Previous Pollution News 2021
Beyond reusing and recycling: How the US could actually reduce plastic production 12-13-21
Whether it’s a cap on production or a market mechanism, it’s likely to meet industry opposition. Read more
Report: Plastic is on track to become a bigger climate problem than coal 10-22-21
A new report details 10 ways, from fracking to incineration, that plastic contributes to global warming. Read more
Corporations tried to blame you for the plastic crisis. Now states are turning the tables. 09-13-21
As recycling heads to the dump, Maine and Oregon have a new strategy: Make companies pay. Read more
North Carolina’s New Farm Bill Speeds the Way for Smithfield’s Massive Biogas Plan for Hog Farms 08-31-21
Environmental justice advocates say the legislation curtails community input on the plan for capturing methane from giant, polluting waste lagoons and selling it as natural gas. Read more
How the U.S. Could Slash Climate Pollution by 2030 08-24-21
Democrats will soon reveal how the Biden administration’s plans could cut U.S. climate pollution in half this decade. Is that goal even possible? Read more
Ocean Plastic: What You Need to Know 06-08-21
Ocean bound plastic is plastic waste that is headed toward our oceans. Read more
Study suggests pollution plays an outsized role in western Pennsylvania cancer rates 06-04-21
Researchers estimate that if everyone in Allegheny County had quit smoking 20 years ago, lung cancer rates would only be 11% lower. Among 612 other U.S. counties, lung cancer rates would have declined an average of 62%. Read more
How a massive new cattle feedlot threatens one of Iowa’s last pristine waterways 04-26-21
Years of controversy, environmental violations, and a whole lot of poop Read more
Delaware Poultry Plant Agrees to Pay $205 Million After Polluting Groundwater for Years 04-15-21
Montaire’s plant in Millsboro, Delaware, dumped approximately two million gallons of sludge into fields. Read more
Mississippi biomass facility fined for emitting three times more air pollution than permitted 02-25-21
Wood pellet manufacturing plants have underreported emissions at plants throughout the South, which are most often in Black and low-income communities. Read more at Southerly Magazine
Hometown pollution shaped the next EPA chief 01-22-21
It’s 6 miles as the crow flies from the childhood home of Michael Regan to the shuttered coal plant that helped light up this city of 35,000 people. Read more at E&E News