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☆ Automakers say proposed US emissions rules pose challenges
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - An auto trade group warned on Tuesday that aggressive U.S. targets for reductions in vehicle emissions may rely on a too rapid transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and pose significant challenges with manufacturing and supply chains. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed sharp emissions cuts that it estimates would result in 60% of new vehicles by 2030 being electric and 67% by 2032. The EPA proposal, if finalized, represents the most aggressive U.S. vehicle emissions reduction plan to date, requiring 13% annual average pollution cuts and a 56% reduction in projected fleet average emissions over 2026 requirements. Some say EPA should have proposed tougher rules. "These proposed rules effectively require an additional 10-fold sales increase in a mere eight years," the automaker group wrote.

Federal worker safety inspections have alleged poor maintenance or a lack of safety training at some Tyson plants where ammonia leaks injured workers. CNN interviewed eleven current or former Tyson workers across three different plants who experienced ammonia leaks. !”A safety sign hangs on a fence at a Tyson plant in Hope, Arkansas, in March 2023. Still, some Tyson workers who lived through ammonia leaks said they wished more had been done to protect them. That means that the data doesn’t necessarily cover Tyson plants or other meat facilities that hold smaller amounts of ammonia.

☆ Coinbase, crypto industry hope new Supreme Court doctrine is silver bullet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But the agency will have to provide a more detailed response if Ripple, Coinbase or crypto groups that have filed friend-of-the-court briefs pushing major questions doctrine arguments manage to pique a judge’s interest. Former Coinbase manager Ishan Wahi expanded on the major questions theory last February in his motion to dismiss the SEC’s insider trading case. Under the major questions doctrine, they said, the SEC does not have the requisite Congressional authority to regulate digital assets. Coinbase’s contention in that paper, released last Thursday, is all-encompassing: The major questions doctrine, according to Coinbase counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell, “forecloses” regulation of the trillion-dollar crypto industry. But if the SEC moves ahead with a case against Coinbase, the major questions doctrine could turn out to be, well, a major question.

☆ How the U.S. Clean Air Act lets closed coal plants keep polluting for years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Tim Mclaughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Under the federal program, states distribute a certain number of allowances to power plants annually. Reuters found dozens of other examples of coal plants using credits from closed facilities to help comply with pollution rules over the past five years. During the 2021 ozone season, New Madrid’s pollution was five times higher than average among coal plants participating in the NOx-reduction program, EPA data show. RED-STATE PROTESTSUtilities and lawmakers in Republican-controlled states have pushed hard against curbs on coal pollution, including the EPA’s latest NOx-reduction regulations. But even at that price, NOx allowances will find buyers among coal plants, including those that operate at high pollution rates.

☆ Racial Disparities are worsening disaster recovery for people of color. With climate change, things could get worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Lauren Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Rolling Fork, Mississippi suffered massive damage from a powerful tornado on March 24. Racial disparities existed in Rolling Fork for decades. She started I-DIEM after spending over 14 years in disaster management. Shirley Stamps stands in the rubble of her home in the aftermath of the Rolling Fork tornado. And increasingly, non-profits are doing things differently to address racial disparities in disaster management.

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - The Biden administration's proposal on Wednesday to sharply cut tailpipe emissions and vehicle pollutants is on a fast track as the future of U.S. auto production could become a presidential campaign issue next year. Under Trump, the EPA reversed that decision and rolled back the Obama standards, a move that would have increased U.S. oil consumption by about 500,000 barrels per day by the 2030s. Biden, a self-proclaimed "car guy," will accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, the White House said on Wednesday. The EPA rules are also crucial to meeting the administration climate goals. Biden has said he intends to be the Democratic candidate for president in 2024 but has not made a formal announcement.

☆ Fact Check-Cropped photo shows Palestinian children lined up at a soup kitchen
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A 2010 photograph depicting Palestinian children waiting in line at a soup kitchen in the West Bank city of Hebron has been cropped to falsely claim it shows imprisoned kids in Israel. The original image dated Aug. 18, 2010 is viewable on the website of the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) (bit.ly/3JmBK6U). In the unaltered photograph, a girl dressed in purple is viewable outside the structure while waiting in line. According to EPA’s description, the photograph was captured by Abed Al Hashlamoun and shows Palestinian children during Ramadan waiting to receive donated food “by the Islamic endowment authority Islamic waqf.”Reuters has photographed the same soup kitchen during the holy month of Ramadan in 2010 (here) and other years (here) (here). The photograph shows Palestinian children waiting in line at a soup kitchen in the West Bank City of Hebron in 2010.

☆ U.S. proposes limits for cancer-causing chemicals in drinking water
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed the first-ever national drinking water standard for six cancer-causing chemicals known as polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Under the new standard, the agency will require public water systems to monitor for six PFAS chemicals, inform the public if PFAS levels exceed proposed standards in the drinking water supply, and take action to reduce PFAS levels. It is the first time since 1996 that drinking water standards have been proposed for a new chemical under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Environmental groups welcomed the new standards but said it was up to retailers and chemical companies to make a difference. "I’m looking forward to hearing from those who will be impacted by this announcement, including local water systems and ratepayers across the country, on how we can provide assistance for implementation," she said.

☆ EPA’s $100 Billion Climate-Aid Windfall Spurs Turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Eric Niiler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Congress has given the Environmental Protection Agency more than $100 billion to spend on climate-related projects over the next 18 months, but the massive sum is triggering controversies. The money, which comes from the 2021 infrastructure package and last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, is aimed mainly at setting the U.S. economy on a path to cut planet-warming greenhouse gases 40% by 2030.

☆ Amid high levels of contamination, Puerto Rico town's residents plead for action
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

SALINAS, Puerto Rico — Shuttered windows are a permanent fixture in Salinas, an industrial town on Puerto Rico’s southeast coast that is considered one of the U.S. territory’s most contaminated regions. Salinas also has one of the highest incidence rates of cancer in Puerto Rico, with 140 cases reported in 2019, the newest figures available from the island’s Central Registry of Cancer. Those measures have a limited effect, however, and residents continue frustrated that their complaints about contamination have been ignored for years. That has been hailed by many in Puerto Rico, which has one of the highest asthma rates in a U.S. jurisdiction and whose power generation system is 97% based on fossil fuels. Although she has been the target of protests organized by frustrated residents, she said she is pushing for corrective measures.

☆ EPA issues new rule to strengthen water protections in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Lucas Thompson | Lucas Thompson Is A Content Producer For The Nbc News Climate Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

At issue is which types of waterways — wetlands, rivers, lakes, etc. The act regulates water pollutants and empowers the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to define which particular bodies of water are protected by law. Protected bodies of water qualify for federal programs pertaining to oil spill prevention, water quality regulation and more. The new definition announced this week instates similar protections to those that were in place before 2015, while also clarifying certain qualifications for protected waters. "This comes at a time when we’re seeing unprecedented attacks on federal clean water protections by polluters and their allies," said Jon Devine, director of federal water policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

☆ EPA finalizes tougher pollution standards for big trucks and buses
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Biden administration on Tuesday finalized tougher pollution standards for heavy-duty vehicles like large trucks, delivery vans and buses starting with model year 2027. While the new rule is much tougher than current standards, environmental and public health groups have called for even more stringent standards. California’s new rule for heavy-duty vehicles, for example, is 90% stronger than current regulations. And earlier this year, state regulators in California critiqued EPA’s pollution rule for missing the bigger picture on the move to electric trucks. The agency is also expected to release new proposed light and medium-duty vehicle emissions standards for 2027 and beyond model year vehicles in the spring.

☆ A potentially cancer-causing chemical is sprayed on much of America’s farmland. Here is where it is used the most.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Danica Jefferies | Danica Jefferies Is An Intern With The Data Graphics Team For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

For those only exposed through food, the EPA says that glyphosate residues on food are safe up to certain thresholds. The chemical giant Monsanto introduced glyphosate in its product Roundup in 1974. “Glyphosate is the most widely used chemical weedkiller in human history because of genetic engineering,” said Dave Murphy, the founder of Food Democracy Now, an advocacy group that tests glyphosate in food. “It’s sprayed ubiquitously and Monsanto has, for decades, just maintained that it’s the safest agricultural chemical ever made.”The EPA’s safety limits for glyphosate exposure from food are twice the levels allowed in the European Union. The company pointed NBC News to other studies — including some that it has sponsored — that either refuted a link to cancer or challenged the relationship between acres sprayed and exposure levels.

The civil rights organization alleged that the state’s rollout of federal dollars has favored whiter communities, even as Jackson has struggled to comply with state and federal guidelines meant to protect drinking water quality. The NAACP’s federal complaint raises concerns about a loan program overseen by the state Department of Health that distributes federal funding to communities to improve their water systems. Problems with water billing and collections have also resulted in Jackson missing out on sorely needed revenue that could go toward repairs. The EPA’s inquiry comes just days after the launch of a congressional investigation concerning the city’s water crisis. Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., have asked Reeves to answer a series of questions about how the state has spent or plans to spend federal funds that can upgrade water systems in the state.

The breakdown occurred after Jackson was pummeled by days of heavy rain and the city’s main water treatment plant failed. In an interview on Monday, he said that withholding the funds Jackson needs to ensure safe drinking water puts lives at risk. “Mississippi is one of several states that absolutely rely on the generosity of the federal government,” Thompson said. More than 200 Jackson residents and supporters hold signs as they march to the governor's mansion to protest water issues in the city. Service was restored by the next week, and most Jackson residents no longer have to boil their water, but there are lingering concerns about water quality.

☆ A potentially cancer-causing chemical is sprayed on much of America’s produce. How high is exposure near you?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Danica Jefferies | Danica Jefferies Is An Intern With The Data Graphics Team For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The chemical giant Monsanto introduced glyphosate in its product Roundup in 1974. “It’s sprayed ubiquitously and Monsanto has, for decades, just maintained that it’s the safest agricultural chemical ever made.”The EPA’s safety limits for glyphosate exposure from food are twice the levels allowed in the European Union. Additionally, two reports by organic advocacy groups found glyphosate in food products including cereals, cookies, crackers and sandwich bread. The EPA concluded in 2020 that glyphosate posed “no risks to human health” and was not likely to cause cancer. But a federal appeals court rejected that determination in June, stating that the EPA did not adequately assess the risks to endangered species and human health.

“After years of neglect, Jackson’s water system finally reached a breaking point this summer, leaving tens of thousands of people without any running water for weeks. Lumumba said Monday that his administration intends to cooperate with federal officials. In late 2019, the state Health Department notified the EPA about concerns with the city’s water system. An inspection by the EPA raised alarms about problems, including not having enough properly credentialed staff members at the city’s water treatment plants. Mark Chalos, an attorney who filed the most recent class-action lawsuit, said many Jacksonians remain suspicious of the city’s water quality.

☆ Duke Energy is one of the top leakers of a gas that is 25,000 times more polluting than carbon dioxide, EPA records show
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Phil Mckenna | Inside Climate News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +22 min

The emissions were equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of more than 59,000 automobiles, according to the EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator. Under such a scenario Duke Energy would likely have years of low emissions punctuated by a single year of high emissions. While other utilities have participated for decades in a voluntary program with the EPA to reduce SF6 emissions to next to nothing, Duke Energy has not. Brooks said Duke Energy is also targeting its most leaky equipment for faster replacement. The figure is roughly half of 1% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, far smaller than yearly emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary driver of climate change.

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