Climate Health

Critical List: Thousands protest Keystone XL; Mongolia shovels coal into China

An estimated 10,000 Keystone XL protesters circled the White House this weekend, as the White House edged towards a decision on the pipeline. The ring of protesters was stacked five people deep. Green groups are threatening the Obama administration with political repercussions if the pipeline goes forward. If environmentalists withhold their support, it could have […]

Pipeline protesters encircle the White House

An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 protesters converged on the nation’s capitol Sunday to press President Obama to block construction of the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport tar-sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.  The rally, which culminated in a human ring encircling the White House, was a sequel to […]

Fact check: Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline will not create jobs

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. Proponents of the dangerous Keystone XL project claim that construction of the 1,700-mile tar-sands pipeline from Canada to Texas will create tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of much-needed jobs across the country. “Jobs for the 99%!” proclaims a website funded by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The Wall […]

American Idol contestants suddenly AGAINST plastic now

Okay, I don't know who this person is. Her teeth are very white and I think she's 13? But evidently she was on American Idol, and she and her other white-teethed glee club buddies from American Idol season 10 (!!!) are taking up arms against plastic. I was pretty sure American Idol contestants were kind […]

Kids in polluted cities show cognitive deficits

In New York City, for all its wonders, it's not uncommon still to hear the childless pronounce that they "could never imagine raising kids in the city." Turns out they might have a good reason for that. Although kids who grow up in cities have a certain worldliness about them, raising urban kids does have […]

Pollution is not the secret to job creation

Economic analysis shows that contrary to GOP hype, environmental regulation does not lead to significant job loss.

Colbert v. Browner: Former chief defends the EPA against truthiness

In an interview with former EPA Administrator Carol Browner, Stephen Colbert came out swinging at the EPA with lines straight out of the GOP playbook.

Get the lead out: Clean air tied to decline in violent crime

Research ties the decades-long drop in violent crime to reduced urban lead poisoning.

Critical List: Judge rules on polar bears’ status; Cain’s wrong on wind and solar

A new ruling on the polar bear's status as a threatened species gives the Obama administration the power to decide the species' fate.

Amtrak carried more passengers last year than ever before.

The E.U. is wondering whether it should just give up its GHG reduction plans since no one else in the world seems be doing their part to decrease emissions.

The EPA doesn’t regulate farm dust, it regulates air pollution

One cardinal rule of American politics is "Thou shalt not piss off the farmers." (Remember how farms were going to get a free pass on cap-and-trade?) Conveniently for Republicans, earlier this year, air monitors in Arizona found high levels of particulate matter in the air, and the EPA traced it to farms and had to work with farmers to minimize the amount of dust their work was creating.

Now, Arizona is very, very dusty place, and particulate matter is a hazard to air quality. But for what a reasonable person can only assume were political reasons, Republicans started claiming that the EPA was going to start imposing "farm dust" regulations on Midwestern farms, and now they are trying to get Congress to vote against "farm dust" regulations.

Of course, these "farm dust regulations" don't govern farms or dust in particular.