Environment

Growing Economy, Falling Emissions

Economic growth has been stronger in nine Northeast states that have a current cap-and-trade program. Carbon emissions in those states have fallen much more quickly than in the rest of the country.

The New York Times
Sources: ENE; Energy Information Administration

nytimes.com - by Hannah Fairfield - June 6, 2014

Some critics of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new requirements for power plants argue that forcing emissions reduction will curtail economic growth. But the recent experience of states that already cap carbon emissions reveals that emissions and economic growth are no longer tightly tied together. . .

. . . The nine states already in the program — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — have substantially reduced their carbon emissions in recent years. At the same time, those states have had stronger economic growth than the rest of the country.

A dead catfish is evident Wednesday in debris in Clear Creek near Pierce City

joplinglobe.com - by Wally Kennedy - May 28, 2014

‘COMPLETE KILL’

Pierce City, MO. - On May 16, an undisclosed quantity of Alimet, an amino acid compound that Tyson Foods uses as a feed ingredient for its poultry operations in the area, reportedly spilled at Tyson’s feed mill in Aurora.

Tyson workers captured most of the spilled compound and shipped it to its wastewater pre-treatment plant next to Tyson’s poultry-processing plant in Monett. Wastewater from the processing plant is pre-treated before it enters Monett’s municipal waste-treatment plant. Treated water from that plant flows into Clear Creek and is responsible for most of the flow in the creek.

The introduction of the chemical caused “a 100 percent kill” of the bacteria that process the effluent in Monett’s wastewater plant, according to Skip Schaller, utilities superintendent at Monett.

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earth-policy.org - Janet Larsen and Savina Venkova - April 22, 2014

Los Angeles rang in the 2014 New Year with a ban on the distribution of plastic bags at the checkout counter of big retailers, making it the largest of the 132 cities and counties around the United States with anti-plastic bag legislation. And a movement that gained momentum in California is going national. More than 20 million Americans live in communities with plastic bag bans or fees.

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submitted by Margery Schab     

Bob and Lisa Parr of Decatur confer with attorneys (from left) Brad Gilde and Richard Capshaw during a break in the lawsuit trial Thursday. The Parrs are suing Aruba Petroleum over alleged toxic emissions from gas wells surrounding their home in rural Wise County. Messenger photo by Bob Buckel

dmlawfirm.com - April 22, 2014

DALLAS — Plaintiffs Bob and Lisa Parr won a $3 million jury award in the first fracking verdict in Texas April 22. The Parrs sued Aruba Petroleum in 2011 for fracking operations which fouled the family’s 40-acre ranch property, their home and quality of life, sickened them and their pets and livestock. (See the Parr – 11th Amended Petition.)

The verdict included $275,000 for the Parr’s property loss of market value and $2 million for past physical pain and suffering by Bob and Lisa Parr and their daughter,  $250,000 for future physical pain and suffering, $400,000 for past mental anguish.

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