Monday, March 24, 2014

WIMS Environmental HotSheet 3/24/14

National / International News

 

<> Heat-trapping gas concentrations top 400 ppm, two months earlier than last year - Over the last five days beginning on March 16, 2014, carbon dioxide levels have surpassed 400 parts per million at NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

<> Update 3: Texas City "Y" incident response - Houston, Texas — Progress continued throughout the day Sunday in response to a bunker fuel spill in the Houston Ship Channel that resulted in the release of approximately 168,000 gallons of product.

<> World Water Day: U.S. Tech H2.O Shows the Present and Future of Water Innovation -  U.S. Department of State event and semi-finalists for the Securing Water For Food Grand Challenge For Development, a contest that encourages game-changing water technologies and new water management approaches.

<> Congressional Champions of the PTC and ITC warn colleagues they must act now to keep the U.S. wind industry robust - Senators Mark Udall (D-CO) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Reps. Steve King (R-IA) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA) circulated letters urging Congress to encourage more private investment by stabilizing the U.S. industry and averting another falloff like 2013's 92 percent drop in American wind power installations.

<> Udall, Grassley Lead Bipartisan Effort Urging U.S. Senate Finance Committee to Extend Job-Creating Wind Energy Tax Credits - U.S. Senators Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) pressed the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today to swiftly include extensions of the bipartisan and job-creating investment tax credit and production tax credit for wind energy in an upcoming tax-extenders package.

<> As Listener and Saleswoman, E.P.A. Chief Takes to the Road for Climate Rules - Source: NY Times - Ms. McCarthy is the chief architect and emissary of President Obama's plan to fight climate change.

<> Sulfur Oxides Integrated Plan for National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) - CASAC Augmented for the Sulfur Oxides Review Public Teleconference to Review EPA's Integrated Review Plan for the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Sulfur Dioxide (External Review Draft available)

<> Making Oil-by-Rail Safer - The growth of North American oil production from unconventional sources has resulted in a dramatic expansion in the volume of crude oil shipped by rail. Unfortunately, as crude oil rail traffic has increased, so have rail accidents. . .

<> Supreme Court Rejects Coal Industry Attack on the EPA's Power to Protect Clean Water – Earthjustice: "Refuses to hear baseless case against the EPA for blocking extreme WV mountaintop removal mine" Today the Supreme Court denied the coal mining industry's request to hear a case against U.S. EPA. . . 

<> U.S. Navy's Dennis McGinn on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Power - Dennis McGinn, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and the environment, discusses how the Navy is increasing efficiency and embracing new advanced energy sources will allow the Navy to reduce costs. . . 

<> On World Meteorological Day, UN rallies youth to take on climate change - Seeking to increase awareness among young people about climate change and mobilize them as champions for action. . .

<> DOE Announces Webinars on the Wave Energy Converter Prize, the Best of the Clean Cities Tools and Resources, and More - March 21, 2014DOE Announces Webinars on the Wave Energy Converter Prize, the Best of the Clean Cities Tools and Resources, and More EERE offers webinars to the public on a range of subjects, from adopting the latest. . . 

<> March 24, 1989 : Exxon Valdez Disaster in Alaska - Before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, there was the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, at the time the nation's largest oil spill. The 987-foot tanker. . .

<> 22nd Festival, March 18-30, 2014, Washington, DC - The theme of the 2014 Festival, Our Cities, Our Planet, will examine the challenges posed by Earth's urban environments and the efforts of the world's cities to balance environmental and economic needs.

 

Federal Register Highlights 

 

The following is an alert of Environmental Federal Register announcements that may be of interest for: Monday, March 24, 2014.  (Click here to access today's complete Federal Register index with links to complete announcements).

1. Nothing We're Tracking Today