Air
A Special Report: Salvaging GM’s insolvency
|
Legacy cleanup
Air
Burning cars: Flames aren’t the worst environmental hazard
|
By Thea Neal
Dec. 1, 2009
Salvaged cars aren’t the only ones producing dangerous byproducts. A simple spark at an accident can turn cars into environmental health hazards. Burning cars often emit dangerous toxic gases, said Bill Peters, owner of East Lansing Automotive Center. “So many toxins are released, especially cyanide gas.
Air
Once an autumn tradition, leaf-burning now under fire
|
(MI) The Detroit News – It used to be a regular part of fall weekends all over Michigan: a yard full of leaves raked into a pile and burned, creating that distinctive smell that became an integral part of the season. But these days, one man’s nostalgia-inducing aroma is another’s air pollution. In many places, leaf-burning isn’t welcomed with open arms or even welcomed at all. Many older inner-ring communities have banned the practice outright. Other communities that have seen population growth in recent decades have found that closer quarters and leaf-burning don’t mix.
Air
Polluted spray ‘big surprise’
|
(IN) The Post-Tribune – For the past week, U.S. Steel has been spraying contaminated wastewater collected from the bottom of its hazardous waste landfill into the air over the landfill. The landfill holds sediment dredged from the Grand Calumet River contaminated with mercury and possible cancer-causing pollutants, such as benzene, naphthalene and polychlorinated biphenyls. The 20-foot tall landfill is located within a quarter of a mile of residential neighborhoods. The announcement was a shock to several attendants at U.S. Steel’s quarterly citizens meeting in Gary Thursday, who didn’t know about the project. More
Air
China benefits from Obama’s fuel mandate
|
(MI) The Detroit News – On the same day President Barack Obama marched the Big Three auto executives smiling to the guillotine, China announced it will not set mandatory emissions standards and instead will attack greenhouse gases with a strategy that doesn’t threaten its ferocious economic growth. America has chosen a sharply different tack, as was apparent this week at the White House, where Obama announced he would make the harsh California emissions mandates the national standard. The automakers, now wards of the federal government, had no choice but to cheer the mandates, even though a senior Ford executive told the L.A. Times the mandates would likely put the automaker out of business. More
Air
Automakers, Obama Announce Mileage, Pollution Plan
|
(NY) The New York Times – President Barack Obama wants drivers to go farther on a gallon of gas and cause less damage to the environment — and be willing to pick up the tab. Obama on Tuesday planned to announce the first-ever national emissions limits for cars and trucks, as well as require a 35.5 miles per gallon standard. Consumers should expect to pay an extra $1,300 per vehicle by the time the plan is complete in 2016, officials said. More
Air
U.S. to Offer New Mileage and Emission Standards
|
(NY) The New York Times – The Obama administration will issue new national requirements for the emissions and mileage of cars and light trucks in an effort to end a long-running conflict among the states, the federal government and auto manufacturers, industry officials said Monday. President Obama will announce as early as Tuesday that he will combine California’s tough new auto-emissions rules with the existing corporate average fuel economy standard to create a single new national standard, the officials said. As a result, cars and light trucks sold in the United States will be roughly 30 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016. More