TOP STORIES

NTAA is happy to announce that Moms Clean Air Force has joined the NTAA family as an Associate Member! NTAA has established a partnership with Moms Clean Air Force – a community of over 1,000,000 moms and dads united against air pollution—including the urgent crisis of our changing climate—to protect our children’s health. They fight for Justice in Every Breath, recognizing the importance of equitable solutions in addressing air pollution and climate change. In collaboration with Moms, NTAA published a joint fact sheet that provides a summary of the air pollution impacts on Indigenous people. You can view the fact sheet here and be sure to check out the Facebook Live event held on Thursday, April 15 that was recorded and posted on Moms’ YouTube channel.

You have one more week to register for the NTFAQ! May 17 – 21, 2021!

Our NTFAQ contractors (OpenWater) have updated the conference website. Please take a few minutes to check it out! 

Updates include:

1. 1. New webpages for:  Host Tribe, Keynote Speakers, TAMS Awards, NTAA Meeting.
   2. Addition of details for the Schedule of sessions.  For the breakout sessions all recorded presentations have been added, plus any handouts that have been provided to us.
   3. When you register for the NTFAQ, you can join the NTAA Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 20 at 12:30 pm PT when NTAA will be releasing the 2021 Status of Tribal Air Report. You can also learn how to join NTAA as a Member Tribe or Associate Member!
   4. Join leaders from the Moms Clean Air Force for a Meet and Greet on Wednesday, May 19^th at 3pm PT. Moms Clean Air Force is NTAA’s latest Associate Member so join them to learn what they do to advance air quality!

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

The Conversation – Wildfires are contaminating drinking water systems, and it’s more widespread than people realize

NM In Depth – Navajo-Gallup water delay spurs problem solving in arid Southwest

NPR – Emission Impossible

NPR – Environmental Concerns Arise Over Energy Needed To Mine Bitcoin

National Law Review – EPA Enforcement Policies Prioritize Environmental Justice and Embrace “NextGen” Compliance Tools

Indian Country Today – Federal legislation forthcoming stemming from McGirt

Indian Country Today – Some tribes will get more CARES Act money

Indian Country Today – Land exchange for Alaska Native veterans

The Hill – Farms’ air pollution contributes to almost 18K deaths in US annually: study

Wisconsin Examiner – State of the Tribes Address highlights racism and economic challenges, threats to Wisconsin’s environment

ABC News – 50 years ago, election ushered in new era for US tribes

KUER – Advocates for Tribal Water Access Are Asking Congress To Earmark Money For Projects On Native Land

High Country News – So you want to acknowledge the land?

National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update

Climate Change/Energy

Reuters – Global renewable energy grew at fastest pace in two decades in 2020 – IEA

The 19^th News – Deb Haaland on climate, energy and a new effort to address violence against Native Americans

The Guardian – The young people taking their countries to court over climate inaction

ProPublica – Clean Energy Loans Trapped Black Homeowners in Debt. The Legislature Just Stated Trying to Fix the Problem.

The Hill – Biden to restart environmental review of bird habitat Trump opened for mining

CNN – Biden administration approves first major offshore wind project in US waters

TIME – Fossil Fuels, Climate Change and India’s COVID-19 Crisis

Buzzfeed – Magic Mushrooms: This Scammer Is Twisting Science In A Scheme To Save The World

Indian Country Today – Michigan tribe banishes Enbridge Line 5 pipeline

Indian Country Today – Interior drops Arctic offshore drilling proposal

Toxics/Mobile Sources

NY Times – Cyberattack Forces a Shutdown of a Top U.S. Pipeline

The Hill – Feds eye more oversight of pipelines after Colonial attack

AP – EPA sets grants to restore ‘brownfields’ at blighted sites

The Guardian – Wyoming stands up for coal with threat to sue states that refuse to buy it

The Hill – Court ruling paves the way for Minnesota to adopt clean car standards

The Guardian – Electric cars ‘will be cheaper to produce than fossil fuel vehicles by 2027’

Indoor Air Quality

Better Homes and Gardens – Why cooking with a gas stove is bad for your health

Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins

TOP STORIES

In case you missed yesterday’s NTAA Informational Webinar for Tribes on TAS, NTAA’s Ryan Tsinigine hosted an informational webinar for Tribes to learn about TAS that included presentations by:

• • Pat Childers, EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation
  • Brandy Toft, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Indians
  • Dan Morey of the Monrongo Band of Mission Indians
  • You can view NTAA’s resources on TAS including a recording of the 96 minute webinar here.

U.S. EPA – EPA Announces $4.5 Million in Grants Available for Tribes to Replace Diesel Equipment and Reduce Harmful Emissions: For the first time under this competition, matching funds are not required.

The White House – A Proclamation on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, May 4, 2021

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

NPR – Senate Votes To Restore Regulations On Climate-Warming Methane Emissions

The Hill – EPA official directs agency to ramp up enforcement in communities hit hard by pollution

Axios – Study: Air pollution disproportionately kills Americans of color

Native News Online – Biden’s First 100 Days: Impact on Indian Country

National Law Review – EPA Will Finalize Rule Imposing Toxics Release Inventory Reporting Requirements on Natural Gas Processing Facilities

Indian Country Today – Interior sets new path through land maze

NBC – Texas enabled the worst carbon monoxide poisoning catastrophe in recent U.S. history

CNN – ‘The honeymoon is over’: Biden faces tougher tasks ahead as progressives demand more

Indian Country Today – Race, sovereignty clash as Congress meddles in tribal enrollment

U.S EPA Region 10 – Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians receive EPA approval to administer Clean Water Act programs on reservation and trust lands

EurekAlert! – Air pollution linked to high blood pressure in children; other studies address air quality and the heart

The Guardian – Air pollution spikes may impair older men’s thinking, study finds

Phys.org – Exposure to air pollution can influence investors’ decision making

National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update

Climate Change/Energy

NY Times – EPA to Sharply Limit Powerful Greenhouse Gases

Axios – NOAA unveils a warmer climate “normal” for the U.S.

Axios – Vast majority of existing coal plants are more costly than wind or solar plants

NY Times – Global Vaccine Crisis Sends Ominous Signal for Fighting Climate Change

Huffpost – How Arizona’s Attorney General Is Weaponizing Climate Fears To Keep Out Immigrants

Star Tribune – In Minnesota, fighting climate change means changing how to heat buildings

The Guardian – Climate crisis: our children face wars over food and water, EU deputy warns

Climate Home News – How youth climate court cases became a global trend

Reuters – Ice melts out at famous Alaska river betting site

Earther – Polar Bear-Grozzly Hybrids, Aka Pizzly Bears, May Be Growing More Common Due to Climate Crisis

Toxics/Mobile Sources

The Hill – Senate Democrats announce $73B clean bus plan

The Hill – Carper asks EPA to require half of new cars to be zero-emissions by 2030

NY Times – To Promote His Infrastructure Plan, Biden Revisits ‘Amtrak Joe’ Days

AP – Public transit hopes to win back riders after crushing year

Bloomberg – Plugging In: The EV Transition Gains Speed

E&E – Biden’s conundrum: Expand EVs without harming the Earth

Indoor Air Quality

CNBC – MIT researchers say time spent indoors increases risk of Covid at 6 feet or 60 feet in new study challenging social distancing policies

Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins