Did you know that the Department of Homeland Security has identified 6,300 “high-risk” chemical plants in the United States? Examples of dangerous chemical plants are the ones that store and use large quantities of poison gases (like chlorine). If there were an accident or attack at a plant in a populated area, it could kill or injure 100 million people in as few as 24 minutes. That’s really disturbing news.

But, the good news is that these risks are preventable. Nationwide, 287 plants have switched to safer and more secure chemicals or processes since 1999 and eliminated these risks to 38.5 million Americans.

While some plants have switched voluntarily, others won’t do the same until a law is passed that requires it. That’s where the chemical security bill comes into play. Where feasible, the bill will make the most dangerous plants convert to safer manufacturing and aims to protect millions of lives.

The chemical security bill has been moving along in Congress. The bill has had quite a journey. In November, 2009 it was passed in the House and now it's waiting to be taken up by the Senate.

If you have forgotten the “ins and outs” of the US legislative process, maybe this School House Rocks video will refresh your memory. I remember watching it as a kid and find it’s a simple (and cute) way of seeing how a bill finally becomes a law in our Congress.

 

As you can see from the video, it’s not easy to become a law. The bill has to go through both the House and Senate and in between it goes into committees and even subcommittees. It’s enough to make your head spin.

On November 6, 2009, the House of Representatives approved the "Chemical and Water Security Act," (H.R. 2868). This was an amazing accomplishment because it marked the first time either house of Congress approved permanent and comprehensive chemical security legislation.

Next, the legislation moves to the Senate. The bill has a long way to go in the Senate and we’re going to need YOUR help every step of the way. With so many important issues vying for our Senators’ attention, we have to make sure they hear from us. We need to tell them repeatedly, that chemical security is critical and urge them to pass the legislation (at every single step of the long process)!

The chemical security bill has gotten this far. We can’t let it die in committee!! Please write your Senators and tell them to vote for the bill when it hits the Senate floor.

 

--Michelle

 

The announcement of Apple's new iPad, made today by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at an event right here in San Francisco, included a report on the tablet device's environmental stats: Happily, the iPad will be free of PVCs, BFRs, arsenic and mercury. It's very exciting to see that Apple is continuing its industry-leading policy of eliminating toxic chemicals from its products, once again proving that these dangerous substances don't belong in our electronics.

But while Jobs also made the claim that Apple is the industry leader in mobile technologies, he didn’t mention that mobile devices are growing increasingly dependent on cloud computing power, or the fact that the energy powering the cloud can have a big impact on the green cred of mobile devices like the iPad.

In case you’re not familiar with the term, “cloud computing” refers to devices that have little or no processing power and storage of their own, but instead connect to the internet and run web-based applications and access media stored on web servers (as opposed to applications and media stored on your computer's hard drive). Google Docs and Gmail, photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube – these are all part of “the cloud.”

While the rise of cloud computing means we get lots of cool new toys – more powerful smart phones and other high-tech gadgets like the iPad – data storage and cloud computing power are the single largest driver of new electricity demand worldwide. We launched our Cool IT Challenge precisely because tech companies have a huge impact on greenhouse gas emissions, not just in the sense that they're responsible for emitting lots of greenhouse gases but also because they have the potential to play a big part in solutions to climate change.

You can see how all the consumer electronics stack up against each other in terms of green cred on our latest Guide to Greener Electronics.

As a leader in mobile technology, Apple now joins the ranks of big data center users like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and IBM. These companies are building data centers around the globe at alarming rates, and where they choose to build these new data centers can have a huge impact on important decisions about energy policy. For example, we're seeing Google and Apple build data centers in places in the US where there are fights over coal power expansion, and their data centers are being used as justification by politicians and utilities to expand dirty energy power stations.

It's great that the iPad is green. Now Apple and other players in the cloud computing sector must be aggressive advocates for renewable energy to ensure that the cloud powering their products is itself fueled by clean, green energy, not the dirty fuels of the past.

We don't want our fancy new green iPads to be connected to a brown cloud.

Image credit: Gizmodo (via Flickr)

The flurry of the end of the year is over. Looking back, 2009 was an incredible year for the environment. The Boreal Forest now has Kimberly-Clark on its side, the House has agreed to make our communities and earth a safer place, and Nike and Timberland said "No" to Amazon destruction. And that's just a handful.

So, thank you everyone, from the people on the streets to the folks in the board room and all of you in between that helped the earth in 2009. (Yours truly at 2:21.)

 

 

Here's looking forward to 2010!

The History Channel's Life After People: Toxic Revenge airs tonight at 9pm eastern. We're all excited that it includes an interview with Greenpeace's toxics campaigner, Rick Hind.

If you find yourself in front of the TV this evening, flip to the History Channel and check it out.

You can go to their website for show information and times.

--Michelle

 

Greenpeace just released the 14th edition of the Guide to Greener Electronics. The guide looks at the 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TV's and games consoles and ranks them according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change.

In the 14th edition, some companies did better, some did worse and a bunch continued to do nothing to improve their score.

A big thumbs up for Apple, Sony Ericsson and Nokia. They are leading the way for product ranges free of the worst hazardous substances with HP following their lead. HP just released the Compaq 8000f Elite business desktop, it’s first completely PVC and BFR free product, at CES 2010.

Two thumbs down for Samsung, Dell, Lenovo and LG Electronics (LGE). They pick up penalty points in the Guide for failing to follow through on a promised phase-out of toxics in their products.

What may seem like a toxic alphabet soup, PVC and BFRs, are actually very dangerous substances that are found in many electronics products. PVC contaminates humans and the environment throughout its lifecycle; during its production, use, and disposal it's the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics, and can form dioxin, a known carcinogen, when burned. Some BFRs are highly resistant to degradation in the environment and are able to build up in animals and humans.

You can get involved by joining in our twitter petition. We're calling Samsung out on twitter with this petition: petition @Samsungtweets to follow Apple SonyEricsson and HP, and eliminate harmful chemicals like PVC http://act.ly/1l1 RT to sign #actly

To learn more, you can check out the report or read our web story that gives you a shortened overview of the report (it’s 37 pages long).

--Michelle

CES 2010. The lights, the sounds, the greenwash. Greenpeace analysts are once again here at the "World's Largest" consumer electronics show to help consumers and the throngs of industry media to see through the haze of both positive green news and industry misinformation.

While some electronics makers have moved to eliminate toxic chemicals in their products — Apple, for instance, which has phased out both PVC vinyl plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) — others lag behind. Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, and LGE stand out as laggards, but HP had made news today by bringing to the market the first desktop PC to be free of both PVC and BFRs.

So, if both Apple and HP have shown the way, why is the rest of the industry behind? That’s a question we hope those at CES will ask of the companies as they tour around looking at all the hot new gadgets.


What are PVC and BFRs?
PVC contaminates humans and the environment throughout its lifecycle; during its production, use, and disposal it is the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics, and can form dioxin, a known carcinogen, when burned. Some BFRs are highly resistant to degradation in the environment and are able to bio-accumulate (build up in animals and humans).

With the growth of electronic waste, workers who deal with e-waste and the wider community are at significant health risks. Burning of e-waste to recover valuable resources, as routinely takes place in the backyards of China, India and much of the South, can form dioxins. Eliminating the substances will decrease exposure and increase the recyclability and reusability of electronic products.

Greenpeace at CES
Greenpeace will be all over CES for the next three days. At 10am Thursday in the Venetian Hotel, we’ll be having a press conference to debut version 14 of the Guide to Greener Electronics, a ranking of the top consumer electronics companies based on both their commitments and actions to phase out toxic chemicals and other important green criteria.

We’ll also be handing out awards at 3PM everyday for the “Best New Green Products” as well as the “Worst Greenwash.” On Saturday afternoon, we’ll give the big prizes for the best and worst for the whole week.

In 2010, we should see significant developments, with products free of PVC and BFRs in the PC and TV markets. Any company failing to achieve this goal is taking a big gamble with its green reputation.

News of the historic chemical security bill, just approved by the House of Representatives, has been heating up and spreading far and wide. Check out this editorial in the New York Times.

More than eight years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the House of Representatives has passed a bill to shore up security at this country’s chemical plants. The requirements are reasonable, vital and long overdue. If terrorists were to attack a chemical plant near an American city or large town, they could unleash a toxic cloud that could endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands.

Environmental groups, most notably Greenpeace, and organized labor have been pushing Congress to enact tough chemical plant security legislation, but the chemical industry — concerned about the cost — has long resisted.

The House bill is a carefully written compromise that is more than accommodating to the concerns of industry. It focuses only on the highest-risk plants, and it would make them use safer chemicals or processes only when the Department of Homeland Security determines that they are feasible and cost-effective.

Read more...

While we're excited the bill was approved by the House, now we have to stay focused on the Senate. Soon, they will take up chemical security legislation. We want the Senate legislation to be strong, too.

 

 

Take action! Tell your Senator it's time to introduce strong chemical security legislation in the Senate.

--Michelle

Eight years after the September 11th attacks, the House of Representatives today approved the “Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009,” (H.R. 2868) by a vote of 230 to 193. This is the first time either house of Congress has approved permanent and comprehensive chemical security legislation. 

“Although it’s a compromise, this bill represents a historic first step toward protecting the 100 million Americans living in the shadow of high-risk chemical plants,” said Rick Hind, legislative director of Greenpeace.  “It’s now time for the Senate to recognize the urgency of this issue and embrace common sense solutions that eliminate these risks once and for all,” said Hind.

Earlier this week, Clorox announced plans to convert all of their U.S. facilities from ultra-hazardous chlorine gas to liquid bleach to “strengthen our operations and add another layer of security,” according to their CEO Don Knauss. Clorox also indicated that these changes “won’t affect the size of the company’s workforce." 

Since 9/11 more than 200 chemical facilities have converted to safer chemical processes, eliminating poison gas risks to more than 30 million Americans. Yet 300 other chemical plants together put 110 million Americans at risk.

 “For the first time since the September 11th attacks Congress and the administration are in agreement on how to protect the millions of Americans at risk from chemical plants,” said Hind.

In addition, water utility groups and a coalition of more than 50 organizations are urging Congress to enact this legislation. They include: Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, the United Auto Workers, Steelworkers, Teamsters, Fire Fighters, Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Environmental Defense Fund and Greenpeace. 

The House passed bill (H.R. 2868) will:

• Conditionally require the highest risk plants to use safer chemical processes where feasible and cost-effective and requires the remaining high risk plants to “assess” safer chemical processes;
• Eliminate the current law's exemption of thousands of chemical facilities, such as waste water and drinking water plants and port facilities;
• Involve plant employees in the development of security plans and provides protections for whistleblowers and limit background check abuses;
• Preserve state’s authority to establish stronger security standards;
• Provide funding for conversion of plants, including drinking water facilities and wastewater facilities, and
• Allow citizen suits to enforce government implementation of the law. 

Greenpeace received word this morning that Clorox will be switching production methods at all of its factories to eliminate the use of chlorine gas. This will eliminate the risk of injury or death to 13 million Americans in the case of an accident or attack on one of these plants. This announcement also provides Congress with another good reason to pass comprehensive chemical security legislation being taken up in the House on Wednesday of this week.

“By leading the way in eliminating the potential consequences of a catastrophic terrorist attack or accident, Clorox’s announcement also provides Congress with compelling new evidence to enact chemical plant security legislation,” said Rick Hind, Greenpeace legislative director. 

Take action and tell Congress to put safety first, too.