·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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EPA continues to speed release of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) information to the public and to enhance data quality. For the first time since TRI’s inception, all facilities that are required to submit data to TRI will be able to do so over the Internet, using the award-winning TRI-ME software. Companies will no longer have to mail reports on compact disks or paper to EPA, both of which consume more natural resources and slow release of information to the public. The Internet system also has quality checks built into the software, which will improve data quality.

This year, companies are required to submit calendar year 2007 data to TRI by July 1, 2008. Facilities will be able to use the Internet to send information directly to EPA through our Central Data Exchange. The TRI-ME software was launched for 2001 TRI reports, and moved exclusively to compact discs for 2005 reports. For 2006 reports, in addition to the compact disc, an on-line version was also offered only in states participating in the TRI State Data Exchange.

Delivering information to the public more quickly and improving data quality are two important goals being addressed in EPA’s Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information. The Dialogue is designed to obtain input on how EPA might enhance access to its environmental information. EPA will use the information as it develops a strategy for improving access to EPA information.

TRI-ME Software: http://www.epa.gov/tri/report/software/index.htm#usetrime

Read the press release.

Aircraft passengers and crews will be able to drink safer water under new regulations proposed today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (ADWR) will tailor existing health-based drinking water regulations to fit the unique characteristics of aircraft public water systems. The rule will protect the public from illnesses that can result from microbiological contamination.

EPA’s Clean Energy-Environment Municipal Network is offering the second in series of free webcast trainings targeted to local governments. This webcast will focus on energy-efficient product procurement for local governments and will provide an overview of the benefits of energy-efficient product procurement; tools and resources local governments can access; and examples from local governments that have successfully included energy efficiency into their purchasing programs. Registrants can access a draft section of EPA’s Clean Energy Strategies for Local Governments guide that discusses energy-efficient product procurement as background for the call.

The webcast will be held on April 17, 2008, 2:00 ­ 3:30 PM (Eastern Time)

To register for the webcast, send an e-mail to CleanEnergyWebcast@icfi.com. You will receive a confirmation email with registration information within 24 hours.

Priority for registration will be given to local and regional government staff and officials. If multiple staff from your agency wish to participate, we ask that you share a computer and phone line, as space is limited. EPA plans to record and post these webcasts on its Clean Energy website. For additional information, to access the background paper, or to view past webcasts, visit http://epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-programs/state-and-local/webcast.html.

EPA’s Energy Star Program also offers related web trainings on product procurement. This training includes information about EPA support to help your organization purchase products with superior energy performance; guidelines that define energy performance for numerous products; sample procurement language for stipulating energy performance attributes to vendors; lists of ENERGY STAR labeled products; and energy savings software that calculates the annual and life cycle costs of ENERGY STAR products and their less efficient counterparts. Upcoming trainings are scheduled for April 24, May 22, and June 26 from 2 to 3 pm (EST). To access these trainings visit
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus_internet_presentations, click on the link for “live web conferences” and follow the registration instructions on that site.

Read the full story in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.

What was once used to fry lunch for University of Illinois students is now being used to teach Unity High School students about renewable energy.

Doug Bennett, an energy research scientist for Waste Management Research Center, brought a reactor to Unity’s ag classroom Tuesday and showed students and teacher Rich McCabe how it works.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson has shelved his agency’s findings that greenhouse gases are a danger to the public, and on Thursday told Congress that he will initiate a lengthy public comment period about whether such emissions are a risk before responding to a U.S. Supreme Court order.

Read the full story in the Arizona Republic.

Hundreds of windmills reaching nearly 400 feet into the sky could begin sprouting on the Navajo Reservation north of Flagstaff under a new agreement to harness wind energy for electrical use.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

The American West is heating up faster than any other region of the United States, and more than the Earth as a whole, according to a new analysis of 50 scientific studies.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

California’s Air Resources Board voted to slash by 70 percent the number of emission-free vehicles that carmakers must sell in the state in coming years, a significant blow for environmentalists and transportation activists. But the panel set new rules requiring automakers to build tens of thousands of plug-in hybrid cars.

Listen to the whole series from National Public Radio.

This week, we’re talking trash — things we throw away, and things we recycle. It’s time for spring cleaning, so we look around and wonder: What to do with all the junk while protecting the environment?

The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:

• Solar Electric Light Fund Tackles Benin’s Arid Land
• Using LIDAR for Identification of Wind Parameters
• Inside Renewable Energy podcast: It’s Alive! How Living Organisms are Helping Create a Renewable Energy Future
• Renewable Energy in Florida Part 2: Achieving Green Florida Energy
• The Future Ain’t What Is Used to Be
• Biomass for business at the UK’s largest biomass CHP plant

Read the full post at Environmental Capital.

Two starkly contrasting visions this week: a chunk of Antarctica is poised to fall into the sea, presumably due to global warming, and the L.A. Times runs a story headlined “Global warming: Just deal with it, some scientists say.” What gives?

Read the full post at Environmental Capital.

What about cutting oil out of the gasoline equation? Shell and Virent are working to turn sugars into “biogasoline” that can run in regular engines with as much punch as regular gas, in the WSJ and the Houston Chronicle. Green Car Congress and R-Squared take a look at the science behind turning sugar into gasoline. But don’t forget the other guys: the WSJ (sub reqd) explores how the U.S. farm bill, which was supposed to shrink, got even bigger. Or the other, other guys: Earth2Tech reports on a host of algae-to-biodiesel firms.

Read the full post at Environmental Capital.

At a time when countries around the world are scrambling to install tiny amounts of renewable energy, Denmark has a different problem: What do you do when you’ve got too much wind power? Stop giving it away to the neighbors, for starters, and use it to take more cars off the road.

Leila Abboud in the WSJ (sub reqd) reports that Denmark now gets 20% of its electricity from wind — or even 28% these days — which can overwhelm the power grid, sending a lot of juice to Germany and Norway. One solution from local utility Dong Energy and Better PLC? Use the excess juice to power electric cars.

Via ResourceShelf.

Updated: Global Warming and Climate Change Tracer Bullet

The following guide is intended for those who are looking for a review of the literature and vetted online resources on global warming and climate change. Materials cited are available in the collections of the Library of Congress or on the Internet.

Source: Science Reference Services, Library of Congress