U.S. EPA orders companies in Visalia, Calif., to protect Mill Creek from polluted wastewater
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the resolution of a series of enforcement actions for Clean Water Act violations at three manufacturing companies located in Visalia, Calif. The facilities owned by Univar USA, Advanced Food Products, and Milk Specialties Global…
EPA Kicks Off Campus RainWorks Challenge to Develop Innovative Approaches to Stormwater Management
Washington – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching its fourth annual Campus RainWorks Challenge for undergraduate and graduate students to design green infrastructure systems to reduce stormwater pollution and increase resiliency to climate change. Student teams, working with a…
Clean Energy Conference Roundup: September 2015
By EDF Blogs Each month, the Energy Exchange rounds up a list of top clean energy conferences around the country. Our list includes conferences at which experts from the EDF Clean Energy Program will be speaking, plus additional events that we think our readers may benefit from marking on their…
EPA Opens Comment Period on Proposed Modifications to Draft NH Stormwater Permit
BOSTON – EPA has proposed modifications to the draft General Permits for Stormwater Discharges from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) in New Hampshire based on comments received. These proposed modifications both clarify and increase flexibility to the permit requirements by…
Four Things California Should Consider before Rolling Out Time-of-Use Pricing
By Jamie Fine This summer the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ordered big changes in how Californians will pay for electricity. Starting in 2019, residential customers of the big three investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas…
Four Things California Should Consider before Rolling Out Time-of-Use Pricing
By Jamie Fine This summer the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ordered big changes in how Californians will pay for electricity. Starting in 2019, residential customers of the big three investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas…
Great Lakes Successes Take Front & Center – Part 1
It’s official. The first five years of the precedent-setting Great Lakes Restoration Initiative are history. And the Initiative has made history. The Initiative is the largest Great Lakes-only investment in restoring and protecting the ecosystem in U.S. history. Recently, the Great Lakes…
Linking Supply Chains and REDD+ to Reduce Deforestation
By Chris Meyer and Dana Miller Two tropical forest conservation efforts have gained momentum in recent years: zero deforestation commitments from the private sector and the policy framework Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). Both efforts are necessary, but not…
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: September 1, 2015
Our views: Gov. Bobby Jindal’s master plan on coastal restoration ‘is the framework for an effective response’ The Advocate. August 31, 2015 " If there are issues dividing the candidates running for governor, coastal restoration is not among them. In fact, there’s a striking level of…
Reforesting: a new tune for community resiliency
About the author: Carolina Diaz de Villegas is a recent graduate of the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University, where she, Kiara Rodriguez, and Michelle Bravo have been providing technical assistance to the Town of Medley as part of projects developed under EPA’s…
Powerful Business: The Lever for Change Across the Supply Chain
By Elizabeth Sturcken Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. -Archimedes Sometimes when a problem seems too big, too ugly and too complex to handle, you need a lever to help move things along. All of the big environmental problems we currently…
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: August 31, 2015
New Orleans hurricane defenses rely on swamps as much as levees *features Alisha Renfro, NWF By Kim Brunhuber, CBC News. August 28, 2015 " The storm surge itself interacts with the plants and it causes friction and slowing the storm surge down, decreasing the height of that storm surge,"…
TUESDAY: EPA Division Director to Highlight the New Norfolk Southern ‘Eco’ Locomotives in Atlanta
ATLANTA – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Air, Pesticides, and Toxics Management Division Director Beverly Banister will speak at the Norfolk Southern Inman Yard during the unveiling of the nation’s first ‘Eco’ locomotives. The new locomotive switch engines for use in…
Critics of Clean Energy in North Carolina: You Got Your Facts Wrong
By David Kelly Yes, energy costs in North Carolina have increased – $40 or $50 per month for many households since 2001. But the growth of renewable energy is not the reason why. Conventional energy sources like coal are getting more expensive, accounting for as much as 84 percent of this…
Finding a Balanced Solar Policy in Kansas
By John Finnigan How does a utility company structure charges for the electricity it sells? That depends on where you live, and across the country, utilities are filing for rate increases with state agencies and commissions. The utility’s charges may be some combination of a fixed monthly fee, a…
EPA Proposes Rules to Improve Hazardous Waste Management and Better Protect our Waterways / New Rules Also Reduce Regulatory Burden on Businesses
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing two new hazardous waste rules to strengthen environmental protection while reducing regulatory burden on businesses. One of the proposed rules will protect waterways, including drinking and surface water, by preventing the…
US President Visits Alaskan Arctic to Call Attention to Climate Change
ALASKA, USA — The president’s three-day visit comes after he issued a permit for Shell to start drilling for gas and oil in the Arctic Ocean. Obama plans to visit a shrinking glacier and some Arctic communities.
Making Hazardous Waste Regulations Work for Today’s Marketplace
The pace of technology and change in the modern world can be dizzying. As new medicines and treatments are developed, new types of waste emerge. However, our hazardous waste generator regulations were written in the 1980s and haven’t changed much over the years. Well, today we’re taking steps…
A Plug for Trash Free Waters
By Annette Poliwka My love of recycling, or better said, my hatred of trash led me to a research expedition through the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, a portion of the Atlantic Ocean that traps man-made debris. My interest in recycling really began in the 7th grade, when I realized how the…
The Important Role of Voluntary Efforts and Partnerships in Port Sustainability – a New Orleans Perspective
Image credit: Tracie Morris Schaefer, courtesy of the Port of New Orleans By Amelia Pellegrin, Port of New Orleans Environmental Services Manager The Port of New Orleans is working to shift the discussion from ports as sources of pollution, to ports as generators of solutions that engage not just…
