clair031

Summary .   Last year President Obama stated that approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport as much as 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Canada to the Gulf Coast , requires a finding that the pipeline be in the national interest.   As part of the approval process the U. S. Department of State released an environmental impact statement earlier this year.   Its findings and arguments suggest that the pipeline would not have a significant effect on the environment, including greenhouse gas emissions.   In a new journal article, however, Erickson and Lazarus conduct a comprehensive lifecycle analysis of the effects of transporting the additional oil, pointing out shortcomings in the Department of State’s environmental analysis.   They find that when operating at full capacity, the XL pipeline would increase global oil consumption by 490,000 barrels per day as of 2020, leading to new greenhouse gas emissions that are four times higher...

Summary .   The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a Proposed Rule - Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units, in June 2014.   It establishes a goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from existing electricity generating plants by 30% nationwide by 2030.   In order to accomplish this with a great degree of flexibility, state-by-state limits were established, which each state is to achieve after submitting a detailed plan to EPA for review, approval, and verification as the plan is implemented. EPA foresees significant reductions in emission of carbon dioxide, as well as other detrimental pollutants that affect human health from the proposed rule.   The costs expected to be incurred in implementing the plans are recovered by the beneficial impacts of the lowered emissions, both climatically (carbon dioxide) and health related. The proposed rule constitutes an important step in achieving Presi...