Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
OAKLAND, Calif. — Conservation and public health groups filed a lawsuit today [Sept. 28, 2023] challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to review and update air-quality standards that protect people from harmful nitrogen pollution nationwide. Federal law requires the EPA to review the pollution standards every five years and improve them as needed to ensure … Read more
Yay!! Yay? For once I feel like a climate study is not predicting the absolute worse [sic] possible scenario, it’s just predicting a serious and pressing one. Roy Spencer and Ron Christy published a paper entitled Effective climate sensitivity distributions from a 1D model of global ocean and land temperature trends, 1970–2021. Phys.org has a version … Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Environmental and health groups celebrated an important step toward clean air after a federal appeals court today [Sept. 25, 2023] denied the requests of states and industry groups to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Good Neighbor Rule.” The rule, designed to address cross-state air pollution and the adverse health effects of … Read more
I’ve seen this happen on the news and now I’ve seen it in the press. And, I’ve probably even done it myself. What is it? Write an article and fail to include key information. That this happens, that’s got to be a journalist’s greatest fear. In that regard, we can thank our lucky stars for … Read more
Being a pet owner carries a lot of responsibility. Part of that is dealing with the cleanup; you know, of pet feces – the unflattering part of the job that, I know, most pet owners abhor. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the mess isn’t handled in like manner as human … Read more
SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board (CARB) reached a settlement agreement with American Honda Motor Corp., Inc. (Honda) of Torrance for $7.9 million for violations of CARB’s small off-road engine (SORE) air quality regulations. This is the third SORE enforcement action against Honda in the past four years. In 2021, CARB testing revealed multiple … Read more
I’ve been lately hearing through the grapevine that ground on which properties sit around Fresno, California – where I make my home – has been sinking. Though I could be pulling your leg here, this time, however, I’m not. It’s really going on. That ground is compacting, compressing or sinking throughout this and other parts … Read more
Could it be those slick marketing campaigns with their targeted advertising that do the trick? Is it a one-upmanship sort of back and forth; you know, like a Smith’s versus Jones’s home-consumer-purchasing match just to see who can outdo whom that can be finger-pointed to? Could it be both? Why not?! But, whatever it is that drives … Read more
One of my least favorite cleaning activities is dusting. When I do dust, I cheat. I use the vacuum cleaner – hose with soft-bristle brush attachment. Those other dusting methods, I avoid those like the plague. If the vacuum cleaner breaks, well, I guess I’m out of luck. Clean sweep Outdoor sweeping I have no … Read more
(Editor’s note: And, yet another opportunity presents itself to commit to a healthier-air, clearer-sky environment). Air pollution is responsible for half a million premature deaths annually in the WHO European Region, primarily due to noncommunicable diseases, such as ischaemic heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On this International Day of Clean … Read more