EIA: “On July 7, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final version of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). The CSAPR is intended to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants in the eastern half of the United States by imposing state-level caps on emissions and facilitating a limited interstate cap-and-trade program. There are several possible strategies for reducing SO2 and NOx emissions from coal-fired power plants: plant owners can use lower sulfur coal in their boilers, run the plants with higher emissions less often, retire plants without emissions controls and run other plants, or install emissions control equipmentprimarily, flue gas desulfurization units (FGD, or scrubber) for SO2 and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units for NOx. The CSAPR’s SO2 limits apply to 23 states. Total coal-fired electric generating capacity in these states is 250 GW, or 76% of the national total. Approximately 45% of these plants already had FGD scrubbers in 2009, with installations planned for an additional 5%. FGD scrubbers remove SO2 from post-combustion flue gas through the use of an alkaline solution.”
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Daily Archives: August 9, 2011
Commentary: The Greater Recession: America Suffers from a Crisis of Productivity
The Atlantic – Derek Thompson: “The collapse of the middle class is greater than the Great Recession. But what’s really behind our 30-year crash? One statistic, often ignored, begins to provide a clearer picture. It’s the productivity, stupid.” “We know where the jobs are going — to machines, software, and foreign workers. We also know… Continue Reading
NCLS: 2011 Immigration-Related Laws and Resolutions in the States (January-June)
“In the first half of 2011, state legislators introduced 1,592 bills and resolutions relating to immigrants and refugees in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The number of bill introductions is an increase of 16 percent compared to the first half of 2010, when 46 states considered 1,374 bills and resolutions pertaining to immigrants. As… Continue Reading
EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook
News release includes links to data, tables, charts: “EIA expects the U.S. average refiner acquisition cost of crude oil will rise from $100 per barrel in 2011 to $107 per barrel in 2012 as global spare production capacity and inventories continue to decline. This forecast assumes that U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) grows by… Continue Reading
House of Representative Releases New Beta Version of U.S. Code
“The United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives.” Search the United States Code: Features includes: Search the entire code, Jump to a specific… Continue Reading
EIA: Norway is the largest oil producer and exporter in western Europe
Norway Country Analysis Brief: “Norway provided 12 percent of OECD Europe’s crude oil imports and 18 percent of its natural gas imports in 2010. Norway is the largest oil producer and exporter in western Europe Norway is the second largest exporter of natural gas after Russia, and ranks fifth in world natural gas production.” Read… Continue Reading
BEA: Personal Income for Metropolitan Areas, 2010
Personal Income for Metropolitan Areas, 2010: “Personal income rose in 2010 in all but four of the nations 366 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income in the metropolitan portion of the United States rose 2.9 percent in 2010 after falling 1.9 percent in… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: Acquisition Planning, Information Security
Acquisition Planning – Opportunities to Build Strong Foundations for Better Services Contracts, GAO-11-672, August 9, 2011 Information Security – State Has Taken Steps to Implement a Continuous Monitoring Application, but Key Challenges Remain, GAO-11-149, August 8, 2011 Continue Reading
Report: Principles of Effective State Sentencing and Corrections Polic
Principles of Effective State Sentencing and Corrections Policy – A Report of the NCSL Sentencing and Corrections Work Group, August 2011 “The issues addressed by the NCSL work group reflect the important role of state legislatures in enacting policies that manage prison populations and costs, address offender and community needs, and contribute to the safe… Continue Reading
Sierra Club Report: Giant Fish Blenders: How Power Plants Kill Fish & Damage Our Waterways
Giant Fish Blenders: How Power Plants Kill Fish & Damage Our Waterways, Sierra Club, August 2011 “A power plant with once-through cooling draws hundreds of millions, in some cases billions, of gallons of water each day from the closest lake, river or ocean and indiscriminately sucks in whatever aquatic life is near the intake pipe.… Continue Reading
White House Announces First Ever Oil Savings Standards for Heavy Duty Trucks, Buses
News release: “Today, President Obama [met] with industry officials to discuss the first-of-their-kind fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas pollution standards for work trucks, buses, and other heavy duty vehicles and to thank them for their leadership in finalizing a successful national program for these vehicles. This meeting marked the administrations announcement of the standards, which… Continue Reading
IndustryWeek U.S. 500
“IndustryWeek U.S. 500 is IndustryWeek’s report on the 500 largest publicly held U.S. manufacturing companies companies based on revenue Search features: to order by revenue, click on the revenue title. To order by revenue growth, click on the revenue growth title. To order alphabetically, click on the company name title. To order by rank, click… Continue Reading
