Fossil Fuels - Inside Climate News

Petrochemicals Are Killing Us, a New Report Warns in the New England Journal of Medicine

By Liza Gross — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 18:45:00 +0000

It’s well known that fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change. A dirty secret is that they’re also the source of toxic chemicals linked to rising rates of chronic and deadly diseases.

By Liza Gross

Use of petroleum-based chemicals skyrocketed during the postwar era, most of them entering the market with little concern for safety. Now, mounting evidence links petrochemicals to the rapidly rising prevalence of a slew of chronic and deadly conditions, a review published in the New England Journal of Medicine warned earlier this month.

In the ‘Armpit of the Universe,’ a Window Into the Persistent Inequities of Environmental Policy

By Kiley Bense, Victoria St. Martin — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Researchers found that the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act is often a function of race and socio-economic factors. In Clairton, Pennsylvania, residents say they see that firsthand.

By Kiley Bense, Victoria St. Martin

Germaine Gooden-Patterson has lived in Clairton, Pennsylvania, for more than 15 years, but it wasn’t until she began a job as a community health worker in 2019 that she understood how much air pollution was affecting her neighbors’ lives—and her own.

To Stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a Young Activist Spends 36 Hours Inside it

By Keerti Gopal — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 08:55:00 +0000

Two seniors also locked themselves to a derelict car to block workers. The actions marked the end of an escalated week of pipeline opposition, including nine arrests.

By Keerti Gopal

Last week, a 22-year-old activist spent nearly 36 hours inside the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia, halting construction on a section of the pipeline for two days.

Q&A: What’s So Special About a New ‘Eye in the Sky’ to Track Methane Emissions

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, Living on Earth — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Though its data collection is stealth, that data is public.

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, Living on Earth

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by Producer Aynsley O’Neill with Dr. Stephen Conley, an atmospheric scientist and the founder of Scientific Aviation.

A ‘Gassy’ Alabama Coal Mine Was Expanding Under a Family’s Home. After an Explosion, Two Were Left Critically Injured

By Lee Hedgepeth, James Bruggers — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 00:29:01 +0000

Oak Grove Mine has a long history of safety violations. In 2006, federal officials evacuated its workers because of dangerous levels of methane, a flammable gas.

By Lee Hedgepeth, James Bruggers

ADGER, Ala.—He’d said he thought his home would explode. He was right.

Louisiana’s Toxic Air Is Linked to Low-Weight and Pre-Term Births

Jessica Kutz, The 19th — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:30:00 +0000

Residents have long suspected that the state's petrochemical plants and facilities were impacting birth outcomes. Now, a new study shows a correlation.

Jessica Kutz, The 19th

Originally published by The 19th.

Gulf Coast Petrochemical Buildout Draws Billions in Tax Breaks Despite Pollution Violations

By Dylan Baddour — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project compiled data on every U.S. plastics plant built, expanded or proposed since 2012, revealing massive growth in Texas.

By Dylan Baddour

A booming petrochemical buildout on the Gulf Coast has drawn billions of dollars in public subsidies from state tax abatement programs despite regular violations of pollution permits, according to a new report released Thursday.

MIT’s Sloan School Launches Ambitious Climate Center to Aid Policymakers

By Phil McKenna — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Environmentalists welcome the new initiative, but worry about potential funding and influence from fossil companies.

By Phil McKenna

An ambitious new climate change initiative at MIT’s Sloan School of Management seeks to harness the collective knowledge of the university to help tackle the climate crisis by connecting current and future climate research to policy.

‘Insure Our Future:’ A Global Movement Says the Insurance Industry Could Be the Key to Ending Fossil Fuels

By Keerti Gopal — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 10:10:00 +0000

As insurers cancel policies in regions threatened by sea level rise and wildfires, activists around the world rallied for a week of actions pressuring the companies to drop oil, gas and coal projects driving climate disasters.

By Keerti Gopal

NEW YORK—Roishetta Ozane would have rather been sitting in a rocking chair at home in Louisiana with her seven-month old grandbaby than standing outside of a multinational insurance company’s office in New York City, surrounded by dozens of police officers, speaking to a rally.

New Lake Will Fuel Petrochemical Expansion on Texas Coast

By Dylan Baddour — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Blocked in Louisiana, Formosa Plastics looks to grow around Lavaca Bay instead. But it and other interested industrial plants are waiting for more water.

By Dylan Baddour

Texas regulators last month approved water rights for a new, 2,500-acre reservoir to meet the growing needs of chemical plants, refineries and other industries on the Gulf Coast.