“Putting economics above public safety and the environment appears to be a pervasive practice” at BP, said ELPC senior attorney Faith Bugel. “If there’s a loophole, the practice appears to be to find their way through it. Our concern is that what happened in the Gulf doesn’t happen here.”

Read the full article in the New York Times

The EPA agreed with ELPC and our coalition that the state’s draft rules are insufficient, stating “we believe several components of the draft rules appear to be inconsistent with applicable federal requirements…” If Indiana doesn’t improve its standards, EPA could take away the state’s authority to issue wastewater permits.

ELPC will continue to push for regulations that protect clean water and public health in Indiana.

Read coverage in the Post-Tribune

“The US EPA is stepping up to protect children’s health, the Great Lakes and our environment by reducing toxic mercury pollution from major sources,” said Howard A. Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “Mercury is a neurotoxin that can pass through a pregnant woman’s placenta and harm fetal brain development. Coal plants and these industrial smokestacks are the largest sources of mercury pollution.  Today’s announcement leads the way to better protection for children’s health and the environment.”

One program that’s made thousands of new clean energy projects possible is the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). ELPC’s Farm Energy Success Stories report highlights clean energy projects on farms and rural small businesses across the country that are saving money, creating new income and reducing pollution. ELPC is advocating to expand REAP and other farm energy programs. Listen to the interview here.

ELPC Deputy Director Kevin Brubaker explains that “High-speed trains consume less fuel, produce less carbon dioxide, and promote urban redevelopment, which has broader environmental benefits…We see high-speed rail as a way to improve mobility while improving the environment.”

Read the full article in the Washington Post

The shift toward cleaner cars presents an opportunity for Midwest manufacturing centers, as carmakers develop more efficient technologies and better pollution controls.

“The U.S. EPA’s action shows the Clean Air Act working successfully to achieve environmental progress and economic benefits together by advancing clean technologies that provide positive solutions,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “The Midwest should be a leader in capturing the jobs of the future and building the new, cleaner cars of the future that will increase our energy independence and save consumers billions each year at the gas pump.”

Under the new standards, average fuel economy for passenger cars will increase from 27.5 mpg in 2009 to 37.8 mpg by 2016 – an improvement of nearly 40 percent.  Building cleaner cars will reduce lifetime greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles produced between 2012 and 2016 by 655 million metric tons.  By 2030, the 2012-2016 standards will reduce GHG emissions from the U.S. light-duty fleet by approximately 21 percent.

American automakers have expressed support for the standards, which will make American cars more competitive at home and abroad. American vehicles manufactured to comply with the federal clean cars standards can also meet the stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards for new vehicles that have been adopted by the European Union, Japan, China and Canada.

The new fuel efficiency and emissions rules are expected to cost approximately $52 billion and will generate more than $182 billion in economic benefits.  The bulk of new investment by automakers will be for development of innovative fuel efficiency technologies.  Those standard-driven research and development investments will create new jobs and put U.S. manufacturers at the forefront of clean car technology.

“Clean car standards and innovative technology will spur new jobs in research and development of pollution control technologies and create new manufacturing opportunities in the Midwest,” said Jack Shaner, Deputy Director of the Ohio Environmental Council.

“Because they reduce fuel consumption, these standards are an important step toward increasing our energy independence and strengthening national security,” said David Gard, Energy Program Director for the Michigan Environmental Council. New standards for cars of the future are predicted to save as much as 11.6 billion gallons of gasoline per year by 2016 (equal to half the oil the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia) and save consumers up to $31.8 billion annually at the pump.

The coalition working to promote the economic benefits of the new clean car standards includes The Environmental Law & Policy Center, The Hoosier Environmental Council, The Ohio Environmental Council, The Michigan Environmental Council and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

Estimated annual benefits of the federal clean cars standards for the Midwest (by 2016):

Analysis of NOPR proposed standards from Environment America “State Leadership and the National Clean Cars Program.”

Average fuel economy required under federal clean car standards:

Farm Energy Success Stories highlights clean energy projects that were made possible with grants and loan guarantees from the Farm Bill’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

Download the Report Here

More importantly, they are the first installment in a major effort to transform and revitalize our nation’s transportation infrastructure.

High-speed rail will create a modern, fast, comfortable and convenient travel option that reduces pollution, counteracts sprawl and brings people into the hearts of America’s cities. As ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner told the Christian Science Monitor “It’s a very important beginning…a giant step forward in the transformation of our nation’s transportation system.”

ELPC has worked to promote high speed rail since the organization began 15 years ago. Howard Learner joined Senator Dick Durbin, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley at a press conference celebrating Illinois’ rail funding. You can listen to the press conference at Chicago Public Radio’s website.

Read ELPC’s statement about funding for high-speed rail

Read Coverage in the Kansas City Star and Crain’s Cleveland

• Building citizen and local capacity to more effectively participate in the policy process
• Advancing the state’s under-developed “anti-degradation” rules
• Improving, upgrading and adding new use designations and water quality criteria, and
• Implementing and enforcing existing state clean water regulations.

ELPC attorneys are working with our partners at the Hoosier Environmental Council, Save the Dunes, the Sierra Club and other Indiana organizations to develop new “anti-degradation” rules that would correct future problems like the one involving the BP-Whiting refinery that generated so much controversy a few years ago. We also are following issues related to nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the Hoosier State.

Fighting global warming pollution from oil refinery expansion

Eight oil refinery expansions have recently been proposed across the Midwest due in large part to the newly commercially viable tar sands in Alberta, Canada. Alberta tar sands or Canadian crude is sandy, petroleum rich deposits which can be harvested, then transported to oil refineries to be processed and converted into workable fuel for our cars and trucks, among other things. The potential increase in global warming from the oil refinery expansions is huge. One proposed new oil refinery in Hyperion, SD would add 19 million tons of pollutants – the equivalent of 4 to 6 new coal-fired power plants to the state. The proposed expansion by BP in northwest Indiana is reported to increase global warming pollution by 40%.

I-69 boondoggle

The Environmental Law and Policy Center is working with local environmental, farm, business and taxpayers’ organizations to prevent one of the nation’s great boondoggles: the controversial proposed “new terrain” Interstate 69 highway from Indianapolis to Evansville, in Southwestern Indiana. NBC Nightly News called this billion-dollar highway a “Fleecing of America.” We are fighting for a plan to upgrade existing highways would create a travel time between Indianapolis and Evansville only ten minutes longer than the same trip made on the proposed new highway. This alternative, using Interstate 70 and an upgraded US 41, would save $600 million of taxpayers’ money. It would be far less damaging to farmland, to the environment, and to Indianapolis, Bloomington, and other communities.