Daily Grist: U.S. EPA thinks lead in the air may be A-OK, and more

[Guest guest]

At 01:13 PM 12/7/06, you wrote:

>U.S. EPA considers delisting lead as an air pollutant

>

>That sound you hear? It's jaws dropping everywhere in response to the U.S.

>EPA's announcement that it might stop regulating lead as an air pollutant.

>Citing the fact that concentrations of the toxic heavy metal in the air

>have dropped 90 percent since 1980, and using logic we can only assume was

>supplied by EPA administrator Stephen Johnson's six-year-old

>granddaughter, the agency says lifting the national standard may be

>justified " given the significantly changed circumstances since lead was

>listed [as an air pollutant] in 1976. " In other words, listing it worked

>so well, we might as well delist it. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who's

>set to take over the House Committee on Government Reform, told Johnson

> " this deregulatory effort cannot be defended " and urged the agency to

> " renounce this dangerous proposal immediately. " Meanwhile, the U.S.

>Consumer Product Safety Commission is recommending that lead be banned

>from children's jewelry. Because. Lead. Is. Poisonous. Now close your mouth.

>

>[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

>

>straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, John

>Heilprin, 06 Dec 2006

>

>straight to the source: Scientific American, Reuters, Timothy Gardner, 06

>Dec 2006

>

>straight to the source: The Washington Post, Annys Shin and Juliet

>Eilperin, 07 Dec 2006

>

>see also, in Gristmill: Ghoul-y jewelry

 

******

Kraig and Shirley Carroll ... in the woods of SE Kentucky

http://www.thehavens.com/

thehavens

606-376-3363

 

 

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[Guest guest]

At 01:13 PM 12/7/06, you wrote:

>The Good Phyto

>Global warming affects ocean's tiny plants, which could affect global warming

>

>Proving that big things do come in small packages, researchers say global

>warming could hobble the teeniest marine organisms, phytoplankton -- which

>could, in turn, lead to more warming. Whuh-huh? Well, these wee plants not

>only make a tasty sea snack, they provide a vital piece of climate-change

>resistance by absorbing carbon dioxide -- more than 100 million metric

>tons a day, accounting for about half of the photosynthesis occurring on

>the planet. But a decade worth of satellite data analyzed by a team from

>Oregon State University shows that the plants' productivity slows when sea

>temperatures rise. The data, said lead author Michael Behrenfeld, " clearly

>showed that overall ocean productivity decreases when the climate warms. "

>Besides worrying about the food chain, researchers fear a vicious climate

>cycle: warming leads to less carbon-sucking, which leaves more carbon in

>the air, which leads to more warming, which leads to ... less

>carbon-sucking. O phytoplankton, we hardly knew ye.

>

>[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

>

>straight to the source: News, LiveScience, Sara Goudarzi, 06 Dec 2006

>

>straight to the source: The Guardian, James Randerson, 07 Dec 2006

>

>straight to the source: The Independent, Steve Connor, 07 Dec 2006

 

******

Kraig and Shirley Carroll ... in the woods of SE Kentucky

http://www.thehavens.com/

thehavens

606-376-3363

 

 

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