Bluestem Lake near Lincoln, Nebraska.

Bluestem Lake near Lincoln, Nebraska is five miles north of a coal-fired power plant. It is also one of 85 bodies of water in the state under a consumption advisory because of fish found to have elevated levels of mercury in their tissues. Half of the airborne mercury pollution in the US comes from coal-fired power plants. After years of study and debate, the EPA is planning to announce new limits on mercury from coal plants in November. Ken Winston of the Nebraska Sierra Club believes the agency is doing the right thing.

“When you burn coal, mercury goes up into the atmosphere,” Winston said. “It comes down in the form of rain. Fish eat it. People eat the fish. It can be very damaging and have long term negative impact on the development of children. So it’s something we need to get out of the environment as much as possible.”

The EPA says its proposed new mercury rules could reduce emissions across the country by 91%. Meanwhile, utilities are scrambling to meet other new federal regulations and industry groups are asking the government to slow down. The Nebraska Public Power District operates two coal plants. Under the proposed mercury rule Environmental Manager, Joe Citta, says the utility will need to install equipment that uses activated carbon in order to remove even more mercury than control systems already in place.

Sheldon Station coal fired power plant produces 140 pounds of mercury per year.

“The system is several million dollars,” Citta said. “But what really makes it expensive is the operating cost because activated carbon is rather pricey.”

NPPD will spend 35 million dollars to meet another new regulation reducing smog-forming pollutants that cross state lines. That rule, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), was announced in July and takes effect in January. Citta says it requires more cuts than many in the industry expected for pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).

“This caught our state, many other states also,” Citta said. When the final rule came out they had reduced those by an additional 40%. Then with only 6 months to comply…We felt the proposed rule was manageable. We would have had to do some things. But they were certainly more achievable than this additional 40% reduction.”

Nebraska utilities feeling rushed by regulation are hoping to get some extra time. The Nebraska Attorney General’s office is working on a lawsuit against the interstate smog rule that a spokesperson says would protect utilities and consumers from costly federal overreach. A bill in the House of Representatives could slow things down by commissioning a study on the economic impact of the EPA’s emissions agenda. Steve Gates of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy says it is a reaction to a lot of regulation in a short period of time.

“In a state like Nebraska where 65% of our electricity comes from coal, something is going to happen and the guess is electricity prices go up immediately,” Gates said. “You know, there’s just a lot of economic implications that really should be looked at before we jump into something that no one knows the outcome economically.”

Nebraska rails are a major thoroughfare from Wyoming to power plants in the Midwest and southern Plains. Gates says the state’s economic ties to coal show the advantage of having easy access to inexpensive energy.

“We’re fortunate enough to be in the top ten lowest states for electricity in the country,” Gates said. “What we need to do is find a balance between reducing emissions the best we can while also keeping an eye on what we’re going to do to local economies if we enact something too quickly.”

The EPA claims that the mercury rule will have a positive economic impact in the end by providing health savings of up to $140 billion from reduced asthma, heart disease and other serious ailments. Gates says the EPA underestimates the cumulative impact of multiple rules all coming down at once, particularly in a bad economy. The Sierra Club’s Ken Winston believes power companies are capable of covering costs that they have not paid in the past.

“They can absorb the cost of making these changes much more easily than a person can,” Winston said. “An individual whose child doesn’t develop appropriately because they’ve had mercury poisoning, that’s a life that’s destroyed and we can’t tolerate that.”

Additional Links

• Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD)
• EPA mercury rule
• Nebraska Sierra Club
• Sierra Club – Beyond Coal
• Fish consumption advisories page
• Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR)
• Houtson Chronicle – Texas sues EPA to block new pollution rule
• Nebraska AG lawsuit story
• Washington Post – White House threatens veto of House bill to delay EPA pollution rules
• The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE)

Photo Credit: wohnai

Seven years ago, I was accepted into a double masters program. The first year was to be at the London School of Economics and the second year was to be at the University of Southern California. I was absolutely thrilled to be accepted; LSE has the reputation of one of the best schools in the world and I felt incredible to be accepted. I bought a one way to ticket to London just before tuition prices were raised. To be fiscally responsible, I sat down with a financial adviser to go over the rise in tuition.

I learned that with international student loan rates, a two-year masters program would cost me over $250,000 in student loan repayment. It broke my heart to walk away from LSE but I did. Shortly thereafter, I got hired at the California Academy of Sciences. Knowing what I know today, I don’t know if I would apply again for a higher education degree.

Student loans in the US are out of control. This year, student loan debt eclipsed credit card dept in the United States, a debt that is very close to one trillion dollars. Even if a person declares bankruptcy, their student loan debt cannot be expunged. Wages and disability income can be garnered in order to pay a loan that is in default. College tuition rates have also have risen exponentially, more than 900% since 1978. I know many friends who have graduated from college with more than $100,000 in loans to pay back. I graduated from University of California, Berkeley over ten years ago and I am still paying back a major portion of my loans.

So the question that I have seen often as of late – it the price tag worth the experience? I walked away from LSE because I knew I would have to take a corporate job making a six-figure salary right out of my masters program to be able to afford and justify my education. Not only is that unfeasible, it was against my intentions to go to school in the first place, as I have maintained a vested interest in the non-profit sector throughout my career. It is also frightening to look at that price tag on a larger scale. With so many young professionals flooding the work force loaded down with significant dept, their risk tolerance is very conservative. Innovation, entrepreneurship and advances in science and technology suffer because risk and money are not there to be put into business prospects; they are tied up in the debt of student loans. Poor education has been made the culprit for US lagging behind in science and technology but what if student loans have something to do with it? I tried to get dual citizenship when I lived in England because as an English citizen, my education would have been paid for.

These questions and concerns have spurned a un-college movement; which inspires students to get a college education without paying a cent. No longer does a college education determine success; un-college.org inspires students of all ages to create their education and community around their own goals and aspirations in order to gain valuable real life experience.

Looking back on my undergraduate experience, I have incredibly fond memories. Since I had Attention Deficit Disorder, I worked with my teachers to make my college experience my own. I would reject assignments, talk to my teachers after class and suggest alternative assignments. I deepened my relationship with my mentor because I didn’t accept my education on his terms. He wrote a recommendation letter to LSE lauding me as an exemplary student because I carved out my own education rather than accepting the set curriculum. I am sure that characteristic of out of the box learning got me accepted into the masters program. The un-college movement is following the beat of their own drummer as well; they are just taking it out of the classroom and making it much more affordable.

37.7699 -122.467174

"For every five hours of cable news, less than a minute is devoted to science" – Chris Mooney, Author of Unscientific America

Chris has been a lightning rod for controversy ever since he released the bestseller, The Republican War on Science, in 2006. Chris cites some famous stats that scientific illiteracy is increasing: 46 percent of Americans reject evolution and think the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. In his new book, he points the finger at a profit driven media, science phobic politicians, and the arrogance of scientists themselves. (Chris' recent showdown with famous science blogger PZ Myers is widely documented). His main point: this gap hinders productivity and has us falling behind in global innovation.

Then there was the recent Pew survey showing a widening gap between scientists and the public on key issues of global warming, evolution, and use of animals in research. The survey also looked at scientific illiteracy using a 12 question quiz (Take the quiz yourself!) with some surprising results:

• 54% incorrectly identified electrons as bigger than atoms
• 46% thought antibiotics kills viruses as well as bacteria
• 24% failed to correctly a basic question on plate tectonics

But it isn't all doom and gloom, Chris outlines his strategy for closing that gap including sexing up science and training a new generation of science ambassadors in society at large.

Chris Mooney: Unscientific America

When: Monday, August 3^rd 630 PM – 830 PM

Where: Kellogg Auditorium, Silicon Valley Bank, 3005 Tasman Dr., Santa Clara, CA

Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing

Cost: $15 members and non-members advance. $20 members and non-members at the door, Tickets

37.403659 -121.98339