Environment & Health - 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.

A Gas Tanker Crashed in Birmingham and Spilled 2,100 Gallons Into Nearby Village Creek. Who Is Responsible?

By Lee Hedgepeth — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 09:10:00 +0000

Officials say they’ve worked to contain the gas spill and document a resulting fish kill. A local riverkeeper says more could be done.

By Lee Hedgepeth

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—As Kacey Brantley entered her neighborhood earlier this month, she thought the car in front of her was having some kind of mechanical issue. A pungent smell, like gas and burnt plastic, filled her lungs.

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.

California Votes to Consider Health and Environment in Future Energy Planning

By Emma Foehringer Merchant — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 08:30:00 +0000

State regulators approved a plan to determine how to weigh “non-energy benefits” in decisions about energy resources, as the state pursues 100 percent zero-carbon electricity by 2045.

By Emma Foehringer Merchant

The California Energy Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to begin a process to incorporate the value of “non-energy benefits,” such as health impacts and job creation, in future decisions about the state’s energy mix.

Maryland Lawmakers Remain Uncommitted to Ending Subsidies for Trash Incineration, Prompting Advocate Concern

By Aman Azhar — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Community members have urged lawmakers from the House and Senate to put the bill to a vote ahead of the March 18 deadline.

By Aman Azhar

Within a year of moving to Cherry Hill, a majority Black neighborhood on Baltimore’s southern tip, Shanae Thomas noticed her asthma—a health problem she was born with—had gradually worsened.

Q&A: California Nurse and Environmental Health Pioneer Barbara Sattler on Climate Change as a Medical Emergency

By Liza Gross — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Sattler is revolutionizing the way health professionals think about how climate disruption is harming human health. “We can't have healthy people on a sick planet.”

By Liza Gross

Barbara Sattler is on a mission to transform the way nurses, physicians and the general public think about threats to health. For Sattler, a registered nurse, emerita professor of public health at the University of San Francisco and founding member of the international Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, it starts with being able to describe what climate change is.

Alabamians Want Public Officials to Mitigate Landslide Risk as Climate Change Makes Extreme Precipitation More Frequent

By Lee Hedgepeth — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

In Birmingham, residents want two properties shielded from development and turned into parkland. Councilors decided to protect one parcel years ago. The vote never stuck.

By Lee Hedgepeth

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Gary Bostany said it was like lava flowing down from above.