Good to know there are still some journalistic standards at The New York Times. "Clean coal" is such a laughably naked attempt to downplay what a pollutant it is. As I've said before, it'd be funny if the consequences weren't so dire, but the sheer implausability merits at least a wry chuckle.
More and more evidence that Trump doesn't care about anyone but himself. He doesn't care how many people die, as long as he continues to get paid. Nothing or anyone else matters. I think there will be a whole lot more dead people soon before he's finished. The damage he's doing will take years to repair, if they even bother. I'm afraid the Americans and the greater world will have to suffer a lot more before things might get better someday.
Really cool that you are part of those talks. What does environmental journalism even look like in a period when 90% of the EPA's staff is fired by a deranged president?
Not sure how much you will get into it especially with a reporter from the NYT but just thinking about how different coverage would be in that event between an outlet like the NYT vs yours. How many more euphemisms for Trump destroying this country and the planet can the NYT twist into a "breaking with past norms" type of headline? What is the breaking point for legacy outlets here?
Not trying to say anything critical here but just this past week of Trump demolishing part of the White House and very possibly stealing almost a quarter billion from the US treasury for crimes he committed has drawn into focus, not that I ever believed they cared, just how much Trump and Republicans really are acting like they don't have to worry about free and fair elections ever again. And I want news outlets to try and stop that somehow before it's too late. Not the best advice I know but like I said this past week has made me more frantic.
I've been sort of ambivalent about more and more stringent regs for non-GHG emissions from powerplants, figuring first that reductions in my lifetime have already been phenomenal, and second, that the damn powerplants were going away quickly enough. I still buy mostly into the first, but clearly the second ain't happening as quickly as I hoped.
From one of your links: "Mercury emissions from power plants dropped by 81.7% from 2011 through 2017, according to analysis by the Center for American Progress." If only GHG emissions dropped that much!!! And I think other air Hg reductions happened before that from both power plants and metal refining starting in the 70s.
CO, SO2, NOx, PMx, Lead, most VOCs... Some are down 98%. Overall, I'd say the air is 80% cleaner now than when I grew up.
One search result shows US childhood Hg levels down by 50% or so, not as much as reductions in emissions, but that's because there is a lot of Hg left in the water from contamination over the last 2000 years.
If you are hanging with the folks from Inside Climate News, I associate them with a certain school of EJ framing which seems to repeat as: Some contaminant drops from 10 ppm to 2 ppm for lily white folks in the 'burbs, and 20 ppm to 3 ppm for folks on the wrong side of the tracks. Why is the headline always "Po' folks exposed to 50% more pollution from..." This seems to feed the vibe that 60 years of environmental legislation, rules, regs, etc., have failed. In any case, one other study of Hg in America showed that affluence is correlated with higher blood mercury. Too much sushi I guess.
Reminds me of Black Sabbath's song, Into The Void.
Rocket engines burning fuel so fast
Up into the night sky, they blast
Through the universe, the engines whine
Could it be the end of man and time?
Back on earth, the flame of life burns low
Everywhere is misery and woe
Pollution kills the air, the land, and sea
Man prepares to meet his destiny, yeah
Rocket engines burning fuel so fast
Up into the black sky, so vast
Burning metal through the atmosphere
Earth remains in worry, hate, and fear
With the hateful battles raging on
Rockets flying to the glowing sun
Through the empires of eternal void
Freedom from the final suicide
Freedom fighters sent out to the sun
Escape from brainwashed minds and pollution
Leave the earth to all its sin and hate
Find another world where freedom waits, yeah
Past the stars in fields of ancient void
Through the shields of darkness, where they find
Love upon a land a world unknown
Where the sons of freedom make their home
Leave the earth to Satan and his slaves
Leave them to their future in the grave
Make a home where love is there to stay
Peace and happiness in every day
Just in time for Halloween. A true American Horror Story.
Good to know there are still some journalistic standards at The New York Times. "Clean coal" is such a laughably naked attempt to downplay what a pollutant it is. As I've said before, it'd be funny if the consequences weren't so dire, but the sheer implausability merits at least a wry chuckle.
More and more evidence that Trump doesn't care about anyone but himself. He doesn't care how many people die, as long as he continues to get paid. Nothing or anyone else matters. I think there will be a whole lot more dead people soon before he's finished. The damage he's doing will take years to repair, if they even bother. I'm afraid the Americans and the greater world will have to suffer a lot more before things might get better someday.
Really cool that you are part of those talks. What does environmental journalism even look like in a period when 90% of the EPA's staff is fired by a deranged president?
Not sure how much you will get into it especially with a reporter from the NYT but just thinking about how different coverage would be in that event between an outlet like the NYT vs yours. How many more euphemisms for Trump destroying this country and the planet can the NYT twist into a "breaking with past norms" type of headline? What is the breaking point for legacy outlets here?
Not trying to say anything critical here but just this past week of Trump demolishing part of the White House and very possibly stealing almost a quarter billion from the US treasury for crimes he committed has drawn into focus, not that I ever believed they cared, just how much Trump and Republicans really are acting like they don't have to worry about free and fair elections ever again. And I want news outlets to try and stop that somehow before it's too late. Not the best advice I know but like I said this past week has made me more frantic.
I've been sort of ambivalent about more and more stringent regs for non-GHG emissions from powerplants, figuring first that reductions in my lifetime have already been phenomenal, and second, that the damn powerplants were going away quickly enough. I still buy mostly into the first, but clearly the second ain't happening as quickly as I hoped.
From one of your links: "Mercury emissions from power plants dropped by 81.7% from 2011 through 2017, according to analysis by the Center for American Progress." If only GHG emissions dropped that much!!! And I think other air Hg reductions happened before that from both power plants and metal refining starting in the 70s.
CO, SO2, NOx, PMx, Lead, most VOCs... Some are down 98%. Overall, I'd say the air is 80% cleaner now than when I grew up.
One search result shows US childhood Hg levels down by 50% or so, not as much as reductions in emissions, but that's because there is a lot of Hg left in the water from contamination over the last 2000 years.
If you are hanging with the folks from Inside Climate News, I associate them with a certain school of EJ framing which seems to repeat as: Some contaminant drops from 10 ppm to 2 ppm for lily white folks in the 'burbs, and 20 ppm to 3 ppm for folks on the wrong side of the tracks. Why is the headline always "Po' folks exposed to 50% more pollution from..." This seems to feed the vibe that 60 years of environmental legislation, rules, regs, etc., have failed. In any case, one other study of Hg in America showed that affluence is correlated with higher blood mercury. Too much sushi I guess.