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

Quartz – The air you breathe: Indoor air plays a surprisingly large role in human health, even when there isn’t a pandemic.

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

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