EPA Sued for Dragging Feet on Anti-Smog Plans
The agency missed its deadline to approve two states’ proposals to reduce oil and gas emissions in order to come into compliance with air quality standards that are over a decade old.
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pollution
Owner of Plastics Plant Asks for Limits on Settlement Payments
A plastics company urged the Fifth Circuit to rescue it from an order that will force it to pay penalties for plastic pellets that can be dislodged by animals from soil surrounding its plant.
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Plastic Pollution Keeps Increasing Despite Public Acknowledgement of the Problem
Plastic pollution is everywhere, it’s getting worse, and there’s no simple solution to turn back the clock. By the year 2050, scientists estimate the amount of plastic produced every year is set to double.
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Benefits of ‘Drastic’ Climate Action Outweigh Costs: Economists
The cost of global warming will far outweigh the cost of rapidly cutting greenhouse gas emissions, more than 700 economists from around the world said Tuesday in an unprecedented call to climate action.
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Small Engines
California Assembly members Marc Berman and Lorena Gonzalez introduced legislation Monday to phase out the sale of new gas-powered small off-road engines. Such engines are used to power lawn and garden machinery, including lawn mowers and leaf blowers. The proposed law would require new sales of the engines to be zero-emission by 2024 or a date set by the California Air Resources Board.
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Pollution Forces Nepal Schools to Close for First Time
Nepal on Monday ordered schools to close as choking smog enveloped the capital Kathmandu, in the first-ever shutdown of the country’s education sector because of pollution.
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Masks and Gloves Are Saving Lives — and Causing Pollution
Disposable masks, gloves and other types of personal protective equipment are safeguarding untold lives during the coronavirus pandemic. They’re also creating a worldwide pollution problem, littering streets and sending an influx of harmful plastic and other waste into landfills, sewage systems and oceans.
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Environmental Groups Challenge Trump’s Decision to Lease Federal Land for Fracking
A new lawsuit brought by environmental groups against the Bureau of Land Management seeks to rescind leases for seven parcels of federal land auctioned to energy companies in the waning days of the Trump administration.
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California Green Group Trying to Make Big Plastic Pay for Scourge of Pollution
The Earth Island Institute is attempting a novel legal gambit that attempts to hold companies that rely on plastic packaging responsible for the vast amounts of plastics ending up in the oceans and along beaches, saying those companies have misled the public about the efficacy of plastic recycling to protect their bottom line.
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EPA Under Biden Cracks Down on Cross-State Pollution
The rule finalized Monday will reduce toxic emissions by 17,000 tons, but environmental groups say it doesn’t go far enough.
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Lethal Pollution High in 2020 Despite Lockdowns
Deadly small particle pollution in dozens of nations exceeded World Health Organization recommendations last year despite Covid lockdowns, according to a report released Tuesday.
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PG&E Settles Lawsuit Over Century-Old Gas Plant Pollution
The utility will cover certain soil removal and replacement costs for excavation projects in a roughly 33-block area of San Francisco for the next five years.
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Billion-Dollar Deal With Daimler Finalized in Emissions-Cheating Case
The German automaker stood accused of making smaller steps in Volkswagen’s tracks, manipulating its machines to skirt U.S. pollution standards.
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Trump Change to Pollution Rules Survives New Jersey Appeal
A federal appeals court said the government did its due diligence in a move that the Garden State predicts will be a boon to neighboring polluters upwind of it.
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Wisconsin City Sues Makers of Firefighting Foam Over ‘Forever Chemicals’ Pollution
The manufacturers are accused of concealing the fact that their firefighting foam products contained the hazardous chemicals for decades.
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Air Pollution
A federal court in Texas ordered ExxonMobil to pay more than $14 million in Clean Air Act civil penalties for pollution from its petroleum and petrochemical complex in Baytown, Texas.
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In Russian Arctic, Miner Nornickel Exhibits Green Goal
The closure of the Nikel smelter is part of a global strategy aimed at transforming Norilsk Nickel, also known as Nornickel, into an environmentally friendly company — or at the very least, limiting its environmental impact.
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Europeans Get ‘Right to Repair’ for Some Electrical Goods
Companies that sell refrigerators, washers, hairdryers or TVs in the European Union will need to ensure those appliances can be repaired for up to 10 years, to help reduce the vast mountain of electrical waste that piles up each year on the continent.
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UN: Carbon-Cutting Pledges by Countries Nowhere Near Enough
The newest pledges by countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions are falling far short of what’s needed to limit global warming to what the Paris climate accord seeks, a new United Nations report finds.
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