Super-Pollutants - 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.

Virginia Lawmakers Try to Use Budget to Rejoin RGGI – But Success Is Questionable

By Hannah Chanatry — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

State lawmakers added an amendment to the budget bill demanding the state rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative but draft changes could prompt a veto from Gov. Youngkin.

By Hannah Chanatry

Closed-door negotiations during Virginia’s budget process may have undercut lawmakers’ plans to rejoin a regional emissions reduction program.

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.

How Clean Energy Tax Breaks Could Fuel a US Wood Burning Boom

By James Bruggers — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

While the forest biomass industry maneuvers to try to take advantage of new federal climate policy, environmental advocates are pushing back and trying to protect trees.

By James Bruggers

Businesses that burn wood to produce energy have struggled in the United States to compete economically, even as wood-pellet exports to Europe from states like Alabama and North Carolina have soared with overseas subsidies.

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.

Coal Power Plunged Again in 2023 and Is Fading Away in the U.S. So What Replaces It?

By Dan Gearino — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Natural gas has filled most of the void left by the decline of U.S. coal power, but that’s not a long-term solution.

By Dan Gearino

Coal power took a big step toward the exit last year in the United States, as plants continue to close and the ones that remain are being used less than before.