Transcript Greenhouse, White House and Environmental Statistics

Environmental Statistics:
It’s All About Comparable Quality
Barry D. Nussbaum, Chief Statistician
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
International
Association for
Official Statistics
October 20, 2010
1
Report on the Environment
2
EPA’s Report on the Environment
3
How long is the U.S. coastline?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
95,000 miles
19,924 km
66,645 miles
58,618 miles
66,419 miles
Any of the above
None of the above
4
How long is the U.S. coastline?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
95,000 miles
19,924 km
66,645 miles
58,618 miles
66,419 miles
Any of the above
None of the above
5
The Richardson Effect
6
7
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
• Data on toxic chemical releases and waste
management activities
• Reported annually by certain industries
• Also reported by Federal facilities
• Provides communities with information to
support decision making
8
Presenting Data: TRI
9
…and the metadata
10
Simpler Presentation of TRI Data
11
Air Pollution in Middlesex County
12
Other Uses of TRI Data
 Financial Sector
Used by some mutual funds for “social responsibility”
 Labor Unions
Used in contract negotiations
 Internal Revenue
Used for tax on CFCs
 Internal Processing
Reactions to filing lead to lower releases
13
TRI Data: Beware
• TRI is not everything
– Mobile Sources are not included
– Smaller facilities are not included
– Toxic Substances Control Act lists 76,000
chemicals
– TRI includes 650 chemicals
14
TRI Data: Beware
• Releases are in pounds
• Dioxins are measured in grams
• Releases are NOT health waited
15
TRI Data: Beware
• The data base changes
– TRI started in 1988
– In 1998, metal mining was added (and
releases more than doubled)
– Just publishing the data encourages
reductions in the releases
– Out of 650 chemicals, 332 are core chemicals
16
Accuracy of Data Collection
Efforts
17
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