Today power plants are allowed to dump unlimited amounts of carbon
pollution into the atmosphere — there are no rules in effect that limit
their emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global warming.
Now, for the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing new rules, or standards, that will reduce carbon emissions from power plants. These standards, known as the Clean Power Plan (click here), are being developed under the Clean Air Act, an act of Congress that requires the EPA to take steps to reduce air pollution that harms the public's health.
These historic standards are a centerpiece of the president's Climate Action Plan and represent the most significant opportunity in years to help curb the growing consequences of climate change.
In 2003, I was involved in all sorts of environmental and species activities. I also was a Conservation Chair for a Sierra Club. I served in the State Working Group to write the By Laws and Constitution of the first Conservation Council for North Carolina. I was the person that prepared the final submission that would become the basis of the Conservation Council. It was becoming an autonomous activity of the state organization. It took nearly six months or more to complete all the meetings and come up with the wording for the two documents. We met about every two weeks until it was finished.
That is not even the story I was thinking about.
While I was involved in Sierra Club, "The New Source Review" came up as it does every five years under "The Clean Air Act." It is to report any new sources of emissions pertinent to the law. I took part in that review in 2003. I first prepared a 24 page testimony. Mine are usually long with references that are not on a separate page. So, the references are made directly in the text so there can be no mistakes. Not very long to type (Smith, 2000, pp. 114 - 115). That sort of thing.
Besides the 24 pages of written testimony I traveled to Raleigh and gave 5 minutes of testimony at a time provided to me by appointment. It was recorded by two gentlemen from the EPA to be played and recorded into the final analysis of The New Source Review. I believe the date was May 2nd.
It was about a month or so later, then President George W. Bush walked out to speak to journalists in the Rose Garden. I nearly hit the floor when I realized his EPA had become upset by my words in testimony only a few weeks before. He stated, "There is on such thing as global warming and carbon dioxide could never be a toxic gas."
You see, those were my words; "Global warming is real and carbon dioxide at high levels is a toxic gas." My testimony was most probably the first time anyone had enough guts to put CO2 in "The New Source Review." Traditionally, it was about NOX and SOX and ozone, things like that. I just added one more, that's all.
See citizen testimony is very important. It carries weight when the Committees get the information that was generated by the EPA when they gather information under laws like The New Source Review. It was not long after that Senator Barbara Boxer started to talk about CO2 and the need for regulations in her committees regarding the environment.
The ball was rolling and there was nothing "W" could do about it except Huff and Puff and stomp his feet.
So, here we are now with 11 years having passed and the EPA finally has regulations for CO2.
Yep.
Now, for the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing new rules, or standards, that will reduce carbon emissions from power plants. These standards, known as the Clean Power Plan (click here), are being developed under the Clean Air Act, an act of Congress that requires the EPA to take steps to reduce air pollution that harms the public's health.
These historic standards are a centerpiece of the president's Climate Action Plan and represent the most significant opportunity in years to help curb the growing consequences of climate change.
In 2003, I was involved in all sorts of environmental and species activities. I also was a Conservation Chair for a Sierra Club. I served in the State Working Group to write the By Laws and Constitution of the first Conservation Council for North Carolina. I was the person that prepared the final submission that would become the basis of the Conservation Council. It was becoming an autonomous activity of the state organization. It took nearly six months or more to complete all the meetings and come up with the wording for the two documents. We met about every two weeks until it was finished.
That is not even the story I was thinking about.
While I was involved in Sierra Club, "The New Source Review" came up as it does every five years under "The Clean Air Act." It is to report any new sources of emissions pertinent to the law. I took part in that review in 2003. I first prepared a 24 page testimony. Mine are usually long with references that are not on a separate page. So, the references are made directly in the text so there can be no mistakes. Not very long to type (Smith, 2000, pp. 114 - 115). That sort of thing.
Besides the 24 pages of written testimony I traveled to Raleigh and gave 5 minutes of testimony at a time provided to me by appointment. It was recorded by two gentlemen from the EPA to be played and recorded into the final analysis of The New Source Review. I believe the date was May 2nd.
It was about a month or so later, then President George W. Bush walked out to speak to journalists in the Rose Garden. I nearly hit the floor when I realized his EPA had become upset by my words in testimony only a few weeks before. He stated, "There is on such thing as global warming and carbon dioxide could never be a toxic gas."
You see, those were my words; "Global warming is real and carbon dioxide at high levels is a toxic gas." My testimony was most probably the first time anyone had enough guts to put CO2 in "The New Source Review." Traditionally, it was about NOX and SOX and ozone, things like that. I just added one more, that's all.
See citizen testimony is very important. It carries weight when the Committees get the information that was generated by the EPA when they gather information under laws like The New Source Review. It was not long after that Senator Barbara Boxer started to talk about CO2 and the need for regulations in her committees regarding the environment.
The ball was rolling and there was nothing "W" could do about it except Huff and Puff and stomp his feet.
So, here we are now with 11 years having passed and the EPA finally has regulations for CO2.
Yep.
