By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — For 25 years since I was first hired by newspapers to cover the environment as a news beat activists have begged, pleaded and prodded the federal government to pass and enforce laws and regulations to force polluting industries to do more to protect public health. Progress had been…
Environmental Justice
Biden Administration Announces Tough Auto-Emissions Standards to Combat Climate Change and Promote Electric Vehicles
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The stakes could not be higher for the future of the United States and humanity. There is a consensus based on an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence that continuing to burn fossil fuels for energy and transportation will doom the next generation of humans to living through a…
Biden Administration Releases $1 Billion for Work at 100 Superfund Sites
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In sharp contrast to the policies of the previous administration, the Biden administration is going all out to combat pollution of the natural environment. As part of this renewed effort and with funds provided by the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November, 2021, the Environmental…
New National Climate Assessment Documents Far-Reaching Perils of Global Warming
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Massive changes in the climate due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation is deadly and expensive, but some of the most extreme impacts could be prevented if there was the political will to take on the challenges, according to the new…
PEPCO to Pay More than $57 Million for Polluting the Anacostia River
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of the largest and most significant corporate pollution settlements in the history of electric power and the law, Potomac Electric Power has agreed to pay more than $57 million to help mitigate contamination of the Anacostia River from its power plants. We just received the press…
Biden Administration Shoots for the Moon on Regulating Pollution from Power Plants
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Defying critics and in an effort to bring the United States back to its leadership role on the world stage in fighting climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy, the Biden administration announced major new regulations to limit greenhouse pollution from…
Biden Administration Proposes Tough New Pollution Standards for Cars and Trucks
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration announced the most ambitious federal vehicle emissions standards ever on Wednesday that will accelerate the ongoing transition to a clean vehicles future by requiring that two-thirds of new passenger cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the United States are all-electric by 2032.…
Biden Administration Proposes Stronger Mercury and Air Toxic Standards for Power Plants
New standards would reduce hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants, further protect public health and advance environmental justice – Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration released a set of proposed new pollution standards on Wednesday to update the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for coal-fired power plants, advancing tougher requirements to…
Biden Administration Announces $250 Million in Spending to Tackle Climate Pollution
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration announced Wednesday it is making $250 million available to develop innovative strategies to cut climate pollution and build clean energy economies. The money will distributed in the form of planning grants through the Environmental Protection Agency, and the funding will go to states, local governments, Tribes,…
Biden Administration Announces Details of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration announced guidelines for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program this week created under the Inflation Reduction Act, which will dole out $27 billion in federal spending over the next few years to mobilize billions more in private capital to reduce pollution and improve public health, lower…
EPA to Accelerate Lead Pipe Replacement and Protect Underserved Communities
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden administration announced a major national initiative on Friday to begin work to replace lead pipes across the country using funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is still trying to recover from being gutted and corrupted by the Trump administration, will lead…
Biden Administration Launches Efforts to Fight Wildfire Crisis
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — To reduce the threat of wildfires in the American West, the Biden administration announced new spending measures this week through the Department of Agriculture to improve forest health and reduce fuel for fires by the U.S. Forest Service. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced expanded efforts to reduce wildfire risk…
Biden Administration Announces Tough New Pollution Standards for Trucks
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden Administration announced the strongest-ever national clean air standards to cut emissions from trucks, vans and buses beginning with model year 2027, the first update to clean air standards for trucks in more than 20 years. According to the announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency, the new standards…
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Conserve Ecosystems, Clean Up Legacy Pollution Sites Across the Country
About $10 million committed to 17 project sites – Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — New federal spending of $10 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will go to fund 17 projects to address legacy pollution and conserve ecosystems around the country, according to an announcement on Wednesday from the Department of the Interior,…
Biden Administration Launches New National EPA Office to Advance Environmental Justice
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – With less than six weeks to go before the critical midterm elections, the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have announced the establishment of a new national office charged with advancing environmental justice and civil rights to deliver on President Biden’s commitment to elevate these critical issues to…
Biden Administration Launches Major Funding Effort to Create More Outdoor Recreation Opportunities Across America
The FICOR Program Will Also Help Prepare the Country for the Worst Impacts of Climate Change – By Glynn Wilson – ANALYSIS – If you are a long-time nature lover who understands the environmental, biological, economic, psychological and sociological needs to protect and expand green spaces across the country, or a new convert who discovered…
Biden Administration Announces New Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards to Require 49 MPG by 2026
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Spurred on by high gas prices and increasing evidence of climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for transportation as well as energy, the Biden Administration moved quickly and aggressively to reverse Trump administration rollbacks in new car fuel economy standards and announced much…
Deep Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Required or Humanity Faces Hellish Future
Staff Report – BERLIN (Feb 28, 2022) – Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks, scientists say in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, and people and ecosystems least able to cope…
Biden Administration’s EPA Announces ‘Bold Actions’ to Protect Poor, Minority Communities in the South from Pollution
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following through on his commitment to action during his Journey to Justice Tour, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan announced the first in a series of actions on Wednesday responding directly to concerns of communities historically and disproportionately impacted by pollution in the South, including “Cancer Alley”…
How America’s Complicated History With Toxic Exposure and Environmental Racism is Impacting Vulnerable Communities
Guest Column – By Jonathan Sharp – Environmental racism is a kind of racial inequality prevalent in the United States of America and around the world. Environmentally toxic plants, dumping grounds and similar sites are often located in low-income areas populated by people of color. Exposure to materials in and around these sites often lead…