WEEKLY UPDATE (PDF): Week of April 19 – 23, 2021
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PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD: Week of April 12 – 16, 2021
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD
Between 2.5 and 6 million Indigenous people live in the United States, where generations of systemic abuses have often led to chronic poverty, poor health care, substandard housing, and inadequate protection from sources of pollution. Air pollution causes or exacerbates almost all of the major health disparities experienced by Indigenous people, making it especially urgent to improve air quality on tribal lands.
This Thursday, April 15 at 6PM ET, #Indigenous leaders from Moms Clean Air Force and the National Tribal Air Association will gather on Facebook Live for a special round table discussion about how air pollution and #ClimateChange impact Indigenous communities and what what we can do to ensure #JusticeInEveryBreath.
WATCH LIVE HERE! on Thursday, April 15 @6pm ET!
TOP STORIES/HEADLINES: Week of April 12 – 16, 2021
TOP STORIES
Join representatives from NTAA and Moms Clean Air Force as they announce the publication of a joint fact sheet and discuss the new partnership between NTAA and Moms Clean Air Force. The fact sheet provides a summary of the air pollution impacts on Indigenous people. You can view the new fact sheet here and be sure to check out the Facebook Live event to be held on Thursday, April 15 at 6pm ET here. The live event will be recorded and posted on Moms’ YouTube channel and on NTAA’s website for viewing after the 15th.
Registration for the 2021 National Tribal Forum on Air Quality (NTFAQ) is now open and FREE! Click here to register for the 2021 NTFAQ that will take place LIVE remotely on a virtual platform May 17-21, 2021. The 2021 NTFAQ is hosted by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Click here to learn more!
Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes
Reuters – Biden budget’s $14 billion hike for climate includes big boosts for EPA, science
E&E News – 6 questions, answers about Biden’s spending plan
NPR – EPA Chief Says Biden Infrastructure Bill Will Help The U.S. Face Climate Change
Reuters – Biden admin’s methane emission curbs to exceed Obama’s: EPA chief
The Guardian – Airborne plastic pollution ‘spiraling around the globe’, study finds
The Guardian – Exclusive: EPA reverses Trump stance in push to tackle environmental racism
AP – Judge orders delay amid debate over Dakota Access pipeline
Native News Online – LaDonna Tamakawastewin Allard, Leader of Standing Rock’s Fight Against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Passes on
“Two years ago, when Dakota Access first came, I looked at the pipeline map and knew that my entire world was in danger,” she wrote in YES! Magazine. “If we allow this pipeline, we will lose everything. We are the river, and the river is us. We have no choice but to stand up.”
High Country News – Can a wildlife refuge help a community’s fight for environmental justice?
WGNTV – ‘We just want to breathe’: Little Village protest marks anniversary of botched coal plant demolition
The Hill – Haaland return sets up Biden decision on Utah national monuments shrunk by Trump
Bloomberg Law – Scientists Fear Trump Wood-Burn Stance to Stay Under Regan EPA
The Atlantic – Return the National Parks to the Tribes
National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update
Climate Change/Energy
Energy News Network – Black, Latinx families bear the energy burden in Milwaukee, study finds
High Country News – Tribal nations adapt to being at ‘ground zero’ of the climate crisis
Grist – Cascadia’s communities of color speak out against climate injustice
Grist – House hunters are fleeing climate change, causing a new kind of gentrification
Environmental Health News – Racism, inequities move to the center of the climate debate
NPR – Energy Policy Researcher Says Biden’s Jobs Plan Tackles Climate Change
Gizmodo – California Could Require Uber and Lyft to Go Electric by 2030
U.S. Department of Energy – DOE Announces $35 Million for Technologies to Reduce Methane Emissions
The Washington Post – Drought-plagued California and western U.S. may see another devastating fire season
The Guardian – Meet Arizona’s water one-percenters
Toxics/Mobile Sources
The Washington Post – South Korean battery makers reach last-minute settlement
Gizmodo – Big Oil Fed State Educators Stats Used to Push Back on Biden’s Climate Goals
Reuters – Biden admin’s methane emission curbs to exceed Obama’s: EPA chief
NPR – Betting Big on Electric Vehicles, Biden Faces Fraught Decision on Ga. Battery Plant
Indoor Air Quality
U.S. EPA Region 10 – EPA and Tribal Healthy Homes Network are hosting a 3-part webinar series on Tribal Innovations & Success Stories in Healthy Homes Outreach. Click here to register.
Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD: Week of April 5 – 9, 2021
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD
Washington Post – Carbon dioxide spikes to critical record, halfway to doubling preindustrial levels
TOP STORIES/HEADLINES: Week of April 5 – 9, 2021
TOP STORIES
High Country News – As the country reckons with race, will tribal nations lead the way?
Indian Country Today – Fond du Lac Band wins halt to copper mine
The Oklahoman – Tribes deliver big economic lift to Oklahoma communities
Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes
HCN – The ‘slow-motion genocide’ of the Chinook Indian Nation
Al Jazeera – This river in Canada is now a ‘legal person’
U.S. DOI – Interior Invests $1.6 Billion to Improve Infrastructure on Public Lands and Tribal Schools
Wildfire Today – Red Flag Warnings in seven Great Plains states, April 2, 2021
The Hill – Court tosses Trump rule limiting emissions regulations
The Hill – Targeting federal spending to help EPA promote environmental justice
The Hill – Groups petition EPA to remove ethane and methane from list of compounds exempt from emissions limits
The Norman Transcript – Euchee tribe struggling to become federally recognized as its own tribe
National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update
Climate Change/Energy
Rolling Stone – Nothing’s Off the Table: Gina McCarthy Has Big Plans for the Climate Fight
E&E News – Gina McCarthy: Clean energy standard to include nuclear, CCS
NPR – ‘Green New Deal’ Leaders See Biden Climate Plans As A Vistory, Kind Of
The Hill – Biden clean electricity standard faces high hurdles
Inside Climate News – Big Meat and Dairy Companies Have Spent Millions Lobbying Against Climate Action, a New Study Finds
NY Times – Floods and Mudslides in Eastern Indonesia Leave at Least 41 Dead
Climate Signals – Climate Change & Drought
NPR – Your Weather Forecast Update: Warmer Climate Will Be The New ‘Normal’
EurekAlert – COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgent global need to control air pollution
Toxics/Mobile Sources
The Hill – EPA to propose vehicle emissions standards to meet ‘the urgency of the climate crisis’ by July’s end
Grist – Fighting pipelines to the last mile
Washington Post – Biden’s plan to rev up the electric car market is complicated by battery supplies
NY Times – America Has Long Favored Cars Over Trains and Buses. Can Biden Change That?
Eather – How to Ensure Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Is Accessible to Everyone
Climate Nexus – Why activists distrust this plan to cut emissions from cars and trucks
AP – Leak at wastewater pond prompts evacuations in Florida
Indoor Air Quality
Alaska Public Media – CARES Act flooded Alaska tribes with cash for pandemic programs. Now they’re bracing for a bigger deluge.
Minnesota Star Tribune – Historic investment a lifeline for Minnesota tribes devastated by COVID
Cronkite News – How Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe has kept COVID-19 out of its community
Dwell – Spring Clean Your Indoor Air Quality
All Work Space – Return to the Office: Why IAQ Should be the Top Priority
Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins