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Air
by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Air pollution from animal farms leads to nearly 13,000 deaths annually, according to a new study that links food protection and air quality harms. The manure and animal feed from farms produce fine-particle pollution that leads to breathing issues as well as long-term health issues like heart disease and […]
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The European Union is angling for climate neutrality by 2050, and in order to hit that target needs to ramp down its transportation emissions by about 90 percent. Trams — or what is known as light rail here in the U.S. — are having a moment as part of that planning.
Why This Matters: Lowering emissions doesn’t have to mean reinventing the wheel.
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On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first rule of the Biden administration to combat climate change. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has announced that the rule implementing the 15-year phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) passed by Congress last year.
Why This Matters: Although HFCs have an atmospheric lifetime of about 15 years, which is less than any other GHG, and the most common type is 3,790 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide.
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by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer A new list from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) shows that last year, thirteen U.S. oil refineries emitted more of the cancer-causing chemical benzene than was permitted by the government. This is an increase from eleven refineries that made the list in 2019. Why This Matters: These unlawful benzene […]
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New electric vehicle battery capacity is cropping up across the U.S. — places like the Hell’s Kitchen Lithium and Power in California’s Imperial Valley where they are extracting lithium from the Salton Sea, and Ion Park, a “pilot facility” where Ford Motors will eventually produce batteries.
Why This Matters: With EV sales expected to increase, particularly given the Biden Administration’s emphasis on their development, lithium is in such high demand that experts refer to it as “white gold.“
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by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer A new study released this week in the journal Science Advances reveals that people of color across America are exposed to more pollution from nearly every source than white communities. This includes pollution from heavy industry, power generation, agriculture, transportation, construction, etc. Black Americans suffer most from pollution exposure, […]
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