Pollution, Politics, and Power

Pollution, Politics, and Power PDF Author: Thomas O. McGarity
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674242807
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 553

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Book Description
The electric power industry has been transformed over the past forty years, becoming more reliable and resilient while meeting environmental goals. A big question now is how to prevent backsliding. Pollution, Politics, and Power tells the story of the remarkable transformation of the electric power industry over the last four decades. Electric power companies have morphed from highly polluting regulated monopolies into competitive, deregulated businesses that generate, transmit, and distribute cleaner electricity. Power companies are investing heavily in natural gas and utility-scale renewable resources and have stopped building new coal-fired plants. They facilitate end-use efficiency and purchase excess electricity produced by rooftop solar panels and backyard wind turbines, helping to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. But these beneficial changes have come with costs. The once-powerful coal industry is on the edge of ruin, with existing coal-fired plants closing and coal mines shutting down. As a result, communities throughout Appalachia suffer from high unemployment and reduced resources, which have exacerbated a spiraling opioid epidemic. The Trump administration’s efforts to revive the coal industry by scaling back environmental controls and reregulating electricity prices have had little effect on the coal industry’s decline. Major advances therefore come with warning signs, which we must heed in charting the continuing course of sustainable electricity. In Pollution, Politics, and Power, Thomas O. McGarity examines the progress made, details lessons learned, and looks to the future with suggestions for building a more sustainable grid while easing the economic downsides of coal’s demise.

Pollution, Politics, and Power

Pollution, Politics, and Power PDF Author: Thomas O. McGarity
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674242807
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 553

Get Book Here

Book Description
The electric power industry has been transformed over the past forty years, becoming more reliable and resilient while meeting environmental goals. A big question now is how to prevent backsliding. Pollution, Politics, and Power tells the story of the remarkable transformation of the electric power industry over the last four decades. Electric power companies have morphed from highly polluting regulated monopolies into competitive, deregulated businesses that generate, transmit, and distribute cleaner electricity. Power companies are investing heavily in natural gas and utility-scale renewable resources and have stopped building new coal-fired plants. They facilitate end-use efficiency and purchase excess electricity produced by rooftop solar panels and backyard wind turbines, helping to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. But these beneficial changes have come with costs. The once-powerful coal industry is on the edge of ruin, with existing coal-fired plants closing and coal mines shutting down. As a result, communities throughout Appalachia suffer from high unemployment and reduced resources, which have exacerbated a spiraling opioid epidemic. The Trump administration’s efforts to revive the coal industry by scaling back environmental controls and reregulating electricity prices have had little effect on the coal industry’s decline. Major advances therefore come with warning signs, which we must heed in charting the continuing course of sustainable electricity. In Pollution, Politics, and Power, Thomas O. McGarity examines the progress made, details lessons learned, and looks to the future with suggestions for building a more sustainable grid while easing the economic downsides of coal’s demise.

The War on the EPA

The War on the EPA PDF Author: William M. Alley
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 153813151X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) passes the half century mark, the public is largely apathetic towards the need for environmental protections. Today’s problems are largely invisible, and to many people’s eyes, the environment looks like it’s doing just fine. The crippling smog and burning rivers of yesteryear are just a memory. In addition, Americans are repeatedly told that the EPA is hurting the economy, destroying jobs, and intruding into people’s private lives. The truth is far more complicated. The War on the EPA: America’s Endangered Environmental Protections examines the daunting hurdles facing the EPA in its critical roles in drinking water, air and water pollution, climate change, and toxic chemicals. This book takes the reader on a journey into some of today’s most pressing environmental problems: toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, pervasive agricultural pollution, dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, and widespread air and water pollution from use of fossil fuels. Delving into the science, politics, and human dimension of these and other problems, the book illustrates the challenges of regulation through the EPA's first fifty years, how today’s war on science is undermining the scientific foundation upon which the agency’s legitimacy rests, and why a strong U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is more important than ever before.

Practical Applications of Medical Geology

Practical Applications of Medical Geology PDF Author: Malcolm Siegel
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030538931
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 932

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Book Description
This edited volume provides a framework for integrating methods and information drawn from geological and medical sciences and provides case studies in medical geology to illustrate the usefulness of this framework for crafting environmental and public health policies related to natural materials. The relevance of medical geology research to policy decisions is a topic rarely discussed, and this volume attempts to be a unique source for researchers and policy makers in the field of medical geology in addressing this gap in practical medical geology applications. The book's four sections establish this framework in detail using risk assessment, case studies, data analyses and specific medical geology techniques. Following an introduction to medical geology in the context of risk assessment and risk management, the second section discusses specific methods used in medical geology in the categories of geoscience, biomedicine, and data sources. The third section discusses the medical geology of natural materials, energy use, and environmental and workplace impacts. This section includes specific case studies in medical geology, and describes how the methods and data from the previous section are used in a medical geology analysis. The fourth section includes a guide to the medical geology literature and provides some examples of medical geology programs in Asia and Africa.

High Electrical Resistance Ceramics

High Electrical Resistance Ceramics PDF Author: Muktikanta Panigrahi
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1394199937
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
HIGH ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE CREAMICS Pond and fly ash waste materials generated by thermal power stations pollute the environment; this book demonstrates how the utilization of these materials minimizes environmental pollution and conserves land for cultivation. This book highlights the preparation of ceramics using pond/fly ash. Since the mullite phase formed by heat treatment improves the properties of ceramics, current investigations will perhaps be the first attempt to develop ceramics using pond ash. The properties of components made with these developed ceramics are found to be comparable to those made with porcelain. The extensively reviewed chapters of this book illustrate the current status of research on these materials. At the end of each of the 10 chapters, conclusions are drawn which will benefit researchers working in this area. Subjects discussed include: The fundamentals of thermal power plant wastes; Different production methods of ceramics and various characterization techniques; The preparation of ceramics from fly ash and fly ash/kaolin composite; The production of ceramics using pond ash; The preparation and characterization of geopolymer from pond ash and the preparation of pond ash composite; Production of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) using pond ash and pyrophyllite; The preparation of ceramics using pond ash and k-feldspar mixture. Audience The book will be used by civil engineers in the construction and ceramic industries as well as the industrial waste sector. Researchers in materials science, structural, civil and electrical engineering, environmental science, and ceramic engineering, will also have interest. Industries that have an interest include construction, electrical, and ceramic industries as well as pollution and waste sectors.

Sustainable Environmental Geotechnics

Sustainable Environmental Geotechnics PDF Author: Krishna R. Reddy
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030513505
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
This volume contains selects papers presented during the Second International Conference on Environmental Geotechnology, Recycled Waste Materials and Sustainable Engineering, held in the University of Illinois at Chicago. It covers the recent innovations, trends, and concerns, practical challenges encountered, and the solutions adopted in geoenvironmental engineering, waste management, and sustainable engineering. This book will be useful for academics, educators, policy makers and professionals working in the field of civil engineering, chemical engineering, environmental sciences and public policy.

Development of Geopolymer from Pond Ash-Thermal Power Plant Waste

Development of Geopolymer from Pond Ash-Thermal Power Plant Waste PDF Author: Muktikanta Panigrahi
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1394167954
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
DEVELOPMENT OF GEOPOLYMER FROM POND ASH-THERMAL POWERPLANT WASTE Explains how geopolymer technologies using industrial waste obtained from thermal power plants become cementitious materials in construction sectors for civil engineers. Utilization of waste materials has become a global challenge since they endanger our environment. In this book, the authors demonstrate how to utilize fly ash/pond ash (waste materials from thermal power plants) to produce a novel material called 'Geopolymer' (GP). Red mud, slags, etc., are mixed with fly ash to produce GP with enhanced strength. As shown in a few European countries, GP can replace cement, and some permanent structures constructed with GP are now appearing in a few advanced countries. GP, and geopolymer concrete, is considered suitable for the construction of roads, buildings, etc., and will eventually, fully or partially, replace cement. The book highlights the mechanism of the formation of GP from pond ash. Properties of structures made with GP concrete are found to be comparable to those made with cement concrete. Systematic investigations are presented to understand the chemistry of GP formation with pond ash materials. Performances of these materials above ambient temperature, as well as with different environmental conditions, are also evaluated. Audience The book will be used by civil engineers in the construction and ceramic industries, as well as the industrial waste sector. Researchers in materials science, structural and civil engineering, environmental science, and ceramic engineering, will also benefit. Additionally, the book is suitable for graduate courses in civil engineering.

Environmental Public Policy Making Exposed

Environmental Public Policy Making Exposed PDF Author: Cynthia H. Stahl
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030321304
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
This book exposes the barriers to inclusive and effective public policy making, which are the current decision making paradigm and commonly held ideas that reduce public policy problems to scientific and technical ones. Through both environmental policy and other decision making examples, readers are shown the commonalities of all decision making. Solution-oriented practitioners and stakeholders will find this book filling a conceptual and methodological gap in existing policy literature and practice. The authors deftly guide readers from post-normal science, wicked problems, and uncertainty concepts to a conceptually-grounded, practical implementation of a new approach, the open solution approach. The Multi-criteria Integrated Resource Assessment (MIRA) is described as the first generation methodology that fulfills the expectations for the inclusive, transparent, and learning-based open solutions approach. MIRA is a holistic package of concepts, methods and analytical tools that is designed to assess Decision Uncertainty, the combined uncertainties that include data, problem formulation, expert judgments, and stakeholder opinions. Introduction of the Requisite Steps, the common steps found in all decision making, provides the yardstick for evaluating a variety of decision making processes, decision tools, and commonly found indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Newsweek Green Ranking of corporations. The use of anecdotes, policy stories, and case examples makes this a very readable and practical book for citizens and experts. With this book, readers are prepared to critically evaluate these common indices for their personal use as well as challenge policy processes as a stakeholder. For policy practitioners, this guidebook will become a rubric to ensure an effective public policy making process and to critically evaluate decision support tools.

Solid Waste Management and Greenhouse Gases

Solid Waste Management and Greenhouse Gases PDF Author: Barry Leonard
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 0756733510
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
In the 21st century, management of municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to be an important environmental challenge facing the U.S. Climate change is also a serious issue, & the U.S. is embarking on a number of voluntary actions to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that can intensify climate change. By presenting material-specific GHG emission factors for various waste management options, this report examines how the two issues -- MSW management & climate change -- are related. The report's findings may be used to support a variety of programs & activities, including voluntary reporting of emission reductions from waste management practices. Charts, tables & graphs.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) (P.L. 96-510)

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) (P.L. 96-510) PDF Author: United States
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hazardous substances
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description


EPA's 2014 Final Rule

EPA's 2014 Final Rule PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Energy and Commerce. Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Coal ash
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description