pollution

As if we needed another facet to the global climate change and energy demand debates, we can now add the following: evidence is mounting that our insatiable consumption of petroleum has finally (and inevitably) brought us to the cusp of Peak Oil. More hard decisions are going to be required in the near future, and it is critical that we avoid succumbing to our natural inclination towards easy fixes.

Have we learned everything we need to know about the truth about coal? today on Daily Koss they have assembled gobs of reports about what the issues are about COAL

www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/23/61828/9692/801/520914

Here is a list of the North Carolina counties that violate the EPA's 8-hour ozone standard of 0.075 parts per million. Also listed are the counties that would violate the more stringint standard of 0.060 ppm that has been recomended by the scientists at the EPA. The 0.075 ppm threshold was set by the political appointees who rejected the scientist's recommendation. The old standard was 0.080 ppm.

North Carolina Alexander 0.075
North Carolina Avery 0.069
North Carolina Buncombe 0.074
North Carolina Caldwell 0.073
North Carolina Caswell 0.075
North Carolina Chatham 0.072
North Carolina Cumberland 0.080
North Carolina Davie 0.079
North Carolina Durham 0.075
North Carolina Edgecombe 0.075
North Carolina Forsyth 0.080
North Carolina Franklin 0.077
North Carolina Graham 0.078

Lt. Gov. hopeful comes out against Duke Power's latest plan to harm the environment.

On November 15th, make your voice heard by calling and telling Governor Easley and Jim Rogers that renewable energy is the future of NC and not "clean coal." Why? Because the future of North Carolina depends on it.

Contact the Governor's Office:
Phone: 1-800-662-7952 valid in North Carolina only; (919)733-4240, or (919)733-5811
Fax: (919)715-3175 or (919)733-2120
Email: governor@ncmail.net

Contact Duke Energy Office:
Phone: (704) 594-6200 (Corporate Office)
Jim Rogers Direct Line: (704) 382-1087
Email: tcwillia@duke-energy.com (Tom Williams, Policy/Energy Efficiency/Environmental Media Relations)
Fax: 704-382-0199

or not. That is the question facing Person County. We already have two large coal fired power plants in place in the northern part of the county; the Hyco lake plant is one of the most polluting power generating facilities in the country. We have a midsized commercial landfill in the southeast corner of the county that handles our trash and some trash from adjacent counties. We also have a Georgia-Pacific paper operation and a few lesser industries already in place.

The North Carolina Public Interest Research Group released a study this week which places North Carolina second, behind Ohio, for the highest level of power plant pollutants released into the air in 2004. Come on, Progress. Come on Duke. We can do better. Number 2 is the first loser, right guys?

The 65-page report is long on detail and begins,

Every day in America, industrial facilities release millions of pounds of toxic substances into the nation’s air and water. Many Americans – especially those who live in close proximity to industrial facilities –harbor deep concern about how those toxic releases may affect their health.

Harbor deep concern about those toxic releases affecting their health. Go figure. I mean, it's not like we have County Commissioners and power companies making secret deals to build just such industrial facilities upwind from cities... oh, wait, here in Buncombe County we do. And it is not like industry would lie about their ambitions and facts about their pollution... oh wait, they do that too.

{Background on this story here}

The amazing Ashevillein has posted this map illustrating the location of the proposed Diesel Power Plant (in red) and the direction of the prevailing winds (black line).

This puts pollution from the plant right into booming west Asheville.

Follow below the fold for action.

{c/p @ ScruHoo}

Woodfin, celebrated home of short-sighted governance on Asheville's northern shore, in partnership with ethically questionable county commissioners leased 78 acres of land to Progress Energy for a dollar. Progress hopes to build a Diesel Power Plant, which will become one of the top five polluters in Buncombe County.

Where to begin?

Congressman Charles Taylor's first television ad of the political season (Watch it HERE) is brought to NC's eleventh district by the United States Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is: "the world's largest not-for-profit business federation...The Chamber is staffed with policy specialists, lobbyists and lawyers. It is known for spending more money than any other lobbying organization on a yearly basis." - Wikipedia