News stories tagged with "acid-rain"

(02/09/11) New York's new Attorney General says he plans to file a lawsuit against a power plant in Pennsylvania for allegedly violating the federal Clean Air Act.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the Homer City Station coal-burning power plant, located roughly 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, is one of the largest out-of-state contributors to acid rain in the Adirondack Park.

Chris Morris has our story. more

(04/20/10) TEXT ONLY
AP - As a young lawyer, Pete Grannis helped organize the first Earth Day celebration in New York City - just a few months before he was hired to put teeth into enforcement at a new environmental agency created by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

Later, after 30 years in the state Assembly, Grannis rejoined the Department of Environmental Conservation as commissioner in 2007. This week, he's traveling around the state in an electric car, visiting the sites of environmental success stories to mark the 40th anniversary of both Earth Day and the DEC.

Grannis says the DEC has made great strides over the past four decades, but is now hobbled by the state's fiscal crisis - the DEC budget has been cut $32 million dollars and the staff reduced by 400 in the past 18 months.

Grannis was in Lake George yesterday to give the good news about the Adirondacks. Since the first Earth Day, he said, acid rain levels in the Adirondacks have fallen and species such as moose and bald eagles have returned. The DEC commissioner said a recent analysis found that acid rain levels dropped in all 48 Adirondack lakes that are monitored on a long-term basis. And he said wildlife such as moose, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and ospreys have re-established themselves in the North Country, and beaver and otter populations are flourishing.

(10/30/09) The race to replace John McHugh in Congress has been characterized more by what the three candidates aren't saying than what they are saying. Republican Dede Scozzafava, Democrat Bill Owens, and Conservative Doug Hoffman have barely touched on many local issues, especially environmental ones. At a public forum Wednesday night in Plattsburgh, Scozzafava and Owens responded to questions about expanding the St. Lawrence Seaway, acid rain, and manure run-off from dairy farms. You can hear those answers at the link below. David Sommerstein reports on some other environmental issues left off the campaign trail.

(04/03/09) North Country Congressman John McHugh is proposing new stricter environmental regulations that would reduce acid rain in the Adirondacks. David Sommerstein reports.

(04/03/09) If you've watch TV, you probably know this...you are being targeted by lobbyists. The coal industry and environmentalists are both trying to influence what you think. To help sort out the assertions, we begin a five-part series on the future of coal today, from The Environment Report. In part one, Lester Graham looks at the campaigns for-and-against coal.

(12/15/08) Scientists say streams in the western Adirondacks are still hard-hit by acid rain and they're blaming coal-fired power plants in the Midwest. The new report found that two-thirds of the streams surveyed were affected. Brian Mann has details.

(08/11/08) New York Senator Charles Schumer toured the Adirondacks on Friday, unveiling a plan that he says will curb acid rain in the North Country. Schumer's legislation comes in the wake of a recent Federal court decision that weakened the EPA's ability to regulate smokestack emissions. Brian Mann has our story.

(06/02/08) This week, the US Senate will debate a landmark bill that aims to sharply cut the nation's greenhouse gas pollution. The climate change measure is modeled closely after a policy that was first used to curb acid rain in the Adirondacks. The so-called "cap and trade" system would set new limits on carbon pollution. But it would also leave industry to decide how to reach the goals. As Brian Mann reports, the measure puts the Adirondacks back at the center of the national environmental debate.

(10/29/07) Congressman McHugh was in Wilmington on Saturday to unveil aggressive new legislation designed to cut acid rain and reduce green house gases. McHugh says he'll formally introduce the bill today in Washington. If passed and signed into law, it would force electric utilities to sharply reduce smokestack emissions from big coal-burning plants in the Midwest. A similar measure proposed by Governor Spitzer would cut smokestack emissions here in New York state. Pro-environment groups praised the measures. But as Brian Mann reports, Congressman McHugh's bill faces a tough fight in Washington.

(10/12/07) There was broad praise this week for a record agreement requiring American Electric Power to spend $4.6 billion to reduce emissions at its Midwest power plants that causes acid rain in the Northeast. The Ohio-based power company agreed to reduce emissions by at least 69% over the next 10 years. After stricter rules and enforcement under the Clean Air Act, coal-burning power plants have done much to reduce the pollution that leaves their smokestacks. But the industry is not controlling the main greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide. That could change in the next decade. One utility is about to begin the first test ever of technology to reduce CO2 emissions at power plants. If all goes well, an American Electric Power plant will be the first to use it. Erin Toner reports.