Maine has passed a handful of laws in recent years designed to prevent mercury pollution from a variety of sources including consumer products such as thermostats, cell phones and vehicles. The efforts in Maine can be a model for other states. In Maine, overall mercury emissions to the air have dropped by more than 75% from their peak in 1991, with reductions by municipal waste incinerators leading the way.
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance on May 8, 2000 banning the sale, import and manufacture of mercury thermometers (both fever and weather) within San Francisco’s city and county limits. San Francisco was the first county in the nation to enact such a ban. Duluth, Minn. was the first city in the nation to ban the retail sale of mercury fever thermometers.… Read More
On March 6, 2000, the city of Duluth adopted the nation’s first-ever ban on the sale of mercury fever and basal (used by women)thermometers. The purpose of this ordinance is to help eliminate mercury from the waste stream. An earlier Minnesota law (M.S. Section 116.92, subd. 7) prohibits medical facilities from routinely distributing mercury thermometers. Another state law (M.S. Section 115A.932) prohibits depositing them in solid waste.
On July 10, 2000, the City Council of Ann Arbor, Michigan, approved a new Ordinance to addChapter 69 Mercury Thermometers (Ordinance No. 31-00) to the city code – effective as of July 26, 2000. Thenew ordinance bans the retail sale, importation and manufacture of mercury fever thermometers within the city limits. Ann Arbor becomes the first city in Michigan and the second in the Great Lakes basin to enact such an ordinance. The city of Duluth, Minn. and the City and county of San Francisco passed similar measures earlier in 2000.
by Neil Seldman Biocycle Magazine, January 2009 ZERO Waste is becoming the new conventional wisdom when it comes to handling municipal solid wastes. Public and private sector investors are staking claims to Zero Waste growth industries and doing well. And there is the related — and significant — benefit of green job creation. At the same … Read More
Gov. Christine Todd Whitman issued the ban through an emergency order in July 1999, announcing that "Large trucks that are not doing business in New Jersey have no business using local roads in New Jersey." The order was followed by permanent regulations in September, and on January 13, 2000, she signed companion legislation that lays out the penalties for truckers found breaking the new rules: $400 for a first offense, $700 for a second infraction and then $1,000 for every violation afterward.… Read More
Zero Waste is becoming the new conventional wisdom when it comes to handling municipal solid wastes. Public and private sector investors are staking claims to Zero Waste growth industries and doing well. And there is the related — and significant — benefit of green job creation. … Read More
Twelve days before the Iowa caucuses, the New York Times Magazine cover, in large white letters on a deep black background, carried the single word title of its lead article: Clintonism. In the article Matt Bai, the Times reporter on all things Democratic, with a big D, made one undeniable assertion and two highly debatable ones.
Bai’s contention that Bill Clinton’s "wife’s fortunes are bound up with his, and vice versa" is incontestable. The primaries and even more so the general election, if Hillary is the nominee, will be a referendum less on Hillary than on Clintonism, the philosophy and strategy that guided the White House for eight years. Hillary clearly welcomes such a prospect, as demonstrated by her constantly reminding voters that she was "deeply involved in being part of the Clinton team."
Recently, the New York Public Library announced it would rename its main library the Stephen A. Schwarzman Library in return for his contribution of $100 million to its $1 billion capital fund drive. As a born and bred New Yorker, I recoiled at the news and the message it sends to future generations of New Yorkers.
The 42nd Street library is by all accounts the jewel in the crown of the New York Public Library system. In both form and function, it honors the word"public." Henry Hope Reed has accurately described the library as "a people’s palace of triumphant glory." … Read More
