Tagged: smokestack

Last week, I wrote about emerald ash borers in Louisville, and the toll the pest could take on the city’s tree canopy. So, if you have an ash tree in your yard, what can you do?

For the past few years, climatologists have been telling people three things: yes, the world is warming. Yes, human-contributed carbon dioxide is contributing to this warming. And the best-case scenario is an average increase of 2 degrees Celsius, which might not sound like a lot, but has the potential to wreak havoc on some ecosystems.

But now, the International Energy Agency is warning that a 2 degree increase is too optimistic, and the world’s current path is more likely to result in an increase of 3.6 and 5.3 degrees Celsius. The agency is recommending governments adopt four new policies to try to slow the warming, and hold it to 2 degrees Celsius. They’re calling this the “4-for-2°C scenario,” and say it would lower emissions with proven technologies without harming economic growth.

Work is still ongoing to neutralize hundreds of thousands of gallons of a dangerous chemical at DuPont Louisville’s plant, after an equipment malfunction led to a leak yesterday.

DuPont officials say it seems a faulty flange on a 500,000 gallon tank of hydrochloric acid caused the leak. About 1500 pounds of the chemical was released into the air and onto the ground, and those living within a mile of the plant were told to shelter-in-place yesterday evening. Now, crews are working to neutralize the chemical and remove it, a process that could take up to two days.

Louisville Gas and Electric has been fined once again by the Air Pollution Control District for coal ash violations at the Cane Run Power Plant in Southwest Louisville, and the district cites scientific testing that shows coal ash is leaving the company's property.