Here's a news item that will be running in tomorrow's paper about a seminar on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) being held at Cal State Wednesday.
Kern is expected to be a major player in the development of this technology, which is considered to be one of the key means of reducing worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. We have at two CCS projects planned for this area right now.
An emerging technology to capture carbon emissions and store them in underground rock formations as a way to combat global warming will be the topic of a seminar held at Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday.
Geoffrey D. Thyne, a research scientist at the University of Wyoming’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute, will give a talk on the economic, scientific and engineering challenges of carbon sequestration starting at 4 p.m. in Science Building III, room 108.
The talk will address the environmental and financial aspects of this new technology, as well as how it can benefit from enhanced oil recovery techniques already in use by the petroleum industry.
The event is free and open to the public.
We had a story in today's paper about a lawsuit brought by a group advocating tougher air pollution enforcement on dairies that's resulted in the temporary suspension of a major pollution rule.
Below is a press release from the air district distributed this morning.
It's a complicated issue but what's happening is that the groups arguing for tougher rules for dairies are advocating for this rule to be suspended -- even though it could mean an increase in emissions during the summer smog season -- so a better rule can be developed.
The air district's executive director says the group has the right to try to push for a better rule but they could have agreed to leave the existing one in place in the meantime.
Here's the text of the press release:
Environmental lawsuit will stop enforcement of tough regulations on Valley dairies.
Legal complaint will result in release of smog-causing emissions
At its April 16 meeting, the Air District will set a May hearing date to set aside its ground-breaking rule regulating emissions from dairies and other confined animal facilities.
Rule 4570 (Confined Animal Facilities), which covers about two-thirds of the confined animals in the air basin (including dairies and poultry houses), was adopted in June 2006 and has required affected facilities to use waste- and feed-management practices to reduce the release of contaminants into the air.
The District estimates reductions in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) of 9 tons per day are equivalent to removing 1.3 million passenger cars from Valley roads. Additionally, the rule has resulted in reducing about 100 tons per day of ammonia and 200 tons per day of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
The cost of complying with rule was estimated at $26 million.
In July 2006, the Association of Irritated Residents (AIR) filed a lawsuit challenging the rule on a number of substantive issues and one procedural matter relating to the adequacy of the staff report on the public-health impact of the rule. The group’s legal challenges are summarized as follows:
* Failure to perform a health effects analysis.
* The rule did not address all the necessary pollutants.
* The rule did not require Best Available Retrofit Control Technologies.
* The District double counted and overstated the expected emissions reductions.
Trial and appellate courts rejected AIR’s main arguments relating to the rule adequacy and the projected reductions in emissions. However, The Fifth Appellate District Court reversed a lower court decision and ruled that the District’s staff report did not sufficiently address the public health impact of the rule. At the request of AIR, the court has ordered the District to set the rule pending its completion of the health assessment analysis.
“We are disappointed that Bay Area attorneys representing AIR rejected our proposal to leave the rule in place and continue the progress that we have made in significantly reducing dairy emissions,” said Seyed Sadredin, the District’s executive director and air pollution control officer. “Setting the rule aside at the peak of the Valley’s ozone season is not in the best interest of the Valley residents.”
To minimize the impact of this rollback, the District is asking the dairy industry to voluntarily comply with the rule.
“The Valley’s agricultural industry has been integral in the air basin’s progress toward cleaner air. However, given the current state of economy and the historically low milk prices, I’m afraid that some dairies may take advantage of the relief that this rule revocation would provide,” Sadredin said. “This rule is the most stringent dairy rule in the nation and has served a model for other regions throughout the state.”
District staff will recommend to the District’s Governing Board at its May meeting to set aside the rule’s enforcement until a health study has been completed. The Board will then consider the health study at its June meeting to decide whether to readopt the rule in its original form or to direct staff to begin the public process for amending the rule. The District has already prepared a draft health assessment that is available for public review and comment.
The Valley Air District covers eight counties including San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and the Valley air basin portion of Kern. Visit www.valleyair.org <http://www.valleyair.org>... to learn more.
The following will be running in The Californian over the next few days. If you know any businesses that fit the bill, please contact me. We'd really like to highlight what environmental initiatives are underway in our local business community.
Thanks for your help!
Has your company gone green?
With Earth Day approaching, The Californian would like to hear from local business and organizations that have invested in ways to reduce pollution, waste or energy and water use.
It doesn’t matter how big or small the change, as long as it has some noticeable impact on the environment.
Has your company installed solar panels or an efficient lighting system? Have you committed to buying recycled products, purchased hybrid vehicles for the company fleet or cut down on product packaging?
If so, please contact environment reporter Stacey Shepard at 395-7272, or sshepard@bakersfield.com. Companies and organizations that contact us may be featured in an Earth Day story.
Just received this press release from the Center for Biological Diversity:
$30,000 Reward Posted for Capture of Shooter
SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity has established a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who recently shot two California condors. Although both condors remain alive, it is uncertain whether either will ever be able to return to the wild.
“These are senseless crimes, and we are hopeful that the establishment of this reward will help investigators find the person or people responsible,” said Adam Keats, director of the Center’s Urban Wildlands Program. “Shooting these birds hurts us all — from the folks who have worked so hard to bring the condor back from the brink of extinction to everybody who has ever seen one of these giant birds soaring in the California sky.”
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The Wendy P. McCaw Foundation of Santa Barbara has pledged $25,000 of the total reward, which was posted after the California Department of Fish and Game announced that biologists found a juvenile female condor, “#375,” suffering from lead poisoning and with three shotgun pellets lodged in her wing and thigh. This discovery came just three weeks after biologists found condor “#286” with 15 shotgun pellets lodged in its body. Both condors were part of the flock located near Big Sur and the central coast of California.
“These are the actions of a depraved individual who should be brought to justice,” said Adam Keats. “The California condor is a powerful symbol of the wild — one our children and grandchildren deserve to experience as more than a footnote to history.”
The California condor is listed as an endangered species and is protected by both federal and state law. Condors were in decline most of the 20th century, dipping as low as 25 birds in the mid-1980s. Since then, a valiant captive-breeding effort has seen condors released in Pinnacles, Big Sur, and southern California near the Tehachapi Mountains. More than 85 condors now fly free in California skies. Condors have also been released in Arizona and Baja California in Mexico.
Condors proved particularly susceptible to lead poisoning, which they get from the ingestion of lead fragments from hunter-shot lead ammunition. In response to this, California mandated the use of non-lead ammunition in all condor range in 2008.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting should call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 916-414-6660 or the California Department of Fish and Game's CalTIP Program at 1-888-dfg-caltip.
More information on the California condor is available at: www.savethecondors.org <http://www.savethecondors.o... .
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