EPA Announces 2013 Environmental Merit Award Recipients

See the full list of recipients here.

Medical center recipients include:

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, Mass.

Hospitals must care for patients without creating new health or environmental problems. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has taken this challenge seriously for 15 years through a variety of initiatives. Staff have learned about the dangers of mercury and worked to remove it from the medical center. A full-time energy manager was added seven years ago and four years ago, a Sustainability Committee was set up that drafted a plan that is being put in place by a full-time sustainability coordinator. That committee has seen progress in several areas. The center's recycling rate has jumped from 20 to 33 percent thanks to a scrap metal program, single stream recycling, regular donations of surplus furniture and medical supplies, increased battery and electronic waste recycling and composting. The hospital has reduced total waste by switching to reusable containers and removing items not used from prepackaged operating room kits. It reduced paper consumption and junk mail, and promoted reusable mugs so their use jumped from 1 to 25 percent of cafeteria drink sales.

Beth Israel also committed to reducing energy consumption by 25 percent by 2020. So far it is has seen an 8.8 percent reduction in water use, close to its 2015 goal of 8 percent. The hospital replaced its public safety car with a hybrid, then worked with neighboring hospitals to consolidate shuttles, which led to a 30 percent drop in fuel consumption. The hospital also promoted the benefits of green commuting, which led to a drop in employees driving alone from 43 to 36 percent over three years. Now Beth Israel is working with neighboring institutions to increase the carpool rate in the Longwood Medical area.

Cary Medical Center Safe Sharps Disposal Program
Caribou, Maine

In 2010 a medical technologist at Cary Medical Center saw piles of sharps – or needles – collected in the apartment of an elderly woman with a diabetic cat. Motivated to research the issue of sharps disposal, Lisa Prescott approached colleagues and hospital administration with ideas on community education and disposal options. This led to the Cary Committee for Community Needle Collection and ultimately a successful sharps disposal program. Less than three years later, Aroostook County, which has one of Maine's highest levels of diabetes, has a working disposal system to protect citizens from hazards associated with used medical sharps.

The Cary Medical Center Safe Sharps Disposal Program began in 2011. A drop-off sharps disposal kiosk was set up in the Caribou police station. A second kiosk was added in Presque Isle soon after and in 2012, with funding from the state, kiosks were installed into four other local police stations. State law allows medical sharps in hard plastic containers in household trash, but the Cary program allows for a separate disposal system. This educates the public on the dangers of sharps and protects solid waste personnel. It also encourages residents to dispose of sharps if they worry about safety issues in regular disposal. A year after the first kiosk in Caribou and only five months after the Presque Isle kiosk, more than two tons of sharps had been collected at just those two sites. This number is expected to grow exponentially.

President Obama Releases Climate Plan, Hospitals Called Out

Read the full plan here.

Three Pillars of Climate Plan

1) Cut Carbon Pollution in America: In 2012, U.S. carbon emissions fell to the lowest level in two decades even as the economy continued to grow. To build on this progress, the Obama Administration is putting in place tough new rules to cut carbon pollution – just like we have for other toxins like mercury and arsenic – so we protect the health of our children and move our economy toward American-made clean energy sources that will create good jobs and lower home energy bills.

2) Prepare the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change: Even as we take new steps to reduce carbon pollution, we must also prepare for the impacts of a changing climate that are already being felt across the country. Moving forward, the Obama Administration will help state and local governments strengthen our roads, bridges, and shorelines so we can better protect people’s homes, businesses and way of life from severe weather.

3) Lead International Efforts to Combat Global Climate Change and Prepare for its Impacts: Just as no country is immune from the impacts of climate change, no country can meet this challenge alone. That is why it is imperative for the United States to couple action at home with leadership internationally. America must help forge a truly global solution to this global challenge by galvanizing international action to significantly reduce emissions (particularly among the major emitting countries), prepare for climate impacts, and drive progress through the international negotiations.

Hospitals Called Out

Building Stronger and Safer Communities and Infrastructure: By necessity, many states, cities, and communities are already planning and preparing for the impacts of climate change. Hospitals must build capacity to serve patients during more frequent heat waves, and urban planners must plan for the severe storms that infrastructure will need to withstand. Promoting on-the-ground planning and resilient infrastructure will be at the core of our work to strengthen America’s communities.

Promoting Resilience in the Health Sector: The Department of Health and Human Services will launch an effort to create sustainable and resilient hospitals in the face of climate change. Through a public-private partnership with the healthcare industry, it will identify best practices and provide guidance on affordable measures to ensure that our medical system is resilient to climate impacts. It will also collaborate with partner agencies to share best practices among federal health facilities. And, building on lessons from pilot projects underway in 16 states, it will help train public-health professionals and community leaders to prepare their communities for the health consequences of climate change, including through effective communication of health risks and resilience measures.

PJM Posts Capacity Prices for June 2015

Read the full Northern Illinois Energy Users July 2013 update (page 6 has the capacity price details).

In May PJM released the results of its 2013 auction to set the initial capacity price for June 1, 2016. The result of this auction set the initial June 1, 2016 price at $59.37 per MW-day which is a decrease from the prior auction results. The final 2016 price will be adjusted slightly by two supplemental auctions. The following chart shows the capacity prices for the June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2016 period.

PJM’s Reliability Pricing Model (RPM) is PJM’s capacity-market auction process that sets long -term price prices to attract needed investments in reliability in the PJM region. Capacity prices are set three years in advance.

Building Energy Disclosure in Chicago

The City of Chicago is pursuing a Building Energy Disclosure Ordinance that would apply to Chicago hospitals. Thank you to Mt. Sinai and St. Bernard for supporting this effort. Click here to read the Ordinance.

Chicago Supports Obama on Climate Change

Mayor Rahm Emanuel published an editorial supporting President Obama's efforts on mitigating climate change. Read more here.