Air

"Tens of millions of Americans experienced at least a day last year shrouded in wildfire smoke. Entire cities were blanketed, in some cases for weeks, as unprecedented wildfires tore across the Western U.S., causing increases in hospitalizations for respiratory emergencies and concerns about people's longer-term health."

"An increasing number of states are looking to follow the precedent set by California and adopt stricter vehicle emissions standards as the Biden administration appears poised to green light those efforts."

"As oil companies go out of business, they are leaving a legacy of abandoned wells that leak huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere".

"The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed an appeals court’s rejection of a critical air emissions permit for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine and sent the case back for further proceedings."

"The largest U.S. oil refiners released tons of air pollutants into the skies over Texas this past week, according to figures provided to the state, as refineries and petrochemical plants in the region scrambled to shut production during frigid weather."

"Fifteen U.S. states sued the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Tuesday after it agreed last month under then-President Donald Trump to an auto industry request to delay the start of dramatically higher penalties for companies that fail to meet fuel efficiency requirements."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded three contracts for the clean-up of more than 50 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation, worth up to $220 million over the next five years."

"The Environmental Protection Agency asked courts on Friday to partially freeze a mandate that was issued when judges scrapped the Affordable Clean Energy rule last month."

"Scientists who detected the return of a long-banned pollutant say emissions resumed their prior decline after China cracked down on production of the chemical."