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☆ NAACP says Jackson’s water problems are civil rights issue
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Brad Vest / Getty Images fileThe U.S. Justice Department is working to improve Jackson’s water system. There were warnings the Jackson water system was struggling before it failed. Tate Reeves, a Republican, has blamed Jackson’s water problems on mismanagement by city leaders. Reeves declared an emergency for the water system in late August and brought in out-of-state crews to help make repairs. Before the city’s latest water crisis, though, Reeves expressed his own opposition to state funding for Jackson water improvements, saying he wants to hold down Mississippi’s overall debt level.

“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.

☆ Biden's new environmental justice office will oversee $3 billion in grants to polluted communities
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 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 Environmental Protection Agency on Saturday launched an office that will focus on supporting and delivering grant money to minority communities in the U.S. disproportionally affected by pollution and other environmental issues. The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights is made up of more than 200 EPA staff in 10 U.S. regions and will be led by a Senate-confirmed assistant administrator. The office will oversee the delivery of a $3 billion climate and environmental justice block grant program created by the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $60 billion for environmental justice initiatives. EPA Administrator Michael Regan made the announcement on Saturday in Warren County, North Carolina, a predominantly Black community that protested the operation of a hazardous waste landfill four decades ago and consequently ignited the environmental justice movement.

☆ U.S. EPA launches environmental justice office
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which will be staffed by 200 EPA employees and led by a not-yet announced Senate-confirmed assistant administrator. He launched the new office at an event in Warren County, North Carolina, which was the site of protests 40 years ago that is regarded as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement. It was the latest move by the Biden administration to prioritize environmental justice in its policymaking. The Inflation Reduction Act signed by Biden last month created a $3 billion climate and environmental justice block grant program that the new office will oversee. Overall, the legislation will unleash a $60 billion investment in environmental justice across the government.

☆ I drove the Tesla Model Y and found 7 reasons to buy Elon Musk's $66,000 electric SUV over rivals
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I tested a 2022 Model Y SUV and came away impressed by its quick acceleration, roomy cabin, and tech features. Sporty drivingThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderDespite not being the higher-priced Performance version, the Model Y Long Range I sampled was plenty sporty. Range fit for road tripsThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderTesla remains one of the range leaders in the US. Packed with techThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe SUV's crisp and feature-packed touchscreen makes it a tech-lover's paradise. Effortless SuperchargingThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderTesla's extensive and exclusive network of Supercharger stations makes it incredibly easy to charge when on the go.

☆ Australia's Scarborough project: Race and power collide in a fight over sacred rock art in remote Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Hannah Ritchie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +21 min

More than a million drawings are etched onto rocks on Murujuga peninsula on the Western Australia coast. Resources extracted from the region have powered Australia’s economy and helped create some of the world’s largest mining and energy multinationals. Today, the fight for Murujuga’s rock art reflects long-standing and unresolved issues of race and power. Woodside Petroleum's Pluto development on Murujuga, Western Australia, June 2008. Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Peter Jeffries.

☆ Inflation Reduction Act's expanded biofuel incentives raise concerns about fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Scott Cohn | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

watch nowThe Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in August includes historic investments to combat climate change. It may also open new avenues for fraud by expanding a program that has given federal authorities fits for years. That allowed them to rake in millions of dollars in incentives, even though they were producing very little fuel. Reining in fraudThe EPA says it has continued to beef up its enforcement as it learns more about implementing the program — and as incentives expand under the Inflation Reduction Act. "So, you're just spending money to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act."

☆ 2 companies were fined $325,000 after the EPA said they falsely marketed a pesticide as a weapon against COVID-19
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Zoono USA and Zoono Holdings were collectively fined $325,000. The EPA has reached settlements with the two companies: Zoono USA will pay a $205,000 civil penalty and Zoono Holdings will pay $120,000. Zoono USA and Zoono Holdings are owned by the New Zealand company Zoono Group. "Zoono Holdings takes regulatory responsibilities very seriously and as soon as Zoono Holdings received notification from the E.P.A. Zoono Group, Zoono USA, and United Airlines didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

CNN —A criticism of US lawmakers by the President of South Korea has gone viral on social media – after a hot mic picked him up using an expletive. In a video published by South Korean television broadcaster MBC on its official YouTube channel on Thursday, Yoon can be seen walking along the stage after chatting with Biden before turning to his aides and speaking. The Global Fund is an international organization trying to defeat HIV, TB and malaria across the developing world and Yoon’s remark appears to be a reference to Biden’s pledge to contribute $6 billion, which would require Congress approval. Many social media users have taken to mocking Yoon, while the expletive he used has become a popular search term on the South Korean online portal Naver. His remarks were not lost on members of the opposition liberal party who commented on the issue at Thursday’s National Assembly.

☆ Millennials and Gen Z want to stop a climate catastrophe. But first they have to get elected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, told young climate activists in 2019, "You didn't vote for me." AP Photo/Gemunu AmarasingheBut most policy debates aren't genuinely existential in the way climate change is. "Younger Democrats tend to have a much more friendly relationship and response to the party's activist class than older Democrats do." Fossil-fuel interests have played a central role in stymieing progress on climate change for decades. Nearly a decade later, Trump ran for and won the presidency — with Gingrich's early and staunch support — while calling climate change a "hoax."

☆ U.S. ratifies global treaty to curb climate-warming chemicals in air-conditioning, refrigeration
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to the media after the 51-50 vote passed the "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. August 7, 2022. The Senate has voted to ratify a global climate treaty that will phase down the use and production of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, the climate-warming chemicals widely used in air-conditioning and refrigeration. Forty-eight Democrats and 21 Republicans voted in favor; four members of the Senate did not vote. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that regulatory action on such chemicals could help avoid up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by the end of the century. The U.S. joins 136 other nations and the European Union in ratifying the amendment.

☆ 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.

An LNG tanker is guided by tug boats at the Cheniere Sabine Pass LNG export unit in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, U.S., April 14, 2022. “Our turbine engineers determined a repair could improve the emission performance of the turbine," Robert Gray, senior environmental coordinator for the Sabine Pass plant, wrote. EPA spokesperson Tim Carroll said "the agency will work with Cheniere to assure they meet Clean Air Act obligations." Colin Cox, an attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project, said it was important for Cheniere to monitor the turbines to ensure continuous compliance moving forward. Louisiana and Texas regulators are responsible for overseeing compliance with federal clean air laws and regulations for facilities in their respective states.

☆ Hazardous 'forever chemicals' are in our water, food, and air. Here are 6 simple ways to reduce exposure at home.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Hazardous "forever chemicals" called PFAS are contaminating drinking water, food, and air. It may be impossible to completely avoid PFAS, but there are a few simple ways to reduce your exposure. Even if you can't completely dodge PFAS, there are a few easy ways to reduce exposure in your daily life. A 2019 study found that people had lower PFAS levels in their blood after eating at home, and higher levels after eating fast food or at restaurants. A few types of water filters can diminish PFAS levels, though they may not completely remove the chemicals from the water.

☆ The dry-cleaning industry is slowly dying — and this chart makes it crystal clear
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-12 | by ( Britney Nguyen | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The number of dry-cleaning establishments is falling in the US. But, as Bloomberg recently pointed out, it's not just the pandemic's fault that dry cleaning establishments are on the decline. The chart shows that dry-cleaning and laundry service establishments have been on the decline almost two decades before the pandemic started. Bloomberg also highlighted that the Environmental Protection Agency has placed restrictions on dry cleaning businesses, by placing regulations on a dry cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene. However, the data shows that laundry services and dry cleaning establishments that are coin-operated have seen a slight increase since the pandemic.

☆ Why California can just decide what cars people buy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-06 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A core part of federal emissions regulations since the early 1970s has been the so-called California Waiver. Nik Wheeler/Corbis/Getty ImagesBut, in 1967, it was Reagan, then the governor of California, who signed off on the creation of the California Air Resources Board. By this time, the groundwork had already been laid for California to set its own rules and that continued with the “California waiver,” a part of federal regulations that made this special exception for California. During his tenure, President Donald Trump asked the courts to do away with the California waiver. President Joseph Biden’s administration dropped that effort and, in March 2022, the California waiver was renewed once more.

☆ How BlackRock is angling to get it on the boom in renewable natural gas, a controversial energy source
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-25 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

BlackRock's acquisition of Vanguard Renewables underscores the rise of renewable natural gas. It is also where the world's largest asset manager went and found its latest target: An eight-year-old energy company with 160 employees called Vanguard Renewables. Last month BlackRock said one of its funds would acquire Vanguard (no relation to its asset management rival), which produces what the industry calls renewable natural gas, or biomethane. "The gas industry has done a great job in branding both natural gas and renewable natural gas. RNG projects capture methane, which has a far greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide, and turn that into a renewable energy.

☆ Rainwater is no longer safe to drink anywhere on Earth due to 'forever chemicals' linked to cancer, study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-13 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Rainwater around the world contains levels of "forever chemicals" unsafe to drink, a study suggests. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are linked to cancer and pervade homes and environments. That's because rainwater across the planet now contains hazardous chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Both substances' levels in rainwater "often greatly exceed" EPA limits, the study authors concluded. "Although in the industrial world we don't often drink rainwater [directly], many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink, and it supplies many of our drinking water sources," Cousins added.

☆ 2023 will be critical for Lucid's bid to one-up Tesla — and it will have to overcome its production constraints and a sinking stock price
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-05 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Based in Newark, California, EV startup Lucid Motors has been racing to up its production in 2022. Much like many other EV upstarts, Lucid's stock has dropped around 80% this year. Quality control may prove vital for any EV startup trying to outdo Tesla. He's determined to lead in the same space that's seen the rise and fall of other EV startups, such as Nikola, Lordstown, and Faraday Future. Churchill Capital IV soars 33% after report says the SPAC is nearing a deal to take EV-maker Lucid Motors publicAre you a current or former Lucid employee?

Does homeowners insurance cover damage to your septic tank? Homeowners insurance covers septic tanks with exceptions that vary among providers. However, damages can only be covered as part of a claim for a covered loss (ex: after a fire, your homeowners insurance may replace your septic tank). Homeowners insurance providers will generally cover your septic tank up to the policy limits under "other structures." Some common insurance perils include:FireLightningTheftIceSnowSleetSmokeVandalismFreezingIf the septic damage is unexpected and related to a covered peril, your homeowners insurance will cover it.

☆ Photos: Flooding in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-08 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Jason O'Brien/EPA/Shutterstock Debris is seen scattered outside homes in South Lismore, Australia, on March 9. In pictures: Flooding in AustraliaJason O'Brien/EPA/Shutterstock Debris is seen scattered outside homes in South Lismore, Australia, on March 9. Heavy rains have dumped more than a year's worth of rainfall in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales since late February. Flooding caused by the storms has left dozens dead and thousands displaced as the government issued evacuation orders. In a Facebook post Monday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison offered his condolences to the families of the deceased.

☆ Nigeria is oil rich and energy poor. It can’t wait around for cheaper batteries
▼ + stars: | 2021-11-03 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

But it’s coming under huge pressure from developed countries to abandon fossil fuels and shift to renewable energy in order to help save the climate. AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockLike the United States, Europe and Britain, Nigeria sees a prominent role for renewable energy, notwithstanding its investments into gas power. “In Nigeria, clean energy is central to our government’s plan to transition to net-zero emissions,” Osinbajo, the vice president, continued. In Nigeria, energy poverty is itself a major driver of emissions, according to Olu Verheijen, the founder of Lagos-based energy advisory business Latimer Energy. This means that in some cases, certainly for Nigeria, gas has an important role to play in providing power.

“The government is obviously failing us and not protecting us,” said Taylor, who evacuated from St. John before Hurricane Ida hit. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes St. John and St. James as a community with high levels of Covid-19 transmission. Prior to Ida, at least 16% of residents in St. James Parish and St. John Parish were living below the poverty line, according to Census data. One of their biggest fights was against the Taiwanese plastics manufacturer Formosa, which was set to build a $9.4 billion petrochemical complex in St. James Parish. While the battle to block the multibillion-dollar facility isn’t over, Hurricane Ida added to the community’s problems.

☆ FOTO // Și Europa poate lua foc din cauza temperaturilor arzătoare; Care sunt țările cu cel mai mare risc la incendii
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-06 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +7 min

Țările europene expuse riscului de incendii forestiereÎn ultimii ani, impactul incendiilor forestiere asupra oamenilor și a naturii a crescut în toată Europa. Președintele Nicos Anastasiades a declarat că a fost o zi foarte dificilă pentru țară și a promis că guvernul va oferi ajutor imediat victimelor. După 10 zile de temperaturi extreme și secetă, insula Kefalonia a fost cuprinsă sâmbătă de incendii de proporții. Deși cauza incendiilor nu a fost încă stabilită, în Sicilia există o istorie a incendiilor provocate de disputele funciare. EPA/KATIA CHRISTODOULOUepa09321433 A view of the smoke emitted by a fire in the mountains, in Larnaca region, Cyprus, 03 July 2021.

Persons: Frans Timmermans, Anastasiades Organizations: Comisia Europeană, Mediului, Pădurilor, farm, July, EPA Locations: Europa, Mediterane, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Laponia, Europa Cipru, Cipru, Nicosia, Regiunea, Israel, UE, Ciprului, Grecia, Greciei, de Sud, Tesalia, Attica, Kefalonia, Spania, Casabermeja, Malaga, Andaluzia, Italia, Siciliei, Siracuza, Catania, Sicilia, epa09322099, Larnaca, Cyprus, Limassol, and spreading, Larnaca region

☆ Советы для здоровья. Отличные средства для улучшения работы мозга
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-11 | by ( Редакция Vp | ) vocea.md time to read: +4 min

Многие из них могут улучшить память, внимание, концентрацию, стимулировать бдительность и мотивацию, повысить ясность ума и творческие способности. Забота о здоровье мозга должна стать приоритетом. Причины ухудшения работы головного мозгаСчитается, что генетические факторы, факторы окружающей среды и образ жизни влияют на когнитивное здоровье. DHA особенно важна для здо-ровья мозга, поскольку составляет примерно 25% жиров головногомозга и позволяет сохранять его структуру и поддерживать нормальную работу. ПробиотикиНаука подтвердила: здоровье мозга и кишечника тесно связаны.

Persons: Альцгеймер

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