BEIJING (AP) — China’s government says in a report that nearly one-fifth of the country’s farmland is polluted, mostly from yearslong accumulations of toxins from factories, mining and agriculture. The report raises sharp concerns about the country’s food safety after years of unbridled industrialization. Results of a nationwide survey of soil samples taken from 2005…
Toxic mercury pollution limits survive major court challenge
By Pamela Campos (This post was co-authored by Pamela Campos, Attorney, and Mandy Warner, Climate & Air Policy Specialist) Some environmental threats are hard to explain. Toxic mercury is not. A dangerous neurotoxin that threatens young children, developing babies, and others, almost everyone reacts viscerally at the idea of ingesting it. And the scientific evidence…
6 key insights from the latest IPCC climate report
By Ilissa Ocko (This post originally appeared on EDF Voices) Since 1990, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a series of reports that assess the latest data and research on climate change. The reports are issued approximately every five years. In September 2013, the IPCC issued its newest round of reports by sharing…
Energy Efficiency and Carbon Pollution Standards: Double Dividends for Climate and Consumers
By Tomas Carbonell The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has embarked on a vital effort — accompanied by extensive outreach to states, power companies, environmental organizations, and other stakeholders, including you — to establish the nation’s first limits on carbon pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. EPA was directed to take this critical step for…
Polluted Paris Forces Half Of The Cars Off The Road
Paris on Monday resorted to drastic measures to curb soaring pollution levels by forcing all cars with number plates ending in even numbers off the road for the first time in two decades. Around 700 police officers were deployed to man 60 checkpoints around the French capital to ensure that only cars with number plates…
Methane Pollution Coming From The US Is Far Worse Than Anyone Has Realized
A new landmark study in the journal Science found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) inventory of greenhouse gases is under counting total U.S. methane emissions by roughly 50 percent. Based on atmospheric sampling, the study estimates that this missing methane amounts to 14 terra grams (Tg) of methane; that’s equal to 6.4 billion pounds, or…
Panasonic Will Pay Their Employees In China Extra For Living With Pollution
Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said Thursday it would give employees sent to China a wage premium to compensate for the country’s hazardous air pollution, in a possible first for an international company. The move was part of a wider deal reached in Japan’s annual labour talks which saw major firms, including Panasonic and Toyota, agree…