The U.S. government has a specialized plane loaded with advanced sensors that officials brag is always ready to deploy within an hour of any kind of chemical disaster. But the plane didn’t fly over eastern Ohio until four days after the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment there last year. A whistleblower told The Associated Press that … Read more
MADISON, Wis. — Republicans said Monday that the state Senate would vote to override up to 36 of the governor’s vetoes, including a bill to fight PFAS pollution — moves that Democrats derided as desperate election year stunts. At the same time, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers countersued the Republican-controlled Legislature in a fight over the … Read more
JAKARTA, Indonesia — JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Fans of Korean pop bands around the world are increasingly channeling their millions-strong online community into climate and environmental activism, protesting business deals linked to coal power, urging K-pop entertainers to cut waste and raising awareness about climate-related issues. Other climate activist groups have begun joining forces with … Read more
MADISON, Wis. — Smoke from Canadian wildfires has prompted health warnings across the upper Midwest for the second straight year. Fires raging in British Columbia and Alberta sent the haze over parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday, lingering into Monday morning. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued its first air quality … Read more
South and Southeast Asian countries have been coping with a weekslong heat wave rendering record high temperatures that have posed a severe health risk. Umbrellas to shield against blazing sunlight are popular, air-conditioned malls are serving as urban oases, and schools in Cambodia have been cutting back their hours. In the Philippines, India and Bangladesh, … Read more
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it has finalized a ban on consumer uses of methylene chloride, a chemical that is widely used as a paint stripper but is known to cause liver cancer and other health problems. The EPA said its action will protect Americans from health risks while allowing certain commercial … Read more
WASHINGTON — Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency. New limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration’s most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector, the nation’s … Read more
PARIS — Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was confident water quality in the River Seine will be up to Olympic standards this summer — and that she’ll be able to prove it by swimming there, possibly alongside President Emmanuel Macron. The Seine is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games and the swimming … Read more
When I was a kid, I used to help my mother clear leaves the old-fashioned way — with a rake. These days, I don’t see many rakes in my neighborhood. It seems everyone has a leaf blower or a landscaper who uses one, often at ungodly hours, which disrupts humans as well as wildlife. The … Read more
WASHINGTON — Forget about red hot. A new color-coded heat warning system relies on magenta to alert Americans to the most dangerous conditions they may see this summer. The National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday — Earth Day — presented a new online heat risk system that combines … Read more
