Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
I don’t know why, but in 2019 it seems like there are more earth-moving air-quality-news-related items than usual. And, the year isn’t even over yet. The American Lung Association in April issued its latest findings of the quality of America’s air in its 20th annual “State of the Air” report as well as in a … Read more
A sign of the times? The Navajo Generating Station (NGS), a coal-fired power plant located in the northern Arizona community of Page, is shutting down. Moreover, the 78-mile Black Mesa & Lake Powell (BM&LP) Railroad – built to haul the black carbonaceous rock between the mine and plant – is likewise itself terminating operations. Peabody … Read more
Eliminating restrictions on damaging and dangerous methane pollution at oil and gas sites nationwide, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to do, would be costly. It was just this past Thursday that the current EPA proposed doing just that. The Center for Biological Diversity (Center) in its “Trump Proposes Killing Methane Pollution Rule” … Read more
Fortunately, the news is mostly good: Greenhouse gas emissions in California fell. Transportation is one trouble spot, however – the main one. Speaking directly to this, on Aug. 12, 2019, the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (ARB) released its California Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2000 to 2017: Trends of Emissions and Other Indicators … Read more
Wildland fires last year proved to be disastrous for California in terms of not only the amount of acreage charred and the number of lives impacted but of the associated monetary cost as it has to do with property loss. It has been suggested that because of global warming, the state has become more susceptible … Read more
I just recently read – somewhere – America’s air has worsened, in fact, there is 15 percent more pollution in it (I am assuming volumetric-wise), than there was, say, just a few years back. That’s not a good sign. After years, even decades, of encouraging air trends, to some, this news may come as a … Read more
A heads-up: June 5, 2019 is World Environment Day 2019. This year’s focus: Air pollution. As part of that in this thread, included is information on air cleanup. Introduction There isn’t a soul anywhere I can think of who doesn’t appreciate clean, healthy air. That said, on Earth, better than 90 percent of humanity is … Read more
This is the follow-on article to: “With cleaner Valley air, there can never, ever be any going back.” In the earlier post presented was information that consistent with the San Joaquin Valley air becoming less polluted over time (essentially between 1980 and 2016), there has been a far lower incidence of widespread, wintertime fog across … Read more
The below April 5, 2019 press release is from the Center for Biological Diversity. A California state judge has affirmed the constitutional right of residents concerned about air and climate pollution to challenge power plant siting decisions in their local Superior Court. In 2013 Earthjustice, Communities for a Better Environment [CBE] and the Center for … Read more
The below May 7, 2019 press release is from the National Parks Conservation Association. Of the 417 national parks evaluated, 96 percent of America’s national parks are plagued by significant air pollution problems. This and other alarming facts were included in Polluted Parks: How America is failing to protect our national parks, people and planet … Read more