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☆ Calmer winds help firefighters make progress against California's Mountain Fire
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dennis-Romero-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Dennis Romero | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Calmer winds helped California firefighters battle the once out-of-control Mountain Fire on Friday as they continued to defend homes from the destructive blaze, officials said. Evacuation orders have been lifted for at least two communities near the Mountain Fire in Ventura County, sheriff’s Sgt. Ventura County Fire Department firefighters work to extinguish hotspots at a home that was destroyed in the Mountain Fire, in Camarillo, Calif., on Friday. The blaze destroyed 132 structures through Thursday, and 10 people have been reported injured, according to Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andy VanSciver and Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff. Firefighters used their trucks to get some residents away from the looming flames, Ventura County Fire Capt.

Persons: Sgt, Monica Smith, Ventura, Mario Tama, Moorpark, Smith, Andy VanSciver, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff, Etienne Laurent, Jessica Graham, Trevor Johnson, Gavin Newsom, Ryan Kittell, Kittell Organizations: Ventura County Fire Department, Getty, California Department of Forestry, Cal Fire, Ventura County Animal Services, Ventura County Fire, Ventura County Sheriff, AFP, NBC, Firefighters, Southern, Edison, Emergency Management Agency, Ventura, Air Pollution Control, Ventura Family, National Weather Service Locations: California, Ventura County, repopulation, Camarillo, Calif, Santa Susana, Santa Paula, Los Angeles, Camarillo Heights, Somis, NBC Los Angeles, Conejo, Simi Valley, Ventura

☆ Tesla is sued over air pollution from factory operations in Fremont, California
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Lora Kolodny | In Lorakolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla is being sued by the nonprofit Environmental Democracy Project, which alleges "ongoing failure to comply with the Clean Air Act" at the electric vehicle company's assembly plant in Fremont, California. The latest lawsuit in California described Tesla's environmental violations as "ongoing" and said that residents and employees in the surrounding area have been exposed to "excess amounts of air pollution, including nitrogen oxides, arsenic, cadmium, and other harmful chemicals." The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, an environmental regulator, recently accused Tesla of allowing "unabated emissions" in Fremont that should have been prevented. Air pollution from the assembly plant is the result of equipment that frequently breaks down, allowing emissions to vent directly into the air without proper filtration, regulators have said. Additionally, Tesla employees or contractors have allegedly shut off air pollution controls in the factory, particularly when the company was having trouble with other paint shop equipment.

Persons: Tesla, Tesla's, Elon Musk, Musk Organizations: Democracy, Political Economy Research, University of Massachusetts, Environmental Protection Agency, Tesla, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, CNBC Locations: Fremont , California, San Francisco, Amherst, California, Germany, Berlin, Fremont

The heat is about to be turned up on fossil fuels, the United States and President Joe Biden. It features a special U.N. summit and a week of protests and talk-heavy events involving leaders from business, health, politics and the arts. Guterres has repeatedly aimed his criticism at fossil fuels, calling them “incompatible with human survival.” He and scientific reports out of the United Nations have emphasized that the only way to curb warming and meet international goals is to “phase out” fossil fuels. “We know the use of fossil fuels is the main cause of the climate crisis, coal, oil and gas,” Hart said Friday. “We need to accelerate the global transition away from fossil fuels.

Persons: Joe Biden, — William —, ”, Jean Su, Antonio Guterres, won’t, Biden, Guterres, ” Su, Bill Hare, he’s, Hare, Mohamed Adow, “ We’ve, Selwin Hart, ” Hart, Thomas Pyle, Brandon Wu, Su, Seth Borenstein Organizations: United Nations, General Assembly, Center for Biological Diversity, Ambition, United Arab, International Energy Agency, American Energy Alliance, Environmental, United, Biden, ActionAid USA, Twitter, AP Locations: United States, China, United Kingdom, Russia, France, New York, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Paris, Canada, Australia, Norway, America

☆ California and other Western states lead in unhealthy levels of air pollution, report shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The "State of the Air" report found that nearly 120 million people, more than a third of the population, lived in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution between 2019 and 2021. The report assigned letter grades reflecting the number of days that air quality in a specific area reached unhealthy levels on the Air Quality Index. Exposure to unhealthy levels of ozone air pollution makes breathing difficult for more people across the U.S. than any other single pollutant, the report said. Wildfires in the region were a major factor in the increasing number of days and places with unhealthy levels of particle pollution, the report found. The report used data from air-quality monitors managed by state, local and tribal air pollution control authorities in counties across the country.

☆ Biden EPA cracks down on mercury pollution from power plants
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks during an event at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. The agency's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule would be the most stringent update on regulations on mercury emissions since the Obama administration's standards in 2012. The proposal is the latest action by the Biden administration to address environmental justice and air pollution while curbing climate-warming emissions. The EPA also recently unveiled tougher limits on deadly soot pollution and is expected to propose updated greenhouse gas rules for power plants in the coming weeks. The new rule would aim to reduce remaining mercury emissions by 70% while curbing other non-mercury metal pollution such as nickel, arsenic and lead.

☆ Pollution returns to northern China as industrial activities rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) - Thirteen northern Chinese cities surrounding the capital Beijing have issued pollution alerts over the last few days, raising concerns that an industrial recovery in the region is increasing smog levels. All 13 cities, including Tianjin and Tangshan, China's biggest steelmaking centre, had issued "orange" heavy pollution alerts by Sunday, the second-highest alert, the National Joint Research Center for Tackling Key Problems in Air Pollution Control (NJRC) said. NJRC said the recent spike had been driven by an increase in industrial activity, with steel and cement plants operating at higher levels, and diesel truck traffic also rising. China has been trying to re-energise its economy since lifting strict COVID-19 curbs at the end of last year, raising fears that pollution could be allowed to rise. An orange alert means the three-day average air quality index (AQI) has risen above 200, classified as "heavy pollution", and normally triggers industrial closures or output cuts under Chinese regulations.

The EPA shut down the refinery, formerly called Limetree Bay, in May 2021 after a series of chemical releases into the environment sickened neighboring residents. The plant owners intend to restart the facility, but have let it fall into disrepair, the EPA said last month. The new Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit would require detailed air-quality analyses and the use of the best available air pollution control technology, the EPA said Thursday. An earlier owner, Hovensa, was required to spend $700 million on pollution control equipment, among other obligations after violating the Clean Air Act by increasing emissions without first obtaining pre-construction permits and installing required pollution control equipment. Hovensa went bankrupt and shut down the plant the following year; later Limetree Bay Ventures bought the refinery in December 2015.

☆ New Delhi’s air pollution leaves residents gasping for breath
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Gafira Qadir | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

By the first week of November, New Delhi’s air quality index was 472, high enough to affect healthy people while having a serious impact on those with existing conditions. In some areas of the city, the reading exceeded 800, according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, a regulatory body. Experts say exposure to low air quality levels increases the risk of respiratory infections, heart disease and lung cancer. In response to the poor air quality, Delhi officials ordered the closure of primary schools and reduced outdoor activities for older students from Nov. 4 to 9. A government vehicle sprinkles water to control air pollution in New Delhi last month.

☆ Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at PG&E substation in California
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

At least one Tesla Megapack caught fire early Tuesday morning at the energy storage facility operated by utility PG&E in Monterey, California. PG&E commissioned the 182.5-megawatt (MW) Tesla Megapack system, known as the Elkhorn Battery at Moss Landing, in April this year. The fires in the energy storage systems at Moss Landing are reminiscent of incidents involving Tesla Megapacks in Australia. Following the fire, some residents near the Elkhorn Battery substation at Moss Landing were told to shelter in place due to emissions. PG&E's Jeff Smith noted, "Safety systems at the facility worked as designed when the issue was detected, and automatically disconnected the battery storage facility from the electrical grid."

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