WEEKLY UPDATE (PDF): Week of May 3 – 7, 2021
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Reload document 
Open in new tab 
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD: Week of April 26 – 30, 2021
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD
Registration is free by clicking here!
Indian Country Today – White House convened first Native affairs meeting
TOP STORIES/HEADLINES: Week of April 26 – 30, 2021
TOP STORIES
@AirNow is Celebrating Air Quality Awareness Week, May 3 – 7, 2021!
We are pleased to offer an Air Quality Awareness Week Social Media Challenge. This exciting challenge encourages people to do things like explore air quality tools online and to get outside and post a photo or video with a caption, ‘Enjoying clean air!’” and “Show us an image of you doing your favorite outdoor activity.” We’re using the hashtag #AQAW2021 Thank you for supporting this celebration each year. This year’s theme is, “Healthy Air – Important for Everyone!” We’ll be supporting that theme with daily topics:
- May 3 – Wildfires and Smoke
- May 4 – Asthma and Your Health
- May 5 – Citizen Science and Air Sensors
- May 6 – Environmental Justice and Air Quality
- May 7 – Air Quality Around the World
The AQAW 2021 website will go live on Monday, May 3rd – www.airnow.gov/aqaw
Politico – What Regan wants: Inside Michael Regan’s Mind
The Hill – Senate confirms Janet McCabe as deputy EPA chief
Reuters – EXCLUSIVE White House backs 2030 milestone on path to net zero grid
Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes
The Results Are In – Census Bureau Announces 2020 Apportionment Counts
Axios – Interior to restore tribal lands and management in rollback of Trump-era actions
AP – Democrats move to reinstate methane rules loosened by Trump
Cronkite News – Tribal officials outline infrastructure gap ‘big as the Grand Canyon’
Indian Country Today – Alaska legislators consider state recognition of tribes
Seattle Times – Washington Legislature approves caps on carbon pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, giving big win to Inslee, environmentalists
Nature Communications – Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California
National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update
Climate Change/Energy
NY Times – Halting the Vast Release of Methane Is Critical for Climate, U.N. Says
Reuters – Biden administration offers $8.25 billion in loans for power grid
Grist – AOC’s plan for a 1.5 million-strong Civilian Climate Corps explained
TeenVogue – Climate Change in Florida Is Forcing a Response From Republican Politicians
E&E – Interior to study massive solar project on Nev. Tribal land
The Guardian – ‘Insanely cheap energy’: how solar power continues to shock the world
The Washington Post – Biden closes landmark summit with a message: Climate action equals jobs
The Washington Post – The Technology 202: Researchers warn misinformation on Facebook threatens to undermine Biden’s climate agenda
Washington Examiner – Nickelodeon airs Earth Day segment teaching children about ‘environmental racism’
Toxics/Mobile Sources
Washington Post – EPA moves to give California right to set climate limits on cars, SUVs
U.S. EPA – EPA Administrator Regan Establishes New Council on PFAS
LA Times – Newson bans new California fracking permits starting in 2024
Wall Street Journal – Why New Induction Cooktops Are Safer and Faster Than Gas or Electric
USA Today – Honda to phase out gas cars, aiming for 100% electric vehicles in North America by 2040
Reuters – Supreme Court seeks U.S. government views on VW emissions case
Indoor Air Quality
Climate Control News – Reset IAQ standards
Contracting Business – Fredrich introduces IAQ solutions to combat pathogen and pollutant threats
WTVD-TV – IAQ could be one of the pandemic-inspired changes that sticks around long after COVID-19 is gone
FacilitiesNet – How to Improve IAQ With Effective Air Filtration
Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD: Week of April 19 – 23, 2021
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD
Vox – Climate change is making your allergies worse
The trend is real: Allergy risk is getting worse over time. The length and intensity of pollen seasons are growing, largely due to climate change. And as the planet continues to warm, more misery is in store.
2021 is poised to be yet another brutal year for people with allergies. Angelika Warmuth/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
TOP STORIES/HEADLINES: Week of April 19 – 23, 2021
TOP STORIES
- NEW! NTAA is hosting a free informational webinar for Tribes with a panel discussion on Treatment as a State (TAS) under the Clean Air Act’s Tribal Authority Rule on Thursday, May 4, 2021 at 1 pm ET. The panel includes EPA representatives that will speak about TAS and Tribal representatives will speak to TAS’s benefits and what aspects of TAS have worked for their Tribe. You can click here to register for the 1 ½ hour webinar. To learn more about TAS, visit NTAA’s TAS webpage or contact NTAA’s Ryan Tsinigine.
- If you missed last week’s Indigenous People and Air Pollution in the U.S. Round Table Discussion with Moms Clean Air Force, you can watch it here! The Fact Sheet is also available for download and available at both Moms and NTAA’s websites.
- Registration is now open for the National Tribal Forum on Air Quality, May 17-21st, 2021! Register Here for FREE! We want to especially thank the Muscogee Creek Nation for their partnership and assistance. This year’s conference theme is 50 years of the Clean Air Act and How Traditional Wisdom Can Lead Us Into the Future. Throughout our conference we will be weaving in the voices of Native youth and elders – a reminder to us all the importance of the work we do. The tapestry of tribal air quality programs is rich and diverse, much like the traditions and languages of Native American Tribes and Alaskan Native Villages. For questions or technical difficulties during the conference, our NTFAQ team is standing by to help. Please email us at NTFAQ@nau.edu for assistance.
- NEW! EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act’s Tribal Grants for FY21 Request for Applications are coming soon! More information can be found on this flyer and on this website.
American Lung Association – ALA Releases 2021 State of the Air Report
Fortune – Biden readying pledge to cut 2030 greenhouse gas emissions by half
Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes
Science Alert – Microplastics Are Now Spiraling Around The Globe in The Air We Breathe
Greenwire – EPA brings equity agenda to struggling sewage systems
Cronkite News – How Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe has kept COVID-19 out of its community
Native News Online – Minn. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan Tweets Minnesota is “A Place Where It Is Not Safe to be Black”
The Verge – The Environmental Protection Agency is Cleaning up its Image
Indian Country Today – High court seems ready to send funds to Alaska Natives
Indian Country Today – Score one for wild rice: The EPA directs Minnesota to consider wild rice when listing impaired waters
National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update
Climate Change/Energy
EPA – EPA Publishes 28th Annual U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory
NY Times – Biden Is Pushing a Climate Agenda. Gina McCarthy Has to Make It Stick.
Navajo Times – Grassroots effort provides solar power to 12 off-grid HPL homes
Cronkite News – Superior mayor, tribal officials spar over bill to stop Oak Flat mine
Reuters – Exclusive: India may build new coal plants due to low cost despite climate change
Gizmodo – A Just Transition In Appalachia May Start With Plugging Old Oil Wells
NY Times – Haaland revokes a dozen Trump-era orders on fossil fuels and prioritizes climate change
CBS News – Biden’s climate duo of Kerry and McCarthy puts U.S. back in global warming fight
The Hill – Treasury creates hub to fight climate change through finance
Grist – Goodbye, old freeways? How subtraction could address climate change
Toxics/Mobile Sources
Cronkite News – Buttigieg: Indian Country investment a priority of infrastructure plan
Washington Post – Trump administration sidelined experts in writing car pollution rules, EPA watchdog finds
Minneapolis Star Tribune – 2 Italian managers indicted in Fiat Chrysler emissions probe
Transport Topics – EPA Provides Updates on Emissions Standards, SmartWay Activities
AP – Size of pipeline spill again underestimated in N. Carolina
Bloomberg – Gas Is the New Coal With Risk of $100 Billion in Stranded Assets
LA Times – My friend was killed riding a bike. He wanted cities built for people, not cars
Indoor Air Quality
The Denver Channel – Amid Pandemic, Workplace Air Quality Standards ‘All Over The Place’
MIT News – A method to assess Covid-19 transmission risks in indoor settings
Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins