AIR POLLUTION(2008):
1.45pm GMT
Europe gives US airlines ‘go green’ ultimatum* Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
* guardian.co.uk,
* Friday March 14 2008US airlines must pay for their carbon dioxide emissions or face a curb on flights to the European Union, the EU transport commissioner has warned.
The “go green” ultimatum was issued by Jacques Barrot as the transatlantic airline market undergoes its biggest shakeup in 30 years when limits on flights between the EU and US are lifted this month. Barrot said negotiations on a second phase for the treaty, will include a demand that US carriers join the EU emissions trading scheme or an equivalent system in the US…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/mar/14/theairlineindustry.carbonemissions
Maintaining clean air does not seem to be a high priority for the Bush team. When a climate scientist at NASA was working with scientific data, the Bush team attempted to mix the scientific data with “political” data. Once word of this “politicizing” attempt was made public, the attempt was aborted.
WATER POLLUTION(1969):
Fires plagued the Cuyahoga River beginning in 1936 when a spark from a blow torch ignited floating debris and oils. The largest river fire in 1952 caused over $1 million in damage to boats and a riverfront office building. By the 1960s the lower Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was used for waste disposal, and was choked with debris, oils, sludge, industrial wastes and sewage. These pollutants were considered a major source of impact to Lake Erie, which was considered “dead” at the time. On June 22, 1969 a river fire captured national attention. Time magazine described the Cuyahoga as the river that “oozes rather than flows” and in which a person “does not drown but decays.” This event helped spur an avalanche of pollution control activities resulting in the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Exit disclaimer, and the creation of the federal and state Environmental Protection Agencies.
WATER POLLUTION ATTEMPT(2007):
BP Backtracks After Criticism over Lake Pollution
by David Schaper
All Things Considered, August 23, 2007·
Oil company BP American says it will not immediately increase the amount of pollution it dumps into Lake Michigan from its refinery in Whiting, Ind., reversing earlier comments.
The announcement follows weeks of uproar by environmentalists and politicians who were upset that Indiana’s environmental officials approved the company’s plan to dump 54 percent more ammonia into Lake Michigan…
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13903534
