Carbon Footprint of Canada's Oil Sands Is Larger Than Thought

From:  Inside Climate News 

John H. Cushman Jr.

BY JOHN H. CUSHMAN JR.

New climate change evidence from recent government studies could affect the coming legal fight over President Trump’s revived permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Unused pipe for the Keystone XL pipeline sits in a lot. Recent government studies of a different tar sands pipeline have found that the project's greenhouse gas emissions may be as much as 20 percent higher than previous estimates. Credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

The Donald Trump administration approved the Keystone XL pipelineknowing the tar sands crude oil it would deliver from Canada is even more polluting than the Obama administration thought when it turned the project down in 2015.

Recent government studies of a different tar sands pipeline found that the project's greenhouse gas emissions "may be five to 20 percent higher than previously indicated," the State Department noted on March 23 in its decision approving the Keystone XL permit.

Because both projects would carry tar sands crude, that suggests a similar understatement of emissions in the detailed but dated environmental review of the Keystone XL, which the Trump administration does not want to revisit. The final environmental assessment of the TransCanada project was published in January 2014.  MORE

Questions remain after huge hydrofluoric acid leak

From:  Chemistry World 

BY NED STAFFORD - NOVEMBER 2012

Korean residents in the affected zone are still afraid to return home six weeks after the disaster that killed five workers

More than six weeks after eight tonnes of hydrofluoric acid was accidentally released at a chemical plant in South Korea, many of the thousands of local residents who fled the area at the time have reportedly not yet returned to their homes despite assurances from authorities that the area is now safe.

The highly toxic hydrofluoric acid was released on 27 September at the Hube Global chemical plant in Gumi, about 200km from Seoul. The leak killed five workers at the plant and severely injured at least 18 others, including workers and emergency personnel. The  plant is reportedly still idle after the accident with no date yet set for resuming operations.

Hydrofluoric acid is used to produce chemical precursors for the pharmaceutical industry and has other industrial   applications. Highly corrosive and an acute poison, exposure can cause death and serious damage to the skin, lungs, heart, bones and nervous system. MORE

Regulation Freedom Update

By a 2-1 Margin of 27-13 the Kansas Senate on March 30 passed Majority Leader Jim Denning's Resolution, HCR 5003, urging Congress to propose the Regulation Freedom Amendment to require that Congress approve major new federal regulations.

The Resolution's support includes:

Kansas Chamber..United for Business
Kansas Automobile Dealers Association
Kansas Bankers Association
Kansas Building Industry Association
Kansas Farm Bureau (KGFA))
Kansas Grain and Feed Association
Kansas Cooperative Council (KCC)
Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA)

The KS House voted 93-29 on Feb. 15 for the same Resolution sponsored by Rep. Steven Johnson.

23 Legislative Chambers have now passed Resolutions urging Congress to propose the Regulation Freedom Amendment.

Just as states helped force Congress to propose the Bill of Rights, pressure from the states could help force Congress to permanently curb federal regulators and preserve the regulatory reforms of the current Administration.

As we search for issues that can unite supporters of limited government, the cause of permanently ending "regulation without representation" could be one of the decisive issues of 2018.

If you or someone you know would like to learn more, please contact me.

Roman Buhler
Director
The Madison Coalition
202 255 5000
www.RegulationFreedom.Org

Toxic acid poses an unnecessary health risk to more than a million in the Greater New Orleans region

From:  The Lens 

By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer |

The accidents unfold with eerie similarity: an unexpected explosion, a stubborn blaze, workers coughing and rubbing damaged eyes, a thick, ash-colored cloud of toxins racing away from the burning refinery.

On July 19, 2009, when a refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, lit up, a worker was critically hurt and the fire burned for two days. On Nov. 24, 1987, an explosion at an ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, Calif., shot a fireball 1,500 feet into the air, blasted the windows out of nearby houses and generated allegations of broken eardrums, back pain and lung damage.

The common denominator in both explosions was a toxic chemical many Louisiana residents have never heard of, though more than 3.7 million people across the state are at risk if a similar explosion happens here, according to company filings submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  MORE