Tuesday, November 30, 2004

[Schools] Trash 4 Kids The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, IL (a.k.a. SWALCO) created this website to provide information and activities to Lake County educators and students. 11:23:15 AM Google It!    [Air quality] EnviroFlash Recent studies have indicated that smog kills: Deaths from heart and respiratory ailments and other diseases rise on smoggy days. Enter "EnviroFlash," a new pilot program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and local air quality agencies. Found in Detroit, Cincinnati, Nashville, Oklahoma City and Winston-Salem, N.C., EnviroFlash is a Web-based e-mail alert system that draws on daily air-quality forecasts from the news. Asthmatics and others at risk from airborne pollution can register online and be alerted when levels of ozone and fine particulate pollution are high. For the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which currently posts Detroit's near-real-time air quality data on its Web site, EnviroFlash is simply an additional service that provides information directly to a requestor. The program is free to the user, and alerts can also be sent to a mobile phone with text messaging. The pilot ends in January when the EPA will evalute the program and make any changes and improvements. The EPA hopes to expand the tweaked program to more cities in May, and may also enhance EnviroFlash to include actual real-time air quality conditions for an area so that participants can be notified immediately when air-quality levels change for the worse. [Source: Governing.com WebWatch] 11:21:29 AM Google It!    [Grants] Charles Stewart Mott Foundation The mission of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is to support efforts that promote a just, equitable, and sustainable society. The Foundation's grant programs focus on the following areas: poverty, civil society, the environment, and Flint, MI. Support is provided to nonprofit organizations with regional, national or international scope and local nonprofit organizations in Flint, MI. Geographic focus varies by program area. Applications are accepted throughout the year. 11:18:01 AM Google It!    [Grants] Tom's of Maine Corporate Giving Program The Tom's of Maine Corporate Giving Program provides support for nonprofit organizations nationally and internationally, with priority given to organizations impacting Maine. The company's areas of interest are the environment, human needs, the arts, and education. Support is provided for programs and projects that integrate at least two of the areas of interest. Proposals will be accepted between February 1 and April 1, 2005. 11:15:52 AM Google It!    [Venture capital] 'Green' startups draw investors Another story about green start-ups attracting venture capital. The VC firms managing the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System plan to invest a combined $950 million in clean technology companies in the next several years. 11:12:57 AM Google It!    [Environmental justice] Study finds dangerous military waste near reservations The last major campaigns by the U.S. Army against Indian tribes took place in the late 1800s. But the military is still dangerous to Indians in the West today, a new report found. The study contends the dramatic expansion of U.S. military bases during the 20th century was largely concentrated in the same remote, arid places where Indian reservations were located. That means Indians could be disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals and unexploded bombs, compared to non-Indians, according to the report by Gregory Hooks of Washington State University and a former graduate student, Chad Smith, now of Texas State University-San Marcos. [Source: AP, reprinted in the Aberdeen News] The citation for the full study is: Hooks, Gregory; Smith, Chad L. (2004). "The Treadmill of Destruction: National Sacrifice Areas and Native Americans." American Sociological Review 69(4), 558-575. 11:07:30 AM Google It!    [Confined animal feeding operations] Breeding contempt Megafarms' toxic fumes are forcing Paulding (OH) neighbors off their land. [Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer] 10:56:46 AM Google It!    [Schools] Ecology students win state 'green' award A message of saving the environment has become a rewarding experience for students at Pontiac Township High School. Students in Paul Ritter's ecology class who designed a billboard campaign to promote an environmental friendly idea have won the Governor's Green Youth Award. [Source: Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph] 10:30:50 AM Google It!    [Schools] The Greening of the Grounds New campus landscaping practices aim at reducing runoff and chemical use. [Source: JHU (Johns Hopkins University) Gazette] 10:28:05 AM Google It!    [Fuel cells] Little Difference Between Hybrid, Fuel Cell Cars in "Well-to-Wheel" Emissions Gasoline-electricity hybrid vehicles and fuel cell cars discharge nearly the same amount of global warming gases when emissions in the fuel production stage are counted, a Japanese private-sector study showed Monday. [Source: Fuel Cell Works] 10:25:50 AM Google It!    [Alternative energy] Project Aims to Develop Hydrogen Power A government laboratory and a private company announced a $2.6 million project Monday to develop hydrogen in a nuclear reactor using a process with the potential to one day trim the country's reliance on fossil fuels. [Yahoo! News: Science] 9:48:01 AM Google It!    [Environmental health] EPA Releases 2003 TRI Data Early To better inform communities, the EPA for the first time has released facility information about toxic chemical releases as reported to the agency, rather than waiting until release as part of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report. In the past, this data was received, quality-checked, analyzed and released in the annual TRI report that resulted from the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. The TRI program requires industrial facilities to publicly report quantities of toxic chemicals annually released into the air, water and land. Many stakeholders have requested that the agency share TRI data sooner and in the basic format received, without waiting for further analysis. In response to these stakeholder concerns, EPA last week launched the first annual electronic release of facility-level TRI data, the Electronic-Facility Data Release (e-FDR). The data is presented for each facility received by EPA, one reporting form for each chemical. Increased electronic reporting allowed EPA to publish the earlier e-FDR, and is part of EPA’s initiative to modernize and streamline the TRI program. Electronic reporting also supports data accuracy with built-in quality checks, and makes reporting easier for industry. The eFDR provides facility-by-facility reporting for reporting year 2003. The traditional Public Data Release, which includes more quality checks, national trends and analysis, is expected in Spring 2005. The e-FDR is available at http://www.epa.gov/tri-efdr. For more information, contact Suzanne Ackerman at 202-564-7819 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov. [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 9:44:09 AM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 10/25/2005; 12:07:58 PM.