KENSINGTON, Tenn. - Not long after the 10-year anniversary of the largest coal-ash spill in U.S. history, parents across Tennessee are among those asking elected leaders to think hard about whether to confirm Andrew Wheeler as the nation's top environmental steward.

Kelle Pressley-Perkins joined the watchdog group Moms Clean Air Force after the death of a daughter, whose health she believes was affected by water pollution. Pressley-Perkins has kept a close eye on Wheeler's confirmation hearings, and said she isn't convinced of his commitment to protect the environment.

"From my end," she said, "I want to know, is he the best fit for that position, environmental protection? Is it for us - the people, the kids, our future - or is it for business, or any other influence? That's basically what my interest and concern is."

During his Senate confirmation hearing last week, Wheeler said protecting human health and the environment are his most important responsibilities. December marked 10 years since the largest accidental release of coal ash in the United States, with more than 1 billion gallons of slurry spilled into tributaries of the Tennessee River.

Wheeler said the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard passed in 2011 is too expensive, and can't be justified as "appropriate and necessary" to make coal plants comply. However, Dominique Browning, co-founder and senior director of Moms Clean Air Force, said the standard already has reduced emissions and put many plants in compliance with the rule.

"The coal industry put these scrubbers on their plants," she said, "and they realized that, in fact, it didn't cost anywhere near as much as they thought it was going to cost to put on these protections."

As a mom, a certified occupational health nurse and a volunteer for Moms Clean Air Force, Peggy Berry said Wheeler's past as a coal-industry lobbyist is especially troubling with his plans to roll back the mercury-emissions standard and recalculate its potential health effects.

"For him to look at what they can do to decrease or remove that health benefit from the standard just makes me really concerned about him being administrator," she said. "I'm afraid we've gone from oil and gas to coal."

Despite these concerns and others, there's a strong likelihood that Wheeler will become the new EPA chief. He already has been the acting administrator since his predecessor, Scott Pruitt, resigned in July amid ethics scandals.


get more stories like this via email

School buses are getting cleaner in Washington state after this year's legislative session.

Lawmakers in Olympia passed House Bill 1368, which will fund the purchase of zero emission school buses.

Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, said the program is getting off the ground quickly.

"As we work towards that long-term goal of all new school buses being zero emission, we're kick-starting this year with $40 million in grants to school districts in overburdened communities," Senn explained.

Going forward, Senn noted school districts will have to purchase zero-emission vehicles once the total cost of ownership is equal to or lower than the cost of diesel vehicles. The state is leveraging the state's Climate Commitment Act resources to fund the transition of its 10,000 school buses.

Devin Denney, director of transportation for Highline Public Schools in King County, which already has electric school buses in its fleet, said he has driven the electric buses and talked about some of their benefits from a driver's perspective.

"You're not competing against that engine noise, the kids aren't competing against the engine noise," Denney observed. "It's a much quieter bus all the way around. The major advantage, of course, is that there's no tailpipe emissions with an electric bus, so our kids' health is better protected."

Senn emphasized health studies have shown there are negative health effects from diesel vehicles for kids, and it is easy to understand why.

"If you think about kids waiting to get on their bus in front of an elementary school and you have this line of buses idling, letting out diesel fumes right at the height of a little child, it becomes obvious that this is probably not the most healthy thing for our children," Senn added.


get more stories like this via email

Today, in honor of Earth Day, climate advocates are asking California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to rally around a plan to put a $15 billion bond measure on the November ballot.

If passed, the bond measure would fund a range of climate resiliency measures.

Sam Hodder, president and CEO of the Save the Redwoods League, said March was the tenth month in a row to break monthly heat records.

"I think Earth Day is a terrific opportunity for the broader public to recognize how nature is critical for resilience, for our quality of life, for our mental and physical health, and for our communities more broadly," Hodder outlined.

Two similar bills to put a bond measure on the ballot are under consideration in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1567 and Senate Bill 867, but they have been stalled since last summer. The bond would finance many programs, including some to restore wetlands that guard against sea-level rise, and to remove dead wood in forests to guard against mega-fires, which Hodder noted have killed 20% of the giant sequoias in recent years.

Opponents pointed out the state already faces a budget deficit and cannot afford to take on more debt. But only 5% of California's old-growth coastal redwoods remain, mostly due to aggressive logging many decades ago.

Hodder argued the giant trees can be critical ingredients in the fight against climate change because they trap so much carbon.

"Redwood forests sequester more carbon per acre than any other forest system in the world," Hodder emphasized. "We have the opportunity to transition the redwood forest from something that is vulnerable to climate change to something that is helping to solve and address the climate crisis."

Experts blame climate change for California's wild weather over the past few years, which has been marked by extreme drought, devastating fires and flooding rain.

A new report from the National Wildlife Federation warns that the effects of climate change in the Quad Cities, along the Iowa-Illinois border, will be severe.

But researchers got the public involved in studying to find ways to head off some of the most pressing concerns.

The report says climate change means a warmer, wetter future for the Quad Cities, which straddle the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois.

But rather than repeat what experts have already been saying about drastic flooding along the Big Muddy, Prairie Rivers Network River Health and Resiliency Organizer Nina Struss said researchers and Quad Cities residents brainstormed solutions to tackle the effects of climate change.

"Flooding and flash flooding were the top concerns," said Struss. "Extreme heat was also a big concern, as well as drought and other extreme weather events."

Researchers combined that information with hard science at the University of Illinois to create 3D models depicting what climate-induced flooding along the Mississippi could look like in the future.

The survey also asked people to identify which geographical areas and populations are most at risk from the effects of climate change, and worked with the community on solutions to mitigate some of them.

Struss said this research proposes what are known as nature-based solutions to combat the effects of climate change - restoring, preserving and even expanding existing ecosystems, like wetlands and tree canopies. But creating more eco-friendly infrastructure, too.

"Can we work to maybe have our pavements that we're putting in be more permeable, so that they can absorb that water and have that higher water-holding capacity?" said Struss. "Can we focus on areas to plant more native plants that have stronger root systems, versus ones that have shorter root systems, to help with that water-holding capacity?"

Struss said this research isn't a one-off. It will continue to change, she said, as the climate changes, the needs become more clear, and the effects more drastic.

She said progress in addressing climate change relies on more research, education and funding.




get more stories like this via email