Tr-Ash Talk: Drumbeat to Release Coal Ash Rule

Another week, another voice calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release federal coal ash rules. The drumbeat is getting louder, although it feels like the calls are falling on deaf ears. In this editorial by the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Tennessee paper says the EPA’s announcement that the rule might be delayed leaves…

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Why They Fight for Clean Air

We talk about the importance of clean air a lot on these digital pages, but I could never express that sentiment as eloquently as the Clean Air Ambassadors who went to Washington, D.C. last week. Take, for example, the words of Dr. Lynn Ringenberg, a pediatrician from Tampa Bay, Florida. Lynn Ringenberg: This photo really…

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Get Your Free Puff-Puff Inhaler From an Industry That Cares

Coal cares. It really does. So we’re told, at least, by a new website that offers free inhalers to asthmatic youngsters. The Puff-Puff inhalers come adorned with all sorts of kiddie icons: Elmo, Dora the Explorer and a little old heartthrob by the name of Justin Bieber, who takes breath away in a different way.…

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Unplugged: Energy Labels Underestimate Appliance Costs

Your new appliance is more expensive to operate than you think. Since 2007, certain household appliances have carried revamped yellow Energy Guide labels that contain two key features. The first is the estimated annual costs of powering the appliance. The second is a linear scale that enables you to compare that figure with the costs…

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Melting of Arctic Isn't on Radar Screen of Arctic Council

Polar bears are drowning. Huge glaciers are melting. Low-lying cities are worried. All because of climate change. But, when the eight nations of the “Arctic Council” meet next week, climate change won’t be on their agenda—despite a frightening new report on climate change by the council’s own task force. Members of the council are those…

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Voices of Silence: People Living With Mountaintop Removal Mining

Last Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held an absurdly one-sided hearing entitled “EPA Mining Policies: Assault on Appalachian Jobs – Part I.” I’ve never heard so much agreement in Congress — but that was, of course, because the only people allowed to speak were chosen to speak because they were already…

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Fair Congressional Hearing or Puppet Show: You Decide

On Thursday morning, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, will begin a two-part hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) policies on mountaintop removal mining. The committee, chaired by Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH) is calling the hearings “EPA Mining Policies: Assault on Appalachian Jobs – Part I and Part II.” Judging…

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Dancing for Clean Air, Basque Style

Question: What happens when you mix Lady Gaga, clean air and a Basque flash mob? Answer: This video. Gipuzkoa Zero Waste, a group organized against a waste incineration plant that will be built in San Sebastian, Spain, spent seven months organizing the song and dance routine—which is set to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Bad…

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Tr-Ash Talk: Another Lo-o-o-ng Delay

As we wait for federal standards to regulate coal ash, it seems that some states are following suit with delays on their standards as well. In Albany, the Environmental Conservation Commission announced plans to “carefully” examine an already long-delayed proposal to ban coal ash altogether (the federal proposal would regulate it as a hazardous waste)…

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