The advertisements are running in eight states whose Senators could be swing voters on the resolution.
(Photo courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski
wants to take away the Environmental
Protection Agency’s power to
regulate greenhouse gases. She’s
introduced a resolution that would
do that. Now, a new radio ad
campaign is urging Senators to
oppose the resolution. Samara Freemark has the
story:
Transcript
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski
wants to take away the Environmental
Protection Agency’s power to
regulate greenhouse gases. She’s
introduced a resolution that would
do that. Now, a new radio ad
campaign is urging Senators to
oppose the resolution. Samara Freemark has the
story:
The ads call Murkowski’s resolution the “Dirty Air Act”. They’re sponsored by a coalition of environmental and faith-based advocacy groups.
Eric Sapp is with the American Values Network, which co-sponsored the ads. He says the spots are running in eight states whose Senators could be swing voters on the resolution.
“They’re moderate Democrats and Republicans who have been getting a lot of pressure to vote the wrong way on this bill. And our goal in these is to make sure the people know what’s going on, and then to let the Senators know that we will be able to stand behind them if they vote the right way.”
It’s not clear exactly when Murkowski’s resolution will move forward – especially now that a major snow storm is blanketing Washington and disrupting the Senate calendar.
Lester Graham at the coal mine Shay #1 in Macoupin County, Illinois. He's interviewing the mine general manager Roger Dennison.
(Photo courtesy of Phil Ganet)
The coal industry is hopeful
an old technology will help
them clean up an increasingly
unpopular fuel. Lester Graham
reports, without it, coal faces
an uncertain future:
Transcript
The coal industry is hopeful
an old technology will help
them clean up an increasingly
unpopular fuel. Lester Graham
reports, without it, coal faces
an uncertain future:
[Editor’s Note: The script for this story will be posted shortly.]
Processing tar sands crude creates more air pollution than normal. (Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory)
American gasoline refineries are
expanding to process a dirtier kind
of oil. Shawn Allee reports
one company’s plans hit a snag:
Transcript
American gasoline refineries are
expanding to process a dirtier kind
of oil. Shawn Allee reports
one company’s plans hit a snag:
The BP fuel refinery in Northwest Indiana wants to process more Canadian tar sands oil.
Processing tar sands crude creates more air pollution than normal. The federal
government wants more air pollution figures from BP before signing off on an air
permit.
Groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council pressed the government to step in.
The NRDC’s Ann Alexander is glad BP’s tar sands project is getting scrutiny.
“If tar sands are going to be developed, we think it’s it’s critical they be developed in
a way that complies with the Clean Air Act, because the Clean Air Act is there to
make sure it’s not the community that pays for development of tar sands through
increased pollution and the health problems that result, but that it’s BP who pays
those costs.”
BP’s tar sands oil project in Indiana is just one of several going on in the Midwest.
In mountaintop removal mining, explosives are used to get at coal that's close to the surface. (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)
The Environmental Protection Agency
is holding up nearly 80 permit
applications for coal mining projects
because of concerns about about water
quality. Tamara Keith
reports this is creating a different
kind of concern in Appalachian coal
country:
Transcript
The Environmental Protection Agency
is holding up nearly 80 permit
applications for coal mining projects
because of concerns about about water
quality. Tamara Keith
reports this is creating a different
kind of concern in Appalachian coal
country:
The applications involve mountain top removal coal mining. Explosives are used to get at coal that’s close to the surface.
In the past, the mining companies have been allowed to fill in valleys with the leftover rock and dirt. But the EPA is concerned that streams are getting buried and polluted so the agency is now giving that practice a serious second look.
Carol Raulston is with the National Mining Association. She says holding up those permits have people in the mining towns of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee worried about losing their jobs.
“You really can’t operate these mines and employ people at them unless you’re able to construct the fills and in many of these communities they are the sole employer.”
An EPA spokesperson says protecting drinking water and coal mining jobs are both important. The agency says both can be done.
The Anacostia River in Washington DC is ridden with garbage, and plastic bags make up 20% of the trash tossed in (Photo by Kavitha Cardoza)
For years, the Anacostia River that flows through
Washington DC was widely known as the forgotten
river, lost in the shadow of the better known
Potomac. At one point, some say the trash in the
river was so thick you could walk from one side to
the other without getting wet. Today things are
better. But, most people say not enough has been
done. DC’s city council is considering a five cent
tax on every disposable plastic and paper bag with
most of the money going to cleanup efforts. As Kavitha
Cardoza reports if it passes,
the fee would be the toughest law on plastic and paper
bags in the country:
Transcript
For years, the Anacostia River that flows through
Washington DC was widely known as the forgotten
river, lost in the shadow of the better known
Potomac. At one point, some say the trash in the
river was so thick you could walk from one side to
the other without getting wet. Today things are
better. But, most people say not enough has been
done. DC’s city council is considering a five cent
tax on every disposable plastic and paper bag with
most of the money going to cleanup efforts. As Kavitha
Cardoza reports if it passes,
the fee would be the toughest law on plastic and paper
bags in the country:
Kindergartners from the Evergreen School in Wheaton, Maryland are leaning over a rail and looking at bags, cups, wrappers and other trash floating in the Anacostia River.
They’ve travelled to D.C. to learn more about, as they put it, “what kills fish.”
The five-year-olds are NOT impressed with what they see.
The children roll up their sleeves and start pulling trash from the bank. But, it’s going to take a lot more than their small hands to clean up the mess.
Jim Connerly is with the Anacostia Watershed Society. He says Washington D.C.’s own environmental studies estimate each year 20,000 tons of trash is thrown into the Anacostia.
“It’s like a landfill on a conveyor belt.”
Studies also show plastic bags make up about 20% of the trash in the Anacostia.
When grocery bags are thrown away, many of them are swept up by rain water and carried into storm drains that flow into streams. They end up in the Anacostia.
The bags often ensnare birds and turtles. Fish eat the small torn pieces. That results in toxins making their way into the food chain.
Tommy Wells is the D.C. council member who came up with the idea of charging a nickel for plastic and paper bags.
“By charging a nickel, it really gets more into your head than your pocket. Also, it reminds you maybe I should have bought a reusable bag.”
And part of the money raised will help low-income residents buy reusable bags.
But Laurie Walker hasn’t heard about that proposal. She says, as a senior citizen on a fixed income, those nickels can add up quickly.
“Five cents is a whole lot of money, if I put it in a jar, every month when I get paid. I can buy a chicken, hot dogs, eggs for my grandchildren or for myself. I can buy a whole lot with that.”
The fee would raise nearly 2.5 million dollars a year. Besides the reusable bags, the money will fund educational efforts and return a portion to local businesses as an incentive.
The chemical industry which makes the plastic bags hopes anybody opposed to these kinds of fees or taxes will come out against this proposal. But environmentalists like the idea.
(sound of a beaver)
Back at the Anacostia River system, Jim Connerly says, with a little effort, the Anacostia could be trash-free in just a few years.
“In a perfect world, the water quality would be addressed. The thing that’s encouraging to me is that nature is always trying to seek balance. If we let the river alone, if we stop the input of pollutants, it would clean itself. It’s just that we’re not allowing the river to do that.”
Connerly and many others are hoping the Washington DC bag fee helps make that happen.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu says coal will have to be a part of the energy mix in the future, so the government is committing money to clean it up. (Photo courtesy of the USDOE)
President Obama’s Energy Secretary is talking about building a facility to find ways to burn coal more cleanly. Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
President Obama’s Energy Secretary is talking about building a facility to find ways to burn coal more cleanly. Lester Graham reports:
Burning coal pollutes – acid rain, toxic mercury, soot. And lately the big concern – carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.
The Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu told Members of Congress, despite the concerns about pollution, we still depend on coal for half of our electricity.
“So, it’s very important that we develop the technology that captures and also that safely sequesters carbon from coal plants.”
The technology does not exist today.
Chu says three-point-four-billion dollars in government stimulus money is now available to find a way to clean up coal.
An experimental plant called Futuregen was supposed to find ways to burn coal more cleanly and do something about carbon dioxide emissions. But the Bush administration killed funding.
Secretary Chu says the Obama administration is now negotiating with Futuregen partners again.
President Obama indicates a willingness to continue to import Canada’s dirtiest source of oil. Lester Graham reports environmentalists don’t like it:
Transcript
President Obama indicates a willingness to continue to import Canada’s dirtiest source of oil. Lester Graham reports environmentalists don’t like it:
The United States gets about 20% of its imported oil from Canada. Half of that comes from tar sands in Alberta.
It takes two-tons of the asphalt-like substance to produce one barrel of oil.
Refineries in several states are expanding facilities to process the dirtier oil.
Henry Henderson is with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
He says takes a lot more energy to extract, transport and refine tar sands oil. That means a lot more greenhouse gases.
“At least three times what conventional oil involves. That brings with it a significant threat and impact on our national security in terms of changing global climate in a way that is a threat to us.”
Despite the environmentalists’ concerns, President Obama says the U.S. will work with Canada to use the tar sands oil reserves.
Dredgers, a group that gets together to canoe on the Gowanus, hope that if people see the state of the canal, they'll be inspired to help clean it up (Photo by Samara Freemark)
A group of New Yorkers is trying
to convince people to get out on one of
the most polluted bodies of water in the
country – literally out there, in canoes.
Samara Freemark reports that they hope once
people see the water up close, they’ll
realize just how dirty it is. And maybe
then they’ll help clean it up:
Transcript
A group of New Yorkers is trying to convince people to get out on one of the most
polluted bodies of water in the country- literally out there, in canoes. Samara
Freemark reports that they hope once people see the water up close, they’ll realize
just how dirty it is. And maybe then they’ll help clean it up:
(sound of water, paddling)
You wouldn’t believe the stuff people have pulled out of the Gowanus Canal.
Refrigerators. Bathtubs, rusted cars. A 5000 pound dead whale. A suitcase full of
human body parts. Sewage floods into the canal all the time. So you see everything
people flush down their toilets. The water itself is a sickly, opaque green.
And that’s just the stuff you can see. The canal used to be a dumping ground for the
factories that line it. And the sediment at the bottom is still full of a laundry list of
toxic chemicals: cyanide, mercury, lead, asbestos. Scientists found strains of
gonorrhea in a water sample just last year.
And I’m sitting in a canoe in the middle of it.
(water noise, “Ewww, oh, God, gross. It’s like a subway down here.”)
The Gowanus is a 2 mile long trough of murky water that flows into the New York
Harbor – though the word ‘flowing ‘ is a bit optimistic, since the water mostly just sits
there.
You wouldn’t think anyone would want to canoe in this kind of water – much less
see it as a good way to spend a lazy summer afternoon.
(Laughs.) “ My first day was like, hell no. I knew it was going to be nasty.” (Laughs.)
That’s Alex Kovaleski. She’s a Dredger, a member of a group that gets together to
canoe the Gowanus.
“But I’m always looking for an adventure or a way to see things from a new
perspective, so I went out. And then I started having dreams about it, and it was all
over.”
Kovaleski knew she had to do something.
So almost every summer weekend she and the Dredgers gather at a makeshift pier
and paddle up and down the canal.
They invite others along. Anyone who shows up can jump in a borrowed canoe and
take it for a paddle. They get a lot of first-timers, New Yorkers who have heard about
the trips and come for the novelty or to get a taste of nature in this most urban of
cities.
That’s why Stephen Kline and Beatrice Aranow came. This is their first time at a
Dredgers event. I speak with them on the pier, before they step into a canoe. They
say they came because they love nature, they love being out on the water, and they
want to see their city from a whole new perspective.
Stephen and Beatrice are in for a big surprise. Twenty minutes later, they had their
new perspective.
(talking over each other) “ There were like dead rats, turds. It was a lot worse than I
could have ever imagined. It wasn’t that mysterious. I actually thought I was going
to have a pleasant time going out but it was pretty intense. It was repulsive.”
This doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement of the Dredgers.
But Alex says Stephen and Beatrice’s reaction isn’t that bad – it’s actually kind of the
point.
“Part of it is just being out there with the poop and the trash, like, hah, here it is,
there’s no getting away from it. When you’re in it, you’re naturally longing to see it
restored.”
A week later I came back to the Gowanus canal for another Dredgers event. This
one’s a cleanup day, and volunteers are out with rubber gloves and bags, picking up
trash. It’s kind of a festive scene- there’s music and free pizza. And there’s a group of
high schoolers who came to spend the day canoeing and helping out.
(students talking about canoeing, cleaning)
Alex says those students are who the Dredgers really want to reach. The Gowanus
isn’t going to be clean anytime soon. But those kids are going to grow up, and they’re
going to be tax payers and voters. Soon they’re going to make the decisions that
decide the future of the canal.
Toronto is now getting its beaches certified as safe by an international program called 'Blue Flag'
(Photo by Julie Grant)
A group of swimmers head to the blue-flagged Woodbine Beach, on the east side of Toronto
(Photo by Julie Grant)
Beaches on the Great Lakes have
been closed a lot this summer because of
pollution. But instead of raising the
white flag of surrender, in Canada, they’re
starting to raise a blue flag. Julie Grant
reports the Blue Flag Programme certifies
a beach is safe:
Transcript
Beaches on the Great Lakes have
been closed a lot this summer because of
pollution. But instead of raising the
white flag of surrender, in Canada, they’re
starting to raise a blue flag. Julie Grant
reports the Blue Flag Programme certifies
a beach is safe:
(sound of beach)
It’s a clear, cool summer morning by Lake Ontario. Some
people are playing volleyball, others are walking along the
boardwalk at Woodbine beach, on the east side of Toronto.
Nobody is swimming in the lake.
Beach person 1: “No I don’t swim here.”
Beach person 2: “I grew up here, and I’ve never actually
swam in Lake Ontario. Sometimes they were closed and it
was always off and on, so it never seemed like a good thing
to do.”
Beach Person 3: “It’s gross, man. It’s pretty nasty. One
time I found a couple of Band Aids. After that, I was like, ‘I’m
not going back in this water.’”
City leaders say those views are outdated.
Lou DiGeranimo is Toronto’s general manager of water.
He’s in charge of everything from drinking water to sewers
and storm water runoff.
DiGeranimo says the Lake’s bad reputation lingers
from the time when Toronto was a major port for lumber, for
shipbuilding, and for foundries.
“When you talk to certain people in the city, they remember
the old industrial heart of our city and they think that Lake
Ontario is polluted and you shouldn’t swim in it. Well we beg
to differ. You can swim in it and our water quality is actually
quite good.”
DiGeranimo is trying to change the public image of Lake
Ontario one beach at a time. So far he’s been able to get six
Toronto beaches certified as safe by an international
program called Blue Flag. DiGeranimo says the blue flag
shows that someone besides the city is checking up on the
beaches.
“There’s an external group, Environmental Defense, that
actually, we work with. And they themselves are part of a
larger international group who come round and audit to
make sure that we are following the program accordingly.”
Thousands of beaches in The Caribbean, Europe and South
Africa fly blue flags. Toronto has some of the first beaches
in Canada to be certified by the program. The city has to
test water quality every day. It also has to provide
lifeguards, recycling containers, and environmental
education programs.
But water quality is usually the biggest obstacle for beaches
trying to get a certification.
(sound of beach)
A blue flag waves in the wind at Toronto’s Woodbine beach.
But not without considerable cost. The sewer used to
overflow regularly here into Lake Ontario. The city built
underground retention tanks to store sewage overflow until it
could be sent to a treatment plant.
But multi-million dollar sewer fixes usually are not possible
for many cities.
So DiGeranimo says people also need to take action at
home. Toronto has been trying to educate people to be
careful what they wash down the drain. And DiGeranimo
says Toronto banned the use of some lawn chemicals
because they were polluting the Lake.
“If I took a bag of chemicals and then just dumped it in the
river, I could charge you for impairing the water quality. But
if you dumped it on your lawn first, and then it ended up in
the creek, that would be okay. So in the city we passed a
bylaw that restricted the use of certain chemicals.”
That kind of ban would be a tough sell in most U.S. cities. It
wasn’t easy in Toronto either.
But Jody Fry says it’s helped the city earn Blue Flags at
many beaches. Fry is Canada’s national Blue Flag program
coordinator. She says people on all shores are starting to do
the work to certify their beaches.
“It raises awareness both at the beach and throughout the
community of what actions people can take to help improve
the water quality. Which, I think, people are looking for,
because they want to help contribute to protecting the
environment.”
The city of Toronto hopes to raise Blue Flags at five more
beaches soon. For now, they want to spread the word – if
you see a Blue Flag flying at the beach, it’s a signal that you
can trust that the water is clean for swimming.
Memorials to miners and past mining disasters dot the public spaces in rural
parts of southern Illinois. This granite obelisk is in honor of mining near
West Frankfort, which is in the heart of Illinois coal country, and close to
several operating mines. In 1980, Illinois had 18,000 coal miners - now, the
workforce is less than 4,000. Mining experts say new digging permits, new hires
and new investment in Illinois coal signals a comeback, though it's unclear
mining employment will reach former heights. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
John Mead directs the Center for Clean Coal Research at Southern Illinois
University. Mead says the probable comeback of Illinois' coal industry
hasn't fully materialized yet, but he agrees with industry experts who say
cleaner-burning coal-fired power plants are creating a new market for the
state's high-energy resource. By the way, the coal nugget in his palm is the
only coal he could find in his office. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
The exit at an operating mine near Galatia, Illinois. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
This coal fired power plant sits at the corner of the SIU campus in Carbondale,
Illinois. It's built sulfur scrubbers and other technology that allow it to use Illinois coal. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
America has a love-hate relationship
with coal. We burn coal to make half our
electricity, but we’re always fighting coal’s
air pollution. Some regulations decimated
the coal industry in one key state. Shawn
Allee reports miners there are caught
between a slow comeback and another round of
regulation:
Transcript
America has a love-hate relationship
with coal. We burn coal to make half our
electricity, but we’re always fighting coal’s
air pollution. Some regulations decimated
the coal industry in one key state. Shawn
Allee reports miners there are caught
between a slow comeback and another round of
regulation:
Coal was once king of the Southern Illinois economy, but no longer.
Nathan Threewitt lives in the area. He explains mining jobs evaporated.
Nathan Threewitt: “Eighteen years ago, give or take a couple, people went from
making a nice, upper-class living to nothing at all. Couldn’t find work, everybody
had to move.”
Shawn Allee: “Did you have that happen in your own family?”
Threewitt: “Yep. My dad’s got ten brothers and sisters. They went from, everybody
had clothes for school, everybody had food to eat, to, we don’t know how the hell it
was gonna happen.”
Even though Threewitt has a tough history with coal – he’s actually trying to get into the
industry.
In fact, I find him while he’s taking a break from a coal mining training class at Rend
Lake College.
I know at one time, classes like these had been canceled.
I track down instructor David Colombo to see what’s changed.
David Colombo: “This room is where I train miners for the most part.”
Shawn Allee: “What’s this?”
Colombo: “Ugh. This is a high voltage cable.”
Allee: “This is almost as thick as your arm.”
Colombo: “This isn’t the biggest of the bigs, either.”
Right now, only about four thousand Illinois miners need to be familiar with equipment
like this.
But Colombo gets calls from mining companies in the area who need trained workers.
So, his school’s growing to keep up.
Shawn Allee: “Why have faith that you’re going to need space for miners to be
trained?”
David Colombo: “With the mining permitting that’s going on, is the highest it’s been
in thirty years.”
Colombo: “Gentlemen in this afternoon’s class will start sinking a mine within the
next week or two. Right now it just employs ten people, but in a year from now, that
same mine’s probably going to employ a hundred and ten people.”
People use words like rebound and comeback when they describe the Illinois coal
industry.
To understand what happened, you have to dial back a little.
“It was really the effect of Clean Air Act amendments of 1990.”
This is John Mead. He heads coal research at Southern Illinois University.
He says Illinois coal is blessed with high energy, but it’s cursed with sulfur that caused
acid rain and lung disease. The amendments aimed to cut that.
“Most utilities were able to switch to lower-sulfur coal, and that’s just what they
did.”
In fact, utilities opened new mines out West where the coal has less sulfur.
As for an Illinois coal turn-around?
“Today, sulfur and other materials in the coal can be controlled pretty effectively
with technology.”
So, now Illinois coal can better compete with lower-sulpher coal.
But here’s the thing. There could be another pollution clamp-down in the works.
You know about global-warming, right? Well, carbon dioxide’s a big cause, and coal
produces carbon dioxide in spades.
Scientists say cutting coal emissions would be a quick way to cut carbon.
So, miners in Southern Illinois get mixed messages – the country wants their coal again,
but maybe not for long.
Miner-to-be Nathan Threewitt says he’s thought this through.
Nathan Threewitt: “Well, if anybody looked at the economics of it, it’s gonna go
back. Coal used to be fifteen dollars a ton, it’s now 65 dollars a ton. You’re gonna
have these coal companies with coal left in the ground, it used to not be worth it to
get the money out, now it’s worth it.”
Shawn Allee: “You like those odds.”
Threewitt: “Yeah, I do. I’m rolling the dice on it.”
Threewitt figures, he’s got time to build a career from coal, while America makes up its
mind just how clean it wants its coal-fired electricity.
The advertisements are running in eight states whose Senators could be swing voters on the resolution. (Photo courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)
