EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
Cleaner Air From Tackling Climate Change 'Would Save Millions of Lives'
Guardian, 09/24/2013"Tackling climate change would save millions of lives a year by the end of the century purely as a result of the decrease in air pollution, according to a new study."
"The study is published as scientists from around the globe gather in Stockholm to thrash out final details of a landmark assessment of climate science. Their final report is due to be released on Friday 27 September and will set out projections of wide-ranging impacts of global warming from droughts to floods to sea-level rise.
"Gas Leaks in Fracking Disputed in Study"
NY Times, 09/17/2013"Drilling for shale gas through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, appears to cause smaller leaks of the greenhouse gas methane than the federal government had estimated, and considerably smaller than some critics of shale gas had feared, according to a peer-reviewed study released on Monday."
"Air Board Has Allies in Diesel Pollution Crackdown: Truckers"
LA Times, 09/16/2013"Truckers want tougher enforcement and point to competitors who violate state rules to install filters or upgrade to cleaner engines."
"'Rivers On Rolaids': How Acid Rain Is Changing Waterways"
NPR, 09/13/2013"Something peculiar is happening to rivers and streams in large parts of the United States — the water's chemistry is changing. Scientists have found dozens of waterways that are becoming more alkaline. Alkaline is the opposite of acidic — think baking soda or Rolaids."
EPA To Revise Climate Rule for New Power Plants, Require Carbon Capture
Wash Post, 09/12/2013"This month, the Environmental Protection Agency will propose standards that will establish stricter pollution limits for gas-fired power plants than coal-fired power plants, according to individuals who were briefed on the matter but asked not to be identified because the rule was not public yet."
"House GOP Demands Harvard Study Data"
Boston Globe, 09/10/2013"WASHINGTON -- House Republicans scouring for evidence of overreaching environmental regulations are taking aim at a two-decade-old, taxpayer-funded scientific study by Harvard researchers that linked air pollution to disease and death."
"Exhaust, Diesel Fumes Foul Public Schoolyards Across Washington State"
InvestigateWest, 09/06/2013"More than half a century has elapsed since the Seattle School Board — with nary a raised eyebrow, records indicate — voted to allow one of the nation's biggest and busiest highways to be built cheek-by-jowl with John Marshall Junior High, trading away the school's playground for a larger plot of land nearby."
"Arsenic Emissions From Vernon Firm Exide Pose 'Chronic Hazard'"
LA Times, 09/06/2013"Emissions from battery recycler Exide pose a 'chronic hazard' to more than 250,000 people in surrounding areas, air district officials say. Risks include neurological changes in children."
"World Bank Targets Air Pollution in Climate Battle"
Reuters, 09/05/2013"The World Bank said on Tuesday it was planning 'aggressive action' to help developing nations cut emissions of soot and other air pollutants blamed for causing climate change, in a shift also meant to protect human health and aid crop growth."
"Air Pollution Blamed for 200,000 Early U.S. Deaths Each Year"
ENS, 09/05/2013"CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Polluted air causes roughly 200,000 early deaths each year across the United States, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conclude after tracking emissions from industrial smokestacks, vehicle tailpipes, marine and rail transport, and commercial and residential heating."
"Carnival, EPA Reach Pact To Curb Cruise Ship Air Pollution"
Baltimore Sun, 09/05/2013"Federal regulators have reached a tentative deal with Carnival Corp. on a plan to reduce air pollution from nearly a third of its cruise ships, but the accord comes too late to reverse at least a temporary loss of lucrative cruise business for Baltimore."
Connecticut Takes on Wood Furnaces
Danbury News Times, 09/03/2013"For years, the advocacy group Environment and Human Health Inc. has led the battle against outdoor wood furnaces, claiming their smoke is bad to breathe. Now it has an ally -- Attorney General George Jepsen."
"Pollution, Not Rising Temperatures, May Have Melted Alpine Glaciers"
NPR, 09/03/2013"Glaciers in the Alps of Europe pose a scientific mystery. They started melting rapidly back in the 1860s. In a span of about 50 years, some of the biggest glaciers had retreated more than half a mile."
"Study: Air Pollution Causes 200,000 Early Deaths in US"
VOA, 08/30/2013"Air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year in the United States, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)."
"OSHA Proposes To Halve Silica Dust Exposure Limit"
Charleston Gazette, 08/26/2013"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Obama administration officials on Friday proposed to update the federal government's 42-year-old exposure limits for silica dust, a move the Labor Department said would prevent 700 deaths and 1,600 new cases of silicosis every year. The proposal would provide new protections for 2.2 million American workers, cutting in half the legal limit for dust exposure on the job."

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