EPA Makes First Move to Control Coal Pollution; Coal States Freak Out

Coal plants are clearly harmless. Look at the happy geese!

Last Friday, the EPA released a proposal to restrict the carbon dioxide emissions of future coal plants. This is the first step of regulations under the Clean Air Act. The next step will be tackling the problem of pollution by current coal plants, which are the top source of CO2 emissions in the USA.

Natural gas has become a cheaper alternative to coal, so the industry hasn't been making many new coal plants anyway, but this proposal has been met with a roar of opposition in coal states. Because of this, I am primarily writing from a Fox News article which firmly takes the side of coal in the war of coal vs. the world.

According to this top conservative news source, the new restrictions could kill. The argument raised is that the only way to meet these restrictions would be to implement technology that is not yet in use, carbon capture. Carbon capture would take the illegal excess greenhouse gas emissions of the plant and redirect it underground. Fox's article argues that leaks of pure carbon dioxide are a legitimate risk and will suffocate its victims when it does so. In the same paragraph, the article states that the emissions are safe and harmless in the atmosphere, directly contradicting the findings of the global warming "theory."

The article gives the idea that the Obama administration is directly attacking the jobs and industry in coal states. There is no discussion of the fact that natural gas plants can easily meet these restrictions without the implementation of new technology, or of sustainable energy sources, only of the extreme cost and risk of carbon capture in future coal plants. I fret for the imminent opposition to future legislation that will actually put the squeeze on the coal industry.

Read about it here!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/20/rules-that-could-kill-safety-cost-concerns-over-epa-new-coal-regs/#

Attack of the water Amoebas in Louisiana!

You drink water. I drink water. we all drink water! It's vital to our existence and, to get technical, more than half of our lovely bodies are flowing with the stuff. So what do do you do when local governments, who are "charged with keeping our water supplies safe", can't keep a brain-attacking Amoeba out of our water? 
Louisiana seems to think you can keep on drinking.

Local Louisiana officials say that the sinister Naegleria Fowleri Amoeba has contaminated their waters and according to my source, how it got in their water in the first place is unknown. This Microscopic, invisible organism sneeks into ones brain through way of the high Nasal passages and ""does its damage by causing a devastating immune reaction rather than by actually devouring brain tissue," according to NPR." 
With this in mind, and 3 dead including a 4 year old boy, Scientists (and NPR) say that there is nothing wrong with drinking the water, or bathing in it. This is because it can only cause harm when deeply inhaled through the nasal cavity, and it dies in stomach acid. It is stated that this shows how much we take clean water for granted, and that America should waste less water.

I find this whole situation to be really ridiculous. How a deadly Amoeba got into drinking water is beyond me, but then the fact that they are not really doing anything about it is insane. I would feel really uncomfortable drinking, bathing in and just being near that water. The government seems to be reacting quite nonchalant towards this contamination, even after it has caused three deaths. Though it doesn't seem like an extreme epidemic, i still believe everyone deserves the cleanest and healthiest of water, and if the government is in charge of making sure that happens, they better step it up. 

Source:
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/46453

photo source:
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=drinking+water&search_group=#id=37473748&src=ezsdhS-XGLyCOWdj05EByA-2-99

Let's Not Forget the Little Lungs

       The population of Beijing, China is 20,693,000.  These 20 million people live in and breathe air that has reached a level that is 40 times more deadly than the recommended exposure limit for a healthy adult. Everyday, people have to check an Air Quality Index and decide if they should wear a mask to work or not. But, there is a certain group of people who are feeling the environmental neglect and abuse even more severely; the children.

       

      More and more parents are confining their children indoors. Which means sacrificing field trips, outdoor sports, and simply playing with friends. Many schools have larger, hospital quality air purification systems that attract worried parents of sick children. The International School of Beijing even has a recess area with a tennis court that is covered by a futuristic looking dome with an air-filtration system for when the pollution levels are particularly high.

      

       The article expresses that studies from Colombia University show that levels of anxiety, depression, and autism grew when parents are exposed to high levels of toxic pollutants. On one bad air day specifically, 9,000 children went through emergency care at Beijing Children’s   Hospital and half of those patients where admitted due to respiratory problems.

       

      For the more fortunate children, their parents can afford to buy an air purifier which can cost upwards to a $3,000. Or to send them to a well filtered private school, or better still, get out of Beijing altogether. But as you can imagine, it is not that simple for most people in the city. 

Read about it.