Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
The below is from the Oct. 12, 2022 press release from the Center for Biological Diversity.* A federal judge approved a legal agreement today requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to update measures protecting the environment from soot, sulfur and nitrogen air pollution by Dec. 10, 2024. “Under this agreement, the EPA can no longer skirt … Read more
The below Oct. 13, 2022 news release is from the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board The California Air Resources Board (CARB) reached a settlement agreement with FCA US LLC (FCA) of Auburn Hills, Mich. for $5,601,090 for violations of CARB’s air quality regulations. This is the second enforcement action against FCA in the … Read more
It is safe to say there will never be such thing as zero polluted air. Even Mother Nature adds her own share: Think dust storms, volcanic eruptions and lightning strikes. With this knowledge, what amount of pollution in the air, then, is acceptable? To try to provide an answer, that would seem to be contingent … Read more
According to United Nations Environment Programme data nine in 10 people in the world are affected by harmful air. A sobering thought if ever there was one. If there is a bright side here it is this: That number could be higher; thankfully it’s not! But, that doesn’t mean the extent of harmful air couldn’t … Read more
With COP 27 just around the corner, I have a message for everyone. Look, I get that we’re not all climatologists, meteorologists or scientists – 97 percent of whom, by the way, accept the premise that climate change is a thing; it’s real, in other words, that is based on scientific consensus. I would go … Read more
Ask an in-the-know climatologist, meteorologist or scientist about Earth’s climate history, the time-period in question being between today and 10,000 years back, this followed by the section of world climate history covering the period between the latter and 110,000 years, the two then compared, well, the response you get may surprise you. The short answer: … Read more
According to the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (CARB), 80 percent of all of the state’s air-pollutant emissions and around half of all greenhouse-gas emissions (if those from the production of motor vehicle fuels are included) are emitted from the transportation sector. Yeah, 50 percent of all state-emitted GHG emissions is a significant … Read more
(The below Aug. 1, 2022 press release is from the Center for Biological Diversity.)* Community and conservation groups and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management reached an agreement today to suspend new oil and gas leasing across more than 1 million acres of public lands in California’s Central Valley and Central Coast. A separate agreement … Read more
The United States emits something on the order of 14 percent of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human-influenced causes. Suffice it to say humans are responsible for 50 billion tons (50 gigatons or Gt) of GHGs that enter the atmosphere yearly, America’s GHG contribution being approximately 7 Gt annually. Meanwhile, in California, in … Read more
The below Jul. 19, 2022 press release is from the Environmental Defense Fund.* Clean hydrogen is increasingly seen by governments and industry as the Holy Grail of climate-friendly energy solutions, with vast sums flowing into this emerging sector. But a new study warns that hydrogen is a leak-prone gas with a potent warming effect that … Read more