Environmentalists are cheering the EPA’s designation of several areas in east Texas near coal-fired power plants as being out of compliance with clean air standards. The EPA said it had identified high levels of sulfur dioxide pollution in Luminant’s Martin Lake, Big Brown and Monticello coal plants.
Thick smog continued to engulf China’s largest cities on December 26, 2015, just a day after authorities canceled more than 200 flights from Beijing due to limited visibility. Children and elderly were also warned to avoid outdoor activities as officials raised the air pollution alert in Beijing to orange, the second-highest on the city’s four-grade scale, on Christmas.
Until December, 2015, the Chinese government had never issued a "red alert" for severe smog levels in any of its cities. But in December it issued two of them, closing schools, stalling freeways, and leading some environmental policy experts to believe that, with respect to air pollution, the recent alarms may represent a national turning point.
In response to a petition and lawsuit by environmental and open government organizations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will propose regulations requiring natural gas processing plants to start reporting the toxic chemicals they release.
Recent rule changes announced by EPA would put an end to most visible flare emissions of toxic chemicals at refineries nationwide and the refineries would have to install monitors on their sites and around their fence lines to measure for carcinogenic benzene gas.
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) is requesting comments on which of the current six National Emphasis Initiatives (NEI) should continue, be expanded or returned to the standard enforcement program, and whether it should address new NEIs.
While the EPA’s proposed rule to limit emissions from power plants has been delayed by the U.S. Supreme Court – which says cost-benefit analyses are needed – individual actions aimed at the same goal are still taking place.
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday announced a ruling that amounts to a setback for an Obama administration initiative to combat climate change by limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is using a major new television, radio, print, and online advertising campaign to urge the Obama administration to keep the current ozone standards rather than implementing new ones.
Devices that detect potentially hazardous gases or airborne environmental pollutants are out there. But they’re expensive and bulky. Now M.I.T. researchers say they’ve developed a way to get the same.
