms out of the hands of people with mental health issues.

Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association and local gun-rights activists will hold a morning rally at the nearby War Memorial in Trenton to protest the bills before the voting session.

It all will happen two days after hundreds of thousands of people across the globe took part in the March for Our Lives — rallies for more gun control organized by survivors of last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Murphy, a Democrat campaigned last year for tighter gun laws, spoke at Saturday’s march in Newark. He said in a statement later in the day that the students’ “activism inspires me and reaffirms my commitment to making New Jersey a national leader in passing common-sense gun safety laws.”

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NJ bill moving to restart Fishermen’s Energy wind farm

Michelle Brunette reports for the Atlantic City Press:

A bill to restart the Fishermen’s Energy wind farm project for the ocean off Atlantic City passed an Assembly committee Thursday and now moves to the full Assembly.

It would require the state Board of Public Utilities to open a 90-day period for the submission of an amended application for a wind energy project in state waters offshore of Atlantic City.

While Fisherman’s Energy is not mentioned by name, it is the only such wind project that meets the criteria of the bill, A-2485, sponsored by Vince Mazzeo and John Armato, D-Atlantic; and Wayne DeAngelo, D-Mercer, Middlesex.

Paul Gallagher, an attorney and Fishermen’s Energy’s chief operating officer, said the company is ready.

“We have been quiet, but maintained our permits and our relationships,” Gallagher said. “This project is fully permitted and ready to build.”

If all moves quickly at the BPU, he said the project could begin in the fall.

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Energy & Enviro bills on NJ Senate board list for Monday

The following six energy and environment bills are among a list of 52 pieces of legislation scheduled for votes by the New Jersey State Senate on Monday, Marcy 26, 2018:

S534 (Oroho / Sarlo) – Excludes corrugated containers sold by the manufacturer from definition of “litter-generating product”; exempts such sales from user fee imposed under “Clean Communities Program Act.”

S1082 (Cruz-Perez / Singleton) – Provides tax credits to vineyards and wineries for qualified capital expenses.

S1242 (Turner / Greenstein) – Requires boil water notices to be provided to municipal officials within one hour.

S1496 (Smith / Greenstein) – Prohibits sale and distribution of mercury relays and switches under certain circumstances.

S1793 (Smith / Greenstein) – Concerns low emission and zero emission vehicles; establishes Clean Vehicle Task Force.

A839 / S258 (Land / Andrzejczak / Mazzeo / Van Drew / Singleton) – Prohibits offshore oil and gas exploration, development, and production in State waters, and issuance of DEP permits and approvals for activities associated with offshore oil and gas activities.