Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
WASHINGTON— The Biden administration announced today [Jan. 26, 2024] it would freeze approvals of new gas export projects, signaling a major pivot in how it considers climate and health harms from oil and gas projects. The White House is directing the Energy Department to expand its criteria for evaluating new gas exports and take a hard … Read more
WASHINGTON — Automakers continue to sell millions of gas guzzlers and a relative handful of electric and other clean vehicles, making little progress against pollution, according to the Automotive Trends Report released today [Dec. 20, 2023] by the Environmental Protection Agency. The 2022 new vehicle fleet emitted just 10 grams per mile less carbon pollution than … Read more
Stockholm, 8 November 2023 – A major new report published today finds that governments plan to produce around 110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C, and 69% more than would be consistent with 2°C. This comes despite 151 national governments having pledged to achieve net-zero emissions and the latest forecasts which suggest global coal, … Read more
MARTINEZ, Calif.— The Contra Costa County Superior Court today [Oct. 12, 2023] ordered Phillips 66 to halt its plan to operate a biofuel refinery in Rodeo, California. The court put the Bay Area megaproject on hold until the county fully complies with environmental review requirements that it violated when first approving the project. Communities for … 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
SACRAMENTO— California hit an important milestone in its shift away from polluting fuel sources, with clean fuels replacing over 50% of the diesel used in the state in the first quarter of 2023. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which requires fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity of fuel sold in the state, is … Read more
Open-access railroading is not a figment of someone’s wild imagination: It really does exist. In fact, according to Robinson Foster in a Jan. 16, 2023 column at climaterailalliance.org, he says the concept has been successfully applied in Europe for nearly three decades. So, what is “open-access railroading”? “Open-access railroading” is a type of operational arrangement … Read more
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court today [Aug. 18, 2023] rejected the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s permit for the proposed Uinta Basin Railway, designed to quadruple oil production in Utah’s Uinta Basin and move crude through the Colorado Rockies to Gulf Coast refineries. Today’s [Aug. 18, 2023’s] ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the … Read more
If you drive a car, SUV or pickup truck, how do higher gas prices affect your driving habits – if at all? In America right now, gas prices are some of the highest they’ve been in recent history, if not the highest they’ve ever been. Across the country, according to one source, the price for … Read more
Lots of exciting developments on the U.S. passenger-train front. Before year’s end, Brightline service will be inaugurated between Miami and Orlando International Airport. Top speed on the section between West Palm Beach and the latter, 125 miles per hour. This will be the second such domestic operation whose passenger trains will travel that fast. Quite … Read more