air pollution News

More Americans Breathe Unhealthy Air Due to Wildfires, Extreme Heat

Around 156 million Americans, nearly half of the US population, now live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, part of a trend toward declining air quality as climate change-related extreme weather events like wildfires occur more frequently. That’s …

India Insurers Look to Hike Health Premiums as Pollution Stings

Indian insurers are considering making New Delhi residents pay 10% to 15% more for new health policies after an extraordinary spike in claims related to air pollution in 2024 in India’s capital, according to nine executives aware of the matter. …

Louisiana Community Protest Approval Process for Ammonia Plant

ELKINSVILLE, La. (AP) — A dispute over a planned ammonia plant near a historic Black town in southeastern Louisiana ratcheted up a notch with a challenge to the state’s approval process. The battle over the plant is occurring despite the …

How Texas Weakened Its Own Air Pollution Monitoring Team

When disaster affects the sprawling industrial complexes of Texas, the state’s environmental authority often posts pictures online of its white vans patrolling public streets, verifying the local air is safe to breathe. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality calls this …

Smoke Plume Over Houston Fades After TPC Restores Power

Texas chemical producer TPC Group Inc. has restored normal operations at its facility that spewed thick, black smoke into the Houston sky for almost four hours Monday. The plant, which makes chemicals used to manufacture tires, lost power during a …

Supreme Court Blocks EPA’s ‘Good Neighbor’ Air Pollution Plan

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked an Environmental Protection Agency regulation aimed at reducing ozone emissions that may worsen air pollution in neighboring states, handing a victory on Thursday to three Republican-led states and the steel and fossil-fuel industries that had …

World’s Workers Increasingly at Risk as Climate Changes: Int’l Labour Organization

More than 70% of the global workforce is exposed to risks linked to climate change that cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, the International Labour Organization said on Monday, adding governments would need to act as the numbers …

Ten Texas Counties Have Soot Levels Above EPA Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a long-anticipated rule aimed at reducing the level of air pollution known as particulate matter — microscopic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and harm people’s health. Reducing air pollution …

U.S. Steel Agrees to Spend Millions to Settle Suit Over Pollution Violations After 2018 Fire

U.S. Steel has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the Pittsburgh-based company of violating federal clean air laws by operating plants without its desulfurization controls for more than three months, emitting clouds of sulfurous gas into surrounding towns. The …

US Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to EPA’s ‘Good Neighbor’ Air Pollution Plan

The U.S. Supreme Court on late last month said it would hear a bid to block the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing a federal regulation aimed at reducing ozone emissions that may worsen air pollution in neighboring states. Acting on …