I think I feel left out of these policies and decisions.

This is a huge issue for car makers. I can really see the return of the "Old Car."

New car dealers will literally have entire 2017 inventories sitting on the lot while the used care salesman across the street will be selling out and looking for more.

This is due to the driverless cars again. I have on occasion mentioned "Big Brother" and vulnerability of the driver-less system. Well, here it is.

Practice parallel parking, it is good for you. A sense of accomplishment. Truly.

March 7, 2017
By Craig Timberg, Ellen Nakashima and Elizabeth Dwoskin

The latest revelations (click here) about U.S. government’s powerful hacking tools potentially takes surveillance right into the homes and hip pockets of billions of users worldwide, showing how a remarkable variety of every day devices can be turned to spy on their owners.

Televisions, smartphones and Internet-connected vehicles are all vulnerable to CIA hacking, according to the Wikileaks documents released Tuesday. The capabilities described include recording the sounds, images and the private text messages of users, even when they use encrypted apps to communicate. Vehicles, meanwhile, are vulnerable to a remote hacker gaining control, allowing “nearly undetectable assassinations.”

In the case of a tool called “Weeping Angel” for attacking Samsung SmartTVs, Wikileaks wrote, “After infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a 'Fake-Off' mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on, In 'Fake-Off' mode the TV operates as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the Internet to a covert CIA server.”

The documents, which The Washington Post has not independently confirmed, list supposed tools for cracking into such widely popular devices as Apple’s iPhone or the Android smartphones whose operating system is made by Google, but there are marked differences from the 2013 revelations by the National Security Agency’s former contractor Edward Snowden....

The photo is from the CIA museum. I don't recall ever hearing about the CIA directorate 1, 2, 3 or 4. Anyone?

The sign reads, "Analysis Informing American Policy." Hm.

March 7, 3027
By Camila Domonoske

...In February 2016, (click here) then-CIA Director John Brennan spoke with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about, in part, the agency's desire to expand its cybercapabilities.

"The technological changes are taking place at a warped speed," he said:

"So we here at CIA, we recently set up a fifth directorate for the first time in 50 years, a new directorate ... the directorate of digital innovation, so that we can understand all of the opportunities and challenges associated with that digital environment.

"I'm not a technological expert by any means, but I recognize that more and more human transactions and interactions take place in that cyber environment. And it profoundly affects all of our ways of life, and it affects the intelligence mission. So I want to make sure that for CIA to be able to fulfill its responsibilities in the years ahead, we understand what the pitfalls are, what the opportunities are, so that we are able to master that environment consistent with our authorities, so we can carry out our respective missions."

Mike Pompeo, the new head of the CIA under President Trump, said in a written questionnaire accompanying his confirmation hearing that he understood that the agency, "upon direction from the President and working in cooperation with other agencies when appropriate, has capabilities to perform a wide [array of] actions related to all forms of cybersecurity policies."...

Reading is fundamental.

The American Health Care Act has to have it's own webpage made easily accessible to the public just as the Affordable Care Act and Patient Protection Act (click here) did.

The link has a PDF and is AmericanHealthCareAct.pdf

COMMITTEE PRINT
Budget Reconciliation Legislative Recommendations Relating to Repeal and Replace of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

"Affordable Care Act and Patient Protection Act" (click here)

Link: PLAW-111pub/148.pdf

It can also be found here: https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-law/

November 9, 2016
By David Reich and Richard Kogan

Republican leaders (click here) may well use a special legislative process called “reconciliation” to advance their fiscal policy agenda in 2017.  Created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, reconciliation allows for expedited consideration of certain tax, spending, and debt limit legislation.  In the Senate, reconciliation bills aren’t subject to filibuster and the scope of amendments is limited, giving this process real advantages for enacting controversial budget and tax measures.  This paper addresses some frequently asked questions about reconciliation....

Reconciliation is a budget measure. RED IS THE ACA. Blue is the other one. The 21st Century Cures Act will appear in green.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TITLE I—ENERGY AND COMMERCE

Subtitle A—Patient Access to Public Health Programs

TITLE I—QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS

Subtitle A—Immediate Improvements in Health Care Coverage for All Americans

Republican legislation is somewhat simple and uses different numbers for their provisions. The ACA begins with Sec. 1001 under Subtitle A. So be aware that the Republican document begins with Sec. 101 and then goes on to quote the section of the ACA, ie; Sec. 101 cites (a) IN GENERAL - Subsection (b) of section 4002 of 7 as amended by section 5009 of the 21st Century Cures Act., is amended.

The "21st Century Cures Act" is not Obamacare/ACA. It is a free standing law. The "21st Century Cures Act" is cited by the Republicans and mixes it with Obamacare to write the changes to health care in the USA. 

December 7, 2016
By Mike DeBonis

...The 94 to 5 Senate vote (click here) Wednesday followed a 392 to 26 House vote last week. The bill, known as the 21st Century Cures Act, now heads to the desk of President Obama, who praised the bill Wednesday and said he would sign it.

The bill provides for $4.8 billion in new funding for the National Institutes of Health; of that, $1.8 billion is reserved for the “cancer moonshot” launched by Vice President Biden to accelerate research in that field. Another $1.6 billion is earmarked for brain diseases including Alzheimer’s. Also included are $500 million in new funding for the Food and Drug Administration and $1 billion in grants to help states deal with opioid abuse....

"21st Century Cures Act" (click here)

This is the same link: BILLS-114hr34enr.pdf

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SEC. 101. THE PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH FUND.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 4002 of 7 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–11) (click here), as amended by section 5009 of the 21st Century Cures Act, is amended—

Below is how the Affordable Care Act works.

(a) Purpose

It is the purpose of this section to establish a Prevention and Public Health Fund (referred to in this section as the “Fund”), to be administered through the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary, to provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs.

(b) Funding

There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, and appropriated, to the Fund, out of any monies in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated—

(1) for fiscal year 2010, $500,000,000;

(2) for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2017, $1,000,000,000;

(3) for each of fiscal years 2018 and 2019, $1,250,000,000;

(4) for each of fiscal years 2020 and 2021, $1,500,000,000; and

(5) for fiscal year 2022, and each fiscal year thereafter, $2,000,000,000.

(c) Use of Fund

The Secretary shall transfer amounts in the Fund to accounts within the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding, over the fiscal year 2008 level, for programs authorized by the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], for prevention, wellness, and public health activities including prevention research, health screenings, and initiatives, such as the Community Transformation grant program, the Education and Outreach Campaign Regarding Preventive Benefits, and immunization programs.

(d) Transfer authority

The Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives may provide for the transfer of funds in the Fund to eligible activities under this section, subject to subsection (c).

March 7, 2017
By Mike DeBonis, Amy Goldstein and Kelsey Snell

...“Keep the ‘Cadillac’ tax in place? (click here) Keep Medicaid in place until 2020?” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus. “We didn’t have Medicaid expansion in the bill we sent to President Obama, but we have it in the one we send to President Trump? That makes no sense to me.”...

Mr. Jordan states Medicaid will be in place until 2020. No doubt the funding set up by the ACA will remain in place, but, those monies were also for the Medicaid expansion. So that needs to be cleared up. But, if the monies from Obamacare/ACA remain in place then Medicaid must pick up the slack from the Medicaid Expansion. If Medicaid is not picking up the slack from Medicaid Expansion, then why is the funding in place for it?

...“Obamacare 2.0,” tweeted Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a libertarian who frequently breaks with GOP leadership....

There is a presidential election in 2020. Guess what will be on the front burner for that one?

WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING? The states should be demanding accountability to this change in the law. Evidently, it appears to consolidate Medicare and the Medicare Expansion. Slight of "Political" hand. Or is the money simply disappearing into the Republican budget?

End for today.

Michigan and Pennsylvania are at least two states with legislative agendas to legalize online gambling. 

Is everyone asleep out there?

What is ALEC up to?

Monies will move from education lotteries to licensed private online casinos. The state legislatures are seeing additional revenues. The monies collected by the states are not exclusive as if nothing else will change. The education lotteries are not immediate gratification nor do Americans have to leave the home to participate in online gambling. There are many reasons to oppose the online gambling. They will probably be an exclusive extension to the casinos. 

Not the truth police? The President has an untrustworthy Secretary of Defense and no one tells the President?

Amazing. Comey needs to be replaced. I know there is a conflict of interest with AG Sessions and stupid PR claims by Trump, but, what is this mess with Comey? He decides to be loyal to Trump regardless of the threat to the USA with Michael Flynn, but, when he believes there is political fodder with Clinton it is "Game on." I don't trust him.

March 6, 2017
By Steve Benen

The day before Donald Trump was inaugurated as president, (click here) then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan wanted to tell the incoming White House team that Michael Flynn had been lying about his contacts with Russia. FBI Director James Comey disagreed.

As the Washington Post reported last month, Comey pushed back against the idea “primarily on the grounds that notifying the new administration could complicate the agency’s investigation” into Russia’s intervention on Trump’s behalf. Quoting a source familiar with Comey’s thinking at the time, the FBI director didn’t think the bureau should be “the truth police.”

“In other words, if there’s not a violation of law here, it’s not our job to go and tell the vice president that he’s been lied to,” the source said....

Comey is playing with power. It is a real heady game and I am sure he has no problem living with his political volleys either. I think he is a danger to the country. No, I take that back. Comey is a known danger to the country.

The lies about President Obama are an attempt by Trump to raise his polls. He loves polls. He ran with them in 2016. It is a stunt to bring President Obama into a national food fight.

I think President Obama can take care of himself.

The American people don't know what they have with Comey. We don't know what sort of priorities he has within the department either. Comey is a problem.

Congress is oppressing the will of the USA people!

This is what the people want. What seems to be the problem? Cronies? The power of political money? Is that the problem?

The Republicans need to remove their lapel pins. They don't display the American flag, they display the Republican flag.

March 5, 2016
By Susan Page

...By 58%-35%, those surveyed support an independent inquiry, an idea backed by Democratic leaders and a handful of congressional Republicans who argue that a special prosecutor or bipartisan commission should be appointed. White House officials and leaders of the GOP-controlled House and Senate say an ongoing FBI investigation and oversight by congressional committees are sufficient....

Europeans like European cars. There is nothing wrong with that. I congratulate GM on the sale.

March 6, 2017
By Steven Overly

General Motors (click here) is selling its two major European brands to French automaker PSA Group and pulling back from the world’s third-largest auto market, where the company has struggled to turn a profit for nearly two decades.

GM’s Opel and Vauxhall brands, as well as the European arm of its financial division, were valued at about $2.3 billion in the transaction. If the deal clears regulators, it is expected to close by the end of the year, the companies said.

PSA Group will then become the second-largest automaker in Europe behind Volkswagen.

The sale includes 11 manufacturing facilities and one engineering center that collectively employ about 40,000 people, according to the companies. GM will incur a non-cash accounting charge of $4 billion to $4.5 billion as a result of the sale....

GM's CEO has a much healthier vision for the company. Building facilities and cars in Europe has not worked and will not work. Building cars in the USA for the USA market and exporting them will work. It is the way it is suppose to work.

August 5, 2017
By David Sheperson

Washington — U.S. auto imports (click here) hit a new all-time high in the first half of the year — as auto production is surging in lower wage countries such as Mexico and a strong dollar is hindering American exports.

The overall U.S. trade deficit rose 7.1 percent — adjusted for seasonal fluctuations — to $43.8 billion in June. Autos, which includes vehicles, parts and engines, accounted for more than one-third of the trade deficit as U.S. auto imports rose to $29.8 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

U.S. exports of autos are down $3 billion in the first half of 2015 to $74.8 billion. Auto exports were flat in June at $12.6 billion — up just $62 million.

By contrast, U.S. imports of autos rose by $10.8 billion to $171.5 billion in the first six months of the year....

...The U.S. sent Japan about $1 billion in total auto exports in the first half of the year, while Japan sent the United States $25 billion in cars, trucks and parts.

Both nations are fighting in the ongoing free trade talks over rules that would make each country more attractive for production.

The U.S. auto trade deficit is soaring. In May, the United States imported $29.4 billion in autos — nearly as much as July. In the first half of the year, the U.S. imported $171.5 billion in autos — up $10.8 billion.

Auto imports have been rising steadily. Americans bought $254 billion in imported automobiles in 2011, $298 billion in 2012, $309 billion in 2013 and $328 billion last year. The auto trade deficit is also rising — it was $156 billion in 2013 and $169 billion last year....

Japan as an ally needs the USA market, but, does it need this much of the USA market?

Interestingly, Japan's economy is not impoverished. It is not Third World. He has many programs to support it's people. It has a higher minimum wage than the USA, yet, it has products the American consumer still purchases over that of a USA product.

Imagine that, a First World country that actually values it's people and still sells products on the USA market with exceptional results. The Japanese people have a high quality of life.

March 6, 2017

New York - Japanese automakers logged record sales (click here) in the United States in 2015 as the overall market swelled to an unprecedented level, driven by the stronger economy and robust demand for sport utility vehicles and trucks, Autodata Corp. data showed Tuesday.

Manufacturers sold 17.47 million cars in 2015, up 5.7 percent from the year before. The figure broke the previous record of 17.40 million cars sold in 2000, according to the U.S. research company.

Low fuel prices intensified the shift toward SUVs and pickup trucks and away from hybrid and electric vehicles. Light trucks made up 52.1 percent of the market in 2015, compared to 50.1 percent in 2014 and 48.8 percent in 2013, according to Autodata....

...Among Japanese automakers, Toyota Motor Corp. reported all-time high sales of 344,601 for its Lexus luxury brand, up 10.7 percent. Toyota’s overall sales expanded 5.3 percent to 2,499,313 units — its third-best annual result after 2.62 million in 2007 and 2.54 million in 2006. Japan’s top automaker was the third-largest player in the United States.

“December closed out an all-time, best-ever year with sales we couldn’t have predicted,” Lexus group Vice President Jeff Bracken said in a press release, adding that the brand is “well positioned for 2016.”...

"The Trump Backlash" is oppressing the USA Constitution.

March 4, 2017
By Ellen McCarthy

Apparently, in Trump’s view, (click here) long-simmering feuds regarding his old reality show “The Apprentice” don’t qualify as trivial.

On Friday the show’s new host, Arnold Schwarzenegger, released a statement saying he would not return for a second season. “I loved every second of working with NBC and Mark Burnett. Everyone — from the celebrities to the crew to the marketing department — was a straight 10, and I would absolutely work with all of them again on a show that doesn’t have this baggage.”

Schwarzenegger later explained that the “baggage” to which he was referring is Trump. “With Trump being involved in the show, people have a bad taste and don’t want to participate as a spectator or as a sponsor or in any other way support the show,” he told Empire magazine....

"Ah"nold was the one person that could not cause Trump agida. He is not born in the USA so he could never go from "The Apprentice" to POTUS.

The USA Constitution is oppressed because Republicans are afraid of taking on the issues that support impeachment, namely, Mr. Trump's continued practice in private business and hiring relatives to sensitive positions in the White House. There are certainly other issues supporting impeachment, but, what difference does it make if Congress won't uphold the law?

Paul Ryan plays footsies with Trump all the time. Will Ryan actually have the guts to protect the US Constitution? No. Why? Because he will fall out of grace with his constituency. The cronies are winning all kinds of favors because Congress has no back bone. We don't have a country anymore, we have anarchy.

The Christian Bible won in the case of a young man who is transgender.  So much for the separation of church and state IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The Robert's Court is lame. Whatever happened to separate and equal? What happened to Brown vs Board of Ed? The US Constitution is clear, there has to be room for everyone and all citizens are to be treated equally under the law. The USA Constitution demands a public school to accommodate all student issues, even transgender.

March 6, 2017
By Adam Liptik

Washington - The Supreme Court (click here) announced on Monday that it would not hear a major case on transgender rights after all, acting after the Trump administration changed the federal government’s position on whether public schools had to allow transgender youths to use bathrooms that matched their gender identities.

In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court vacated an appeal’s court decision in favor of a transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, and sent the case back for further consideration in light of the new guidance from the Trump administration....

Kim Jong Un is celebrating Arbor Day early.

March 5, 2017
By Anna Fifield

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and planted trees with its students last week.

Tokyo — North Korea launched four missiles (click here) Monday morning, a provocative barrage that coincided both with joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises on the southern half of the peninsula and with the opening of the annual National People’s Congress in China.

The launches follow a remarkable month in which Kim Jong Un’s regime tested a solid-fuel rocket that it says is part of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States and in which the regime is accused of assassinating the leader’s half brother.

Both actions have angered allies and adversaries in the region, and Monday’s launches will only exacerbate that....

2 March 2017

People hold photos of their family members, who they say were killed due to their alleged involvement in illegal drugs, during a protest against extra-judicial killings (EJK) while marching in an open area of a Roman Catholic Church in Paranaque city, metro Manila, Philippines

4 March 2017

Women take part in a performance to protest against the disappearance of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa College Raul Isidro Burgos in Guerrero, in Mexico City, Mexico

4 March 2017

A demonstrator in opposition of US President Donald Trump sets a hat on fire during a 'People 4 Trump' rally in Berkeley, California

March 5, 2017

People with portraits (click here) of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gather outside his museum in his native town of Gori, some 80 kms outside Tbilisi, on the 64th anniversary of Stalin's death. While historians blame Stalin for the deaths of millions in purges, prison camps and forced collectivization, many in Russia still praise him for leading the Soviet Union to victory over Nazi Germany in World War I.

"Good Night, Moon"

The waxing gibbous

8.1 day old moon

57.2% lit

February 22, 2017
Updated by Brian Resnick

The past few years (click here) have seen an explosion in the discovery of planets outside our solar system. Astronomers have now confirmed 3,442 exoplanets in the galaxy, and they think there could be 100 billion or more in total. But NASA and astronomers around the world aren’t just hunting for any ordinary planets. They’re particularly focused on the search for planets in the “habitable zone” of star systems, meaning, in theory, that water could exist on the surface in a liquid form. Finding Earth-size, potentially habitable planets is believed to be the first step to finding other life in the universe....

Poster for NASA Earth-sized planets, TRAPPIST-1. (click here) There is the possibility that future study of this unique planetary system could reveal conditions suitable for life.

SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOO Stars) (click here)

James Webb Space Telescope (click here)


 

There is plenty to talk about when it comes to manufacturing steel the industry faces criticism by others that actually want clear air and water.

The American Iron and Steel Institute Board Meeting (click here)

ArcelorMittal (click here)

As the world’s leading steel and mining company, our business operations extend from the mining of iron ore and coal to the production of the full range of steel products and services.

In 2015, we produced 73.7 million tonnes of iron ore and 6.29 million tonnes of coking coal, a form of carbonised coal burned in blast furnaces to melt iron.

In the week ending February 25, 2017, (click here) domestic raw steel production was 1,770,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 74.7 percent. Production was 1,709,000 net tons in the week ending February 25, 2016 while the capability utilization then was 73.1 percent. The current week production represents a 3.6 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending February 25, 2017 is up 0.2 percent from the previous week ending February 18, 2017 when production was 1,766,000 net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 74.6 percent.

The industry is doing just fine. I am confident in the digital age there is significant efficiency added to these processes. There is no reason to FEEL SORRY for the industry as Republicans CHRONICALLY do to win votes. It is nonsense. These industries have been around for decades. I am confident they have no need for people to feel sorry for them or practice pandering politics.

Accounting for a Sustainable Future, Research Brief, June 2014 (click here)

8 The environmental impact of steel production

Steel production has a number of impacts on the environment, including air emissions (CO, SOx, NOx, PM2), wastewater contaminants, hazardous wastes, and solid wastes. The major environmental impacts from integrated steel mills are from coking and iron-making.

Climate change

Virtually all of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with steel production are from the carbon dioxide emissions related to energy consumption.

Emissions to air

Coke production is one of the major pollution sources from steel production. Air emissions such as coke oven gas, naphthalene, ammonium compounds, crude light oil, sulfur and coke dust are released from coke ovens. 

Emissions to water

Water emissions come from the water used to cool coke after it has finished baking. Quenching water becomes contaminated with coke breezes and other compounds. While the volume of contaminated water can be great, quenching water is fairly easy to reuse. Most pollutants can be removed by filtration.

Waste

Slag, the limestone and iron ore impurities collected at the top of the molten iron, make up the largest portion of iron-making by-products. Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are volatized and captured in air emissions control equipment and the residual slag is sold to the construction industry. While this is not a pollution prevention technique, the solid waste does not reach landfills.

Gaseous emissions and metal dust are the most prominent sources of waste from electric arc furnaces.

The last thing any political leader should do is feel sorry for an industry. It inhibits innovation and invention.

"Green Steel" - New Steelmaking Process Lowers Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Cuts Cost and Improves Quality

May 13th of 2013
By James Ayre

But now, (click here) a new process developed by researchers at MIT looks like it may be able to address this, greatly reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with steel production, while also lowering costs and improving the purity/quality of the steel. A “win, win, win” proposition, as the researchers put it....

There is absolutely no reason for political foot dragging in regard to pollution control and control of greenhouse gases. There are answers by some of the finest scientists in this country and the world.

There is no reason to put off protections of Earth's climate OR cutting costs of steel production. There is no reason to separate the fact modern technology can do it all, improve quality, cut costs and lower emissions.

Miscellaneous.

The three top steel producers in the world are China, the United States, and Japan, in that order. The United States and Japan each produce around 100 million tons (90 million metric tons) of steel per year, and China had an output in 2000 of about 140 million tons (127 million metric tons). Iron and steel make up approximately 90 percent of all the metal produced in the world. The largest steel company in the United States is United States Steel, which produces about 20 percent of the country's steel.

Types of Steel:

Carbon Steel. This is the most widely used kind of steel. Its carbon content is under 2 percent and is usually less than 1 percent. It often also contains a little manganese.

Stainless Steel. This is the most corrosion-resistant kind of steel. It normally contains at least 12 percent (and sometimes up to 30 percent) chromium, and it usually also contains nickel. A very popular stainless steel formulation is 18-8, 18 percent chromium and 8 percent nickel.

Alloy Steels. These contain a little carbon, and sometimes silicon, but they mainly contain added metals, such as manganese (hardness), nickel (strength), molybdenum (improved wear), tungsten (high temperature strength), chromium (corrosion resistance), and vanadium (toughness).

Galvanized Steel. This steel is coated with zinc to protect against corrosion. The coating is usually done by a hot dip process.

Electroplated Steel. This steel has a coating of another metal, usually tin, applied by the use of an electric current. Tin-plated steel is widely used for making cans and other containers.

Tool Steel. This is very hard steel made by tempering (heating to a very high temperature and then quickly cooling).

Damascus Steel. This was a very high quality ancient steel with a beautiful wavy surface pattern used in making sword blades. It seems to have come mainly from India.

Wootz Steel. This was actually a European mispronunciation of ukku, the very fine steel made in ancient India that they called "wook." (It is probably the same material as Damascus steel.)

This is just one article regarding the pollution of iron and steel plants.

Jamal Mohamed Ben Sasi, International Journal of Mining, Metallurgy & Mechanical Engineering (IJMMME) Volume 1, Issue 3 (2013); pp. 219-222. ISSN 2320-4052; EISSN 2320-4060

Abstract—The aim of this paper (click here) is to access the results allow to understand and rectify the various risks caused by industrial pollutants in general, and pollutants iron and steel plants in particular, and work on how to reduce these risks, and the possibility of finding optimal solutions and to ensure treatment immediate and follow-up and in a coordinated and periodically. Risks caused by iron and steel industry set in the waste of various solid, liquid and gaseous. The additional is the side effects of noise resulting from the industry, as it has been proven scientifically through studies and researches that have been made by some international organizations related to the environmental studies and health .There are emissions resulting from iron and steel plants have a direct impact on the environment , safety , human health, and also have direct cause of what is happening in the world of climate change, occurrence of the phenomenon of global warming, melting ocean ice and increasing the proportion of exposure to chronic diseases. From background ,we can figure out that if we find satisfactory solutions , perfect, and access to low impact of this industry. It must work to develop modern methods and alternative efficient even be reduced the dust iron, emissions, pollutant gases, and making optimal designs for iron and steel plants, so that the environmental impact becomes minimal. 

Air quality in emerging economies is a huge issue and China is moving forward with better air quality.

Air Pollution (click here) is all at all time high on the Asian Continent. China has reached record-breaking levels of air pollution that the monitoring equipment can no longer keep track. In worse news, Greenpeace reports that India has levels are 5x worse than China. It appears while China’s pollution problem is slowly improving, India’s is getting worse.

March 5, 2017

China will cut steel capacity by 50 million tonnes (click here) and coal output by more than 150 million tonnes this year, its top economic planner said on Sunday as the world's No. 2 economy deepens efforts to tackle pollution and curb excess supply.

In a work report at the opening of the annual meeting of parliament, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said it would shut or stop construction of coal-fired power plants with capacity of more than 50 million kilowatts.

The pledges are part of Beijing's years-long push to reduce the share of coal in its energy mix to cut pollution that has choked northern cities and to meet climate-change goals while streamlining unwieldy and over-supplied smoke-stack industries such as steel.

25 March 2015

Air pollution (click here) is linked to a higher risk of stroke, new global research has found.

A study published in the British Medical Journal looked at the effects of air pollution in 28 countries and found a link between exposure to high levels of pollution and increased hospital admissions - or deaths - due to stroke.

Lead author Dr Anoop Shah, from the centre for cardiovascular science at Edinburgh University, said: "Long-term exposure to pollution has already been linked to lung, heart and circulatory disease. This study now demonstrates that even short-term exposure to air pollution can trigger disabling strokes or death from stroke."

The report suggested that public and environmental health policies that aim to reduce air pollution levels "might reduce the burden of stroke."

It is the chemical interaction with the limestone that helps remove unnecessary impurities.

Chemical grade limestone is important to the process as it is the primary raw material which helps remove impurities from the iron ore and produces a slag with low melting point and a high fluidity. Consistency of the chemical grade limestone for chemistry and sizing is critical for efficient blast furnace operations and cost control.

Limestone will react with the temperature in the blast furnace as it continues down the furnace to react with sulfur from the iron and produce a slag with the silica formed from the iron ore. The first reaction involved is as follows:  CaCO3  =  CaO  + CO2  The CaO is used to remove the sulfur and react with the silica to produce a fluid slag at the bottom of the furnace.'

Carmeuse’s chemical grade limestone (click here) has high, specific levels of Calcium Oxide (Cao), Magnesium Oxide (MgO), or both.

Additionally, chemical grade limestone has a high level of purity in that it contains very low levels of residuals typically found in limestone composites such as, silica, clay, organic matter, iron oxide, and siliceous skeletal fragments.

The optimum chemistry and purity of chemical grade limestone makes it ideal for flue gas desulphurization  and steel making, both of which require exacting specifications.

Ever wonder why death, dying and extreme thoughts are such a part of the American vernacular?

Of course, the American people remember "The Trail of Tears." It ended in Oklahoma. It is a national park.

Remember and commemorate (click here) the survival of the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian, Territory, now Oklahoma. They traveled by foot, horsewagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839.

The State of Oklahoma has some strange names for their parks. 

Lake Tenkiller to the left (click here)


Robbers Cave to the right (click here)

What happened to "Ole Smokey" or "Green Acres" or "Wildflower Meadow?"

The ultimate goal in producing steel is purity. Heart valves, I-beams and airliner manufacture.

Three primary installations (click here) in an integrated steel plant are the blast furnace, the steel furnaces, and the rolling mills. The blast furnace converts iron ore to pig iron; the steel furnaces convert the pig iron to steel; and the rolling mills shape the steel into sheets, slabs, or bars.

Blast furnace. A blast furnace is a chimney-like structure in which iron ores (mainly FeO, Fe 2 O 3 , and Fe 3 O 4 ) are converted into iron metal. Iron ore, coke, and limestone are loaded into the top of the furnace, while air is blown in from below. The coke is converted to carbon monoxide (CO), which then acts as the reducing agent:

2 C + O 2 → 2 CO

3 CO + Fe 2 O 3 → 2 Fe + 3 CO 2

The molten iron falls to the bottom of the furnace, and the limestone reacts with silicate impurities to form a molten slag, which floats on top of the iron. The two layers are drawn off separately, and the iron is poured into molds. Because the molten iron yields ingots that resemble little pigs, the product is referred to as "pig iron."...

Example: Nonsulferized carbon steels (click here)

Europe is far ahead of the USA in producing energy from alternative sources.

March 2, 2017

By Peter Walker

The wind turbines outside Stirling Castle. Scotland just produced enough wind energy to power the country for an entire day.

Denmark's wind turbines (click here) produced enough electricity to power the entire last month.

The Scandinavian nation generated 97 gigawatt-hours (GWh) on 22 February, thanks to particularly windy weather, which is enough to power 10 million average EU households for the day.

Wind Europe spokesman Oliver Joy said the “impressive” feat was another boon for wind energy....

I don't want to hear a word about how unsightly wind turbines are. That is a magnificent sight. It is a moral conviction to return Earth's climate to it's benevolent state. There is nothing more magnificent than a country determined to protect it's people.

Below is a graph illustrating the primary power sources in the USA. The facts used for the graph came from the US Energy Information Administration.

January 18, 2017

Renewable energy and Wyoming jobs (click here) received a boost Wednesday as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the first 500 wind turbines for the Chokecherry Sierra Madre (CCSM) Wind Energy Project.

The BLM action followed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Record of Decision (ROD) indicating that it would issue an Eagle Take Permit for Power Company of Wyoming’s (PCW) Chokecherry and CCSM when final mitigation plans are provided.  The Fish and Wildlife Service decision came after a thorough analysis of the potential impacts to eagles from the wind energy project....