article thumbnail

Climate Change Threatens Already Poor Air Quality in California’s Central Valley

Union of Concerned Scientists

California’s Central Valley consistently experiences the country’s worst air quality, and climate change is poised to make air quality even worse. In a region known for its exceptional agricultural productivity, climate change is quickly amplifying a dangerous type of climate risk in California’s Central Valley: air pollution.

article thumbnail

Good News—and Bad—about Fossil Fuel Power Plants in 2023 

Union of Concerned Scientists

With the clean energy transition already under way, the US electricity mix is set to continue changing this year. Solar power is expected to make up about half of all additions of US electric generating capacity in 2023, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). I’ll start off with the good.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

DEP Awards 4 Grants Totaling $2.9 Million To Replace Old Diesel With Clean-Energy Vehicles

PA Environment Daily

By replacing older polluting engines and equipment with new technologies, funded projects remove nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and hydrocarbon pollution from the air. The projects are located in high-population areas with dense traffic and high air pollution levels.

article thumbnail

EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Rules Are Critical—and Complex. Here’s What to Know, and What to Watch.

Union of Concerned Scientists

All across the country, coal- and gas-fired power plants are still running, still polluting, and still showing signs of staying relentlessly online. Through the Clean Air Act , and as affirmed—and reaffirmed—through multiple legal sagas, EPA is statutorily obligated to address carbon pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

article thumbnail

DEP Awards $2.9 Million In Grants To Schools, Businesses, Local Governments To Switch To Zero- Or Low-Emission Vehicles; Next Round Of Applications Due Dec. 15

PA Environment Daily

Getting more zero- and low-emission vehicles on the road in Pennsylvania helps reduce harmful air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds. Gasoline and diesel vehicles generate 47 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions in Pennsylvania, contributing to ground-level ozone.

article thumbnail

The Climate Commitment Act: A Promise to Washington's Communities

Washington Nature

A key critique of California's Cap & Trade program has been that it hasn’t reduced health-harming criteria pollutants , including carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, and particulates. of Ecology the power to enforce air quality standards against polluters. Of this money: $5.2

article thumbnail

Decarbonizing California Transportation by 2045

Science & Climate

Zero emission vehicles : Many of the report’s policy options are centered on a rapid transition to zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs, which is expected to dramatically reduce GHG emissions and improve local air pollution as the state’s electric grid is also decarbonized. . Fuels : About 86 percent of transportation fuel is petroleum.