“Heavy Vehicle emissions standards recently proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would boost the electrification of trucks and buses, but standards stronger than what EPA proposed are needed to de-carbonize transportation at a pace to prevent catastrophic climate change. While leading utilities are showing that they can help build out the infrastructure at the scale necessary to support the proposed standards, they and their customers will need to invest far more ambitiously to support more robust standards.,” claims Daivie Ghosh, Transportation Senior Research Analyst at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, aka ACEEE. (AutoInformed: EPA Final Heavy-Duty Truck Standards Released, Well, Finally)
The proposed “Phase 3” heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) rules include new emissions standards for model years 2027–2032. The EPA projects that the standards would reduce emissions primarily via an increase in zero-emission vehicles (ZEV). This electrification would significantly improve public health (ACEE Study) and help address today’s climate challenge. Money interests are fighting the rule. Continue reading
Coffeyville Resources Refining Fined $23 Million for Pollution
“Oil companies and their allies in Congress have worked hard to stall the proposal of these standards.”
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice today announced a settlement with Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing and its affiliated companies (CRRM) for violations of the Clean Air Act and a previous consent decree related to operation of its petroleum refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas. These violations resulted in illegal emissions of various pollutants including an EPA estimate of more than 2300 excess tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), a pollutant that can make breathing more difficult, from the refinery’s flares from 2015 to 2017.
“The settlement with Coffeyville delivers on the promise of EPA’s new climate enforcement strategy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the annual emissions of 10,000 cars,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “In addition, the actions we are taking alongside our state partners in Kansas will reduce harmful air pollution that makes breathing more difficult and causes smog, acid rain, and tree and plant damage.” Continue reading →