Oce 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oce 2 - Essay Example The Alaska Shell drilling project and the Keystone XL project worth $7 billion does not portray President Obama and his party as very environmentally friendly people in the mainstream media. The Democratic Party is looking forward to change this Image completely through various projects that are about to unfold, with environmental safety as their key concentration. Let us analyze about two such projects. Greenhouse Gas Standards for existing power plants and refineries Nearly 2.4 billion metric tons of Carbon dioxide is emitted into the US sky through the 500 power plants and the oil refineries present here. This constitutes to nearly 40% of the total Carbon dioxide emission in the country (Biello). The new rules will force the refineries and the power plants to avoid using fossil-fuel for energy and look for other alternative means like natural gas. The practical applicability of the plan is still under question. EPA is seeking the co-operation of the state governments to upgrade th e age old techniques used in the power plants and refineries. Though there is much opposition for the move from the Congress, the President had already waived a green flag for EPA to formulate the rule within the next couple of months approximately. Forcing down Carbon dioxide emission means using natural gas as alternative which is way expensive than the current methods. This will result in increased electricity and gasoline bills for the consumer. But, the government is announcing various subsidies for the power plants and oil refineries to keep the prices in check. New Source Performance Standards have framed new rules for using several items in steam generating units like its generators. It closely monitors the emissions of PM, SO2 and NOX from these equipments and orders for an upgrade if they are beyond the permitted level. Various measures like the Acid Rain program and Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants programs will be used to monitor the power plants. Petrole um refineries will be scrutinized under the Catalytic Reforming and Catalytic cracking of Sulphur plants program. President Obama's various measures to make the US environment a cleaner and greener one have resulted in complete failure in the past. The Solyndra project which received nearly $535 million aid from the US government proved to be a failure, which came as a death blow to President Obama's solar electricity dream. Similarly, the A123 system which was encouraged to create hybrid electric cars which do not pollute the environment also became a massive failure. Though the intention of these projects was good, inefficient administration and lack of advanced technologies paved way for their failure. President Obama is quite concerned about not making the same mistake again. EPA held 5 listening and discussion sessions with participants from electric power industry, petroleum refineries, environmental organizations, state and tribal representatives as well as coalition group me mbers to finalize the measures on the actions. The concerns about various parties and the difficulties in implementing the new rules were discussed in detail way back in 2011. EPA had been working on an error proof plan since then. It is only a matter of days before the new green house gas emission standards will roll out. Why is it important to control Green house gas emissions? The sun emits energy which the earth absorbs and re-emits back into the atmosphere. The over emission of green house gases