Environment Massachusetts Supports the Overhaul of the Clean Water Act

Last week, the Environmental  Protection Agency announced that it would begin an overhaul enforcement of the Clean Water Act. This promise of reform is long past due, as the law is so outdated and full of loopholes that enforcement consistently falls short. Environment Massachusetts is calling on the federal government to protect the public and the environment by strengthening the Clean Water Act.

In an in depth report about water pollution, the New York Times reported that an estimated 19.5 million Americans fall ill each year from drinking water contaminated with parasites, bacteria, or viruses. That's the population of the state of New York.

The Times also reported that chemical factories, manufacturing plants and other workplaces have violated water pollution laws more than half a million times in the last five years. As part of the report, they mapped out the locations of every violator of the 1972 Clean Water Act in the US. Take a look at the map of Massachusetts to find out if you live near a noncompliant facility. The three facilities in the state with the most violations are as follows:

1. East Fitchburg WWTF -- Location: Fitchburg -- Violations: 493 -- Fines paid: $0
2. Mantrose Haeuser Company Inc -- Location: Attleboro -- Violations: 247 -- Fines paid: $0
3. Battle Road Farm WWTF -- Location: Lincoln -- Violations: 230 -- Fines paid: $0
   

Do you live near one of these facilities, or do you see signs of water pollution in your community? Let us know in a comment!

Greenhouse Gasses Right In Front of Your Eyes

When most people think of greenhouse gasses, they think of carbon dioxide spewing out of the tail pipe of a truck, or the smoke stack outside a factory. Greenhouse gasses actually come in many forms from many sources, some of which you might not expect. For example, the computer screen you are looking at right now is probably a source of greenhouse gasses.

Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) is often used in the production of flat-panel displays, thin-film solar panels, and microcircuits. It has been used more frequently the last few years because it was believed to be less dangerous and pervasive than perfluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas. However, a team of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered that this assumption was false in a study completed last year.

As it turns out, NF3 is actually 17,000 times more potent as a greenhouse gas and survives in the atmosphere five times longer than carbon dioxide. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol didn’t cover this gas because there was no way to accurately measure the amount of the gas in the atmosphere until last year's study, so the amount in the atmosphere was grossly underestimated. In fact, there is four times more NF3 in our atmosphere than was originally thought.

In a response to this study and the increased use of the gas in manufacturing, scientists have strongly recommended that NF3 be added to the list of regulated greenhouse gasses. This hasn't happened yet, but it does look like the Environmental Protection Agency is moving in the right direction. Last month, the EPA mandated that facilities that use NF3, as well as other greenhouse gasses, must begin collecting and reporting data on the emissions they release.

Until strict regulations are put in place, there are a number of ways you can help control the release of NF3 into the atmosphere. Make sure you recycle your used flat-screen television and LCD computer displays. Many companies like Apple and Panasonic offer free recycling of their used electronics (Apple even offers a discount on replacement iPods if you recycle your old one!).

Unfortunately, fewer companies in the US offer recycling for used solar panels, but that doesn't mean you should avoid buying them!Research your choices, and find a model that has a low energy payback time, the amount of time it takes the panel to produce more energy than was used to produce it. Most solar panels last 25 to 30 years, which is more than enough time to negate the effects of NF3 it contains.

E-waste and recycling is a big issue, and I’ll be talking more about it in a later post. Until then, comment here and tell us about your experiences recycling/disposing of TVs and LCD screens.

Help the Environment by Changing the Way You Watch TV

Environment Massachusetts is in the midst of a campaign to Repower Massachusetts with clean, renewable energy and reduce energy waste wherever and whenever possible. We all know using too much energy hurts the environment and costs a lot of money, but some of the most significant sources of wasted energy are probably much less well known. A great deal of the energy we waste comes from appliances we use everyday that use more energy than needed.

One of the most significant perpetrators of energy waste can be found in virtually every home in Massachusetts: the television. Televisions alone consume more than 5% of residential energy used in the commonwealth. That translates directly to additional CO2 pumped into the atmosphere, which contributes to both air pollution and global warming.

Global warming advocate Ben Wright has been doing a lot of work lately to pass a bill here in Massachusetts that would help reverse these effects. On Wednesday, he testified before the Joint Committee for Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy in support of House Bill 3124. H 3124 would set energy efficiency standards for a number of household appliances, including televisions, portable light fixtures, water coolers, hot food holding cabinets, hot tubs, compact audio equipment, and DVD players and recorders. Setting these standards is a common sense solution that would reduce CO2 emissions enough to save enough electricity to power 60,000 homes, or take 40,000 cars off the road annually.

This bill, which is already getting national attention, positions Massachusetts to join other states in leading the country toward federal adoption of a standard for all televisions, which is very similar to what we did in 2005. Almost all the appliances covered by the appliance efficiency bill we passed that year now have federal standards We know federal standards work; energy use from refrigerators has declined 45% since the national adoption of a standard for refrigerators.

Of course the best option for preventing energy waste through appliances would be to just turn them off, but that can prove to be difficult in today's constantly moving world. That doesn't mean you have to be left behind on the road to total efficiency; most appliances already have energy-friendly options. For example, there are at least 250 television models at all sizes and price points that meet the standards recommended in the bill.

Help us become an energy efficiency leader in the United States! Contact your state representative and ask them to support the appliance efficiency standards set by H 3124! (Don't know who your rep is? Look it up here.) Let us know what they said in the comments!

Cut Carbon Emissions by Supporting Bike Lanes!

Hey everyone, it’s Darylle again. Environment Massachusetts is always working for cleaner air in our state by supporting legislation to decrease pollution, but all Massachusetts residents have the ability to decrease pollution through their actions.

One of the best direct actions residents can take to help is to use modes of transportation that don't burn fossil fuels, like bicycles.  Bikes are a great way to help the environment, stay fit, and get where you need to go. Unfortunately, it is not easy to take advantage of this option in the city of Boston.  Our office is located in downtown Boston, so we see the difficulties cyclists face everyday. Environment Massachusetts is not working directly on a bicycle campaign right now, but we agree with campaigns run by other organizations, like LivableStreets Alliance, that are working to make Boston more bike-friendly.

Boston was named one of the worst biking cities in the nation three times in the last 10 years by Bicycling magazine. This is not surprising, considering we have only one bike lane in the whole city. This means that cyclists are usually forced with mix with car traffic, which is incredibly dangerous and unhealthy. On top of the risk of being hit by a car (it happened to Mayor Menino last summer!), those on bikes are forced to inhale exhaust fumes for extended periods of time.

It does look like conditions have improved in the last year. Mayor Menino appointed Nicole Freedman as the director of bicycle programs for the city of Boston. She helped oversee the creation of the bike lanes along Commonwealth Avenue. In addition, Bicycling magazine revised its opinion and named Boston a future best city for biking. This is good news for the 5.4% of commuters in the Boston area who bike or walk to work on a regular basis, according to the American Fitness Index.

Contact Boston's biking czar and ask her to help our citizens become healthier and decrease global warming pollution by making Boston more bike-friendly!

Do you ride your bicycle to work or school? How bike-friendly are other communities in Massachusetts? Let us know in the comments!

More Danger from Oceans and Climate Change

In my last post, I talked about negative effects that climate change has on the oceans. What is perhaps even more frightening is the danger the oceans are posing to the land and its inhabitants because of rising sea levels and global warming.

As the planet warms, polar ice caps are melting and glaciers are breaking apart, which is causing sea levels all over the world to rise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated last year that sea levels would rise by two feet in the next century, compared to one foot in the last century. Two feet over one hundred years may not sound like much, but that increase means a threat of total disaster for at least one country.

The Republic of Maldives, a collection of tiny islands in the Indian Ocean, looks like paradise. However, its 400,000 residents will likely become the world's first population to lose their country to global warming. Maldives' highest point is less than eight feet above sea level, so a sea level increase of two feet would certainly be devastating.  Maldivians got a stark view of what was to come when a tsunami almost completely submerged the entire nation for several minutes in 2004.

This terrifying vision of the consequences of climate change may seem far away to us Bay Staters, but our state is definitely not immune to rising sea levels. The New England Aquarium has a great (but scary!) video showing a simulation of rising sea levels around the aquarium in decades to come. Just click on "Higher Harbor Waters" to see how similar Boston's fate will be to Maldives'.

If we don't want Massachusetts residents to be forced out of their homes by global warming in the future, we need to act now. Sign Environment Massachusetts' petition to ask our senators to support legislation that would help cap global warming pollution!

Are you already experiencing problems with coastal flooding? Let us know by commenting!