Los Angeles remains the nation's smoggiest city

In news thats sure to be no surprise to anyone, Los Angeles remains the smoggiest city in the United States, with an average of more than 140 days a year of dangerous ozone levels, the American Lung Assn. reported Wednesday in its annual assessment.

Adding another blow to the state is the reports finding that each of the nation's 10 smoggiest counties are in California, with San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, Tulare and Los Angeles in the top five.

Though a a great deal of the report seems cloudy, California has made some progress. The number of high-ozone days has dropped by 25% in metropolitan Los Angeles and by 57% in metropolitan San Francisco, which includes Oakland and San Jose, since 2000.

Annually, California's dirty air is estimated to cause 19,000 premature deaths, 9,400 hospitalizations and 300,000 respiratory illnesses.

Only two cities appear on all three of the lung association's lists of cleanest cities — for ozone, for year-round particles and for short-term measures of particles: metropolitan Fargo, N.D.; North Dakota, which also includes Wahpeton, Minn.; and Lincoln, Nebraska.

 

Article courtesy of the Los Angeles Times

Kerry to move ahead on climate change bill

WASHINGTON — Three days after climate change legislation lost its top Republican supporter, Senator John F. Kerry declared yesterday that he was nonetheless moving “full speed ahead’’ on the bill. His efforts got a potential boost as Senate majority leader Harry Reid said that he would accommodate a Republican demand by putting Kerry’s bill ahead of immigration legislation on the agenda.

Kerry, a main sponsor of the measure, has been trying to revive the bill after his chief Republican backer, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, abruptly withdrew his support on Saturday night, saying he was irate that the Senate’s Democratic leadership might proceed with a controversial immigration bill first

For more http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2010/04/28/kerry_to_move_full_speed_ahead_on_climate_bill/

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe-Green Blog By Matt Viser and Susan Milligan Globe Staff

 

First U.S. offshore wind farm approved; off Massachusetts

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday approved the nation's first offshore wind farm, the 130-turbine Cape Wind project off Cape Cod, Mass., and said the power of strong winds over the Atlantic Ocean would be an important part of the U.S. drive to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday approved the nation's first offshore wind farm, the 130-turbine Cape Wind project off Cape Cod, Mass., and said the power of strong winds over the Atlantic Ocean would be an important part of the U.S. drive to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

European countries have been building offshore wind farms for 20 years, and China is building its first, off Shanghai.

Other U.S. states along the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes also are looking into building wind farms.

The Cape Wind project, however, has been hung up for nine years as opponents — landowners, two Native American tribes and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation — objected to its cost and its impact on views.

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, a Democrat who represents Cape Cod, and Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., said they favor wind power as an energy source but opposed Cape Wind.

for more of this story http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011729124_wind29.html

Article courtesy of the Seattle Times by Renee Schoof McClatchy Newspapers

Oil-rig blast

New leak: The Coast Guard said a new leak has been found at the site where a BP oil platform exploded and sank last week in the Gulf of Mexico. Rear Adm. Mary Landry says that 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day is leaking from the site.

Burn plan: The Coast Guard and BP set fire to a portion of the to crude oil floating in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in a bid to limit the impact of a widening slick.

Wildlife threat: With BP unable to stop the flow of oil from a deep-water exploration well that blew up last week, attention was turning to the Gulf's coastlines, where the spill could threaten wildlife, tourism and the livelihoods of fishermen. Federal officials said the oil could touch shore in parts of the Louisiana Delta as early as Friday evening.

Other efforts: BP says it will try to to drill a relief well to relieve pressure at the blowout site after crews operating submersible robots failed to activate a shut-off device that would halt the flow of oil on the sea bottom 5,000 feet below. But that could take months.

Article courtesy of Seattle Times news services

Green Your Parenting: Pack Your Child's Lunch

Being a parent makes the initiative to live sustainably feel that much more important. But it can be a difficult balancing act. To make things a little simpler, this week we're providing easy green parenting tips so you can reduce your kids' impact on the planet they stand to inherit.

Make Their Midday Meal

School cafeterias are notorious for serving ultra-processed junk food from factory farms that pollute surrounding areas with pesticides and animal waste. So send your child to school armed with  a packed lunch – and don't reach for the Lunchables, either. Instead, be kind to the planet and give your kids' brain a boost by handing them local, organic, whole foods in a metal lunch box or a durable fabric bag.

Article courtesy of The Green Life (green.life@sierraclub.org)

Hannaford house brands lose the trans fat

SCARBOROUGH, Maine—The Maine-based supermarket chain that launched a gold-star rating system for food nutrition says it has eliminated trans fat from its private label products.

Hannaford says the recipes of nearly 300 items have been modified to eliminate the addition of artery-clogging trans fat, which includes partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Julie Greene, Hannaford's director of healthy living, says the changes mean customers can save money while still making healthy choices. In addition, the company has added an online tool that lets customers personalize, save and print store-specific shopping lists.

Hannaford operates 174 stores across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe –Green Blog

Well from sunken rig leaking oil

Weather halts cleanup effort

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard discovered yesterday that oil is leaking from the damaged well that fed a massive rig that exploded last week off Louisiana’s coast, while bad weather halted efforts to clean up the mess that threatens the area’s fragile marine ecosystem.

As recently as Friday, the Coast Guard said no oil appeared to escaping from the well head on the ocean floor. Rear Admiral Mary Landry said the leak was a new discovery but could have begun when the rig sank on Thursday, two days after the initial explosion.

“This is a very serious spill, absolutely,’’ Landry said.

Coast Guard and company officials estimate that as much as 1,000 barrels of oil is escaping each day after studying information from remotely operated vehicles and the size of the oil slick surrounding the blast site.

The rainbow-colored sheen of oil stretched 20 miles by 20 miles yesterday — about 25 times larger than it appeared to be a day earlier, Landry said.

To read more http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2010/04/25/well_from_sunken_rig_leaking_oil/

By Cain Burdeau Associated Press Courtesy of The Boston Globe –Green Blog