Tag Archive for "Acid Rain" - The Adirondack Almanack

I’ll have more reporting that involves the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but here are a few key concepts:

The first head of the EPA, a Nixon appointee named William Ruckelshaus, said the newly-created agency was meant to be a “gorilla in the closet.” As he explained in an oral history:

The belief was that the states had enough interest and infrastructure to enforce these laws. If they also had this “gorilla in the closet”–that is, the federal government, which could assume control if the state authorities proved too weak or inept to curb local polluters–the states would be far more effective. That’s the theory. Prior to EPA, there was no federal oversight. There was no “gorilla in the closet.” Absent that, it was very hard to get widespread compliance.

» Continue Reading.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Notes From The Annual Adirondack Research Forum

by Willie Janeway

Almost 50 scientists who work in the Adirondacks gathered March 6 and 7 in Old Forge to present results of research and monitoring activities in the region during the 16th Annual Adirondack Research Forum. Below is a quick summary of their reports and findings.

Readers will note that the names of a few private waterbodies where specific research is being conducted were redacted. This was done for privacy purposes and to protect the fisheries. Each of the research and monitoring projects fits into the state’s plan to protect itself from acid rain and climate change by proving what damage has already occurred. Some of the projects also seek to find ways to accelerate the park’s recovery from all air pollution-related damage. » Continue Reading.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Acid Rain Controls Near Finish Line, Obstacles Remain

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As the nation mourns the passing of George H. W. Bush, the President who signed the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 creating America’s first acid rain program – a conference of scientists and advocates has concluded that the fight to stop acid rain is nearly won. Sadly, victory is now in doubt due to the Trump administration’s proposed pollution rule changes.

It feels like we are a marathon runner who has been tripped with the finish line in sight. In 1990, President Bush understood that the United States was supposed to set an example for the rest of the world when it comes to protecting the environment. The current Environmental Protection Agency is pushing hard in the other direction, imposing reductions to environmental protections that took a generation to enact. » Continue Reading.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Sheehan: Kavanaugh Nomination Bad News for Park

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At the conclusion of his visit to Bear Pond in the St. Regis Canoe Area on August 10, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer answered questions from press and local residents who were worried about Federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Senator Schumer confirmed that Kavanaugh would be bad news for clean air, clean water and public health in the Adirondack Park.

The Senator had come to celebrate Bear Pond’s recovery from acid rain and to warn federal officials not to backslide on clean air rules. The Senate Minority Leader said he was opposed to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. » Continue Reading.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

John Sheehan: EPA’s Budget, Acid Rain Research

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The Adirondack Council on Wednesday praised New York’s Congressional delegation for its efforts to secure approval of a $1.3-trillion federal appropriations agreement that eliminated significant cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Congress has approved and President Donald Trump has signed a resolution continuing the current funding plan for the federal government through the end of FY2018. The plan increases EPA’s budget, while providing funds for other important environmental and public health priorities. » Continue Reading.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Acid Rain Still Impacting Adirondack Lakes and Forests

by Richard Gast

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In a recent newsletter from Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, she mentioned visiting the facilities of the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation to discuss strategies for measuring and combating acid rain in the Adirondacks. Although acid rain remains an important topic of study and discussion, the once commonplace phrase has become somewhat obscure in recent years and the problems associated with acid rain have taken a back seat to other, more widely discussed environment-impacting issues.

Like global warming, acid rain results from burning fossil fuels, either to generate electricity at large power plants or to run vehicles and heavy equipment. As the resulting ‘acid gasses’ are released into the air, they combine with water vapor, producing sulfuric and nitric acids, which fall to earth in acidified rain, snow, sleet, fog, mist, or hail. » Continue Reading.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

U.S. Supreme Court Puts Hold On Clean Power Plan

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The U.S. Supreme Court has issued an injunction that delays implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan’s greenhouse-gas regulations. EPA’s plan must wait until after a legal challenge in a lower court, as well as an expected appeal to the Supreme Court, are decided. These events are expected to take a year or more. » Continue Reading.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Acid Rain Reductions Should Inform Climate Change Strategy

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As nations engage in the Paris climate summit, we can take comfort in the fact that we have learned how to vanquish acid rain over the past 30 years and we can apply the same methods to curb global warming.

There was much to celebrate in New York when the International Acid Rain Conference: Acid Rain 2015 was held at the Riverside Convention Center in Rochester in late October. The pollutants that cause acid rain have been curbed sharply.

The amount of sulfur-based air pollution falling on New York State has been reduced by a whopping 92 percent since 1985. That was the year when New York enacted the nation’s first law to control acid rain. Nitrogen oxides have decreased by more than 70 percent over those same 30 years. » Continue Reading.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

New Study: Adirondack Sugar Maples In Decline

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The iconic sugar maple, one of the most economically and ecologically important trees in the eastern United States and Canada, shows signs of being in decline, according to research results published today (Oct. 21, 2015) in the journal Ecosphere.

Scientists at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) analyzed growth rings from hundreds of trees in the Adirondacks and found a decline in the growth rate began for a majority of sugar maple trees after 1970. The reasons for the decline are unclear. » Continue Reading.

Monday, August 17, 2015

EPA’s Greenhouse Plan Protects Park, Sets Global Pace

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On August 3rd the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it had set tough new standards for controlling greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel power plants.

This final Clean Power Plan would reduce carbon emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. That is a nine-percent deeper cut than EPA’s preliminary plan, announced last year. » Continue Reading.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

DEC Limes Pond in Five Ponds Wilderness

As part an effort to mitigate the impact of acid rain and restore brook trout to the Adirondacks, state helicopters delivered 80 tons of lime to an acidified pond in the Five Ponds Wilderness Area in the Town of Webb in Herkimer County.

Over three days in early March, about 40 Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) staff and New York State Police helicopter crews conducted the liming operation, which included 120 helicopter flights to transport 160,000 pounds of lime from a staging area near the boat launch at Stillwater Reservoir to Bear Pond. » Continue Reading.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Acid Rain Work Not Finished

by Mike Lynch

Great strides have been made in recent decades to protect the Adirondack Park’s environment from acid rain, but more work still needs to be done. That’s according to scientists, environmentalists and natural resource managers who attended a conference about acid rain in the Adirondacks Thursday at the Hilton Hotel in Saratoga Springs.

The event was organized by the Adirondack Council and the Environmental Defense Fund. » Continue Reading.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

New Studies Put Focus On Adirondack Loons

Biodiversity Research Institute’s (BRI’s) Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS’s) Adirondack Program have announced that three new articles summarizing research on Adirondack loons have been published in a special issue of the journal Waterbirds that is dedicated to loon research and conservation in North America. Research was conducted on the Common Loon (Gavia immer), which breeds on Adirondack lakes, by BRI and WCS in collaboration with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, SUNY ESF’s Adirondack Ecological Center, Paul Smiths Watershed Stewardship Program, and other partners.

“We are pleased to have our loon research in the Adirondack Park included in this unique publication,” Dr. Nina Schoch, Coordinator of BRI’s Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, said in a statement to the press. “The special issue includes fifteen scientific papers highlighting loon behavior, life history and population ecology, movements and migration, habitat and landscape requirements, and the risk contaminants pose to loon populations. The publication will be a valuable resource to help guide the conservation of loon populations throughout North America.” » Continue Reading.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Supreme Court Revives Cross-State Pollution Rule