EPA starts public hearing on greenhouse gas
Southern California wildfires 2007
A month ago, the EPA officially ruled that greenhouse gases (e.g., CO2) are harmful to human health because they, among other negative impacts, damage the environment and can raise sea levels and cause more wildfires. Tomorrow, the EPA will hold its first public hearing on the finding. The meeting is scheduled to go for 11 hours in a conference center in Arlington, Va., but will continue as needed" to accommodate all members of the public who wish to comment." It's going to be a full day. Green Car Congress reports that, even with comments limited to four minutes each, all slots from 9am to 8pm are already full. The schedule for a second hearing, coming May 21 in Seattle, are also all booked.
Written comments will be accepted until June 23rd, and you can trust that many of the players we cover on AutoblogGreen will be involved in this discussion. An audio webcast of tomorrow's hearing will be available here tomorrow and you can find more information here and here.
[Source: EPA, Green Car Congress, photo: NASA]
PRESS RELEASE:
EPA Hearing on Proposed Endangerment Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under the Clean Air Act
(Washington, D.C. – May 15, 2009) EPA will hold the first of two public hearings on Monday, May 18 regarding the agency's proposed findings that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. The proposed findings identify six greenhouse gases that pose a potential threat.
The hearing is an opportunity for stakeholders and members of the public to voice their opinions on the proposed findings.
WHAT: Public hearing on the proposed endangerment and cause and contribute findings
WHEN: Monday, May 18th, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
The hearing will continue into the evening to accommodate all members of the public who wish to comment.
WHERE: EPA Potomac Yard South Conference Center
2777 Crystal Drive, Room S-1204
Arlington, Va.
Written comments will be accepted until June 23, 2009. EPA will consider written comments submitted during the comment period with the same weight as oral comments presented during the public hearing.
More information on the hearing and for the audio webcast of the hearing: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment/hearing_washington-may18.html
More information on the proposed finding: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Luke 5:00PM (5/17/2009)
Wow, the wind is coming from the east!! A true Photoshop moment. Throw in a few UFO's and the credibility score won't be affected at all.
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GoodCheer 5:18PM (5/17/2009)
You did hear about the wildfires didn't you? They did, in fact, start in the mountains and progress to the West. It was all over the news. While the red blobs are edited in for clarity, the wind was real enough.
why not the LS2LS7? 5:32PM (5/17/2009)
Yes Luke, it's a conspiracy. The fiendish photoshoppers got to all the satellite images.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2007_California_wildfires#Wind_and_weather
Luke 6:54PM (5/17/2009)
Sorry, my bad.
Quantumphysics 5:31PM (5/17/2009)
I personally don't think CO2 emmissions would be a problem if we didn't ALSO have DEFORESTATION.
Seems to me nature came up with a perfect way to clean the extra gases out of the atmosphere but we ruin that too...
And then you have companies like DuPont throwing obviously damaging chemicals into the atmosphere.
And sure enough there are naysayers to protest in favor of freon and CFC's..
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Tohe 6:17PM (5/17/2009)
Something tells me no one will be making your argument tomorrow. Nothing in nature has been developed to sustain human excess, nothing aside of human extinction, nature still has its options.
We better watch closely into what EPA and Congress do. Our President has shown a style of pragmatism over principle, it is in our best interest to hold him accountable. We don't want to end up with half baked solutions and go the same route of health care reform.
Republicans in Congress have already pledge to introduce 500+ amendment proposals to stall the cap and trade bill. Their plan is to divert moderates of both camps from supporting the bill, make sure you write to your senators and let them now where you stand in regards to the environment and a system for capping green gas emissions.
Story: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22495.html
Follow environmental politics here: http://www.politico.com/energy/
Mark 8:40AM (5/18/2009)
Why do Republicans hate the environment so much? Did it bully them as a child?
steve 6:05PM (5/17/2009)
This is a good example of the Santa Ana winds. Hot and very dry coming down out of the mountains heading West. Sometimes 90 to 100 degrees F with humidities under 10% ... really bad for fires.
Estimates are that if you can stop all of the deforestration and reforest areas in the Amazon and Indonesia that you might get about 1/10th to 1/5th the amount of carbon sink needed to deal with the extra stuff people are adding. A very important piece, but peanuts.
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John Pelletier 6:33PM (5/17/2009)
i wonder how many will make the argument that "oh nos the epa is telling me not to breath!!!!, communists!!!" too few understand the reality of a living organism and the balances that are in place to mitigate and sustain its cycle vs adding something that left the ecosystem millions of years ago on top of the balance that is in place. to be fair yes there are too many humans, but it is the resources that the humans use that is the problem, not the fact that we breath o2 and exhale co2.
about time though, a very good first step, should have been done years ago.
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Ron Wagner 9:09AM (5/18/2009)
I lived in California for decades. Now live in small town Midwest with lots of green vegetation. All California has to do is harvest the dangerous growth all around the state. This can be paid for by turning it into energy with the most advanced technology available. It would create a small fraction of the pollution that wildfires do. You can start by harvesting the overgrowth nearest to habitation. Harvesting could be done by prisoners. Most of them would love to get outside, and make a few bucks. It could be voluntary. Goat herding is another idea, and is being done on a small scale. The extreme environmentalists will probably not allow any of this however. It is the only viable solution to end large wildfires. This brush is a real danger in many areas due to accidental fires, and arsonists of all persuasions.
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