'Forever Chemicals' Here to Stay, Despite Alternatives
10/07/22 • 18 min
Because it's so effective, PFAS-laden firefighting foam isn't easy to replace. However, there are indications that PFAS alternatives might finally be ready for prime time.
The Department of Defense is expected to change its policies early next year to allow for the use of non-PFAS foams, while some states are also pushing civilian firefighters to phase in the use of these new foams.
On this episode of our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law reporters Pat Rizzuto and Andrew Wallender talk about why this may not be as big of a breakthrough in the fight against PFAS contamination as it may seem. They say the PFAS alternatives will at least initially be hard to come by—especially if the military uses its massive purchasing power to buy them all up. There's also the matter of safely disposing of existing stocks of firefighting foam, which will be a challenging task in itself.
Do you have feedback on this episode of Parts Per Billion? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
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Because it's so effective, PFAS-laden firefighting foam isn't easy to replace. However, there are indications that PFAS alternatives might finally be ready for prime time.
The Department of Defense is expected to change its policies early next year to allow for the use of non-PFAS foams, while some states are also pushing civilian firefighters to phase in the use of these new foams.
On this episode of our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Law reporters Pat Rizzuto and Andrew Wallender talk about why this may not be as big of a breakthrough in the fight against PFAS contamination as it may seem. They say the PFAS alternatives will at least initially be hard to come by—especially if the military uses its massive purchasing power to buy them all up. There's also the matter of safely disposing of existing stocks of firefighting foam, which will be a challenging task in itself.
Do you have feedback on this episode of Parts Per Billion? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Previous Episode
RGGI Still Thriving Despite Revolving Door Membership
It's been nearly 20 years since a handful of northeastern states got together to start a cap-and-trade program for their power sector's greenhouse gas emissions.
Since then, the membership of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, has been anything but static. New Jersey left under former Republican Gov. Chris Christie, then rejoined under his successor. Virginia and Pennsylvania joined RGGI recently, but the current and likely future governors of those respective states are far from enthusiastic about it, signaling potentially more departures to come.
However, RGGI has stood firm amid the swirling political winds and made meaningful reductions in emissions, according to William Shobe, an economist at the University of Virginia. Shobe spoke to Bloomberg Law's Jennifer Kay about why he thinks this markets-based approach to climate change has fared better than similar programs in other states—and in other countries.
Do you have feedback on this episode of Parts Per Billion? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
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Next Episode
A New Low-Key Climate Czar for a New Climate Policy Era
Ali Zaidi, the White House's new climate czar, doesn't have the name recognition of his predecessor, Gina McCarthy. But maybe that's the point.
McCarthy was instrumental in getting the Inflation Reduction Act, and its billions of dollars for climate projects, through Congress and to President Joe Biden's desk. But now the task turns to getting that money out the door in a quick-but-not-too-quick manner, and the White House thinks Zaidi is the technocrat for the job.
On this episode of Parts Per Billion, our environmental policy podcast, we talk about the new national climate adviser with Bloomberg Law reporter Stephen Lee. Lee tells us what Zaidi will be tasked to do and how he'll get it done while working alongside climate officials such as John Kerry, John Podesta, and others.
Do you have feedback on this episode of Parts Per Billion? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
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Parts Per Billion - 'Forever Chemicals' Here to Stay, Despite Alternatives
Transcript
They said it couldn't be done, but now it may finally be happening, a viable replacement for p fast laden firefighting foam. On today's podcast, we talked about this potential breakthrough in the fight against P fast contamination and why it might not actually be that big of a breakthrough after all. Hello, and welcome back once again to partsiper Billion, the environmental podcast from Bloomberg Law. I'm your host, David Schultz. So you could so
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