State of the Environment: Pangloss Edition

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Seth Jaffe

I know that despair is always more fashionable than optimism, but it is sometimes useful to remember that not everything is going to hell in a hand basket. Yesterday, EPA issued a press release announcing publication of its latest report on trends in air quality. The report, titled “Our Nation’s Air: Status and Trends Through 2008”, makes clear that, overall, air quality has gotten significantly better, particularly since 1990.

What I find most notable is that reductions in NOx largely occurred after 2002, whereas reductions in other pollutants, such as PM and SO2, have occurred since 1990. Notice anything about these dates? After 1990, the acid rain trading program came into effect. With respect to NOx, the report itself acknowledges that the improvements resulted from implementation of the NOx SIP call and EPA’s NOx Budget Trading Program. 

What do you know? Trading programs work. Anyone in Congress pondering climate legislation paying attention?

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We Said There Was Life in EPA's NSR Enforcement Initiative: We Didn't Know How Right We Were

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Amy Boyd

In addition to our post yesterday and the items highlighted in the New York Times Green.Inc blog on the difficulties facing new and existing coal-fired power plants this week, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice have launched what they call a new national crackdown targeting coal-fired plants that violate the Clean Air Act.

As the first piece of this campaign, the agencies filed suit on Wednesday against a Kansas power plant for PSD violations dating back to 1994, and following a notice of violation issued to the plant owners in January 2004.   

EPA and DOJ  had been criticized for not pursuing new cases against power plants during the Bush administration, but it looks as though efforts to take on the coal industry are ramping up again.

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