Air Pollution, Fossil Fuels, Regulations and Technology - Environmental Professionals Connection

Making Fossil Fuels Pay for Their Damage

Legal Planet

AUGUST 18, 2022

Production and combustion of fossil fuels imposes enormous costs on society, which the industry doesn’t pay for. A more promising alternative might be a clean-up tax on the fossil fuel industry. A carbon tax could cover the economy without the need for scores of regulations tailored to each industry.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Politics Air Pollution

Aggregating the Harms of Fossil Fuels

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

The decision at the Glasgow climate conference to phase down fossil fuels is an important step forward — and not just because of climate change. We think of fossil fuels as a source of climate change, but that’s only a one part of the problem. Fossil fuels are a case in point. Consider coal.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Clean Water Act Climate Change

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

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 23, 2023

And fossil fuel power plants may not stick to their retirement schedules for a variety of reasons. pollution, which are particles with diameters of 2.5 In 2019, air pollution more broadly was responsible for about 6.7 A bit more on those reasons later. micrometers or less. million deaths globally.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels 2023 Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides

The New EPA Car Rule Doesn’t Violate the Major Questions Doctrine

Legal Planet

MARCH 21, 2024

Conservative groups have claimed since then that virtually every government regulation raises a major question. None of these apply to the new car rule: The new rule is based on a legal provision that EPA has applied for decades to regulate cars, rather than an obscure and rarely used legal provision. The rule is not unprecedented.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Regulations Air Pollution 2016

EPA’s New Power Plant Rules Have Dropped. What Happens Next?

Legal Planet

APRIL 25, 2024

And they will raise other arguments — primarily, that the technologies that EPA is relying on to reduce emissions aren’t ready for prime time. Under the Clean Air Act, nationwide EPA air pollution rules can only be challenged in the D.C. At that point, there will be more lawsuits.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Regulations Air Pollution Carbon Emissions

Bill Reported Out Of Senate Committee Would Allow Pipelines Like Mariner East To Apply For Waivers Of Any PUC Regulation, Law Or Policy

PA Environment Daily

MAY 3, 2024

On April 30, Senate Bill 1174 (Stefano-R-Fayette) was reported out of the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee with unanimous Republican support that would allow any “public utility” to petition the Public Utility Commission to waive any law, regulation or policy under the Commission’s jurisdiction, if it benefits ratepayers.

Regulations

Regulations Law Natural Gas Fossil Fuels

EPA Finalizes Rule To Reduce Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Infrastructure; DEP’s Oil & Gas Methane Regulations 1 Year Old

PA Environment Daily

DECEMBER 2, 2023

Note: In December, 2022, DEP finalized regulations reducing volatile organic compounds and methane from existing conventional and unconventional oil and gas facilities. Note: In December, 2022, DEP finalized regulations reducing volatile organic compounds and methane from existing conventional and unconventional oil and gas facilities.

Regulations

Regulations Air Pollution Natural Gas Carbon Dioxide

How to Get to Zero Emissions at the Ports

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

However, goods movement through the Ports is a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the L.A. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has reported that the Ports are “the single largest fixed source of air pollution in Southern California.”

Air Pollution

Air Pollution 2030 Greenhouse Fossil Fuels

Ask a Scientist: Gas Plants Disproportionately Harm Marginalized Communities

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

First, there’s air pollution. Gas plants and infrastructure emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) during combustion, which degrade local air quality. Exposure to NOx and other gas infrastructure air pollutants has been associated with respiratory illnesses and an increase in childhood asthma rates.

Clean Energy

Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides Fossil Fuels Electricity

The Gas Utility Industry is Gaslighting Us

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 11, 2024

Certainly, gas stoves are just one source of air pollution in the District. As we now know, fossil fuel companies lied about it for decades to protect their profits. That would of course include fossil gas, which consists of 85 to 90 percent methane, a significantly more potent heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide.

2013

2013 Electricity Natural Gas Fossil Fuels

EPA’s Power Plant Rule is Not Bold. It’s What’s Required.

Legal Planet

MAY 11, 2023

Today’s the day for the long-awaited release of Environmental Protection Agency regulations to tackle planet-warming pollution by the nation’s power plants. The EPA is proposing a new standard for fossil fuel-fired power plants to avoid 617 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through 2042.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Carbon Emissions Greenhouse Fossil Fuels

Diesel is the Reason for the Sneezin’: Cleaner Holiday Deliveries are on the Horizon

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Upcoming research from my colleague Dave Cooke shows that electric delivery trucks can reduce climate-warming emissions from driving by up to 92 percent and reduce lifecycle public health impacts by up to 85 percent compared to today’s average fossil-fueled delivery trucks.

Nitrogen Oxides

Nitrogen Oxides Electricity Fossil Fuels Air Pollution

Building a Better Power Grid for Minnesota

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 22, 2022

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Getting energy from where it’s produced to where it’s needed. Unlocking the gridlock for Minnesota’s renewable energy future.

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Solar Power Electricity

EPA Proposes New Power Plant Rule That Promises Major Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions in the Coming Years

Law and Environment

MAY 12, 2023

After weeks of hints and leaks, yesterday morning (May 11, 2023), EPA proposed a new rule regulating emissions from power plants. SO2, and NOx – harmful air pollutants that are known to endanger public health. Emphasis added.] In the relevant lingo, EPA can characterize them as “inside the fenceline” standards.

Greenhouse

Greenhouse Clean Air Act Air Pollution Natural Gas

When it Comes to Disinformation about Renewable Energy, The Band Plays On

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 14, 2022

In a twisted parody of the band that played on to calm the doomed passengers of the Titanic, a conservative chorus—horribly off key to science, but music to the ears of its fossil fuel patrons—continues to belt out disinformation in full throat to drown out the urgency of climate catastrophe.

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Climate Change 2030

EPA’s Final 2027-2032 Truck Rule Risks Leaving Communities Behind

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 29, 2024

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just finalized its Phase 3 greenhouse gas regulation as a part of the administration’s plan to decarbonize the transportation sector. The Phase 3 regulation will cut new greenhouse gas emissions from trucks in 2032 by 32 to 62 percent for vocational trucks (e.g.,

2027

2027 Electricity Greenhouse Technology

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

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 20, 2023

Which means the consequences of these polluters unabashedly continuing to pollute aren’t just severe—they’re compounding. The IRA gave us effective tools for cleaning up the power sector through dedicated support for the rapid and widescale deployment of renewable resources and the technologies that support them.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Fossil Fuels Carbon Emissions Clean Energy

PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - May 4

PA Environment Daily

MAY 3, 2024

Air Quality Permits -- Philadelphia Gas Works - Richmond LNG Gas Plant: Philadelphia Air Management Services invites comments on the renewal of the Title V Air Quality Permit for the natural gas liquefaction facility located at 3100 East Venango Street in Philadelphia. ( Lancaster County. ( Bradford County. ( Cameron County. (

Air Pollution

Air Pollution Recycling 2024 Natural Gas

Guest Essay: Our Leaders Need To Stop Negotiating With The Fossil-Fuel Industry Behind Closed Doors And Protect Public Health And Our Children

PA Environment Daily

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

All of my children have experienced health impacts such as rashes, chronic nosebleeds and Lyme disease due to the warming of our climate from the fossil-fuel industry. But now the same oil and gas billionaires polluting our air and water are being rewarded yet again.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels Natural Gas Waste Clean Energy

Nearly One Million US Deaths from COVID-19: The Grim Consequences of Sidelining Science

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 25, 2022

Such a low number is not driven by fossil fuel company disinformation alone. They don’t need to wait for scientists to tell them about climate change, as billowing carbon pollution from power plants and transportation is deeply intertwined with deadly particulates. It is also evidence of general White privilege.

Climate Change

Climate Change Fossil Fuels Politics Air Pollution

PennFuture 25th Anniversary Celebrations Honor 7 Pennsylvanians For Fighting Climate Change, Industrial Pollution

PA Environment Daily

MAY 17, 2024

He was appointed as a mediator by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to work with the environmental community and industry to establish better regulations for water quality monitoring in areas impacted by coal ash. He has publicly called for investments in clean energy, green technologies, and environmental research.

Climate Change

Climate Change Fossil Fuels Clean Energy 2006

Catch 22 at the Supreme Court

Legal Planet

JUNE 30, 2022

CT , the Supreme Court said this: We hold that the Clean Air Act and the EPA actions it authorizes displace any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants. And, most relevant here, §7411(d) then requires regulation of existing sources within the same category.

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide 2011 Air Pollution Clean Air Act

Defending EPA’s Authority to Fight Climate Change – at the Supreme Court

Legal Planet

JANUARY 25, 2022

EPA in defense of EPA’s authority to effectively regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The case involves a group of challenges to EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing stationary sources under the 1970 Clean Air Act, a monumental piece of environmental and public health legislation.

Climate Change

Climate Change Clean Air Act Air Pollution Paris Agreement

Why UCS Supporters Are Pressing EPA to Let California Enforce Its Truck Pollution Rules

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 1, 2022

California’s leadership on reducing truck pollution has been on full display the past few years, passing critical regulations requiring 90 percent reduction in smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NO X ) emissions from diesel trucks and requiring manufacturers sell an increasing share of electric trucks to move away from fossil fuels altogether.

Nitrogen Oxides

Nitrogen Oxides Clean Air Act Fossil Fuels Ozone

Ask a Scientist: It’s Getting Easier for US Car Owners to Go Electric

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

That’s a far cry from just six years ago, when EVs were considered a niche technology (and the fossil fuel baron Charles Koch and his minions wanted to keep it that way). Today, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) projects that 50 percent of US passenger car sales could very well be electric by 2030. How significant is that?

Electricity

Electricity Air Pollution Clean Air Act 2030

EVs Are at a Turning Point, It May Not Be What You Think

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 7, 2024

That is A LOT of EVs and A LOT less oil use, air pollution and climate emissions. Today, sales in California not only far exceed these targets, but ahead of schedule, because regulators in part underestimated how fast technology would improve. ). By making historic investments in the U.S.

Electricity

Electricity 2025 Climate Change 2023

Why Energy Bills Will Be Even Higher This Winter

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 20, 2022

Power companies will therefore have to pay more for the fuel, but utilities are generally allowed by state regulators to pass those cost increases onto their customers in the form of higher electricity rates. However, make no mistake: Technological advancement did not create the production boom by itself.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Electricity Natural Gas

Solutions to Climate Change-Fueled Droughts in the Western US

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 17, 2022

Along with rising temperatures, drought makes vegetation and forests drier and increases the risk of fires that generate air pollution. Water education should go beyond teaching the hydrologic cycle and incorporate components of local hydrology, regulations, and laws. Explore new technologies. Water education.

Climate Change

Climate Change Technology Technology Fossil Fuels

Is It Possible to Phase Out Petroleum and Transform our Transportation System?

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Tailpipes from our cars, trucks and buses are also a major source of toxic local air pollution that disproportionately harms overburdened and underserved communities. In other words, technological solutions are necessary but not sufficient. On the technology side, decarbonization is the key.

Electricity

Electricity Biofuels Technology Technology

Fighting Climate Change and Unhealthy Air, California Wants to Electrify Trucks, Too

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Coming off its recent decision requiring all new passenger cars and trucks be zero-emission by 2035, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is developing a first-of-its-kind regulation to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles like delivery vans, big rigs, box trucks, and buses. The rule would also reduce NOx and PM2.5

Climate Change

Climate Change Electricity Nitrogen Oxides Fossil Fuels

Biden Administration Faces Stark Choice on Its Biggest Climate Policy

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

The UN’s Climate Change Conference is just about to kick off in Dubai, juxtaposing the powerful political power of the fossil fuel industry and the desperate need to reduce oil and gas usage as we face an ongoing climate crisis. billion, an indication of the harm generated by further delaying much needed action on climate change.

2026

2026 Climate Change Nitrogen Oxides Greenhouse

The EPA’s New Truck Rule Is a Modest Step When What Is Needed Is a Giant Leap

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 20, 2022

One particularly notable adjustment reflects a direct request from truck manufacturers, who ( as noted previously ) have been intensely engaged in a battle to weaken the rule as part of an ongoing war against pollution regulations that undermines the lip service the companies give on climate. Sadly, it didn’t.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Electricity Fossil Fuels Regulations

Monday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 10.16.23

PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Senate next voting day October 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, Nov. 13, 14, 15, Dec. 11, 12, 13 -- Committee Schedule House next voting day October 16, 17, 18, 30, 31, Nov. 1, 13, 14, 15, Dec. Shapiro, Let's Hold Them Accountable - Support The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - By Rev.

Natural Gas

Natural Gas Air Pollution Fossil Fuels Clean Energy

2021-2022 California Environmental Legislation: What’s Been Enacted?

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 10, 2022

The Governor approved a notable slate of climate legislation with a package that includes more stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets and measures designed to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. In signing these bills, the Governor touted the state as the most aggressive actor on climate in the nation. Clean Energy.

2021

2021 2022 Sea Level Clean Energy

Even at a 40-percent Electric Fleet, USPS is Missing the Mailbox

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 2, 2022

With the significant strides in electric truck technology, vastly reduced operating and maintenance costs compared to combustion vehicles, and the fact that, according to USPS, 95 percent of its routes can be serviced by electric vehicles, one would assume that the USPS would be pursuing electric delivery vehicles in full force. USPS Media.

Electricity

Electricity Law Fossil Fuels Greenhouse

Friday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 4.12.24

PA Environment Daily

APRIL 12, 2024

Room G-50 Irvis Building. April 17-- Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing on the environmental and public health impacts associated with the practice of spreading oil and gas drilling waste, known as brine, on Pennsylvania's roads for dust control and ice management. Valley Township Building, 1145 W. Click Here to watch online.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels Air Pollution Conservation Natural Resources

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief in Support of New GHG Vehicle Emissions Standards

Law Columbia

MARCH 13, 2023

EPA , the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regulated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. In 2022, Texas, along with several other states and industry groups representing fuel manufacturers (together, Petitioners), challenged EPA’s new emissions standards in court.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Air Pollution Climate Change Regulations

Much Ado About Not Much: West Virginia v. EPA

Acoel

JULY 5, 2022

The Trump EPA had invoked the major questions doctrine and the Agency’s past interpretation of technology-based standards under section 111 of the Clean Air to find that EPA could not rely upon switching methods of power generation to establish an emissions reduction budget under a cap-and-trade program. and many industrial sources.

Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act Fossil Fuels Natural Gas Electricity

U.S. Senate Hearing: Energy, Environmental Impacts Of Cryptocurrency Mining In Pennsylvania

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 8, 2023

Despite these claims, burning waste coal is still just burning fossil fuel and results in the emissions of significant amounts of air pollution including ozone precursors, fine particulates, acid gasses, heavy metals, and vast amounts of carbon pollution.

Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power Fossil Fuels Waste Air Pollution

PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - August 12

PA Environment Daily

AUGUST 11, 2023

PA Bulletin, page 5054 ) Air Quality Permits -- McElroy Green Marketing LLC - Mine Methane Flare Project: DEP invites comments on Air Quality Plan Approval for the project located in Gilmore Twp., You’ll also get notice of new technical guidance documents and regulations. Bradford County. ( Butler County. ( Greene County. (

Natural Gas

Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Air Pollution 2025

Environmental Groups Appeal Air Permit Extension For Proposed Liquefied Natural Gas Plant In Bradford County That Would Emit 1 Million Tons Of Greenhouse Gases A Year

PA Environment Daily

AUGUST 26, 2021

PennFuture , Clean Air Council , and Sierra Club appealed a second extension of the air pollution permit the Department of Environmental Protectionissued for the Bradford County Real Estate Partners Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility proposed near the Susquehanna River in Wyalusing Township in Bradford County.

Natural Gas

Natural Gas Greenhouse Fossil Fuels Air Pollution

House Environmental Committee Sets May 1 Hearing On Cryptocurrency And Climate Change

PA Environment Daily

APRIL 25, 2023

Despite these claims, burning waste coal is still just burning fossil fuel and results in the emissions of significant amounts of air pollution including ozone precursors, fine particulates, acid gasses, heavy metals, and vast amounts of carbon pollution.

Climate Change

Climate Change Nuclear Power Fossil Fuels Waste

Lessons Learned from Philadelphia Refinery Closure

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 27, 2023

The refinery was a major polluter, according to 2019 report by the City of Philadelphia it was the largest stationary source of air pollution and the largest single emitter of toxic pollutants in Philadelphia, accounting for 57% of total toxic emissions from larger sources in Philadelphia in 2016 including benzene and other known carcinogens.

Electricity

Electricity 2016 Technology Technology

Natural Gas Industry, Senate Republicans Launch Effort To Unleash The Industry, Reduce Regulation, Call For Automatic Approval Of Permits, Limit Public Comments

PA Environment Daily

JANUARY 23, 2023

On January 20, the natural gas industry and Senate Republicans launched an effort to unleash the industry by reducing regulations, requiring automatic approval of permits and limiting opportunities for public review of permits at a hearing of the Senate Republican Policy Committee in Pittsburgh. Read more here. Read more here.

Natural Gas

Natural Gas Regulations Waste 2022

Making Fossil Fuels Pay for Their Damage

Aggregating the Harms of Fossil Fuels

Trending Sources

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

The New EPA Car Rule Doesn’t Violate the Major Questions Doctrine

EPA’s New Power Plant Rules Have Dropped. What Happens Next?

Bill Reported Out Of Senate Committee Would Allow Pipelines Like Mariner East To Apply For Waivers Of Any PUC Regulation, Law Or Policy

EPA Finalizes Rule To Reduce Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Infrastructure; DEP’s Oil & Gas Methane Regulations 1 Year Old

How to Get to Zero Emissions at the Ports

Ask a Scientist: Gas Plants Disproportionately Harm Marginalized Communities

The Gas Utility Industry is Gaslighting Us

EPA’s Power Plant Rule is Not Bold. It’s What’s Required.

Diesel is the Reason for the Sneezin’: Cleaner Holiday Deliveries are on the Horizon

Building a Better Power Grid for Minnesota

EPA Proposes New Power Plant Rule That Promises Major Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions in the Coming Years

When it Comes to Disinformation about Renewable Energy, The Band Plays On

EPA’s Final 2027-2032 Truck Rule Risks Leaving Communities Behind

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

PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - May 4

Guest Essay: Our Leaders Need To Stop Negotiating With The Fossil-Fuel Industry Behind Closed Doors And Protect Public Health And Our Children

Nearly One Million US Deaths from COVID-19: The Grim Consequences of Sidelining Science

PennFuture 25th Anniversary Celebrations Honor 7 Pennsylvanians For Fighting Climate Change, Industrial Pollution

Catch 22 at the Supreme Court

Defending EPA’s Authority to Fight Climate Change – at the Supreme Court

Why UCS Supporters Are Pressing EPA to Let California Enforce Its Truck Pollution Rules

Ask a Scientist: It’s Getting Easier for US Car Owners to Go Electric

EVs Are at a Turning Point, It May Not Be What You Think

Why Energy Bills Will Be Even Higher This Winter

Solutions to Climate Change-Fueled Droughts in the Western US

Is It Possible to Phase Out Petroleum and Transform our Transportation System?

Fighting Climate Change and Unhealthy Air, California Wants to Electrify Trucks, Too

Biden Administration Faces Stark Choice on Its Biggest Climate Policy

The EPA’s New Truck Rule Is a Modest Step When What Is Needed Is a Giant Leap

Monday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 10.16.23

2021-2022 California Environmental Legislation: What’s Been Enacted?

Even at a 40-percent Electric Fleet, USPS is Missing the Mailbox

Friday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 4.12.24

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief in Support of New GHG Vehicle Emissions Standards

Much Ado About Not Much: West Virginia v. EPA

U.S. Senate Hearing: Energy, Environmental Impacts Of Cryptocurrency Mining In Pennsylvania

PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - August 12

Environmental Groups Appeal Air Permit Extension For Proposed Liquefied Natural Gas Plant In Bradford County That Would Emit 1 Million Tons Of Greenhouse Gases A Year

House Environmental Committee Sets May 1 Hearing On Cryptocurrency And Climate Change

Lessons Learned from Philadelphia Refinery Closure

Natural Gas Industry, Senate Republicans Launch Effort To Unleash The Industry, Reduce Regulation, Call For Automatic Approval Of Permits, Limit Public Comments

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