GEOLOGY WITH JEFF SIMPSON
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Federal study: New climate law to slice carbon pollution 40%

9/1/2022

 
 - AP News
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Boston aims to eliminate fossil fuels in new buildings

8/21/2022

 
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Tuesday her intent to file legislation that potentially would allow for the elimination of fossil fuels in new construction or major renovations, following in the footsteps of regulations in New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C. The city’s pursuit of such building standards follows Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, R, signing a major climate bill last week. The state law establishes a pilot program that will allow 10 municipalities to create local policies restricting the use of fossil fuels in new construction projects. Those policies intend to spur the adoption of cleaner technologies to power buildings, such as electric heat pumps. - Smart Cities Dive

May 01st, 2022

5/1/2022

 
Studies find microplastics in human lungs, blood stream; scientists investigating possible health risks
Scientists from the Netherlands and the U.K. recently identified microplastics deep in the lungs of some surgical patients and in the blood of anonymous donors. Researchers say that it's possible to take in these particles through the air we breathe. Leigh Shemitz, president of SoundWaters, and Paul Anastas, director of the Center for Green Chemistry at Yale University, join CBS News' Lana Zak to discuss microplastics' impact on humans and what can be done to mitigate plastic pollution. - CBS News

Switching to clean energy would save over 100,000 US lives, American Lung Assn.

4/19/2022

 
If the United States switched completely to cleaner energy vehicles and power plants, it would not only benefit the environment but also save an estimated 110,000 lives and $1.2 trillion in health costs over the next 30 years, the American Lung Association says in a new report. “These numbers are enormous," said Will Barrett, the national senior director of advocacy, clean air, for the American Lung Association. "It's hard to wrap your head around. $1.2 trillion in public health benefits and 100,000 lives saved." - ABC News

Gas Prices May Be Rising But You’re Still Not Paying for the True Cost of Driving

3/26/2022

 
But nonetheless, as politicians try to bring down the cost of gas, I want to take a moment to reflect on the true cost of driving. That cost includes not just the price of a vehicle and filling up the tank but also the costs that operating it impose on society, including pollution that drives climate change. Calculating the damage done by pollution and other factors such as traffic and accidents—what economists call externalities—is a fraught process, and economists don’t necessarily agree about all the variables. But one thing is true under any reasoned consideration: driving costs society much more than you’re paying to do it. - Yahoo / Time
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Lead from gasoline blunted the IQ of about half the U.S. population, study says

3/8/2022

 
Exposure to leaded gasoline lowered the IQ of about half the population of the United States, a new study estimates. The peer-reviewed study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on people born before 1996 — the year the U.S. banned gas containing lead. Overall, the researchers from Florida State University and Duke University found, childhood lead exposure cost America an estimated 824 million points, or 2.6 points per person on average. Certain cohorts were more affected than others. For people born in the 1960s and the 1970s, when leaded gas consumption was skyrocketing, the IQ loss was estimated to be up to 6 points and for some, more than 7 points. Exposure to it came primarily from inhaling auto exhaust. - NBC News
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A Century of Oil & Gas Development Has Devastated the Ponca City Region of Northern Oklahoma

3/5/2022

 
When Earl “Trey” Howe III returned home here after four years of military service, the first thing he noticed was the smell. Howe grew up in and around Ponca City, the site of the Phillips 66 refinery, one of the oldest and largest crude oil refineries and tank farms in the country. The smell from the plant—a sulfur-rich odor somewhere between rotten eggs and freshly paved asphalt—was so constant, he’d never even noticed it. But now, it seemed to follow him everywhere. "Depending on which way the wind is blowing, I’ll get a stronger whiff on some days than others,” Howe, 51, the former chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, said. “It’s overpowering sometimes.” - Inside Climate News
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Paint Is The Largest Source Of Microplastics In The Ocean, Study Finds

2/10/2022

 
Particles of paint account for more than half (58%) of all the microplastics that end up in the world’s oceans and waterways every year, according to a new study. The study by the Swiss-based Environmental Action (EA) claims that far more paint is leaking into the oceans than previously thought. Previously studies have estimated that paint accounts for between 9 and 21% of microplastics in our ocean and waterways. - Forbes
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US coal communities get historic $11B to clean up abandoned mines

2/10/2022

 
The transition to clean energy won’t be complete without cleaning up the messes left behind by dirty energy. The federal government took a new step toward that goal this week. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the release of nearly $725 million in funding for cleaning up old coal-mining facilities. It’s the first tranche of a record $11.3 billion dedicated to coal cleanup in last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to be disbursed over the next 15 years. States and tribes with abandoned coal mines will be able to apply for a portion of the funding in the coming weeks. - Canary Media
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US Emissions Surged in 2021: Here’s Why in Six Charts

2/8/2022

 
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions boomeranged toward pre-pandemic levels in 2021, a turnaround from more than a decade of downward trends, and freight transportation and coal are major culprits, according to a report released Monday by the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm. America’s greenhouse gas emissions grew 6.2 percent last year as the American economy largely recovered from pandemic lockdowns, the Rhodium report estimated. In comparison, between 2005 and 2019, U.S. emissions fell nearly 1 percent annually, on average, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The uptick occurred largely due to a 17 percent jump in coal-fired power generation, the first annual increase in coal generation since 2014, and a rapid resurgence of road transportation. Coal’s comeback was driven largely by a hike in natural gas prices, which made coal power more economically attractive. - Inside Climate News
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Gas stoves leak climate-warming methane even when they're off

1/30/2022

 
Your natural gas cooking stove may leak climate-warming methane even when it is turned off, warns a new Stanford University study. That's important because methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than even carbon dioxide, though it doesn't linger in the atmosphere nearly as long. Stanford scientists measured methane released from gas cooking stoves in 53 California homes. They examined how much methane is leaked each time you turn the knob in that second before the gas lights on fire. They also measured how much unburned methane is released during cooking. And unlike most previous studies, they measured how much methane is released when the stove is off. In fact, it turned out that's when about 80% of methane emissions from stoves happen, from loose couplings and fittings between the stove and gas pipes. - NPR
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US Gas Stoves in the Emit Methane = to Greenhouse Gas Emissions of ½ Million Cars

1/27/2022

 
Natural gas stoves emit far more methane than previously thought, as well as harmful nitrogen oxides in concentrations that can quickly exceed federal safety standards, researchers at Stanford University report. The findings, published Thursday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, come as a growing number of cities and states look to phase out gas-fueled appliances in homes in favor of more climate-friendly electric alternatives. - Inside Climate News
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Residents call for reform after hydrogen sulfide gas leak on Navajo Nation

1/5/2022

 
a It was still dark when Parnell Thomas opened his eyes on the morning of Aug. 10, but he immediately knew something had gone very wrong at the oil and gas field near his home on the northern Navajo Nation. The stench of hydrogen sulfide gas was burning his nostrils and shaking off the sleep was harder than it should have been. “I couldn’t breathe,” Thomas said. “I was coughing and kind of dazed.” He stumbled through the house waking up his kids, who were sleeping on the upper floor with the windows open, and friends who were staying over for the night. Thomas recalls seeing a white haze moving through the house, and by the time he got everyone outside to fresher air, several of the children were vomiting. - Salt Lake Tribune


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Parnell Thomas checks on some gas lines near his home north of Montezuma Creek, on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.

Air Pollution Killed a Million People in Africa in 2019

10/29/2021

 
Air pollution was responsible for 1.1 million deaths across Africa in 2019, with more than half of those fatalities associated with household (indoor) pollutants, according to a  study recently published in The Lancet Planetary Health. “Furthermore, air pollution is costing African countries billions [of dollars] in gross domestic product and can be correlated to a devastating loss in the intellectual development of Africa’s children,” researchers found. - EOS
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PFAS are everywhere—and the EPA has a new plan to fight back

10/24/2021

 
The United States has a PFAS problem. Whether they are raining down from the sky or popping up in food packaging, the mysterious chemicals, also known as Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been finding their way into our bodies and environment—sometimes at concerningly high levels. PFAS are also found in everyday cosmetics, especially in longwear and waterproof makeup items and can  accidentally be ingested overtime. PFAS can even be found in our drinking water.  PFAS are not only dangerous because they build up in the environment and in our bodies, but the chemicals are often associated with low infant birth rates and even cancer according to the EPA. In the past year, some research has connected high rates of PFAS exposure to worse COVID outcomes. Despite being such harmful toxins to people, they’re used regularly and are not historically regulated in the U.S.  To tackle this dilemma, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a “Comprehensive National Strategy” to regulate the toxic industrial chemical. The plan describes three main strategies going forward–investing in more research on PFAS, leveraging authorities that can take action to restrict more PFAS chemicals from being released, and accelerating PFAS contamination cleanups. EPA administrator Michael S. Regan pointed out that the agency will work on holding polluters accountable in the announcement. - Popular Science

Baby Poop Is Loaded With Microplastics

9/22/2021

 
WHENEVER A PLASTIC bag or bottle degrades, it breaks into ever smaller pieces that work their way into nooks in the environment. When you wash synthetic fabrics, tiny plastic fibers break loose and flow out to sea. When you drive, plastic bits fly off your tires and brakes. That’s why literally everywhere scientists look, they’re finding microplastics—specks of synthetic material that measure less than 5 millimeters long. They’re on the most remote mountaintops and in the deepest oceans. They’re blowing vast distances in the wind to sully once pristine regions like the Arctic. In 11 protected areas in the western US, the equivalent of 120 million ground-up plastic bottles are falling out of the sky each year.  And now, microplastics are coming out of babies. In a pilot study published today, scientists describe sifting through infants’ dirty diapers and finding an average of 36,000 nanograms of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) per gram of feces, 10 times the amount they found in adult feces. They even found it in newborns' first feces. PET is an extremely common polymer that’s known as polyester when it’s used in clothing, and it is also used to make plastic bottles. The finding comes a year after another team of researchers calculated that preparing hot formula in plastic bottles severely erodes the material, which could dose babies with several million microplastic particles a day, and perhaps nearly a billion a year.  - Wired

Understanding the Environmental Impacts of Shale Development

9/20/2021

 
Development of shale gas and tight oil, or unconventional oil and gas (UOG), has dramatically increased domestic energy production in the U.S. UOG resources are typically developed through the use of hydraulic fracturing, which creates high- permeability flow paths into large vol- umes of tight rocks to provide a means for hydrocarbons to move to a wellbore. This process uses significant volumes of water, sand, and chemicals, raising concerns about risks to the environment and to human health. Researchers in various dis- ciplines have been working to make UOG development more efficient, and to better understand the risks to air quality, water quality, landscapes, human health, and ecosystems. Risks to air include releases of methane, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate mat- ter. Water-resource risks include excessive withdrawals, stray gas in drinking-water aquifers, and surface spills of fluids or chemicals. Landscapes can be signifi- cantly altered by the infrastructure installed to support large drilling plat- forms and associated equipment. - Geological Society of America
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How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves

8/22/2021

 
Over the last hundred years, gas companies have engaged an all-out campaign to convince Americans that cooking with a gas flame is superior to using electric heat. At the same time, they’ve urged us not to think too hard—if at all—about what it means to combust a fossil fuel in our homes. - Mother Jones
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How Yellowcake Shaped the West

8/13/2021

 
The ghosts of the uranium boom continue to haunt the land, water and people - High Country News

Right: Uranium processing mill at Monticello, Utah, owned by the government and operated for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission by the National Lead Company, Inc. This is the only government-owned uranium mill. c. 1957 - U.S. Department of Energy  

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How Death and Disaster Followed the Shale Gas Boom in Appalachia

8/13/2021

 
In the past decade, fracking has contributed to the deaths of more than a thousand people and the emission of more than a thousand tons of carbon dioxide in the Appalachian Basin. - EOS
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Land in White Tank Mts Closed to Clear Lead from Years of Recreational Shooting

7/24/2021

 
Years of recreational shooting left hazardous levels of lead in the soil of a parcel of land in the White Tank Mountains, and the site west of Phoenix will remain closed for three more years for cleanup.  The area was shuttered to recreational shooting after a pregnant woman was killed by a stray bullet more than three years ago.  The multimillion-dollar remediation effort comes as Buckeye aims to lease the land from the federal Bureau of Land Management for a park. It's an area that public safety officials previously describe as "a mess" because of the number of people shooting at all hours, in all directions. - AZ Central
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Extreme Heat is Killing People in Arizona’s Mobile Homes

7/7/2021

 
Last summer’s relentless, 100-degree heat and compounding drought killed a record 520 people in Arizona — twice the total deaths reported nationally from hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, severe storms and floods, and a significant increase from the past decade, when heat-related deaths in Arizona never went above 283. With this summer already dangerously hot, researchers are sounding the alarm about a heat-vulnerable community that has been historically disregarded because of where they live: substandard, aged mobile homes.- Washington Post 
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Study Links Fossil Fuels To A Million Deaths In 2017

6/25/2021

 
In 2017 around 1.05 million deaths were avoidable by eliminating fossil fuel combustion, according to a study published in the science journal Nature Communications. The largest number of these deaths occurred in world’s two most populous countries - China and India. Air pollution caused due to combustion of coal alone contributed to half of these deaths. Residential, industry and energy sectors were other dominant global sources of fossil fuel emissions. The study indicates that replacing traditional energy sources will have substantial health benefits. - Forbes / Nature
Right: Oil covers the sand at low tide near Refugio State Beach, Goleta, CA, May 20.
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Controversial St. Croix Refinery Ceases Operations

6/21/2021

 
We want our cheap oil but we don't want the consequences, so we often put refineries in places where people without influence life and then tout all the jobs that are created.  Once again, a fossil fuel-related company walks away with the profits, leaves a mess for the taxpayer to clean up, and then whines about regulations, this time in the USVI.  - Washington Post
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We Could Convert Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells into Millions of Acres of Green Space

6/9/2021

 
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan proposes to spend $16 billion plugging old oil and gas wells and cleaning up abandoned mines. But there’s no authoritative measure of how many of these sites exist across the nation.  In a recent study, my colleagues and I sought to account for every oil and gas well site in the lower 48 states that was eligible for restoration—meaning that the well no longer was producing oil or gas, and there were no other active wells using that site. We found more than 430,000 old well sites, with associated infrastructure such as access roads, storage areas, and fluid tanks. They covered more than 2 million acres—an area larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined. - Fast Company
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