Remove Air Pollution Remove Clean Energy Remove Electricity Remove Nitrogen Oxides
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Ask a Scientist: Gas Plants Disproportionately Harm Marginalized Communities

Union of Concerned Scientists

Gas, which now generates 40 percent of US electricity, is considered by some to be critical to maintain grid reliability. Likewise, housing discrimination has forced poorer folks and racial and ethnic minorities to live in areas with polluting infrastructure. First, there’s air pollution.

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Ask a Scientist: Two Dozen States Can Meet 100 Percent of Electricity Demand with Renewables by 2035

Union of Concerned Scientists

Nearly all of the alliance members have a renewable electricity standard (RES), which requires utilities in their jurisdiction to increase their use of renewable energy to a particular percentage by a specific year. We found that states have technically feasible and highly beneficial ways to achieve 100-percent renewable energy.

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Ask a Scientist: The US Has to Do More to Meet Its Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals

Union of Concerned Scientists

The legislation committed nearly $400 billion to support, among other things, wind and solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies that will make a significant dent in US heat-trapping emissions. How is that going to happen? Their report, however, comes with a warning.

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We Need an Agreement to Phase out Fossil Fuels at COP28

Union of Concerned Scientists

Beyond the climate harms of fossil fuels, they also impose a terrible toll on human health, as numerous recent studies show—including the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change , a BMJ study on global deaths from air pollution caused by fossil fuels, and a study on US deaths attributable to coal-fired electricity generation.

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A 100% Renewable Energy Future is Possible, and We Need It

Union of Concerned Scientists

And we’re still trying to recover from a pandemic that has made even more clear the disproportionate impacts of air pollution on overburdened communities, making them even more vulnerable to the negative impacts of COVID 19. States have technically feasible and highly beneficial paths to achieving 100 percent renewable energy.

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Reliance on Gas Power Plants Fuels Inequity

Union of Concerned Scientists

Air pollution Gas-fueled power plants and compressor stations release emissions that pollute local air and have dangerous health impacts to nearby residents. Most notable of these polluting emissions are nitrogen oxides (NOx).

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NRDC: Moving To Electric Trucks In PA Could Save 140 Lives, Create 3,524 Jobs

PA Environment Daily

billion in public health benefits by 2050 including 140 fewer premature deaths, 131 fewer hospital visits from breathing polluted air, and 71,760 fewer cases of acute bronchitis, exacerbated asthma, and other respiratory symptoms. -- 3,524 new jobs by 2035 , supporting growth in clean energy jobs across the country.