The Pollution Solution: Stopping the environment's worst enemy

[Chris]

But wait government's supposed to be the solution.

The Pollution Solution: Stopping the environment's worst enemy

Who's the greatest polluter of all? The oil companies? The chemical companies? The nuclear power plants? If you guessed "none of the above," you'd be correct. Our government, at the federal, state, and local levels, is the single greatest polluter in the land. In addition, our government doesn't even clean up its own garbage! In 1988, for example, the EPA demanded that the Departments of Energy and Defense clean up 17 of their weapons plants which were leaking radioactive and toxic chemicals -- enough contamination to cost $100 billion in clean-up costs over 50 years! The EPA was simply ignored. No bureaucrats went to jail or were sued for damages. Government departments have sovereign immunity.


In 1984, a Utah court ruled that the U.S. military was negligent in its nuclear testing, causing serious health problems (e.g. death) for the people exposed to radioactive fallout. The Court of Appeals dismissed the claims of the victims, because government employees have sovereign immunity.

Hooker Chemical begged the Niagara Falls School Board not to excavate the land where Hooker had safely stored toxic chemical waste. The school board ignored these warnings and taxpayers had to foot a $30 million relocation bill when health problems arose. The EPA filed suit, not against the reckless school board, but against Hooker Chemical! Government officials have sovereign immunity.

Government, both federal and local, is the greatest single polluter in the U.S. This polluter literally gets away with murder because of sovereign immunity....

By turning to government for environmental protection, we've placed the fox in charge of the hen house...

[donttread]

It amazes me how easily we allow government's to exempt themselves from their own rules. Pollution, gender rights, Enviromental law , you name it .

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - purt soon ain't gonna be air to breathe, den we all gonna die...

Report Ties Air Pollution to 6.5 Million Deaths Globally
June 27, 2016 — The International Energy Agency says each year about 6.5 million deaths worldwide are linked to air pollution and warns that the number will grow unless the energy sector steps up its efforts to slash emissions.

In the agency's first report on the subject, the IEA projected Monday that premature deaths from outdoor air pollution would rise to 4.5 million by 2040, from 3 million today, while premature deaths from household air pollution would drop to 3 million from 3.5 million.

Schoolchildren wear masks to filter out particulate matter in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China

However, the report said a 7 percent increase in investments in clean-burning cook stoves, cleaner fuels and other measures by 2040 could result in sharp health improvements.

Outdoor air pollution comes mainly from power plants, factories and cars while household pollution stems from dirty cook stoves, primarily in developing countries.

http://www.voanews.com/content/repor...r/3393699.html

See also:

Air pollution to kill millions more without energy policy change: IEA
June 27, 2016 - Premature deaths from air pollution will continue to rise to 2040 unless changes are made to the way the world uses and produces energy, the International Energy Agency said on Monday.

Around 6.5 million deaths globally are attributed each year to poor air quality inside and outside, making it the world's fourth-largest threat to human health, behind high blood pressure, dietary risks and smoking. Harmful pollutants such as particulate matter - which can contain acids, metals, soil and dust particles - sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, are responsible for the most widespread effects of air pollution. Tiny particulate matter can cause lung cancer, strokes and heart disease over the long term, as well as trigger symptoms such as heart attacks that kill more rapidly. The release of these pollutants is mainly due to the unregulated or inefficient production and use of energy, the IEA said in a special report on energy and air pollution.

Without action, annual premature deaths attributable to outdoor air pollution will increase to 4.5 million in 2040 from around 3 million currently. Premature deaths due to household air pollution however, should fall to 2.9 million from 3.5 million. Asia will account for almost 90 percent of the rise in deaths. Even though global emissions are forecast to decline overall to 2040, existing and planned energy policies will not be enough to improve air quality, the report said. Harmful greenhouse gas emissions should continue to fall in industrialized countries and recent signs of decline in China should continue, but emissions are set to rise in India, southeast Asia and Africa as energy demand growth dwarfs efforts to improve air quality.

The IEA said increasing total energy investment by 7 percent, or $4.7 trillion, to 2040 could help ensure premature deaths from outdoor pollution fall to 2.8 million and from household air pollution to 1.3 million. "This is completely peanuts. With a seven percent increase you can save over three million lives," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told reporters in London. New energy and air quality policies will also deliver cleaner air. Each country needs to have a credible, long-term air quality goal, the report said. There should be a package of measures for the energy sector such as fitting coal-fired power plants with scrubbers; more use of renewable energy; increased energy efficiency and emissions control, it said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/air-pollu...ce.html?ref=gs

[waltky]

Granny got flowers inna house `cause she says dey look pretty...

Plants Clear Indoors of Pollutants, Study Finds
August 27, 2016 | WASHINGTON — Polluted air is a public health problem, not only outdoors, but indoors as well. Experts say it can be even worse inside because of the variety of household chemicals that emit fumes and irritating particulates. Researchers, however, have found that plants, as part of their carbon exchange cycle, can take up these pollutants, clearing the air in homes.

It makes sense in a way since we could not live without plants. They absorb the carbon dioxide that we exhale, and release the oxygen we need to breathe. And we depend on plants to produce an enormous amount of oxygen, according to Vadoud Niri from the State University of New York at Oswego. “Each of us breathes over 3,000 gallons of air every day. And also, we can’t go without air over three minutes. So it means that air quality is extremely important and we need clean air to breathe every day.” Scientists say air pollution, caused by chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), is three to five times greater inside our homes. VOCs include cancer-causing benzene and formaldehyde, which are given off by paints, upholstery, printers and stored fuel. Indoor air pollution can be the source of “sick building syndrome,” which can cause dizziness, asthma and allergies.

Indoor and outdoor plants are seen at a glassed-in conservatory in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 3, 2014. Based on a recent study, scientists recommend keeping varieties of plants as each absorbs different pollutants.

New approach to ‘scrubbing’ air

The traditional way of removing indoor air pollutants is through filtration methods that remove harmful air from the house while pumping in cleaner air from outdoors. “But we thought maybe we could use an easier and simpler and even cheaper way to get rid of these VOCs,” said Niri. He said the idea to look into plants for filtration came from a 1984 report by the U.S. space agency NASA, which was investigating putting plants on the space station to clean the air. In a specially designed chamber, Niri and colleagues tested five different plants that are commonly found in central New York homes: the jade plant, spider plant, a bromeliad, Caribbean tree cactus and dracaena. They were exposed to eight different VOCs. Niri says that each plant absorbed many of the different chemicals, some specific to a particular species.

A blooming zinnia flower grown aboard the International Space Station. As far back as 1984, NASA started testing plants for their air filtration qualities.

The bromeliad, for example, took up six of the eight volatile organic compounds it was exposed to. Eighty percent of each chemical was absorbed by the bromeliad plant in just 12 hours. The researchers thought it could not absorb the other VOCs, such as chlorine, because its atoms are too big. All five plants were effective at removing acetone, the smelly compound in nail polish, from the air, taking up around 94 percent of the chemical. For this reason, scientists are anxious to see how well the plants perform in nail salons. “We would recommend that instead of having one plant, five of one plant, we chose one of each to make sure that we uptake all types of VOCs from our air,” Niri said of greenery's chemical-absorbing properties. Niri discussed the air cleansing properties of plants at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. He said the next step is to place plants in actual rooms to see how well they perform.

http://www.voanews.com/a/pollution-i...s/3483170.html

[Peter1469]

The alt-health crowd has know this for centuries. Here is an article that discusses 26 plants to purify the air in your home.

1. Dwarf Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
2. Areca Palm (Dypsis lutescens)
3. Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’)
4. Kimberly Queen Fern (Nephrolepis obliterata)
5. English Ivy (Hedera helix)*
6. Lilyturf (Liriope spicata)
7. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
8. Devil’s Ivy (Epipremnum aureum)*
9. Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum ‘Mauna Loa’)*
10. Flamingo Lily (Anthurium andraeanum)*
11. Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)*
12. Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii)
13. Broadleaf Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa)
14. Variegated Snake Plant, mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’)*
15. Heartleaf Philodendron (Philodendron cordatum)*
16. Selloum Philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum)*
17. Elephant Ear Philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)*
18. Red-Edged Dracaena (Dracaena reflexa)*
19. Cornstalk Dracaena (Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana’)*
20. Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)*
21. Barberton Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
22. Florist’s Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)*
23. Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)*
24. Dendrobium Orchids (Dendrobium spp.)
25. Dumb Canes (Dieffenbachia spp.)
26. Moth Orchids (Phalaenopsis spp.)

Be careful. Some are toxic to pets (and stupid children who eat them)

[waltky]

India’s Air Pollution 18 Times the Healthy Limit...

India’s Air Pollution 18 Times the Healthy Limit
October 20, 2017 — Air pollution in New Delhi hit 18 times the healthy limit Friday under a thick, toxic haze after a night of fireworks to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali, despite a court-ordered ban on their sales.

Residents of the sprawling Indian capital, which ranks among the world’s most polluted cities, complained of eyes watering and aggravated coughs as levels of PM 2.5, tiny particulate matter that reaches deep into the lungs, rose alarmingly. Air quality usually worsens in New Delhi ahead of Diwali, the festival of lights, and the Supreme Court temporarily banned the sale of firecrackers, aiming to lessen the risk to health. ​But many still lit fireworks across the capital late into the night, either using old stocks or buying them from neighboring states. Some environment activists said the court order was poorly enforced and firecrackers were still available to celebrate one of north India’s biggest festivals.

Air quality off charts

An index of air quality had crossed the “hazardous” limit of 300 on Friday, the most severe level on a U.S. embassy scale of measurement which rates a reading of 50 as good and anything above that as a cause for concern. Some parts of Delhi such as Mandir Marg showed an air quality reading of 941, close enough to the level of 999 beyond which no readings are available. The index measures concentrations of PM 2.5, PM 10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide among other indicators.

A man holds a firecracker while celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali, the annual festival of lights in Mumbai, India

A hazardous level is an alert in which everyone may experience ill effects and are advised to stay indoors. Apart from the firecracker ban, the Supreme Court also ordered diesel generators and a power plant to be shut down to try to reduce the pollution. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority also ordered some brick kilns to close and a halt to the burning of rubbish.

Last year was worse

Dipankar Saha, a scientist at the government’s Central Pollution Control Board, said the still weather had also played a part in the toxic haze hanging over the city. But pollution levels were better than at last year’s Diwali when crop burning in nearby states and firecrackers combined. “It was going to be hard to beat last year’s level in any case,” he said.

https://www.voanews.com/a/india-air-...n/4078811.html

[waltky]

Smog Covers Pakistan, India, Causing Accidents, Illness...

Smog Covers Pakistan, India, Causing Accidents, Illness
November 05, 2017 — Smog has enveloped much of Pakistan and neighboring India, causing highway accidents and respiratory problems, and forcing many residents to stay home, officials said Saturday.

Pakistani meteorologist Mohammad Hanif said the pollution, caused by dust, the burning of crops, and emissions from factories and brick kilns in Pakistan and neighboring India, was expected to linger until the middle of the month. He advised people to wear facemasks to protect themselves from respiratory ailments.


Mohammad Arshad, a highway police official, said at least 10 people were killed and 25 injured in road accidents linked to poor visibility in various parts of the Punjab province since Monday. Authorities have advised people to limit road travel.

Motorcycles and vehicles are driven on a road in Peshawar, Pakistan, Nov. 5, 2017. Smog has enveloped much of Pakistan and neighboring India, causing highway accidents and respiratory problems, and forcing many residents to stay home, officials said.

Average air pollution in Pakistan’s major cities is about four times higher than the World Health Organization limits. Similar problems have been reported in the Indian capital, New Delhi, where air quality was rated “very poor” Saturday. Some private schools in New Delhi have suspended sports and outdoor activities.


India’s Supreme Court banned the sale of firecrackers in New Delhi ahead of last month’s Hindu Diwali festival to try to curb air pollution in the notoriously smoggy city. Though reports said air quality was better than last year, pollution levels in the capital hit 18 times the healthy limit the night after the festival, as many dodged the ban.


https://www.voanews.com/a/smog-pakis...s/4101379.html