Air Pollution

Air Quality Slips After Decades of Progress
Southern California has long been leader in air quality management, but lately the news has not been good.

The Biggest Highway Boondoggles in the United States
Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG have released the fifth edition of its Highway Boondoggles report.

Vancouver Official Says Pollution and Housing Shouldn't Mix
A motion in Vancouver, British Columbia, calls for reconsidering policies that site multifamily buildings on busy trucking corridors where diesel emissions are high.

Asthma and Planning
Re-evaluating the role of planning in creating, and reversing, disturbing public health outcomes, like asthma rates among African-Americans in Philadelphia.

'State of the Air Report' Finds More Cities With Worsening Pollution
The American Ling Association released its "State of the Air" report last week, finding that ozone and short-term particle pollution worsened in many cities in 2015-2017, compared to 2014-2016.

Barcelona's Ambitious Plan to Become a Post-Car City
Barcelona is planning to expand on its initial superblock experiment in an attempt to ease the stranglehold of car congestion and air pollution gripping the dense city.

Polluting Cars Will Have to Pay to Drive Into London, Starting in April
London's 'Ultra Low Emission Zone' is taking effect in April. Here are the details on the ambitious clean air plans.

Crisis Response Afforded Aviation Fatalities But Neglected for Automobile Tragedies
The Globe and Mail editorial board points out the obvious hypocrisies of the global response to an aviation tragedy relative to the ongoing tragedies that occur every day as a result of the world's reliance on automobiles.

A New Look at Causes and Effects of Pollution, From Production to Consumption
Research shows racial disparities in exposure to air pollution as well as consumption of the goods and services that cause it.

Environmental Assessment for I-5 Improvement Project in Portland Promises Air, Traffic, Safety Benefits
The environmental assessment for the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project, released on February 15, 2019, promises to be controversial.

Deep Economic and Racial Injustice Found in California Pollution Exposure
A new study confirms the facts of environment justice that has long been common knowledge in affected communities. Now the evidence can be mapped, as well.

Study: Kids Do Worse in Schools Near Traffic
Moving to a school with higher levels of traffic pollution could impact students' academic performance, according to new research.

London Starts New Program to Track Air Quality
A network of monitoring devices will bring together technology and data analytics to help inform residents about air pollution.

California Orders All Electric Buses by 2040
Converting all the public transit buses in California would save reduce carbon emissions in the state by 1 million metric tons by 2040.

Free Transit for All in Luxembourg
Luxembourg will put their money where their mouth is when it comes to cleaning the environment and providing an alternative to congested car commutes.

Chicago's Low Income Neighborhoods Face Worst Pollution, Study Finds
A report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that Chicago's South and West sides face more air pollution than the wealthier parts of the city.

When Academic Research Goes Bad
A 'misconduct investigation' decided that an industry-funded study, used by the EPA as the basis to roll back a regulation limiting the number of old engines that could be used in new truck chassis (i.e., "glider trucks"), was inaccurate.

More Diesel Driving Bans Coming to German Cities
Germany's automotive industry and Chancellor Angela Merkel are increasingly worried about the economic effects of court-sanctioned diesel driving bans to improve air quality, as enacted in Hamburg last May. Four more cities are likely to enact bans.

Cleaning-Up the World's Dirtiest Fuel by 2020
A 2016 rule approved by a specialized agency of the U.N. is forcing large ships that burn bunker oil, the dirtiest type of fuel, to either burn a more costly low-sulfur variety, apply scrubbers, or turn to LNG.

Making Older Coal Power Plants More Efficient Without Making Them Cleaner
At the center of the EPA's newly proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule is doing away with a permitting process known as New Source Review that requires coal power plants to add scrubbers and other expensive pollution control equipment when upgraded.
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