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Evolving Air Quality Standards

Legal Planet

The goal of the Clean Air Act is to achieve national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), with the primary requirement being protection of public health. As our understanding of the health effects of air pollution has improved, there has been a general trend toward tightening the standards. ppm in 2015.

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Jobs and Environmental Regulation

Legal Planet

Look at it this way: In 1970, when the Clean Air Act was passed, the unemployment rate was twice what it is today. A March 2022 article in the Journal of Economic Literature took a careful look at the impact of the Clean Air Act on jobs. The Act applied everywhere in the U.S.,

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The Rise and Decline of Coal Mining Jobs, 1970-2022

Acoel

The federal Clean Air Act (CAA) was enacted in 1970 and amended in 1977 and 1990. EPA regulations under the Clean Air Act for controlling mercury, sulfur dioxide, ozone and other pollutants have contributed to the employment decline. Source: US DOE/EIA.

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The Problems with the SCOTUS ‘Good Neighbor’ Arguments

Legal Planet

Clean air advocates outside the Supreme Court ahead of the EPA ‘Good Neighbor’ arguments on February 21 (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for SKDK) Megan M. Herzog (former Emmett/Frankel Fellow at UCLA School of Law 2012-2016) and Sean H.

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Ask a Scientist: Top Takeaways from the New EPA Carbon Pollution Rules

Union of Concerned Scientists

Meanwhile, between 2012 and 2022, installed wind and solar power more than tripled , according to American Clean Power. In 2012, coal generated 37 percent of US electricity. EN: These standards—or at least something based on the same Clean Air Act provision—have been in the works for a long time.

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Improving EPA’s Latest Ozone Transport Rule

Acoel

The downwind air quality benefits are minimal. 16 of 22 counties) of the 2015 Base Case nonattainment counties are projected to be reduced by 1 ppb or more as a result of CAIR. Exceedances of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS are predicted to decline in nonattainment areas by 14 percent with CAIR controls in place in 2015.

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These Attorneys General Are Defending the Fossil Fuel Industry, Not Their States

Union of Concerned Scientists

In 2015, when he took office as AG after stints in the Texas Legislature, he sued the Environmental Protection Agency for strengthening a standard for ground-level ozone, better known as smog. EPA decision , upheld the EPA’s authority to regulate such emissions under the Clean Air Act but significantly constrained its ability to do so.