Articles by Andy Brett

L.A. aims for Urban Environmental Accord Action #4

Although ideally any city trying to meet Action #4 of the Urban Environmental Accords wouldn't be sending any waste to landfills or to incinerators, a councilman in Los Angeles figures that one out of two ain't bad for now. Councilman Greig Smith would like to view "trash as a resource, not as a problem" and use it to create electricity.

One incinerator already in use is the City of Commerce incinerator. The plant charges $35 per ton of trash, burning 400 tons of it per day with a capacity of 10 megawatts.

A concern, of course, is the pollution from these stacks (exhaust gases and water vapor). However, the exhaust has to meet air quality standards, and 60 percent of the plant is devoted (whatever that means) to air quality while only 40 percent is built for electricity.

Unintended consequences

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a 2002 EPA change to the Clean Air Act.

One of the matters of contention was the New Source Review, which requires plants to upgrade their pollution control technologies whenever they are modified.

The Commons has had some great coverage, including this post which links to an article that finds that New Source Review actually leads to increased pollution, since it serves as a disincentive for plants to upgrade, so they wind up staying in operation and in high polluting mode longer than they would have if the rule were not in place.

Hot off the wire

Fusion in France?

While it's not economically viable yet (governments are paying for the $12 billion project), it's interesting to think about.

Another suggestion to limit congestion

So maybe the chances of this idea getting into the current highway bill are slim to none. And maybe the guy proposing it (Stephen Moore) is on that infamous editorial board.

But the idea isn't half bad. And it makes sense. Here it is: avoid congestion (and $70 billion in lost time annually) by charging people for driving at peak times. Just like matinee movie tickets or off-peak phone hours -- only the opposite. Moore cites Robert Nelson at the University of Maryland who wrote this essay detailing the idea.

Roughly the same idea has been proposed in the U.K., although they are taking a slightly more high-tech approach. Moore cites technology that can "read" a car going 60 mph without being in outer space, although Nelson does mention the satellite idea.