Watts Up With That (the best climate site on the web) reports that China is moving ahead with thorium nuclear reactors, which have a more plentiful fuel supply than conventional nuclear reactors, among other advantages. This, along with copious coal production and purchases by China, points to the fact that they are developing a reliable base load of electricity, rather than hoping to run their economy from wind power.
Speaking of wind power, it's in the doldrums. Iowa, which had positioned itself to be the renewable energy center, between wind and ethanol, expects a slow recovery in wind turbine orders. (Ethanol has problems of its own, as far as driving up food prices and using almost as much energy to make as is produced.) I suspect it's not just due to the economy, but less demand for renewable energy in the face of abundant and cheap natural gas.
Wind is unpredictable and unreliable. It has a place, and we can hope that work will proceed on solving wind power storage issues, which would greatly increase its usefulness. But until then, America needs to get serious about developing the next generation of reliable power sources.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Fourth Circuit Applies Rapanos, Remands Corps Decision
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision on January 25, 2011 in which it applied the US Supreme Court's decision in Rapanos v. US, 547 US 715 (2006), the Supreme Court's most recent guidance on the jurisdictional extent of the Clean Water Act. The case, Precon Development v. US Army Corps of Engineers, No. 09-2239, involved a determination by the Corps of Engineers that a wetlands area had a "significant nexus" to the nearest traditionally navigable water, the Northwest River. Precon had appealed the determination, because it did not want to get a CWA 404 permit for construction in part of the wetlands. The Fourth Circuit affirmed the Corps' determination that the wetlands on which Precon wanted to construct, and neighboring wetlands, should be aggregated for purposes of considering the effect of the wetlands on the navigable water 7 miles downstream. However, the Court concluded that the Corps had not adequately established that the wetlands had a significant effect on the downstream river, by preventing floods through water retention, or pollutant absorption. As the Court pointed out, the Corps' own Rapanos Guidance cautions that "[a]s the distance from the tributary to the navigable water increases, it will become increasingly important to document whether the tributary and its adjacent wetlands have a significant nexus rather than a speculative or insubstantial nexus with a traditional navigable water."
The case is a good primer on the state of the law regarding the jurisdictional extent of the Clean Water Act.
It discusses the two test, both Justice Kennedy's "significant nexus" test and the plurality opinion that jurisdiction extends to water bodies with a continuous surface connection to a traditional navigable water. The parties here agreed that the significant nexus test applied, and the Court noted that using the plurality approach, a "continuous connection" test, would have made jurisdiction even less likely.
The Corps has lost a battle but not necessarily the war. The Corps can still explain the significant nexus between the wetlands and the Northwest River. With regard to the remand, the Court said:
Thanks to John Palmer for forwarding this case to my attention.
The case is a good primer on the state of the law regarding the jurisdictional extent of the Clean Water Act.
It discusses the two test, both Justice Kennedy's "significant nexus" test and the plurality opinion that jurisdiction extends to water bodies with a continuous surface connection to a traditional navigable water. The parties here agreed that the significant nexus test applied, and the Court noted that using the plurality approach, a "continuous connection" test, would have made jurisdiction even less likely.
The Corps has lost a battle but not necessarily the war. The Corps can still explain the significant nexus between the wetlands and the Northwest River. With regard to the remand, the Court said:
We ask only that in cases like this one, involving wetlands running alongside a ditch miles from any navigable water, the Corps pay particular attention to documenting why such wetlands significantly, rather than insubstantially, affect the integrity of navigable waters. Such documentation need not take the form of any particular measurements, but should include some comparative information that allows us to meaningfully review the significance of the wetlands’ impacts on downstream water quality.
Thanks to John Palmer for forwarding this case to my attention.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
US District Court Refuses to Dismiss NMA lawsuit
A US District Court Judge has refused a request by the EPA and the Corps of Engineers to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the National Mining Association that alleges EPA has acted unlawfully in adopting memoranda and guidance that significantly changed the manner in which mountaintop mining permits are reviewed and issued. The story can be found in the Environmental News Service, from which the following quotation was taken:
Judge Walton ruled, "The Court finds the plaintiff's arguments more persuasive and agrees that the plaintiff is likely to prevail on its claim that the EPA has exceeded its statutory authority" under the Clean Water Act by issuing a series of memoranda and a detailed guidance that strengthen the water quality standards that mountaintop removal mining operations must meet.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Carbon Sequestration Workgroup Releases Report of Practical and Legal Problems
Secretary of Energy Chu and others believe that we can continue to burn coal as long as we can sequester the resulting carbon dioxide underground. That is going to be difficult to do, as shown in the report of the Legal Subcommittee of the West Virginia Carbon Sequestration and Storage Working Group. It highlights some of the significant legal and practical impediments to sequestering huge amounts of carbon dioxide underground. The report is fuel for those like me, who believe the sequestration is unnecessary, and for environmentalists, who believe it is evidence that coal should never be burned.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Stream Partners Grants Available to Improve Local Waterways
The West Virginia Stream Partners Program is accepting grant applications from community groups interested in improving local stream health.
More than $70,000 is available this year through West Virginia’s Stream Partners Program. Community-based watershed associations wishing to implement a watershed improvement project may apply for up to $5,000. The deadline to apply for grants is April 15, 2011.
According to Stream Partners Program Coordinator Jennifer Pauer, volunteers have used funding in the past for everything from creating fish habitat by planting trees along stream banks, to developing trout in classroom programs at local schools.
“Watershed associations manage to make a big difference in their communities with their Stream Partners funds,” Pauer said. “The money and expertise that the program provides help serve as a catalyst for volunteers to become a part of the solution and make a difference in local water quality.”
Pauer said the Stream Partners Program is a unique multi- agency program that provides technical resources to watershed associations. The partner agencies are West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Forestry, Division of Natural Resources and the West Virginia Conservation Agency.
“If any group or citizen would like to get involved in watershed protection, Stream Partners also offers assistance through four regional basin coordinators,” Pauer said. “Basin coordinators have the expertise to assist citizens with watershed planning, project development, grant writing, partnership building and community education.”
For more information on the Stream Partners Program callFor online application questions, grant cover sheet and grant writing tips visit http://www.wvca.us/stream.cfm.
Friday, January 14, 2011
EPA Follows Through On Veto of Spruce Mine Permit
As expected, EPA has announced it will veto the Spruce No 1 mountaintop mining permit, setting up an epic battle that could decide the future of large scale mountaintop mining in Appalachia. Here is the final decision document, from Ken Ward's Coal Tattoo blog. From the National Mining Association:
In its latest attempt to regulate the U.S. mining industry out of business, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is attempting to unlawfully revoke a previously issued Clean Water Act Sec. 404 permit for a Logan County coal mine in West Virginia. The mine, known as, "Spruce No.1 Surface Mine" was issued its Sec. 404 permit in 2007 after a comprehensive 10- year review in which EPA fully participated and agreed with all provisions and findings of the permit. The mine has been operating for 3 years and represents 300 direct jobs in rural West Virginia and generates an additional 700 jobs in Southern West Virginia. Now, the unelected bureaucrats at the EPA are attempting to use their newly fabricated regulatory powers to attempt to revoke the previously issued permit and with it, reject the millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs that the mine continues to contribute to the community. We need to make sure this does not happen.
In the case of the Logan County permit, EPA's veto is likely to cost the state of West Virginia and Logan County millions of dollars in tax revenues and in a time of economic turmoil, the jobs of over 300 miners. But virtually every mine in the country at some point is required to obtain a Section 404 permit for its operations, so if the EPA is allowed to revoke these permits as they see fit, every mine in the country would be subject to unilateral, after-the-fact shut down of their mines at the hands of the EPA. This is a dire prospective for mining and communities that depend on mining. We need you to make your voice heard and urge your member of congress to oppose EPA's plans.
In Appalachia alone, more than 75,000 thousand jobs rely on mining operations that require section 404 permits. That number escalates nationally with more than 550,000 mining jobs requiring Section 404 permits across the country. And it's not just mining. Approximately $220 billion in economic activity need Section 404 permits every year.
Contacting your members of congress via our Action Center is easy and takes only a moment.
We need a strong show off support. The EPA needs to know that we will not let them regulate the mining industry out of business.
In its latest attempt to regulate the U.S. mining industry out of business, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is attempting to unlawfully revoke a previously issued Clean Water Act Sec. 404 permit for a Logan County coal mine in West Virginia. The mine, known as, "Spruce No.1 Surface Mine" was issued its Sec. 404 permit in 2007 after a comprehensive 10- year review in which EPA fully participated and agreed with all provisions and findings of the permit. The mine has been operating for 3 years and represents 300 direct jobs in rural West Virginia and generates an additional 700 jobs in Southern West Virginia. Now, the unelected bureaucrats at the EPA are attempting to use their newly fabricated regulatory powers to attempt to revoke the previously issued permit and with it, reject the millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs that the mine continues to contribute to the community. We need to make sure this does not happen.
In the case of the Logan County permit, EPA's veto is likely to cost the state of West Virginia and Logan County millions of dollars in tax revenues and in a time of economic turmoil, the jobs of over 300 miners. But virtually every mine in the country at some point is required to obtain a Section 404 permit for its operations, so if the EPA is allowed to revoke these permits as they see fit, every mine in the country would be subject to unilateral, after-the-fact shut down of their mines at the hands of the EPA. This is a dire prospective for mining and communities that depend on mining. We need you to make your voice heard and urge your member of congress to oppose EPA's plans.
In Appalachia alone, more than 75,000 thousand jobs rely on mining operations that require section 404 permits. That number escalates nationally with more than 550,000 mining jobs requiring Section 404 permits across the country. And it's not just mining. Approximately $220 billion in economic activity need Section 404 permits every year.
Contacting your members of congress via our Action Center is easy and takes only a moment.
We need a strong show off support. The EPA needs to know that we will not let them regulate the mining industry out of business.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Affordable Passive Treatment for Small Sewage Treatment Systems
Here's an interesting story from Anthony Watts of Watts Up With That fame, the best blog on the web for climate change information. Many small publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs) in West Virginia are too small to install active wastewater treatment, which can be expensive to build and operate. In order to help those POTWs meet environmental requirements for treating sewage, Fred Jaeger is marketing the Poo-Gloo. It is a dome-shaped device that increases the surface area on which bacteria can break down sewage and other pollutants. It's much more affordable than active treatment, and about as effective.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Capito and McKinley Sponsor Bill to Delay Greenhouse Gas Regulation
In the Elections Have Consequences category, here is evidence of the effect that the election of another Republican congressman from West Virginia could have on national politics. David McKinley, who won Alan Mollohan's seat, is helping Shelley Moore Capito defend West Virginia in the War on Carbon. While the following is a puff piece, it is nice to see some action being taken to push back against misguided efforts to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
Washington, D.C. – Rep. David B. McKinley P.E. (R-WV) Thursday teamed up with Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) as an original co-sponsor of her “Protect America’s Energy and Manufacturing Jobs Act.” The legislation will ensure the EPA’s reckless greenhouse gas regulations will be delayed so that the courts, Congress and possibly another president have time to completely stop them.
“The War on Coal must stop,” said McKinley. “Rep. Capito is exactly on target with this piece of legislation. While we both would strongly prefer a permanent solution, we can’t waste another second. I will be a forceful advocate for the ‘Protect America’s Energy and Manufacturing Jobs Act’ because I promised I would protect West Virginia jobs, and this legislation is the best vehicle to do so at this time.
“If the EPA’s job-killing regulations are allowed to remain in effect, their overreach will result in fewer jobs in West Virginia and higher energy prices for our people. This is unacceptable, and that’s why I have stepped up to address this issue.”
McKinley concluded, "I have said for many months that curbing this out-of-control EPA will be one of my highest priorities. This is exactly why it was so important for me to have the opportunity to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and work side by side with Rep. Capito on this very important and timely legislation. Radical environmentalists should not be allowed to hold West Virginia jobs hostage any longer.”
McKINLEY & CAPITO CO-SPONSORS LEGISLATION TO STOP JOB-KILLING EPA REGULATIONS
PUTS WEIGHT BEHIND BILL TO PLACE MORATORIUM ON PRESIDENT’S BACK-DOOR CAP & TRADE
“The War on Coal must stop,” said McKinley. “Rep. Capito is exactly on target with this piece of legislation. While we both would strongly prefer a permanent solution, we can’t waste another second. I will be a forceful advocate for the ‘Protect America’s Energy and Manufacturing Jobs Act’ because I promised I would protect West Virginia jobs, and this legislation is the best vehicle to do so at this time.
“If the EPA’s job-killing regulations are allowed to remain in effect, their overreach will result in fewer jobs in West Virginia and higher energy prices for our people. This is unacceptable, and that’s why I have stepped up to address this issue.”
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito added, “I knew I could count on David to stand up for West Virginia. Having him on board with this bill – especially considering his assignment to the Energy and Commerce Committee – will strengthen our chances of getting this crucial piece of legislation through the House.”
McKinley concluded, "I have said for many months that curbing this out-of-control EPA will be one of my highest priorities. This is exactly why it was so important for me to have the opportunity to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and work side by side with Rep. Capito on this very important and timely legislation. Radical environmentalists should not be allowed to hold West Virginia jobs hostage any longer.”
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