Iowa Global Warming

The large, coal-fired power plants that emit the bulk of Iowa’s air pollution are no longer required to measure emissions of mercury – one of the most toxic chemicals they produce – following the withdrawal of a federal rule last year.

Environmental groups say they are counting on state and federal regulators to put a new monitoring standard in place quickly, but state officials say it could take until at least August before a new standard is brought before the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission for discussion and approval.

At issue is the ability to better measure the mercury infiltrating the state’s waterways, which experts say is notoriously difficult. Mercury, a potent neurotoxin that can also damage the kidneys and lungs, is typically ingested by people when they eat contaminated fish.

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The air across Iowa is so polluted that the state is perilously close to violating new federal limits aimed at protecting human health. Yet Iowans have no way of knowing what chemicals they are breathing because of a limited – and often inaccurate – system of monitoring pollution statewide, a Des Moines Register investigation found.

Catharine Fitzsimmons, Iowa’s top air-quality official, defended Iowa’s existing air-monitoring system. Yet she said the state is under orders from the federal government to better monitor fine-particle and ozone pollution, among Iowa’s most pressing air-quality problems.

“Both of those pollutants affect respiratory systems, particularly in the young, the elderly and those with compromised lung function,” Fitzsimmons said. “They trigger heart attacks and other health problems.”

Read the rest of the Des Moines Register article here.

Senior doctors today published a report warning that climate change is the biggest threat to global health of the 21st century.

Rising global temperatures would have a catastrophic effect on human health, the doctors said, and patterns of infection would change, with insect-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever spreading more easily.

Heatwaves such as occurred in Europe in 2003, which caused up to 70,000 “excess” deaths, will become more common, as will hurricanes, cyclones and storms, causing flooding and injuries.
“We have not just underestimated but completely neglected and ignored this issue,” said Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, which published the report commissioned from University College London. “This has not been an issue on the agenda of any professional body in health in the last 10 years in any significant way. This report is one of the stepping stones in changing that culture within the health sector. It is the biggest employer in Britain and it should be a leading voice in the debate.”

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources opened up the requisite thirty-day public comment period for a pending permit to construct a new coal power plant in Marshalltown monday. The current deadline is March 20th, but environmentalists are pushing to have that extended to late May.

Central to the arguments against the plant is the state’s refusal to issue permits regulating fine particles and carbon dioxide. Fine particulate matter is a serious health concern, and carbon dioxide, previously not considerable for regulation under Bush-era policies, is currently being reconsidered by the EPA.

The negative health effects of coal are particularly troubling when considering that more than 500,000 children live within 30 miles of Iowa’s coal power plants.

“Iowa should be doing everything it can to reduce its existing pollution, not allowing another massive and dirty source of harmful soot and smog,” said Pam Mackey-Taylor, who follows energy issues for Sierra.

Read more here

See which public comment meetings are happening near you here

Or, send your thoughts to:

Dave Phelps, Supervisor
Construction Permits Section
Air Quality Bureau
7900 Hickman Road, Suite 1
Urbandale, IA 50322
FAX: (515) 242-5094
Email: dave.phelps@dnr.iowa.gov