Bush: Environmental policy won’t be based on a ‘fad’, 4/25/2001 By Sandy Smith Content Manager
Obviously stung by recent criticism of some of his environmental policy decisions, President
George W. Bush took his case to America’s future voters yesterday: a group of young people
receiving environmental awards from EPA Administrator Christie Whitman.
Starting off by telling Whitman that she’s doing “a great job,” and saying he’s proud to have
her on his team, Bush went on to outline his environmental plan for the students, parents and
several members of Congress in attendance.
Good environmental policy, said Bush, starts with a commitment. His administration has a
commitment to clean air and water and good soil, he added.
(A recent ABC-Washington Post poll showed that only 47 percent of the public approve of
Bush's handling of the environment. Some 52 percent of those polled said they favor
protecting the environment over economic growth.)
“We've got some regulatory policy in place that makes sense. It says we're going to make
decisions based upon sound science, not some environmental fad or what may sound good --
that we're going to rely on the best of evidence before we decide,” he warned.
Noting that he and his wife, Laura, own a ranch in Texas, Bush said that a good
environmental policy “understands the proper role of the federal government.” That role, said
Bush, is not only to set high standards and goals, but also to work with local residents to
achieve those goals.
“All of us in Washington don't have all of the answers to all of the problems,” said Bush. “Our
job is to work in a collaborative way with people at the local level.”
Bush pointed out that there is money in his budget to fully fund the Land and Water
Conservation Fund for the first time. That, he claimed, is proof that his administration is willing
to work with local groups that set aside lands that need to be protected, he said. Noting that
there is money in the budget to repair the national parks, Bush pointed out that while the
federal government “is talking about a clean world and a clean environment … we're not even
keeping our own parks [clean and safe]; we're not fulfilling our own responsibilities.”
He said that his environmental policy supports the idea that technology has advanced to the
point where economic growth and sound environmental policy go hand in hand. His
administration “firmly believes that the technologies that develop to the point where we can be
good stewards of the land and at the same time, bringing the energy to market that we need,”
said Bush.
“It seems like to me, if we want to set a good example for the rest of the country, we've got to
take care of [that] over which we're in charge. And we're going to do so at the federal level,” he
said. “We'll base decisions on sound science. We'll call upon the best minds of America to
help us achieve an objective -- not only here at home, but around the world -- which is cleaner
air, cleaner water and better use of our land.”
pollutiononline.com{A3099F99-38E1-11D5-A770-00D0B7694F32}}
... pollution on-line original link
Unfortunately if pure hydrogen p.e.m.s are not going to be a fad they'll have to justify :
a) the thousands of barrels of diesel fuel that's needed to dig up on the average of 20,000 tons of rock to produce one ounce of platinum
b) the hundreds of thousands of gallons of arsenic that leaches into our watershed, arsenic salts are used by miners to make cyanide which in turn is the preferred (at this time) only method of extracting pure enough platinum for polymer exchange membrane fuel cells
c) the polymer membrane is made from styrene building blocks, styrene is manufactured from the same hydrocarbons that the p.e.m. teams claim we are in short supply of.
d) the manufacturing of styrene polymers, and the use of styrene creates pollutants that are in some cases 4,000 more potent of a pollutant than nitrogen oxides
e) the world wide consensus is that fuel cells are here to stay, but the p.e.m. needs fossil fuel based membranes to work, versus the 'best of the best' fuel cells, the solid oxide fuel cell. In the event of 500 years down the road when we might run out of carbonaceous feedstock for the production of polymer, and after we've developed the maturity for a safe inexpensive pure hydrogen infrastructure, the solid oxide fuel cell will just keep on ticking away.
A S.O.F.C. ceramic/metal structure doesn't require hydrocarbon based building materials, and works just fine (in fact even more efficient than a p.e.m.) with pure hydrogen.
7th Grove Fuel Cell Symposium September 11-13, 2001
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Westminster, London, UK
PARALLEL SESSION 5B:
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: FUEL PROCESSING AND STORAGE
This session reviews recent advances in fuel technology relating
to fuel cells. Storage of hydrogen is one of the most interesting
issues to be addressed because this limits to the range of zero
emission vehicles at present. On-board hydrogen production from
gasoline follows as a priority if gasoline fuels remain dominant in
vehicles over the next few years.
Capturing carbon dioxide from carbonaceous fuels could enable
zero emissions and is possible with the SOFC.
Methanol may well turn out to be a desirable
direct fuel if improved DMFC membranes can be developed.
Finally the progress of fuel cells which can accept mixed fuels and
oxidants will be reviewed
Chairman: Professor Kevin Kendall, University of Birmingham, UK ...
globalte.com ... GLE fuel cell tradeshow paqe bottom link to
tradeshow
If you're a fuel cell investor it might also be worth your while to check this link out also ..
One technology Los Alamos National Laboratory, and U.S. Department of Energy is developing to achieve this goal .. via a high-temperature solid-oxide fuel cell. Hydrogen gas is produced from zero emission coal ...
lanl.gov ... larger central solid oxide fuel cell power generation plant
i.m.h.o.
p.e.m.'s are going the same route as 'pet rocks', ' hula hoops', and vials of Mt.St. Helen's volcanic ash.
What's replacing them is GLE's fuel cell, and 'Moose Droppings' of course they're not fads.
Get with the program eh ! |
