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U.S. Seeks to Reduce Emissions From Ships in Coastal Areas
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Mar 30, 2009 11:05pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - New York Times |
| News Date | Tuesday, March 31, 2009 05:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By CORNELIA DEAN
Published: March 30, 2009
The United States and Canada have asked the International Maritime Organization to designate their coastal regions as areas where oceangoing ships would face strict controls on emissions of sulfur, particulate matter like soot and other pollutants that endanger human health.
Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, announced the action Monday at a news conference in Newark.
The agency said the maritime organization, the United Nations agency that regulates international shipping, was expected to consider such a designation in July. Approval could come next year, and the limits could go into effect as early as 2012.
The proposal calls for a 200-mile buffer zone in which shippers would be required to make large reductions in the pollutants they emit. For example, they would have to cut sulfur emissions 98 percent by 2015, by burning cleaner fuel or through a process of “scrubbing” exhaust gas to remove sulfur.
Ms. Jackson said the emission-control areas were “long overdue” and would save many lives. The agency said that oceangoing vessels dock at more than 100 coastal and Great Lakes ports in the United States and that 40 were in metropolitan areas that did not meet federal air quality standards.
Environmental groups estimate that 87 million Americans live near ports.
Calls and e-mail messages to the International Maritime Organization’s headquarters in London were not returned. |
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