BP Ordered to Use Less Toxic Oil Dispersant

From the EPA:

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a directive requiring BP to identify and use a less toxic and more effective dispersant from the list of EPA authorized dispersants. Dispersants are a chemical used to break up oil into small droplets so that they are more easily degraded.

The directive requires BP to identify a less toxic alternative – to be used both on the surface and under the water at the source of the oil leak – within 24 hours and to begin using the less toxic dispersant within 72 hours of submitting the alternative.

If BP is unable to identify available alternative dispersant products, BP must provide the Coast Guard and EPA with a detailed description of the alternative dispersants investigated, and the reason they believe those products did not meet the required standards.

EPA’s directive to BP can be found here: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/dispersants.html

While the dispersant BP has been using is on the agency’s approved list, BP is using this dispersant in unprecedented volumes and, last week, began using it underwater at the source of the leak – a procedure that has never been tried before. Because of its use in unprecedented volumes and because much is unknown about the underwater use of dispersants, EPA wants to ensure BP is using the least toxic product authorized for use. We reserve the right to discontinue the use of this dispersant method if any negative impacts on the environment outweigh the benefits.

On May 15, EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard authorized BP to use dispersants underwater at the source of the Deepwater Horizon leak. As the dispersant is used underwater, BP is required to do constant, scientifically rigorous monitoring so EPA scientists may determine the dispersant’s effectiveness and impact on the environment, water and air quality, and human health. EPA is posting the information BP collects during the monitoring to ensure the public has access to this data.

Obama's Plan to Save the Great Lakes

March 10: Update for all of the gullible people who believed Obama was banning fishing, he's not. ESPN's editor admitted an error in the original story that proposed that Obama could ban fishing.

The Obama administration's $2.2 billion, five-year plan for rescuing our five Great Lakes, plagued by pollution:

At the end of last year, Congress authorized $475 million to be spent on improving the ecosystem that contains 21 percent of the world's fresh water. Obama proposed in his budget earlier this month putting an additional $300 million into the program for the fiscal year that starts in October.

Some $60 million will go to fighting Asian carp, a non-native species threatening to disrupt the fishing industry in Lake Michigan.

Jackson said that in future years -- the plan covers 2010 through 2014 -- funding will return to the $475 million. Read more at Reuters

EPA's Jackson Says Climategate Doesn't Undermine Science of Climate Change

Full video:

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Sorry republicans, media.

In the EPA's announcement today, declaring greenhouse gases a pollutant that endangers human health, Lisa Jackson said there is nothing in the hacked emails, "climate gate," that undermines the science on climate change. Declaring greenhouse gases as a pollutant under the Clean Air act means the EPA can regulate without the approval of Congress. But Jackson said legislation can complement the Clean Air act in regulating pollutants. I'll post video when it's up.

The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded greenhouse gases are endangering people's health and must be regulated, signaling that the Obama administration is prepared to contain global warming without congressional action if necessary.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson scheduled a news conference for later Monday to announce the so-called endangerment finding, officials told The Associated Press, speaking privately because the announcement had not been made.

The finding is timed to boost the administration's arguments at an international climate conference — opening Monday — that the United States is aggressively taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation. NPR

EPA's press release:

After a thorough examination of the scientific evidence and careful consideration of public comments, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten the public health and welfare of the American people. EPA also finds that GHG emissions from on-road vehicles contribute to that threat.

GHGs are the primary driver of climate change, which can lead to hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor or elderly; increases in ground-level ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses; as well as other threats to the health and welfare of Americans.

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Business leaders, security experts, government officials, concerned citizens and the United States Supreme Court have called for enduring, pragmatic solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that is causing climate change. This continues our work towards clean energy reform that will cut GHGs and reduce the dependence on foreign oil that threatens our national security and our economy.”

EPA’s final findings respond to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that GHGs fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants. The findings do not in and of themselves impose any emission reduction requirements but rather allow EPA to finalize the GHG standards proposed earlier this year for new light-duty vehicles as part of the joint rulemaking with the Department of Transportation.

On-road vehicles contribute more than 23 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions. EPA’s proposed GHG standards for light-duty vehicles, a subset of on-road vehicles, would reduce GHG emissions by nearly 950 million metric tons and conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of model year 2012-2016 vehicles.

EPA’s endangerment finding covers emissions of six key greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride – that have been the subject of scrutiny and intense analysis for decades by scientists in the United States and around the world.

Scientific consensus shows that as a result of human activities, GHG concentrations in the atmosphere are at record high levels and data shows that the Earth has been warming over the past 100 years, with the steepest increase in warming in recent decades. The evidence of human-induced climate change goes beyond observed increases in average surface temperatures; it includes melting ice in the Arctic, melting glaciers around the world, increasing ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, acidification of the oceans due to excess carbon dioxide, changing precipitation patterns, and changing patterns of ecosystems and wildlife.

President Obama and Administrator Jackson have publicly stated that they support a legislative solution to the problem of climate change and Congress’ efforts to pass comprehensive climate legislation. However, climate change is threatening public health and welfare, and it is critical that EPA fulfill its obligation to respond to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined that greenhouse gases fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants.

EPA issued the proposed findings in April 2009 and held a 60-day public comment period. The agency received more than 380,000 comments, which were carefully reviewed and considered during the development of the final findings.

EPA's Lisa Jackson to Make Climate Change Announcement

Update: Watch video here.
The announcement will come at 1:15 pm eastern. Watch a live stream here:

The Obama administration will formally declare Monday that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a move that lays the groundwork for an economy-wide carbon cap even if Congress fails to enact climate legislation, sources familiar with the process said.

The move, which Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson will announce at an afternoon press conference, comes as the largest climate change conference in history gets underway in Copenhagen. It will finalize an initial "endangerment finding" by the government in April.

While an EPA spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter, the agency sent out a press advisory that Jackson will make "a significant climate announcement at a press briefing" at 1:15 p.m. at EPA headquarters. Jackson will also speak at the U.N.-sponsored climate conference Wednesday; her address is titled "Taking Action at Home." Obama, who will attend the end of the U.N. talks Dec. 18, has sent a series of recent signals to the international community that the United States will curb its carbon output as part of a new global climate deal. Read more at WaPo

Republicans (Darrell Issa leading the way) think Obama should skip Copenhagen because of "climategate." What a joke:

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EPA Moves to Regulate Pollutants

Check out the EPA photo project here.
The EPA designated 6 greenhouse gases as harmful to humans, which is the first step toward regulations. I can hear the GOP crying already. Many republicans--not all-- haven't even moved past step one--admitting the problem.  

After a thorough scientific review ordered in 2007 by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposed finding Friday that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare.

The proposed finding, which now moves to a public comment period, identified six greenhouse gases that pose a potential threat.

“This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations. Fortunately, it follows President Obama’s call for a low carbon economy and strong leadership in Congress on clean energy and climate legislation,” said Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “This pollution problem has a solution – one that will create millions of green jobs and end our country’s dependence on foreign oil.”

As the proposed endangerment finding states, “In both magnitude and probability, climate change is an enormous problem. The greenhouse gases that are responsible for it endanger public health and welfare within the meaning of the Clean Air Act.”
.....
The scientific analysis also confirms that climate change impacts human health in several ways. Findings from a recent EPA study titled “Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on Ground-Level Ozone,” for example, suggest that climate change may lead to higher concentrations of ground-level ozone, a harmful pollutant. Additional impacts of climate change include, but are not limited to:
increased drought;
more heavy downpours and flooding;
more frequent and intense heat waves and wildfires;
greater sea level rise;
more intense storms; and
harm to water resources, agriculture, wildlife and ecosystems.
Read the whole thing at the EPA

Michelle Obama Visits Environmental Protection Agency

MRS. OBAMA: Wow. (Applause.) What a crowd. (Applause.) No, look at you! (Laughter and applause.)

I am delighted to be here in this beautiful room with -- it's about a thousand of you all here. That's a good thing. (Applause.)

I want to thank Administrator Jackson for that kind introduction. With 16 years working here as one of your colleagues before moving to New Jersey and serving in its Department of Environmental Protection, Administrator Jackson is ideally suited to lead this department at this critical time for our nation and our planet. (Applause.) So Lisa, welcome home. (Applause.)

And to the hardworking men and women of the EPA: It's a new day. (Applause.) It's a new day. And the truth is, we can't wait one more minute. The recently signed recovery package includes billions of dollars for the EPA to continue to clean up our communities and improve the health of our fellow Americans. The time is now.

I've often spoken about my most important job –- being a mom –- and like mothers and fathers everywhere, the health and safety of our children is our top priority. This is what it is all about: the future.

And in many ways, it starts with all of you. You ensure that the water we drink is safe, that the air we breathe is clean, and that the polluted fields and abandoned factories in our neighborhoods all over this nation are cleaned up and restored.

Having grown up on the South Side of Chicago and spent a good part of my career working to help families in low-income communities, where I've seen brownfields piling up and affecting kids all over this nation, I know firsthand the role the EPA has in reducing illnesses such as asthma and lead poisoning that can start in childhood but have a long-lasting effect in adulthood. There are thousands and thousands of children across this country that are affected each and every day.

This new era also puts the EPA at the center of President Obama's highest priorities: securing America's energy independence and securing the future of our planet by combating climate change. (Applause.)

We now have a President who is going to put science at the heart of our environmental policies and decisions. (Applause.) By doing so, the President, the EPA, and other agencies working on energy and the environment are going to start to champion bold policies and make smart investments that are going to do a lot of things: first, create more energy-efficient buildings -- (cheering) -- see, now that's exciting -- (laughter) -- you know you're at the EPA -- (laughter); make our cars and trucks more fuel efficient -- (applause); and double the nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years. (Applause.)

Your work will not only save our planet and clean up our environment; it's going to transform our economy and create millions of well paying jobs. You know this better than anyone in the country. (Applause.) So there is a lot riding on your shoulders. So as Lisa said, what are you all doing here? (Laughter.) But I know that you are up to the challenge. I can feel it in this room.

As I have visited the agencies over the past few weeks -- and it has been a thrill, one of the best things I do every day -- I have been deeply moved by the character and commitment of the people that I meet during these sessions.

Men and women like you who have dedicated their careers, like the men and women standing behind me, many of whom have been working in this administration, for the EPA for longer than I've been alive. (Laughter.) They don't look it -- (laughter) -- but when you start adding up the time -- (laughter) -- there's some serious work going on back here. (Laughter.) But what they are is deeply passionate about the work that they do.

I understand where their desire comes from. I began my career as a corporate lawyer. And while that was rewarding professionally -– and personally, since that's where Barack and I met -- (laughter) -- it's a good thing -- I wanted to work on something though that I felt passionate about. That's when I decided to change careers and begin to work to improve public health in Chicago.

So let me deliver a simple message and a heartfelt message:

Thank you for making the health of our nation all of your passion. Thank you so much. (Applause.) All of our children will grow up in a healthier environment because of the work that you do and the dedication that you bring to the work that you do.

And while the challenges facing our nation are great and there's a lot of work to be done, I am so confident, so very confident, that we'll succeed because we've got devoted professionals like all of you in this room, ready and eager and willing to make the sacrifices to work on behalf of the American people.

But know that you are not alone in this effort. You have a great administrator in Lisa Jackson -- (applause) -- and partners in the White House. (Applause.) You have partners in the White House who believe and understand these issues. And you also have the unwavering support of a phenomenal President, Barack Obama. (Applause.)

So Barack Obama is going to need you, Michelle Obama is going to need you, Malia and Sasha Obama are going to need you, and millions of children just like them are going to need you rolling up your sleeves and rededicating and recommitting, knowing that the work is going to be tough. But everything you do, every piece of blood, sweat and tears that you pour into the work is going to make the difference in our nation, in our planet.

So get to work. (Laughter.) Thank you so much.

Obama Says At Ease In the Oval Office

Our president is a happy man because he gets to eat with his family. How cool is that? What an awesome commute: 30 seconds.
New Oval Office dress code: no coats necessary and business casual on the weekend.

NYT: Thus did an ironclad rule of the George W. Bush administration — coat and tie in the Oval Office at all times — fall by the wayside, only the first of many signs that a more informal culture is growing up in the White House under new management. Mr. Obama promised to bring change to Washington and he has — not just in substance, but in presidential style.

Although his presidency is barely a week old, some of Mr. Obama’s work habits are already becoming clear. He shows up at the Oval Office shortly before 9 in the morning, roughly two hours later than his early-to-bed, early-to-rise predecessor. Mr. Obama likes to have his workout — weights and cardio — first thing in the morning, at 6:45. (Mr. Bush slipped away to exercise midday.)

He reads several papers, eats breakfast with his family and helps pack his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, off to school before making the 30-second commute downstairs — a definite perk for a man trying to balance work and family life. He eats dinner with his family, then often returns to work; aides have seen him in the Oval Office as late as 10 p.m., reading briefing papers for the next day.

“Even as he is sober about these challenges, I have never seen him happier,” Mr. Axelrod said. “The chance to be under the same roof with his kids, essentially to live over the store, to be able to see them whenever he wants, to wake up with them, have breakfast and dinner with them — that has made him a very happy man.”

Obama at ease:

Mr. Obama has also brought a more relaxed sensibility to his public appearances. David Gergen, an adviser to both Republican and Democratic presidents, said Mr. Obama seemed to exude an “Aloha Zen,” a kind of comfortable calm that, Mr. Gergen said, reflects a man who “seems easy going, not so full of himself.”

At the Capitol on Tuesday, Mr. Obama startled lawmakers by walking up to the microphones in a Senate corridor to talk to reporters, as if he were still a senator. Twice, during formal White House ceremonies, Mr. Obama called out to aides as television cameras rolled, as he did on Monday when the director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa P. Jackson, asked for a presidential pen.

“Hey, Lisa,” Mr. Obama called out to his staff secretary, Lisa Brown, “does she get this pen?” This is a really good story you should read at NYT

Shinseki Says His Challenge is Transforming VA

Gen. Eric Shinseki is being heard today to be confirmed to head Veteran Affairs. Obama's picks are now going through senate confirmation hearings.
Schedule.
Others being heard today include Tom Vilsack, agriculture, and Lisa Jackson, environmental protection agency. 

With his own about to begin, General Shinseki told his confirmation hearing to be head of the Department of Veterans Affairs how he will be dealing with some of the costliest aftermath of a war that he famously predicted, just before the curtain fell on his first act, would bog down hundreds of thousands of troops for years. With the invasion of Iraq looming, his Pentagon bosses rebuked him for saying that, and he retired a few months later as Army Chief of Staff.

So there was great anticipation Wednesday for what would be the general’s longest public discussion in more than five years.

In written answers provided to committee members in advance of the hearing, General Shinseki said his priorities would be post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries suffered by troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as finding jobs for vets, examining and dealing with the problem of homeless vets, and helping all wounded vets make the difficult transition from military health care to VA facilities.

In his written answers to committee members, the general said his that the “over-arching challenge that the VA faces is its own transformation into a 21st century organization.” It was an echo of the transformation theme that dominated his time as the Army’s top general. Read more atNYT

Obama Announces Green Team

Today at the press conference announcing his energy team, Obama took a Blago question:

Here's his Green Team:

Steven Chu, who won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics and now directs the government's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, will head the Energy Department.

Chu will work closely with Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency under Bill Clinton, who Obama said will coordinate White House policy on energy, and climate change among the various federal agencies.

Obama also named Lisa Jackson, the chief of staff for New Jersey's governor, to lead the EPA and Nancy Sutley, a deputy mayor of Los Angeles, to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Lisa Jackson actually says she's an environmentalist. Joe Biden says as Vice President, he will not stand in the way of environmental protections. Obama says "My administration will value science." Music to my ears. He also says that a strong economy and protecting the environment aren't contradictory. Hallelujah!

Lisa Jackson to Head EPA

I'll tell you what -- Obama has stuck to his promise of a diverse and brilliant administration. Let's hope none of them turn into Blagos.
Lisa Jackson is currently chief of staff to the governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine. Prior, she was head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

AP: Lisa Jackson is in line to become the first African-American to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
President-elect Barack Obama intends to announce Jackson as EPA administrator in the coming weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances that derail his plans, according to Democratic officials close to the transition.
Jackson, a Princeton University-educated chemical engineer, would take the helm at the agency at a time of record-low morale and when it is still grappling with how to respond to a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said it could regulate the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
During the Bush administration, the White House has at times overruled the advice of the EPA's scientific advisers and the agency's staff on issues ranging from air pollution to global warming.
Supporters say Jackson, 46, has the experience to steer the agency down a new path.

Lisa Jackson in Wikipedia
Opposition to Lisa Jackson
Plenty Magazine on Jackson

Obama's Team Line by Line in Yellow Badges

Obama's team is reviewing government agencies, line by line, just like he said.

WaPo: Wearing yellow badges and traveling in groups of 10 or more, agency review teams for President-elect Barack Obama have swarmed into dozens of government offices, from the Pentagon to the National Council on Disability.

With pointed questions and clear ground rules, they are dissecting agency initiatives, poring over budgets and unearthing documents that may prove crucial as a new Democratic president assumes control. Their job is to minimize the natural tension between incoming and outgoing administrations, but their work also is creating anxiety among some Bush administration officials as the teams rigorously examine programs and policies.

Am I impressed or what?

A typical approach has been playing out at the Environmental Protection Agency, where the Obama team is led by Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and Robert Sussman, a former Clinton official and now a lawyer and fellow at the Center for American Progress. Both are considered front-runners for senior administration jobs (Jackson as EPA administrator, Sussman as a top EPA deputy).

On a recent Monday, the pair arrived at an 11 a.m. EPA senior staff meeting. Both had worked at the agency under President Bill Clinton, so they fit in easily, fully acquainted with the acronym-laden lingo.

Their team's questions have been specific, trained on a handful of issues, according to employees and other sources interviewed. A top concern is climate change, an issue they want to address with several EPA program initiatives. They also are asking how much money the enforcement divisions need to go after polluters.

The team also has focused on drinking-water standards, asking about how to reduce children's and mothers' exposure to perchlorate, a chemical in rocket fuel that is leaching into groundwater near military bases. read more.