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Report says expect more extreme weather

In Holyoke on Thursday Environment Massachusetts released a new report called In the Path of the Storm: Global Warming, Extreme Weather, and the Impacts of Weather Related Disasters in the United States.

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Report Warns Of More Wild Weather

A Massachusetts environmental group today released a report on Thursday outlining how global warming could lead to greater frequency of extreme weather events across the country.  Representatives from the organization Environment Massachusetts gathered in Holyoke to talk about the report and to present an interactive map using data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They document which counties and how many people were hardest hit by 2011 weather-related disasters, including the June tornadoes, Hurricane Irene, and the October snowstorm.

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Report Cites Water Quality Concerns Near Nuclear Plants

Tuesday, local environmentalists will join representatives from MASSPIRG Education Fund and Environment Massachusetts Research and Policy Center to release a new report that includes data on how nuclear power threatens the state's drinking water.

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Oldest, dirtiest power plants told to clean up

The EPA announced new regulations yesterday that will force all power plants to control mercury and other toxic pollutants for the first time. Health advocates said the move was long overdue. The new standards will rein in the largest remaining source of uncontrolled toxic pollution in the United States - the emissions from the nation’s coal- and oil-fired power plants, which have been allowed to run for decades without addressing their full environmental and public health costs.

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Patrick-Murray Administration Announces 91 Percent Reduction in Toxic Mercury Air Emissions

The Patrick-Murray Administration today announced that toxic mercury air emissions in Massachusetts have fallen by 91 percent since 1996, greatly exceeding the original goal of 75 percent, according to a study released by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). The reductions have been accomplished in part by the Administration's comprehensive efforts targeting mercury pollution from municipal waste combustors, coal-fired power plants, mercury-added products and other sources. To continue the progress in this area, Massachusetts will need strong federal and international actions similar to what has been accomplished in the Northeast. In particular, a proposed federal rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would be a major step forward, by greatly reducing mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants across the country. Massachusetts' state rule for coal-fired plants is already more stringent than the proposed federal mercury limits, but the federal rule, if implemented, would be an important step forward in reducing toxic mercury transported on the winds from Midwest and Southeast states and deposited from the air into Massachusetts.

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