Pollution & Health
Why won’t Arnold back smog checks for motorcycles?
This is a law blog, so call this post Easy Rider v. Planet Saver. The California legislature is considering a bill (SB 435, sponsored by Sen. Fran Pavley of the clean-car “Pavley Regs” fame) requiring motorcyles to undergo bienniel smog checks, just like cars and trucks do. The bill would take aim at a significant remaining source …
Continue reading “Why won’t Arnold back smog checks for motorcycles?”
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Air Pollution–We’re Number One!
California officials and residents take justifiable pride in the state’s continued leadership when it comes to controlling greenhouse gas emissions. But a recent report by the American Lung Association demonstrates that California still has a long, long way to go in addressing conventional air pollutants–especially in Southern California. According to the American Lung Association’s just-issued …
Continue reading “California Air Pollution–We’re Number One!”
CONTINUE READINGDon’t breathe the air
For 186 million Americans, that’s the message of the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2009 report. That’s how many Americans live in areas with unhealthful levels of ozone or particulate air pollution. The ozone problem is much worse than the Association reported last year, primarily because EPA has tightened the ozone standard. But …
Continue reading “Don’t breathe the air”
CONTINUE READINGNew life for new source review
The Obama Administration is beyond its 100th day, but still busy on the environmental front undoing the work of its predecessor. One thing that means at EPA is breathing life back into the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review program, which the Bush Administration had been busily trying to write out of existence. In the …
Continue reading “New life for new source review”
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard–& a Paean to Applied Scholarship
Jonathan Zasloff has previously written about the California Air Resources Board’s pioneering decision last week to mandate carbon-based reductions in state transportation fuels. These regulations, known as California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), are the first of their kind in the United States. More importantly, the LCFS is an integral part of CARB’s ambitious plan …
Continue reading “California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard–& a Paean to Applied Scholarship”
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Adopts Low-Carbon Fuel Standard
Good. The California Air Resources Board has adopted the nation’s first mandate to lower the carbon in fuel. As these things go, it’s pretty mild: a 10% reduction in carbon footprint by 2020. That hasn’t stopped the oil industry from complaining, of course, stating that CARB is “moving too fast.” When will it not be …
Continue reading “California Adopts Low-Carbon Fuel Standard”
CONTINUE READINGMore on the endangerment finding
As Dan mentioned earlier, EPA today issued its proposed finding that emissions of six greenhouse gases, taken together, endanger public health and welfare, and that emissions of four of these gases from cars contribute to the problem. The proposal rests on a robust interpretation of EPA’s authority to find endangerment, supported by a detailed and …
Continue reading “More on the endangerment finding”
CONTINUE READINGLow-hanging carbon
I’m looking forward to hearing Scripps climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan speak at an event next week in Los Angeles, and I hope he’ll talk about black carbon, which many are calling the low-hanging fruit of the climate change problem. Black carbon is the fine black soot that’s generated by carbon combustion, these days mostly from traditional cookstoves and …
Continue reading “Low-hanging carbon”
CONTINUE READINGCleaning Up the Bush EPA’s Dry Cleaning Rule
The Washington Post reported that EPA “is reconsidering whether to compel dry cleaners to phase out a cancer-causing chemical used in tens of thousands of operations nationwide.” In 2006, the Bush Administration issued an air toxics rule for professional dry cleaners using perchloroethylene in which it tightened technology requirements, but refused to phase out use …
Continue reading “Cleaning Up the Bush EPA’s Dry Cleaning Rule”
CONTINUE READINGEndangerment finding reportedly in the works
The New York Times and Washington Post are reporting that EPA has sent a finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare to the Office of Management and Budget for review. If OMB approves, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson can sign and officially issue the finding. That would be the first step toward regulating …
Continue reading “Endangerment finding reportedly in the works”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
