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FedEx puts more hybrids on the road; says feds should express incentives
Green Right Now Reports:
FedEx has added 92 hybrid-electric trucks to its fleet, all of which are converted standard delivery trucks.
 The increase represents a jump of 50 percent in the company’s hybrid fleet, bringing it to a total of 264 hybrid-electric vehicles. FedEx estimates that its hybrid fleet has saved an estimated 1,521 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions since 2004. That’s equivalent to taking 279 cars off the road annually.
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Tags: · Air Pollution, California, Charlotte, FedEx, Greener Businesses, Greenhouse Gases, hybrid conversions, hybrid incentives, hybrid-electric vehicles, North Carolina
What you can’t see can hurt you: the science of tiny air pollution particles
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
You know those smoggy, hazy days when you look toward downtown to find the skyscrapers obscured behind a ripply, gray veil? What horrible pollution, you think. And it may be.
 But watch out, those other days when the skyscrapers blaze brightly under clear blue skies may be deceptively hazardous to your health as well, or maybe more so.
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Tags: · Air Pollution, arterosclerosis, Asthma, carbon dioxide emissions, cardiovascular illness, diabetes, exhaust fumes, micro particles, National Environmental Public Health Tracking Record, particulate matter, respiratory illness, smog
Poll finds that a majority of Americans support climate change regulation
From Green Right Now Reports:
A majority of Americans – about 75 percent – support regulating greenhouse gases from power plants, cars and manufacturing that would reduce global warming, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
But only a bare majority – 52 percent – support a cap-and-trade approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and 42 percent oppose such a program, which is the type of approach taken in the Waxman-Markey climate legislation expected to be voted on in the US House of Representations, possibly Friday.
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Tags: · ABC News, Air Pollution, American Clean Energy and Security Act, cap-and-trade, Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, poll, Washington Post, Waxman-Markey
Find your car’s emissions and greenhouse gas ratings
From Green Right Now Reports
How do cars pollute? In two main ways, through inefficient mileage (guzzling a gallon of gas every eight or 10 or 14 miles) and through tailpipe emissions.
There’s the pollution associated with manufacturing, also, but to keep it simple let’s stick with emissions and mileage. Obviously, both affect the air. Think of mileage as a measure of your car’s pollution volume over time – if a gallon of gas doesn’t take you very far, you have to burn a lot more gas — and emissions as the chemistry of that pollution; if the mix is particularly noxious, your car will be a bigger offender than one with better tailpipe controls.
So if you want to buy the cleanest car you can — in the price range you need — you’ll look at both factors. Fortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has already done this work, assigning a “greenhouse gas” score to most models. Find it at the EPA’s Green Vehicles website.
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Tags: · Air Pollution, Cars, Department of Energy, Emissions, Environmental Protection Agency, Fuel Efficiency, greenhouse gas rating, Greenhouse Gases, taipipe exhaust, Trucks
Mercury emissions contaminating Pacific Ocean seafood
By Laura Elizabeth May
Green Right Now
The U.S. Geological Survey has released a study showing an increase in mercury emissions from human sources is affecting the fish population in the Pacific Ocean.
Scientists had predicted a 50 percent increase in mercury levels in the Pacific Ocean by 2050, if mercury emission rates continue as projected. Human contribution to mercury pollution includes coal burning power plants and waste incineration. The water sampled for this study — released May 1 — shows that the mercury levels in 2006 were already approximately 30 percent higher than the same samples in the 1990’s.
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Tags: · Air Pollution, Asia, coal plants, Fish, mercury contamination, Pacific Ocean, seafood, tuna, U.S. Geological Survey, waste incineration
EPA to test air quality at schools in suspected ‘toxic hot spots’
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
With the Environmental Protection Agency back in full action again after years of humming in neutral, things are happening, and some important beneficiaries could be America’s school children.
USA TODAY reports today that the EPA is expected to run tests of the air quality outside some 62 schools in 22 states to see whether the sites are polluted beyond healthy thresholds. (See the list of schools.)
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Tags: · Air Pollution, BarbaraKesslerBlog, Chicago, Dallas, EPA, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Schools, USA TODAY
Bay Area exceeding air standards
By David Louie
KGO-San Francisco
The Bay Area is on notice that it’s exceeding new federal air standards for asthma-aggravating particles.
Federal transportation funding is on the line if the Bay Area doesn’t shape up. The problem is nearly invisible soot in the area that can lead not only to asthma, but also to bronchitis and heart disease.
>> Watch now
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Tags: · Air Pollution, KGO, San Francisco
Beijing Treated Olympians To Clearer Skies; Can It Continue The Legacy?
August 26th, 2008 · 1 Comment
By Diane Porter
There are already undeniable legacies of the 2008 Olympic Games: eight gold medals hanging around U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps’ neck, for instance, or the otherworldly sprint that helped Jamaican runner Usain Bolt break Michael Johnson’s record in the men’s 100 meter race. There are visual reminders, as well; the Olympic pavilions, Bird’s Nest and Water Cube will remain a part of central Beijing life for decades.
 Perhaps the most crucial legacy, however, is yet to be played out. As hotels empty, athletes and television crews return to their home countries, and Beijing goes back to a life more sheltered from the world, the lingering question is this: Will the enormous and by most accounts successful efforts to reduce the city’s pollution during the Olympic games continue in some fashion, improving life for those who live there and reducing the city’s footprint on the global environment?
“Beijing will be built into a livable city,” said Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau in a press conference the day before closing ceremonies.
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Tags: · Air Pollution, Asthma, Athletes, Beijing, Olympics
Olympic Athletes in Beijing: Let The Breathing Challenges Begin!
By Diane Porter
They could all be fine.
Or they could suffer allergic reactions, coughs, asthma attacks, respiratory infections, oxygen debt and cramps. Their performances could slip,
Photo: Frank Wechsel / triathlon.org
Jason Shoemaker competes at the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup
their chances for world records could suffer. And predicting medal winners could prove more difficult than usual, [...]
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Tags: · Air Pollution, Athletes, Beijing, Olympics, Ozone
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The increase represents a jump of 50 percent in the company’s hybrid fleet, bringing it to a total of 264 hybrid-electric vehicles. FedEx estimates that its hybrid fleet has saved an estimated 1,521 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions since 2004. That’s equivalent to taking 279 cars off the road annually.
