pulliam emission data

In a recent Green Bay Press-Gazette article, (Oct. 21, 2005), Ed Newman, the Pulliam plant's environmental services director said that "we don't emit smog or soot". (see previous post) Technically, he is correct. But, this is a matter of language and definitions. He might as well have said "we don't emit any junk". So just what IS emitted by the Pulliam power plant? It all depends on what your definition of is is.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2004 Air Emission Inventory (AEI) data is hot off the press and the most current pollution data available. According to the 2004 AEI, Pulliam emissions in 2004 are as follows:

• Nitrogen oxides (NOx) - 16,066,600 pounds
• Sulfur dioxide (SO2) - 13,706,060 pounds
• Particulate matter - 1,268,529 pounds
• Mercury - 93 pounds

Particulate matter is sometimes referred to as soot; nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides can interact to form particles that some people also refer to as soot; and nitrogen oxides can form ozone which some people refer to as smog. None of that is important because they are just different names for air pollution that causes asthma and heart attacks. Mercury is also a potent neurotoxin that robs children of their ability to think and learn.

The Pulliam Plant:

• Emits more nitrogen oxides than all other industries in Brown County combined. That includes all the paper mills.
• Emits more particulate matter than any other Brown County facility.
• Is second in Brown County for sulfur dioxide emissions.
• Puts out 32% more mercury than all other Brown County industries combined.

The bottom line: The Pulliam plant is the largest source of air pollution that causes asthma and heart attacks in Brown County, as well as the largest source of mercury in Brown County. They refuse to install readily-available technology that can cut all of that pollution by 90% or more. Worse yet, they have been breaking the law for years by spewing too much pollution into our air.

The solution to all of this is to install the technology that allows us to cleanly burn coal. At the same time, Green Bay needs to develop alternative energy sources that are locally produced, off the grid, clean, and sustainable.

DO SOMETHING: attend Great Lakes hearing

This Tuesday, Nov. 1, the International Joint Commission is holding a meeting/hearing on Great Lakes water quality. Today's Press Gazette's editorial page has a good editorial on this topic and provides the meeting information:

Editorial: You can help clean up the Great Lakes

THEGreenGUIDE Online Open House

October 24th-30th
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That's right. The Green Guide - your source for healthy living tips, eco-friendly product advice and green home news - is holding an Open House online from October 24th -30th. Please help spread the word. Let everyone on your list know ALL The Green Guide's online content is FREE for them to browse for any 24 hour stretch during that week.

The idea for the open house came from a reader who, increasingly concerned about environmental and health issues, wanted to introduce people she knows and cares about to The Green Guide and its ever-expanding information base of eco-friendly and healthier products for the home and beyond. For her, The Green Guide's an indispensable resource, the place she goes time and time again, to look up which fish has the least mercury, where to get a PBDE-free mattress (PBDEs may cause nervous system damage in kids), what are the safest cleaning products to use, and the better ways to grill...

We hope you'll want to share The Green Guide for a day with the people you know and care about too. And if you purchase a gift subscription during Open House week, we'll include your name and the gift recipient's name in our "Holiday Raffle." You (and they) could win not a boat, or car or cruise, but a delicious Organic Prairie turkey that we promise to deliver in time for Thanksgiving! And they'll receive our absolutely fabulous special buying guide issue (chock full with more than 100 top product picks for 2006) free.

So spread the word with our thanks.

Wendy Gordon, Publisher, and Mindy Pennybacker, Editor

pg pulliam plant article

On Friday, the Press Gazette ran an article about the Pulliam power plant lawsuit.

I couldn't BELIEVE some of Ed Newman's (WPS Pulliam environmental services director) comments!

He used his grandchildren as pawns in the discussion about the lawsuit filed against the Pulliam power plant. Newman said, “I haven’t seen their lawsuit yet, but I know we’re not putting any children at risk. I have five grandchildren who live right in this area. Would I defend something that put my grandchildren at risk?”

His grandchildren could not live anywhere without being at risk. Mercury (from coal plants) and other toxins circulate the globe. Living in Green Bay may put them at more risk than usual. We are put under DNR Air Quality Index alerts many days of the year. Every waterway in Wisconsin is under a mercury contamination advisory.

His grandchildren’s cognitive and physical development may already have been hampered by their unwitting exposure to mercury, soot, and thousands of other chemical pollutants in our environment. I think Newman should send in samples of his grandchildren’s hair to be tested for mercury. He may be alarmed at what he discovers. Instead of defending one of the dirtiest power plants around, he may be inspired to use his position to move Green Bay into a future based upon clean, renewable, and sustainable energy sources. Exposure to toxins is not something his grandchildren should have to put up with.

The technology to burn coal very cleanly exists. The Pulliam plant should no longer be allowed to break the law.

Newman also said that "we don't emit smog or soot". I will post the data on THIS in the near future. By the way, why do I have to look up that information. Isn't that reporter Terry Anderson's job?

Conservation Listening Session

In February of 2005, the conservation community of Wisconsin released the Wisconsin Conservation Briefing Book to legislators. This book represented a united agenda for air, land and water protections from Wisconsin’s conservation, environmental and sporting organizations. The Briefing Book provides details and recommended solutions for the most important conservation issues facing the state legislature through 2005 and 2006 and has been a critical resource in setting the agenda for strong conservation and environmental policy in Wisconsin. The 2005 Briefing Book was delivered to legislators during Conservation Lobby Day in February, where over a hundred concerned citizens from across the state converged on the capital to discuss conservation issues with their legislators.

Now, nearly half-way through the current legislative session, it's time to update the Conservation Briefing Book to reflect new issues. We're looking for your ideas.

Please join the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters and organizations and citizens from the Green Bay/Appleton area in a conservation listening session. You can help us make sure our state's legislative agenda reflects Wisconsin’s strong conservation ethic and protects our air, land and natural places.

What are the most pressing conservation issues in Wisconsin? How are they affecting Fox Valley residents? How can the state legislature fix them? Come and share your ideas.

Listening sessions will be held throughout the state. Details for the Green Bay/Appleton listening session:

Conservation Briefing Book Listening Session
Tuesday, October 11, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Green Bay Public Library, Downtown
515 Pine Street
Green Bay

RSVP requested. Call Jessica at (920) 429-9008, or email jessica@conservationvoters.org .

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

View the current Conservation Briefing Book at: http://www.conservationvoters.org/brbk05/index.shtml

Save the Date!
The updated Briefing Book that you'll help prepare will be delivered to legislators on January 25, 2006. Reserve the day to come to Madison to meet one-on-one with your Senator and Representative. Stay tuned for more details!

Green Drinks

THE GRIST LIST mentions "Green Drinks" !!

So THAT'S why we meet there.

I will be posting details about the next Green Bay "Green Drinks" meeting in the near future.

after oil

Last week, I sent a message to all of my co-workers asking them for any copies of the August 2005 National Geographic. The magazine has an article, FUTURE POWER, and a cover photo of two old "dry" gas pumps with the caption "After Oil". I am going to use the article in my environmental science class. One person who read the article talked to me about how he is very concerned about this topic, even to the point of losing sleep over it. I am sure he is concerned first and foremost about the future world his children are going to grow up in. He was also wondering what people can do about this situation.

Basically, world oil production has peaked, or will do so in the very near future, and every new barrel is going to be more difficult and more expensive to find and extract. We are running out of oil. Oil is the very fabric of the economy and lifestyle we have created. We currently swim in it in many ways. The world, especially the United States, is not prepared for the changes to come. It is going to be a very serious problem, though NOT worth losing sleep over. NOTHING is worth losing sleep over. There are solutions to this problem. Europe is light years ahead of the U.S. in terms of looking towards an oil free future. Even in America, there are pockets of hope.


In Portland, Oregon, a 35 block neighborhood may become the first urban neighborhood to cut itself off of the fossil fuel power grid. (Can you see this happening in Green Bay?)

There are already calls for re-building New Orleans in a sustainable manner.

In Wisconsin, the Citizens Energy Cooperative offers citizens the opportunity to invest in, purchase, and expand the use of renewable energy resources.

Yes! magazine has a great special issue out called "Can We Live Without OIL?" . It offers many ideas and resources for living in an oil-free economy.

Despite what most people think, there is a lot of potential in locally produced alternative energy sources.

Sales of gus-sucking SUVs are finally declining while there are waiting lists for hybrids.


Actually, the "end of oil" gives me reason to be optimistic about our future. The transition is not going to be easy, but can you imagine the future if we did NOT run out of oil? We may finally be FORCED into building sustainable and pollution-free communities.

I saw a powerful movie a couple of weeks ago called "The End of Suburbia" that dealt with these exact issues. It also warns that people are not ready for the "shit-storm" that is about to come and that our over-extended, resource-sucking, petroleum-driven suburbs may indeed become the "slums of the future". If you have not seen it, it is well worth your time. I know that some local libraries have a copy. (And I now have a copy.) Basically, the movie is about how our oil dependency crisis has been caused by our consumptive suburban culture and in order to deal with the end of the age of oil, we need to become a nation of city dwellers and to make our cities places that are enjoyable places to live and work.

The importance of cities is something that environmentalists have realized for a long time. After all, if everyone moved to the country, it wouldn't be the country anymore. Audubon magazine had an article about this topic a couple of years ago called "Real Enviros Live in Town". A huge part of the solution to our most serious environmental problems is to eat (but not meat!), work, shop, grow food, produce energy, and breathe LOCALLY! In order to make this work, our cities need to be exciting places to live and work.

Which brings me to the topic of Green Bay. Local environmentalists (including myself) need to be more concerned about the development of our downtown. Currently, more businesses seem to be leaving the city for suburban profits than coming into our city. This is actually an environmental issue. We need to participate in the downtown development discussion and help Green Bay develop an exciting (And did someone say sustainable?) downtown where people want to hang out and live and work.

thinking of new orleans,
rich