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President Barack Obama made the first big green move of his Administration by simply getting out of the way. Speaking from the White House, the President on Monday announced that he was directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider an application by California and 13 other states to set stricter limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks, opening the way for tighter fuel efficiency standards nationwide. Obama is also directing the Department of Transportation to issue guidelines that will ensure the U.S. auto fleet reaches an average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon (m.p.g...
...until 2020). California requested a waiver for its own tough standards - under the Clean Air Act, the state has the right to ask to set tougher environmental rules than the Federal Government - but in an unprecedented move in December 2007, Stephen Johnson, the Bush-appointed head of the EPA, denied California's request. (Read "Obama Cleans Up After Bush...
...greens, that denial was a sign of just how intransigent the Bush Administration had become on global warming. Not only would the Bush EPA refuse to take action on its own to slow the growth in carbon emissions, it would actively prevent states - even ones with Republican governors - from taking steps on their own. Now, with Obama directing his EPA to reconsider the waiver - and new EPA head Lisa Jackson has said that she would "very, very aggressively" review the request - the door is open to California once again taking the lead on cleaner cars. "It's a tremendously important...
...putting aside climate change-accelerating carbon dioxide, coal remains a highly polluting source of electricity that has serious impacts on human health, especially among those who live near major plants. Take coal ash, a solid byproduct of burned coal. A draft report last year by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the ash contains significant levels of carcinogens, and that the concentration of arsenic in ash, should it contaminate drinking water, could increase cancer risks by several hundred times. A 2006 report by the National Research Council had similar findings. "This is hazardous waste, and it should be classified...
...currently classified as hazardous waste. Though the EPA in the past has come close to imposing stricter rules on the treatment of coal ash, the agency has repeatedly backed down in the face of opposition from utilities and the coal industry. As a result, hundreds of coal plants around the U.S. are allowed to dump their leftover sludge in unlined wet ponds like the one used by the Kingston facility. Not only does that raise the risk of accidents like the Kingston spill, but the toxins in the ash could seep into the soil or groundwater, contaminating drinking water supplies...