Complete list of press releases

(26 February 2003 - Raleigh)  Environmental Defense today urged N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper to file a lawsuit on behalf of the state against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to block proposed changes to the federal New Source Review (NSR) program under the Clean Air Act.  Ten states have already filed suit to keep the EPA from rolling-back NSR controls that reduce emissions of harmful pollutants.  North Carolina has until February 28 to file a suit.

“NSR protections have been instrumental in safeguarding North Carolina’s air quality for more than 25 years, and the state has just days to add its voice to the chorus of states that oppose any weakening of federal Clean Air Act protections,” said Michael Shore, southeast air quality manager for Environmental Defense.

“The proposed changes to NSR controls will enable manufacturing facilities located in North Carolina and utilities in upwind states to increase pollution. Under the provisions of the North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act, the state is authorized to use all available resources, including lawsuits, to protect air quality.  Suing the EPA is something North Carolina leaders should do to ensure the state is taking all necessary steps to protect the public health,” said Shore.

Announced in November 2002 and made official on New Year’s Eve, the Bush administration’s NSR rollback broadly exempts power plants and industrial facilities nationwide from long-standing federal air pollution controls.  Health protections under the NSR program have historically required power plants, refineries, steel mills, chemical plants and other large industrial sources that lack modern pollution control systems to update their pollution reduction technology when they take action that significantly increases air pollution.

(24 February 2003 — Washington)  Environmental Defense today expressed strong support for the “Stop Oil Spills (S.O.S.) Act” as introduced by Representative Lois Capps (D-CA).

Rep. Capps’ new legislation would accelerate the adoption of true double-hulled tankers in U.S. waters and speed the phase out of existing high-risk single-hulled tankers.  The “Stop Oil Spills Act” proposes, among other needed safety measures, to discontinue the use of all remaining single-hulled oil tankers in U.S. waters by 2007, instead of the 2015 phase out date currently required under federal law.

“All too frequently, we see the devastation of our marine environment from oil spills resulting from structural and design deficiencies in oil tankers,” said Richard Charter, marine conservation advocate with Environmental Defense.  “Petroleum products should be transported on our seas with due respect for their highly-toxic properties, and every precaution taken to keep oil away from contact with the valuable living marine resources on which our coastal economies depend.”

The “Stop Oil Spills” legislation would amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which was adopted by Congress in response to the tragic 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.  Spilled oil from the Exxon Valdez single-hulled tanker grounding still pollutes Alaskan waters and is found on the beaches of the Sound even today.

Eleventh-hour changes to the current oil spill law were made in 1990, at the request of the oil industry, as the federal Oil Pollution Act was undergoing Congressional adoption.  These last-minute legislative amendments extended the deadline for implementation of double-hulled tankers.

(20 February 2003—Los Angeles)  Environmental Defense today announced the incorporation of Los Angeles’ first urban land trust, the new Neighborhood Oasis Land Trust (NLT).  The Trust has been formed to help solve the problem of a scarcity of parks in Los Angeles by creating a network of neighborhood open spaces throughout the city.  A reception for the new board will be held this evening.

“Los Angeles’ low-income residents have some of the least access to open space of any urban resident in California,” said Luis Flores de Luna, policy analyst at Environmental Defense.  “The urban land trust will bring communities together around new investments in neighborhood parks in the urban core.”

The nonprofit NLT will raise public and private funds to invest in small neighborhood open spaces such as parks, community gardens and playgrounds.  It will partner with community groups to help guide the design and maintenance of the new parks. 

“By seeking out community participation and cooperation at every step of the process,” said Flores, “the NLT creates a new and vibrant model for public and private cooperation in Los Angeles.”

“The new board members will carry forward a critically important mission - bringing new parks and green spaces to Los Angeles’ most underserved neighborhoods,” said Flores.  “We applaud the Mayor, the members of the City Council, the Verde Coalition and the many community groups who worked together to make this day possible.  We are proud that the NLT will be led by such a talented, diverse and dedicated board.” 

Board members include:
 -Donna Andrews, President of the Lee Andrews Group, Inc. (LA Group)
 -Jack Baylis, Vice President and Corporate Officer of CH2M Hill
 -Jason Elias, Field Representative of Service Employees International Union Local 347
 -Ken Gregorio, Senior Program Officer of the California Community Foundation
 -Roberto Lara, Partner and Co-founder of Davis & Lara LLP
 -Mee Lee, Partner of Garcia, McCoy & Lee Consulting Group
 -David Marquez, Executive Director of Central City Neighborhood Partners
 -Richard Mayer, Partner of Troller ? Mayer Associates
 -David McNeill, Executive Officer of Baldwin Hills Conservancy
 -Bruce Saito, Executive Director of Los Angeles Conservation Corps
 -Misty Sanford, Consultant to Environmental Defense and Co-Author of Walking to the Park
 -Brenda Shockley, President of Community Build, Inc
 -Amy Wakeland, Executive Director of Coalition for Kids
 -Tricia Ward, Founder and Artistic Director of ARTScorpsLA

The Walking to the Park report prepared by the Urban Land Trust Task Force is a roadmap for the establishment of NLT.  The report outlines the Trust’s goals and highlights potential challenges the organization may face in the City of Los Angeles.  Released in August 2002, a copy of that report can be viewed at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/2256_WalkingParkReport.pdf.

(12 February 2003 — Washington)  Environmental Defense today expressed deep disappointment over the Bush administration’s continuing failure to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.  Later today the administration and U.S. companies will hold an event spotlighting voluntary actions to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. 

“Adding yet another voluntary program for private companies is no substitute for the administration’s failure to mandate cuts in greenhouse gas pollution,” said Environmental Defense senior attorney Joe Goffman.  “Under the administration’s plan greenhouse gas pollution goes up, not down.  For more than a decade U.S. companies have made voluntary greenhouse gas pollution reductions but emissions are still climbing and will only decrease through mandatory government controls.”

The Bush administration withdrew the U.S. from the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change in 2001.  Ignoring the U.S. pullout, more than 170 countries finalized rules to implement the Protocol, paving the way for ratification by individual nations, which will likely put the Protocol into effect as early as this year.

The Kyoto Protocol is designed to cut pollution while growing the economy.  Using a system known as emissions trading, pioneered by the U.S. to cut acid rain pollution, companies that reduce more pollution than required are able to earn money by selling the excess reductions to those that face difficulty in making their own cuts.  This allows companies to make money by reducing pollution and spurs the development of new clean technologies.  Following the model of that environmental and economic success story, Senators McCain and Lieberman have proposed a bipartisan bill that would mandate specified reductions in U.S. greenhouse gas pollution. 

“Some in Congress are stepping up to the plate and proposing strong mandated pollution cuts that are linked with the low costs of market flexibility, and it’s time for the administration to do the same.  The Earth is already beginning to show the effects of global climate change, and responsible nations are taking action,” said Goffman.  “As the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gas pollution, it’s well past time for the United States to join them.”

A graph using data from the U.S. EPA and OMB to show the effects of the Bush administration proposal on emissions trends, is available at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/ghggraphic.

(10 February, 2003 — Raleigh)  Environmental Defense today called on the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) to protect public health in the state by adopting strict standards for emissions of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a pollutant produced by pulp and paper mills and phosphate mining operations.  The EMC’s air quality committee will consider setting emission standards for the pollutant, commonly identified by its rotten-egg odor, at a meeting February 12 in Raleigh.

The standards under consideration by the EMC have been recommended by the N.C. Division of Public Health and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Scientific Advisory Board.  The standards are expected to meet industry resistance.

“The smell of rotten eggs caused by hydrogen sulfide is a familiar and offensive odor to many North Carolinians.  But hydrogen sulfide is not simply an odor problem, it’s also a health problem,” said Michael Shore, southeast air quality manager for Environmental Defense.  “Hydrogen sulfide inflicts harm on the eyes and lungs, contributing to respiratory problems for people living close to certain facilities and for those in communities dozens of miles away.  For many North Carolinians, hydrogen sulfide doesn’t just smell bad, it feels bad.”

“North Carolina citizens have been exposed to this unhealthy pollutant for far too long.  The EMC now has scientific evidence documenting the toxic effects of hydrogen sulfide on the public health, and it knows the major sources of this pollutant.  The EMC should act without delay to set meaningful standards,” said Shore.

(6 February 2003 — Washington)  In response to today’s White House event on energy independence and hydrogen fuel cells, Environmental Defense called for a real commitment from the administration to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and oil dependence on a clear timetable. 

“Effective policy must combine a strong government mandate to control global warming pollution with flexible market-based policies,” said Kevin Mills, director of the Environmental Defense Clean Car Campaign.  “Properly guided, market forces will determine which technologies will most affordably accomplish the goal.”

“America has an urgent need to reduce oil dependence and to decrease the greenhouse gas pollution contributing to global warming,” said Mills.  “A national commitment to cap greenhouse gas emissions within a certain timetable would do far more to stimulate progress on promising technologies, such as fuel cells, than boosting public spending on research and development.”

Many cost-effective fuel saving technologies and design changes are already available to safely improve fuel economy by 5% per year over at least the next 10 years, cutting oil demand by 3.6 million barrels per day, more than the U.S. imports from the Mideast, and preventing 100 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution per year by 2020.

Several policy efforts designed to reduce greenhouse gas pollution are already underway, including a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators McCain and Lieberman to cut greenhouse gas pollution nationwide, and a new California law mandating reductions of greenhouse emissions from vehicles.  The Bush Administration is also considering higher fuel economy standards for light trucks, but the proposed increases are too small to make a big difference in oil use and greenhouse gas emissions or to harness the potential of existing advanced technologies.

“In 1970, Congress mandated that cars had to be 50% cleaner within five years,” said Mills.  “The government didn’t tell car companies how to accomplish this goal, they just said do it.  The automotive industry developed the catalytic converter and met the standard in three years.  The law forced the technology and America got cleaner cars and, more importantly, cleaner air.  New technologies will remain underutilized without policies requiring automakers to improve their products for lower fuel consumption and reduced greenhouse gas pollution.”

(31 January, 2003 — Washington, DC)  Environmental Defense today said that figures from the newly released National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals shed light on the widespread exposure of children and adults in the U.S. to various environmental chemicals.  A guide to the report can be found on the Environmental Defense Scorecard website (www.scorecard.org).

“Today’s report provides proof that children are more exposed to a wide variety of chemicals, from pesticides and passive tobacco smoke to phthalates.  It also demonstrates that chemical exposure is not equal among ethnic groups.  This kind of information gives us the ability to sort out who is exposed in the highest amounts to the most toxic chemicals and to take action to prevent those exposures,” said John Balbus, M.D./MPH, director of the environmental health program at Environmental Defense

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report measures chemicals directly in human blood and urine.  Today’s report, the second to be released, describes the amounts of 116 chemicals and metals in the bodies of selected Americans and helps characterize real life exposure in the general population.

“This country spends $1.4 trillion every year on health costs.  We don’t know exactly what proportion of those costs are due to environmental exposures, but we do know that health costs related to these exposures are unnecessary and can be prevented.  This report is an important part of the small investment made to prevent illness,” Dr. Balbus said.

The CDC’s first national report, released last year, measured 27 metals and chemicals.  Data from the first report are being combined with new data to give a better idea of the range of amounts of chemicals in people’s bodies and to give a better idea of how different ages, genders and ethnic groups differ in exposure.

“Two years ago the National Toxicology Program expressed serious concern that male children’s exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate could harm their reproductive tracts.  Now school-age children have about one and one-half times as much of this in their bodies as adults.  Safer substitutes for this chemical, particularly in children’s products should be used, as further work to determine the exposure in younger children and its potential to cause harm is studied,” Dr. Balbus said.  “This kind of information should also make the general public demand better information on the chemicals found in children’s and other consumer products

(31 January 2003 — New York)  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission standards for large marine vessels, such as tankers, bulk carriers, container ships and cruise ships, are expected to be announced later today.  The standards are expected to miss an important opportunity to lower harmful pollution from these engines and protect public health, even though cost-effective controls and cleaner burning fuel are viable, according to Environmental Defense.

“Tankers, container ships and other large ships are some of the highest-polluting engines in operation, and they contribute to unhealthy air pollution in port cities, coastal areas and inland waterways.  But EPA’s expected air pollution standards will not make any progress in protecting public health because they do not clean up pollution from foreign-flagged vessels in U.S. ports and they do not require pollution cuts for U.S.-flagged ships.  The outcome here should have been cleaner, healthier air because cost-effective measures to vastly reduce pollution from these high-polluting engines are available and affordable,” said Janea Scott, Environmental Defense staff attorney.

Engines of large marine vessels annually discharge 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), over 150,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and 18,000 tons of particulate matter (PM) pollution.  These emissions pose serious health risks especially in port cities and cities near inland waterways like Los Angeles, Houston, Galveston, New York City, Philadelphia and the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore region.  Studies have linked these pollutants to increased risk of lung cancer, heart attacks, stroke-induced death and cardiopulmonary death.

The U.S. Maritime Administration estimates that foreign-flagged ships represent more than 95% of all calls made to U.S. ports.  But EPA’s rule is not expected to require pollution cuts from these ships even though it is within the federal government’s power to do so.  EPA’s final standards are also not expected to lower harmful pollution from U.S.-flagged ships despite the fact that available control technology and cleaner fuel could cut pollution by 90%.  The marine fuel burned by oceangoing marine vessels contains 30,000 - 50,000 parts per million (ppm) sulfur.  By contrast, in order to protect public health EPA recently required a 15ppm sulfur limit for diesel used in heavy-duty trucks that travel on highways. 

(28 January 2003 — Washington) Responding to reports that President Bush will call for support of the “Clear Skies Initiative” (CSI) in his State of the Union Address, Environmental Defense today called on Congress to substantially strengthen environmental and public health protections needed to deal with pollution from power plants. 

“The President is giving Congress an opportunity to deal with a key environmental and public health challenge - but only if the legislation it enacts is significantly stronger than the President’s proposal.  The Environmental Protection Agency’s own air quality modeling and economic analyses show that deeper pollution reductions than called for under CSI are cost-effective and absolutely necessary to protect public health and the environment,” said Joseph Goffman, Environmental Defense senior attorney.  “CSI calls for reductions in sulfur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and mercury, but none in carbon dioxide pollution.” 

Reflecting the critical impact power plant pollution has on air quality, the CSI (proposed in 2001) cuts pollution from power plants, but not at levels sufficient to protect public health and without cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, the major source of heat trapping greenhouse gases.  Early indications are that the President will be offering up CSI without any of the needed improvements.

“While CSI uses economic incentives to lower the cost of compliance, it falls woefully short of meeting the public health and environmental goals of the Clean Air Act, and fails utterly to deal with the threat of climate change,” Goffman said.

“If Congress wants to respond seriously to the President’s challenge - and to the demands of environmental and public health protection - it should look to the kind of legislation introduced last year by Senators Jeffords and Lieberman and by Senators Chafee, Carper, Baucus and Breaux.  Those bipartisan bills required reductions in carbon dioxide and targeted cuts in sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and mercury at levels needed to protect public health and the environment,” said Goffman.

(22 January, 2003 — Washington, DC)  Environmental Defense today expressed disappointment in a U.S. Senate vote to reject requiring a federal study on the impacts of eliminating the New Source Review (NSR) program under the Clean Air Act.  An amendment by Senator John Edwards (D-NC) to the omnibus appropriations bill would have delayed implementation of changes to the NSR program until the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) could complete a study.

“While we are disappointed that the Senate did not adopt the Edwards amendment, we commend those 46 Senators who voted to delay changes in the NSR program until the impact of exempting power plants and other industrial facilities from air pollution controls could be studied,” said Environmental Defense legislative director Elizabeth Thompson.  “Had the votes of those senators who were absent been added to the total in favor of the amendment, this could have very well been a tie vote.  Today’s outcome also signals that environmental issues are going to receive close scrutiny in this session of Congress.”  

Among those supporting the effort to delay the NSR rollback were senators McCain (R-AZ), Mikulski (D-MD), Snow (R-ME), Sununu (R-NH), Durbin (D-IL), Byrd (D-WV) and Bayh (D-IN).  Among those voting against the measure were Senators Breaux (D-LA), Fitzgerald (R-IL), Smith (R-OR), Lincoln (D-AR) and Pryor (D-AR).

“We congratulate those Senators who voted in favor of protecting the environment and public health,” Thompson said.  “Senators who voted against allowing the nation’s top scientists to study the impact of changing the Clean Air Act should be prepared to explain their decision to constituents back home.”

Air quality protections under the “new source review” program have historically required power plants, refineries, steel mills, chemical plants and other large industrial sources that lack modern pollution control systems to update their pollution reduction technology when they take action that significantly increases air pollution.  On November 22, 2002 the Bush Administration put forward a policy that stripped away the NSR requirement, a Clean Air Act program that has been instrumental in protecting the health of Americans and local air quality for 25 years. 

(14 January 2003) Within three years, former Bogot