Two chemical industry groups are asking President Trump for a complete exemption to free their factories from new limits on hazardous air pollution. Under a new rule finalized by the Biden administration last year, chemical plants would soon be required to monitor and reduce emissions of toxic pollutants, like ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing ingredient used…
Last year, the Biden administration required coal- and oil-burning power plants to greatly reduce emissions of toxic chemicals including mercury, which can harm babies’ brains and cause heart disease in adults. Now, the Trump administration is offering companies an extraordinary out: Send an email, and they might be given permission by President Trump to bypass…
When the Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1970, its mission was to protect the environment and human health. Since then, scientists, health experts and advocates have worked to implement regulations aimed at protecting and cleaning the air we breathe and the water we drink. Many of these regulations, which were aimed at cleaning up…
What’s the air quality in New Delhi, Jakarta or Buenos Aires? Until Tuesday, the United States Embassy in those cities could have told you. But the Trump administration has effectively shut down a global air quality monitoring program, ending more than a decade of public data-collection and reporting from 80 embassies and consulates worldwide. The…
A new study from researchers in China found that air pollution increases dementia risk among cardiometabolic disease patients, but lifestyle changes can help. Cardiometabolic disease encompasses a wide range of conditions that increase the risk of cardiovascular issues such as heart disease and stroke along with metabolic disorders such as diabetes. The new research, summarized…
Recurrent is on a data-based mission to make buying used electric vehicles easier and more lucrative for sellers. The startup was co-founded by CEO Scott Case, who, after his previous clean tech company was acquired, asked himself, “What’s the best way for me to chip away at the emissions problem?” Case had a lightbulb moment…
Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China and economy stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Air pollution threat as lung cancer cases in never-smokers on the rise: study Despite drops in tobacco use worldwide, the incidence of lung cancer among people who…
At the height of the Los Angeles County wildfires, atmospheric concentrations of lead, a neurotoxin, reached 100 times average levels even miles from the flames, according to early detailed measurements obtained by The New York Times. Levels of chlorine, which is also toxic at low concentrations, reached 40 times the average. The spiking levels underscore…
They don’t sell this on Amazon Prime. A Reddit user shared a video of Jeff Bezos’ new Gulfstream G700 parked outside a Los Angeles airport. “That thing looks like it could reach low-level orbit,” marveled one commenter. The massive $80 million private jet is nearly 110 feet long and has a 103-foot wingspan. The advanced…
Hong Kong’s annual average of roadside nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter concentrations exceeded World Health Organization guidelines by up to 550 per cent last year despite a drop in the overall level of pollutants, a green group has found. Clean Air Network, an NGO, said on Friday the level of roadside emissions underscored the need…