Scientists suggest mercury from China may travel to the US: Since 2007 mercury levels in rainwater have been increasing by about 2 per cent a year across a region spanning from the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest. Pollution control measures implemented in the US and Canada in the 1970’s had resulted in falling levels across most monitoring stations until 2007. The authors of a study in Science of the Total Environmentsuggest mercury from power plants in China could be carried in the upper atmosphere before being deposited in rain in the lee of the Rocky Mountains.(Scientific American)
Indian coal lobby resists higher standards: New pollution and water consumption standards for power plants, which will take effect at the start of 2017, have drawn complaints from the Association of Power Producers (APP) which represents private power companies including Adani. The new standards seek to cut sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and mercury emissions. APP claim power prices could increase by as much as one-quarter, pollution control technology is not available for India’s high-ash content coal and taking plants offline for retrofitting existing plants could “destabilise the grid.” (Economic Times)
US coal lobby slashes expenditure:Expenditure by US coal companies on external lobbyists has halved since 2012 when they spent US$15 million. In the last year Peabody Energy has cut lobbying expenditures by 20 per cent. The budget of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has fallen by 51 per cent since 2014. However, coal lobby groups have opted to invest their dwindling resources in legal challenges against Obama Administration measures to cut pollution, albeit with limited success. (Bloomberg) | 
