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With Carbon Capture Boom, a Wariness in Historic Louisiana Black Community Over More Pollution

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Friday, November 1, 2024

ELKINSVILLE, La. (AP) — A dispute over a planned ammonia plant near a historic Black town in southeastern Louisiana ratcheted up a notch Friday with a challenge to the state's approval process. The battle over the plant is occurring despite the fact that part of the impetus to build it is a provision in a key climate law signed by President Joe Biden. The company claims it will store underground almost all of the climate-damaging carbon dioxide emitted in the production of ammonia, commonly used for fertilizers. Environmental groups warn this is an unrealistic expectation.The Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic is asking the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to recuse itself from deciding on a permit for St. Charles Clean Fuels' ammonia plant next to the Elkinsville community. The agency appears to have already decided to grant the permit, the clinic said, before weighing all public comment, which would be illegal under Louisiana law.The motion comes after a public hearing in September in St. Charles Parish was shut down when more than 150 people tried to fit into a room in a public library the state had reserved. The agency characterized that turnout as “an organized attempt to hinder economic growth and prosperity for the state and local communities.” The department said it plans to reschedule the public hearing for late December and will carefully consider public comments.Elkinsville resident Kimbrelle Kyereh said she is not confident Louisiana environmental regulators are doing enough to protect her community, however. She has made many complaints about fumes coming from a large existing chemical tank storage complex next door, but "no one seems to truly care,” she said.If the state agency were to recuse itself, it would fall to Gov. Jeff Landry to appoint another entity to review the permit application. Landry strongly supports Louisiana's petrochemical industry. Residents live with a long legacy of pollution Like many other communities in the region of the proposed plant, Elkinsville was established by and for free Black people on the periphery of a former Mississippi River plantation. About a century ago, some plantation land was sold off for an oil export terminal. Today, International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMIT) operates a large tank farm storing diesel, ethanol and other chemicals waiting to be loaded onto river vessels. Only a chain-link fence separates it from the homes of Elkinsville.In interviews and public hearings, residents said the new ammonia plant would add to what they already experience: smells so foul they wake up short of breath at night and need to clamp down their windows. Rose Wilright, 80, loves her community, the four streets where she grew up surrounded by relatives whose memories are held in a small cemetery in the center of the town.Wilright said she believes IMTT and the many other nearby industrial facilities are why she has spent nights watching her grandson struggling to breathe with asthma. Now she too relies on an albuterol inhaler and has contracted bronchitis. “It’s just devastating that they trying to bring more chemicals on us,” she said. Company defends its environmental record The new ammonia plant would store its ammonia in IMTT's tanks. IMTT CEO Carlin Conner said he takes residents' complaints seriously. “This is their home,” he said. “We try our best to understand what they’re feeling and saying and then try to fix it.”The bad smells are “obviously a pain for people” but “we definitely do not believe it’s impacting health,” he said. IMTT has invested in tank venting equipment to limit odors, Conner said. He pointed out that the company partners with local charities and supports a welding training program for youth. Even Elkinsville residents who criticize IMTT — many of whom have relatives working there — acknowledge the company has brought economic benefits.St. Charles Clean Fuels, majority-owned by Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said in an emailed statement that its ammonia facility was “essential to fighting climate change” and would generate 200 permanent jobs.It reports the facility will produce 8,000 metric tons of ammonia daily and release about 118,700 pounds of ammonia annually. Ammonia buildout propelled by money for carbon capture The new ammonia project is buoyed by federal subsidies intended to make chemical production less damaging for the climate. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act promises companies up to $85 in tax credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they capture and store.Ammonia is widely used in fertilizers but also heralded by industry groups as a potential transport fuel. It is usually made from natural gas, in a process that contributes to climate change. St. Charles Clean Fuels said it will clean up that process, storing its greenhouse gases deep underground. There are dozens of carbon capture and storage facilities proposed across Louisiana.The company said its facility will prevent 5 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released annually. Environmental groups have generally cautioned against carbon capture and storage as a climate solution and urged a transition away from natural gas-based production. They note that carbon capture and storage has been around for decades and has fallen far short of the 99% capture rate promised by St. Charles Clean Fuels. The company did not provide evidence for this figure but said it will employ innovative technology based on auto-thermal reforming, in which oxygen and steam convert natural gas at extremely high temperatures into a byproduct used for ammonia production. The process is marketed by industry groups as improving energy efficiency.Michael Levien, a Johns Hopkins University sociologist who is working on a book about the Elkinsville community, said he believes the Inflation Reduction Act is deepening environmental and racial injustices by encouraging more industrial expansion in heavily polluted areas through its subsidies for carbon capture and storage. Clean air concerns near chemical tank complex The conflict over the federally supported new ammonia plant comes as the Biden administration has wrestled with the state of Louisiana over air quality and environmental health issues it says disproportionately affect Black people.In July, the Environmental Protection Agency fined IMTT over insufficient safeguards and said the company did not conduct appropriate hazard assessments. IMTT said it has since improved its protocols.The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the air quality around Elkinsville tracked by its air monitor was “deemed safe” based on data measured between 2018 and 2023, leading the agency to remove its air monitor.Kim Terrell, environmental scientist with the Tulane law clinic, said the department only monitored continuously for a small number of pollutants. IMTT’s modeling for air near its facility shows high levels of n-hexane, which can trigger respiratory problems, and naphthalene, which the EPA considers a possible carcinogen. Terrell criticized Louisiana’s regulation for these chemicals because they are based on the assumption people will be exposed for no more than an eight-hour workday rather than day and night as residents may be.Louisiana allows for “vastly higher” exposure to these chemicals than recommended by the EPA's health guidelines based on safe levels of long-term exposure, Terrell said.The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the EPA guidelines shouldn't be compared with Louisiana's rules, which are focused on short-term exposure.IMTT said in September it is working with a local environmental group to install several air monitors so nearby residents will know more about their air quality.Terrell said the monitoring system the company plans to install will not meet EPA standards.Meanwhile, Wilright, the lifelong Elkinsville resident whose home is up against the IMTT fence, said that if she could, she would “leave tonight,” despite her family's generations of memories there.She would go “wherever they don’t have chemical plants,” she said.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

Residents of the historic Black community of Elkinsville in southeastern Louisiana have elevated their fight against an ammonia plant proposed nearby

ELKINSVILLE, La. (AP) — A dispute over a planned ammonia plant near a historic Black town in southeastern Louisiana ratcheted up a notch Friday with a challenge to the state's approval process.

The battle over the plant is occurring despite the fact that part of the impetus to build it is a provision in a key climate law signed by President Joe Biden. The company claims it will store underground almost all of the climate-damaging carbon dioxide emitted in the production of ammonia, commonly used for fertilizers. Environmental groups warn this is an unrealistic expectation.

The Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic is asking the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to recuse itself from deciding on a permit for St. Charles Clean Fuels' ammonia plant next to the Elkinsville community. The agency appears to have already decided to grant the permit, the clinic said, before weighing all public comment, which would be illegal under Louisiana law.

The motion comes after a public hearing in September in St. Charles Parish was shut down when more than 150 people tried to fit into a room in a public library the state had reserved.

The agency characterized that turnout as “an organized attempt to hinder economic growth and prosperity for the state and local communities.”

The department said it plans to reschedule the public hearing for late December and will carefully consider public comments.

Elkinsville resident Kimbrelle Kyereh said she is not confident Louisiana environmental regulators are doing enough to protect her community, however. She has made many complaints about fumes coming from a large existing chemical tank storage complex next door, but "no one seems to truly care,” she said.

If the state agency were to recuse itself, it would fall to Gov. Jeff Landry to appoint another entity to review the permit application. Landry strongly supports Louisiana's petrochemical industry.

Residents live with a long legacy of pollution

Like many other communities in the region of the proposed plant, Elkinsville was established by and for free Black people on the periphery of a former Mississippi River plantation.

About a century ago, some plantation land was sold off for an oil export terminal. Today, International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMIT) operates a large tank farm storing diesel, ethanol and other chemicals waiting to be loaded onto river vessels.

Only a chain-link fence separates it from the homes of Elkinsville.

In interviews and public hearings, residents said the new ammonia plant would add to what they already experience: smells so foul they wake up short of breath at night and need to clamp down their windows.

Rose Wilright, 80, loves her community, the four streets where she grew up surrounded by relatives whose memories are held in a small cemetery in the center of the town.

Wilright said she believes IMTT and the many other nearby industrial facilities are why she has spent nights watching her grandson struggling to breathe with asthma. Now she too relies on an albuterol inhaler and has contracted bronchitis.

“It’s just devastating that they trying to bring more chemicals on us,” she said.

Company defends its environmental record

The new ammonia plant would store its ammonia in IMTT's tanks.

IMTT CEO Carlin Conner said he takes residents' complaints seriously.

“This is their home,” he said. “We try our best to understand what they’re feeling and saying and then try to fix it.”

The bad smells are “obviously a pain for people” but “we definitely do not believe it’s impacting health,” he said.

IMTT has invested in tank venting equipment to limit odors, Conner said. He pointed out that the company partners with local charities and supports a welding training program for youth.

Even Elkinsville residents who criticize IMTT — many of whom have relatives working there — acknowledge the company has brought economic benefits.

St. Charles Clean Fuels, majority-owned by Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said in an emailed statement that its ammonia facility was “essential to fighting climate change” and would generate 200 permanent jobs.

It reports the facility will produce 8,000 metric tons of ammonia daily and release about 118,700 pounds of ammonia annually.

Ammonia buildout propelled by money for carbon capture

The new ammonia project is buoyed by federal subsidies intended to make chemical production less damaging for the climate. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act promises companies up to $85 in tax credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they capture and store.

Ammonia is widely used in fertilizers but also heralded by industry groups as a potential transport fuel. It is usually made from natural gas, in a process that contributes to climate change.

St. Charles Clean Fuels said it will clean up that process, storing its greenhouse gases deep underground. There are dozens of carbon capture and storage facilities proposed across Louisiana.

The company said its facility will prevent 5 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released annually.

Environmental groups have generally cautioned against carbon capture and storage as a climate solution and urged a transition away from natural gas-based production. They note that carbon capture and storage has been around for decades and has fallen far short of the 99% capture rate promised by St. Charles Clean Fuels.

The company did not provide evidence for this figure but said it will employ innovative technology based on auto-thermal reforming, in which oxygen and steam convert natural gas at extremely high temperatures into a byproduct used for ammonia production. The process is marketed by industry groups as improving energy efficiency.

Michael Levien, a Johns Hopkins University sociologist who is working on a book about the Elkinsville community, said he believes the Inflation Reduction Act is deepening environmental and racial injustices by encouraging more industrial expansion in heavily polluted areas through its subsidies for carbon capture and storage.

Clean air concerns near chemical tank complex

The conflict over the federally supported new ammonia plant comes as the Biden administration has wrestled with the state of Louisiana over air quality and environmental health issues it says disproportionately affect Black people.

In July, the Environmental Protection Agency fined IMTT over insufficient safeguards and said the company did not conduct appropriate hazard assessments. IMTT said it has since improved its protocols.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the air quality around Elkinsville tracked by its air monitor was “deemed safe” based on data measured between 2018 and 2023, leading the agency to remove its air monitor.

Kim Terrell, environmental scientist with the Tulane law clinic, said the department only monitored continuously for a small number of pollutants.

IMTT’s modeling for air near its facility shows high levels of n-hexane, which can trigger respiratory problems, and naphthalene, which the EPA considers a possible carcinogen. Terrell criticized Louisiana’s regulation for these chemicals because they are based on the assumption people will be exposed for no more than an eight-hour workday rather than day and night as residents may be.

Louisiana allows for “vastly higher” exposure to these chemicals than recommended by the EPA's health guidelines based on safe levels of long-term exposure, Terrell said.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said the EPA guidelines shouldn't be compared with Louisiana's rules, which are focused on short-term exposure.

IMTT said in September it is working with a local environmental group to install several air monitors so nearby residents will know more about their air quality.

Terrell said the monitoring system the company plans to install will not meet EPA standards.

Meanwhile, Wilright, the lifelong Elkinsville resident whose home is up against the IMTT fence, said that if she could, she would “leave tonight,” despite her family's generations of memories there.

She would go “wherever they don’t have chemical plants,” she said.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

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What will it take to solve our planet's plastic pollution crisis?

Countries are meeting in South Korea this week to hash out the final details of a global treaty aimed at eliminating plastic pollution — here's what experts say it needs to include

Plastic waste in IndonesiaPA Images / Alamy The world currently produces more than 50 million tonnes of “mismanaged” plastic waste each year, and some researchers project this flood of plastic pollution will double by mid-century – but they also say that, if countries can agree to adopt four key policies during global plastic treaty negotiations this week, we could slash that number by 90 per cent. Plastic pollution ends up clogging ecosystems on land and at sea. “This has an impact on every level of the food chain, from phytoplankton cells to humans,” says Sarah-Jeanne Royer at the University of California, San Diego. Plastics are also responsible for about 5 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why most of the world’s countries are meeting in Busan, South Korea this week to hammer out the final details of a global treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution. In 2022, 175 countries already agreed to adopt the legally binding treaty and have spent the past two years debating exactly what it should require, with particular disagreements over setting limits on the production of new plastic. To bring more clarity to the debate, Douglas McCauley at the University of California, Santa Barbara and his colleagues used an artificial intelligence model trained on economic data to test how the policies under consideration would affect global plastic pollution. “I wasn’t convinced that [eliminating plastic pollution] was actually possible,” says McCauley. “But it turns out you can get pretty darn close.” According to their projections, under current conditions, plastic pollution is set to roughly double to between 100 and 139 million tonnes by 2050. But a combination of four policies, all of which are still on the table in the current treaty draft, were enough to reduce this by more than 90 per cent. The most impactful of these was a mandate that plastic products contain at least 40 per cent recycled material. That rule alone cut plastic pollution in half by mid-century. This effect is so significant because it cuts demand for newly made or “virgin” plastic while also spurring demand for recycled materials, says McCauley. “Suddenly there’s a giant global market for recycling.” But recycling on its own wasn’t sufficient. “If your target is to end plastic pollution, you need to do things across the entire lifecycle,” he says. Deeper cuts required limiting production of virgin plastics to 2020 levels. This production cap cut plastic pollution by around 60 million tonnes per year by the middle of the century, according to the model. This change also had the greatest impact on greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production, as extracting fossil fuels and turning them into virgin plastics involves emissions-intensive processes. A third policy, spending $50 billion on waste management, reduced pollution by nearly the same amount as the production cap – especially if these funds were spent in low-income countries with poor infrastructure, which are also the most inundated by plastic pollution. “When you start talking about global finance, [the amount of money needed] is not that big,” says McCauley. “Building a sanitary landfill is not like building a port.” Plastic waste is increasing, and though some is recycled or destroyed, a large portion is “mismanaged” and piles up as plastic pollutionA. Samuel Pottinger et al. Finally, a small tax on plastic packaging cut pollution by tens of millions of tonnes. The researchers based this estimate on case studies of how people reduced their plastic use in response to similar taxes, such as a 5 cent fee on single-use plastic bags in Washington DC. Money raised by such a tax could also be used to pay for other changes, like building out waste management infrastructure or improving recycling systems. Royer, who was not involved with the study, says she thinks those policies would all help. Reducing the use of single-use plastic such as grocery bags or plastic forks via a tax or a ban could also make a difference, she says. “If we look at plastic pollution in general, 40 per cent of the plastic being produced is single-use items.” However, she points out local rules alone will never solve the problem. For instance, California banned some single-use plastic bags a decade ago and this year banned all such bags. But most of the plastic pollution that washes up on its beaches originates outside the state: California’s plastic waste generally drifts across the Pacific from Asia or is flotsam left by the fishing industry. “There’s no border,” says Royer. That’s where a global treaty comes in. The researchers showed how implementing different policies across the world would cut down on three things: the volume of mismanaged plastic waste, the production of new plastics, and plastic-related greenhouse gas emissions. The four key policies in combination, seen in the graph below, reduced all three measures, and in particular slashed mismanaged waste by 91 per cent. Researchers estimated the impact of different policies for reducing plastic wasteA. Samuel Pottinger et al. In Busan, countries have now reached the deadline to decide on a final treaty draft, but they remain far apart on key issues. A main fault line is whether the treaty should include a production cap on newly made plastics, which the researchers found was the second-most impactful policy. Plastic-producing countries and the petrochemical industry oppose production caps, instead throwing their support behind recycling measures. A “high-ambition coalition” of 68 countries, including the UK, is pushing for a treaty that would include both, with the goal of eliminating plastic pollution by 2040. Other researchers have also argued a cap on plastic production is necessary to end pollution. But just last week, advocates for a production cap were dismayed by reports the US would not support a specific limit on plastic production. McCauley recently penned an open letter – signed by more than one hundred researchers – to the Biden administration urging it to support a strong plastic treaty. “We’re at a pivotal moment,” said Erin Simon at the World Wildlife Foundation, an environmental advocacy group, in an email to press. “Our last best chance to forge an agreement that could end the flow of plastic into nature is within reach, but only if countries come to the negotiating table with a clear vision and determination to get the job done.”

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Nature

Nations Meet To End Plastic Pollution With A Global Treaty. Here’s What To Know.

Sixty-six countries plus the European Union are kicking off a final round of negotiations to address an ever-worsening global problem.

A last round of negotiations on a legally binding treaty to address the global scourge of plastic pollution has opened in Busan, South Korea. Here’s what to know about it:Nations are deciding what actions they’ll takeNational delegations still have a lot to hammer out before there is a treaty. Most contentious is whether there will be a limit on the amount of plastic that companies are allowed to produce.Led by Norway and Rwanda, 66 countries plus the European Union say they want to address the total plastic on Earth by controlling plastic design, production, consumption and what happens at the end of its life.Some plastic-producing and oil and gas countries, including Saudi Arabia, vigorously oppose such limits.Litter and debris blanket the shoreline in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. Sixty-six countries plus the European Union are meeting in South Korea to address the total plastic on Earth.Global plastics production is set to reach 736 million tons by 2040, up 70% from 2020, without policy changes, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.Negotiators must also decide whether the treaty will reduce or eliminate single-use plastics. They’ll have to resolve whether to end the use of hazardous chemicals in plastics and whether these steps will be mandated or merely encouraged.Their common objective is to protect human health and the environment.There are some things many countries agree on. They want provisions in a treaty to promote the redesign of plastic products so they can be recycled and reused. They want to invest to better manage plastic waste. They want to increase recycling rates and help waste pickers transition to safer jobs. There is agreement that there needs to be a mechanism to help countries pay for anything required of them.Environmental groups and Indigenous leaders want a holistic approachAn excavator cleans up plastic and other waste materials on Mahim Beach on the Arabian Sea coast in Mumbai, India, on April 22, 2024.Graham Forbes, who is leading a Greenpeace delegation in Busan, said his group could support an agreement that puts sensible guardrails in place to reduce the amount of plastic produced, eliminates toxic chemicals and protects people from the uncontrolled use of plastics. That’s achievable, but will take political leadership and courage not seen yet in earlier negotiations, he added.Frankie Orona, executive director of the Texas-based Society of Native Nations, said they demand a treaty that tackles the root causes of the crisis rather than just managing plastic waste.“We must seize this moment and leave a legacy we can be proud of, with a non-toxic sustainable future for all children and our children’s children,” he said.The plastics industry wants to focus on redesign, recycling and reuseIndustry leaders want an agreement that prevents plastic pollution by redesigning plastics to be reused, recycled and remade into new products. They say this will keep the materials in circulation and out of the environment.Indian rag pickers look for reusable material at a garbage dump filled with plastic and other waste material on the outskirts of Jammu, India, April 22, 2024.Company executives said they’ll support a treaty that recognizes plastics’ benefits to society, while ending pollution.“I would hate to miss this opportunity because we get fixated on issues that divide us rather than unite us in this purpose of ultimately addressing the issue of plastic pollution,” said Steve Prusak, president and CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. “It’s a really critical time. We’re really hopeful that what we get out of the meetings will lead to practical, implementable policies and harmonization across the globe.”The U.N. wants negotiators to reach an agreement in BusanU.N. Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said the treaty talks are a historic opportunity to land an agreement and course-correct, something “entirely within our reach.”“We can sit and wait and negotiate and negotiate and negotiate. But meanwhile our oceans are chockablock with plastic,” she said.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Pollution
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Toxic Air Pollution in India and Pakistan Is “a National Disaster”

This story was originally published by Voxx.com and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. India and Pakistan are losing ground to a common deadly enemy. Vast clouds of dense, toxic smog have once again shrouded metropolises in South Asia. Air pollution regularly spikes in November in the subcontinent, but this year’s dirty air has […]

This story was originally published by Voxx.com and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. India and Pakistan are losing ground to a common deadly enemy. Vast clouds of dense, toxic smog have once again shrouded metropolises in South Asia. Air pollution regularly spikes in November in the subcontinent, but this year’s dirty air has still been breathtaking in its scale and severity. The gray, smoky pollution is even visible to satellites, and it’s fueling a public health crisis. Last week, officials in the Punjab province in Pakistan imposed lockdowns on the cities of Multan, population 2.1 million, and Lahore, population 13.7 million, after reaching record-high pollution levels. “Smog is currently a national disaster,” senior Punjab provincial minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said during a press conference last week. Schools shut down, restaurants closed, construction halted, highways sat empty, and medical staff were recalled to hospitals and clinics. Across the border in India, the 33 million residents of Delhi this week are breathing air pollution that’s 50 times higher than the safe limit outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The choking haze caused 15 aircraft to divert to nearby airports and caused hundreds of delays. Students and workers were told to stay home. Global health authorities say air pollution has reduced the average life expectancy by 2.3 years, and contributes to almost 7 million deaths annually. Despite all the disruption, air pollution continues to spike year after year after year. Why? The dirty air arises from a confluence of human and natural factors. Construction, cooking fires, brick kilns, vehicles, and burning leftovers from crop harvests are all feeding into the toxic clouds. The Himalaya and Hindu Kush mountains to the north of lower-lying areas like Lahore and Delhi hold the smog in place. In the winter, the region experiences thermal inversions, where a layer of warm air pushes down on cool winter air, holding the pollution closer to the ground. As populations grow in South Asia, so will the need for food, energy, housing, and transportation. Without a course correction, that will mean even more pollution. Yet history shows that air pollution is a solvable problem. Cities like Los Angeles and Beijing that were once notorious for dirty air have managed to clean it up. The process took years, drawing on economic development and new technologies. But it also required good governance and incentives to cut pollution, something local officials in India and Pakistan have already demonstrated can clear the air. The task now is to scale it up to higher levels of government. There’s no shortage of science showing how terrible air pollution is for you. It aggravates asthma, worsens heart disease, triggers inflammation, and increases infection risk. It hampers brain development in children and can contribute to dementia in adults. On average, air pollution has reduced life expectancies around the world by 2.3 years, more than tobacco. It contributes to almost 7 million deaths per year, according to WHO, about one in nine deaths annually. It sucks trillions of dollars out of the global economy. The toll is especially acute in South Asia. Air pollution drains 3.9 years of life in Pakistan. In India, it steals 5.3 years. For workers who spend their days outdoors—delivery drivers, construction crews, farm laborers—the damage is even higher. Many residents report constant fevers, coughs, and headaches. Despite the well-known dangers and the mounting threat, it remains a persistent problem. Part of the challenge of improving air quality is that air pollution isn’t just one thing; it’s a combination of hazardous chemicals and particles that arise in teeming metropolises in developing countries. One of the most popular metrics around the world for tracking pollution is the Air Quality Index, developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The index is not a measurement of any one pollutant, but rather the risk from a combination of pollutants based on US air quality standards. The main villains are ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particles. The particles are subcategorized into those smaller than 10 microns (PM10) and smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5). (Earlier this year, the EPA modified the way it calculates the AQI, so numbers from this year are not an apples-to-apples comparison to levels from previous years.) The tiny particles are pernicious because they penetrate deep into the lungs and trigger breathing problems. “I think the most surprising, interesting, and scary thing, honestly, is seeing the levels of pollution in areas that haven’t been monitored before.” An AQI below 50 is considered safe to breathe. Above 200, the air is considered a health threat for everyone. At 300, it’s an emergency. In Delhi, the AQI this last week reached 1,185. Lahore reached 1,900 this month. If a person breathes this air for over 24 hours, the exposure is roughly equivalent to smoking 90 cigarettes in a day. However, air pollution poses a threat long before it’s visible. “Your eye is not a good detector of air pollution in general,” said Christi Chester Schroeder, the air quality science manager at IQAir, a company that builds air quality monitoring instruments and collects pollution data. “The pollutant that you have to be really careful about in terms of not being able to see it but experiencing it is ozone. Ozone levels can be extremely high on sunny days.” IQAir has a network of air quality sensors across South Asia, including regions like Lahore and Delhi. The company tracks pollution in real time using its own sensors as well as monitors bought by schools, businesses, and ordinary people. Their professional-grade air monitors can cost more than $20,000 but they also sell consumer air quality trackers that cost $300. Both sources help paint a picture of pollution. Many schools and businesses across South Asia have installed their own pollution monitors. The US maintains its own air quality instruments at its consulates and embassies in India and Pakistan as well. Schroeder noted, however, that IQAir’s instruments are geared toward monitoring particles like PM2.5 and don’t easily allow a user to make inferences about concentrations of other pollutants like sulfur oxides and where they’re coming from. “When you’re looking at places that have a really big mixture of sources—like you have a mixture of transportation and fires and climate inversion conditions—then it gets to be much murkier and you can’t really sort of pull it apart that way,” Schroeder said. Air quality monitors in India and Pakistan show that air pollution can vary over short distances—between neighborhoods or even street by street—and that it can change rapidly through the day. Nearby bus terminals, power plants, or cooking fires contribute a lot to local pollution, but without tracking systems in the vicinity, it can be hard to realize how bad the situation has become. “I think the most surprising, interesting, and scary thing, honestly, is seeing the levels of pollution in areas that haven’t been monitored before,” Schroeder said. Another complication is that people also experience pollution far away from where it’s produced. “This automatically creates a big governance challenge because the administrator who is responsible for providing you clean air in your jurisdiction is not actually the administrator who is governing over the polluting action,” said Saad Gulzar, an assistant professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University. Take crop stubble burning, which accounts for up to 60 percent of the air pollution in the region this time of year. In late fall, farmers in northern India and Pakistan harvest rice and plant wheat. With little time between the reaping and sowing, the fastest and cheapest way for many farmers to clear their fields of leftover stems, leaves, and roots is to burn it. The resulting smoke then wafts from rural areas into urban centers. Motivating officials to act at local, regional, and national levels is a key step in reducing air pollution. The challenge is that farmers and urbanites are different political constituencies, and it’s hard to demand concessions from the former to benefit the latter. It has led to bitter political fights in both countries and between them. Farmers also point out that the reason they have so little time between crops is because of water conservation laws: To cope with groundwater depletion, officials in India imposed regulations to limit rice planting until after monsoon rains arrive in the early summer to top up reservoirs. Delaying planting means delaying harvest, hence the rush to clear their fields. Both India and Pakistan have even gone as far as to arrest farmers who burn crop stubble, but there are millions of farmers spread out over a vast area, stretching enforcement thin. However, local efforts to control smoke from crop burning have proven effective when local officials are motivated to act. Gulzar co-authored a study published in October in the journal Nature, looking at air pollution and its impacts across India and Pakistan. Examining satellite data and health records over the past decade, the paper found that who is in charge of a jurisdiction plays a key role in air pollution—and could also be the key to solving it. When a district is likely to experience pollution from a fire within its own boundaries, bureaucrats and local officials take more aggressive action to mitigate it, whether that’s paying farmers not to burn stubble, providing them with tools to clear fields without fires, or threatening them with fines and arrest. That led fires within a district to drop by 14.5 percent and future burning to decline by 13 percent. These air pollution reductions led to measurable drops in childhood mortality. On the other hand, if the wind is poised to push pollution from crop burning over an adjacent district, fires increase by 15 percent. The results show that simply motivating officials to act at local, regional, and national levels is a key step in reducing air pollution and that progress can begin right away. But further air quality improvements will require a transition toward cleaner energy. Besides crop burning, the other major source of air pollution across India and Pakistan is fossil fuel combustion, whether that’s coal in furnaces, gas in factories, or diesel in trucks. These fuels also contribute to climate change, which is already contributing to devastating heat waves and flooding from torrential monsoons in the region. Both countries have made major investments in renewable energy, but they are also poised to burn more coal to feed their growing economies. At the COP29 climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, India was asking wealthier nations to contribute more money to finance clean energy within its borders and to share technologies that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance air quality. Solving the air pollution crisis in India and Pakistan will take years, and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. But there are lifesaving measures both countries can take now.

Pollution
Climate
Chemicals

What to Know About the Plastic Pollution Treaty Talks in South Korea

A last round of negotiations on a legally binding treaty to address the global scourge of plastic pollution has opened in Busan, South Korea

Nations are deciding what actions they'll take National delegations still have a lot to hammer out before there is a treaty. Most contentious is whether there will be a limit on the amount of plastic that companies are allowed to produce. Led by Norway and Rwanda, 66 countries plus the European Union say they want to address the total plastic on Earth by controlling plastic design, production, consumption and what happens at the end of its life. Some plastic-producing and oil and gas countries, including Saudi Arabia, vigorously oppose such limits. Global plastics production is set to reach 736 million tons by 2040, up 70% from 2020, without policy changes, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Negotiators must also decide whether the treaty will reduce or eliminate single-use plastics. They'll have to resolve whether to end the use of hazardous chemicals in plastics and whether these steps will be mandated or merely encouraged.Their common objective is to protect human health and the environment.There are some things many countries agree on. They want provisions in a treaty to promote the redesign of plastic products so they can be recycled and reused. They want to invest to better manage plastic waste. They want to increase recycling rates and help waste pickers transition to safer jobs. There is agreement that there needs to be a mechanism to help countries pay for anything required of them. Environmental groups and Indigenous leaders want a holistic approach Graham Forbes, who is leading a Greenpeace delegation in Busan, said his group could support an agreement that puts sensible guardrails in place to reduce the amount of plastic produced, eliminates toxic chemicals and protects people from the uncontrolled use of plastics. That's achievable, but will take political leadership and courage not seen yet in earlier negotiations, he added.Frankie Orona, executive director of the Texas-based Society of Native Nations, said they demand a treaty that tackles the root causes of the crisis rather than just managing plastic waste.“We must seize this moment and leave a legacy we can be proud of, with a non-toxic sustainable future for all children and our children's children," he said. The plastics industry wants to focus on redesign, recycling and reuse Industry leaders want an agreement that prevents plastic pollution by redesigning plastics to be reused, recycled and remade into new products. They say this will keep the materials in circulation and out of the environment. Company executives said they'll support a treaty that recognizes plastics' benefits to society, while ending pollution.“I would hate to miss this opportunity because we get fixated on issues that divide us rather than unite us in this purpose of ultimately addressing the issue of plastic pollution," said Steve Prusak, president and CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. "It’s a really critical time. We’re really hopeful that what we get out of the meetings will lead to practical, implementable policies and harmonization across the globe.” The U.N. wants negotiators to reach an agreement in Busan U.N. Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said the treaty talks are a historic opportunity to land an agreement and course-correct, something “entirely within our reach.” “We can sit and wait and negotiate and negotiate and negotiate. But meanwhile our oceans are chockablock with plastic,” she said.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

Pollution
Chemicals
Crisis

Biden proposes to restrict pollution from new gas plants

The Biden administration has proposed a rule that it says will reduce pollution stemming from new gas-fired power plants and other industrial facilities. The proposal would require these plants to cut their emissions of pollutants known as nitrogen oxides, which can lead to smog formation and contribute to asthma in people with long-term exposure. The agency said that the...

The Biden administration has proposed a rule that it says will reduce pollution stemming from new gas-fired power plants and other industrial facilities. The proposal would require these plants to cut their emissions of pollutants known as nitrogen oxides, which can lead to smog formation and contribute to asthma in people with long-term exposure.  The agency said that the regulation would reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by as many as  198 tons in 2027 and 2,659 tons in 2032.  However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule is not expected to become final before inauguration day, meaning it would be up to the Trump administration to decide whether to move ahead with it.  The incoming Trump administration has indicated that it hopes to reduce regulations on both the economy as a whole and the power sector in particular. Nevertheless, environmental advocates, who praised the Biden action, said they would push the incoming Trump administration to keep it.  “The Biden-Harris administration’s proposed rule is an important and long-overdue step towards limiting dangerous smog and soot-forming pollution,” said Matthew Davis, vice president of federal policy at the League of Conservation Voters, in a written statement.  “We will continue to press the EPA to improve on these important clean air safeguards and will hold the future Trump administration accountable to the court-ordered deadline to finalize a protective rule in November 2025,” he added.  A 2023 legal agreement between the EPA and environmental groups who sued the agency says the EPA has to either tighten the standards or issue a formal decision not to do so no later than November 12, 2025. 

Pollution
Conservation

Suggested Viewing

CHAO CARBÓN DOCUMENTARY

Mr. Aes Gener is a greedy mega-entrepreneur in the energy business. Through his story we get into the dirty business he has done in Chile and the world with coal, while we see, through archival footage, the damage to people and nature of this obsolete and polluting fossil fuel.

Energy
Pollution
Activism

Again, Together - The Cumulative Impact of Environmental Racism in Houston

"Again, Together" is a film created in partnership with Ronald L. Jones, bringing stories from communities across Houston that have been impacted by environmental racism — namely redlining, segregation, underinvestment, exposure to pollution, gentrification, inequitable disaster recovery resources and freeway development.

Social Justice
Pollution
Health

Ser Manguezal

Ser Manguezal, created by Eliseu Cavalcante, was inspired by Josué de Castro's book "Of Men and Crabs" from 1967. De Castro was a Brazilian geographer, physician, writer and activist against world hunger. In his book, Castro envisions men as crabs, learning to walk in the mangroves. This relationship between them seems to unify and blend all together making the human being part of that specific biome. This film is part of an ongoing project that examines those who depend on the mangrove ecosystem to survive, and the delicate relationship between humans and this particular ecosystem. It seeks to recognize the hard-working crab hunters of the mangroves and make their work more visible, and to bring awareness about the importance of mangroves to the environment. Worldwide, 3,400 square kilometers (1,300 square miles) of mangrove forests were lost between 2000 and 2016, or about 2% of the global mangrove area (NASA). About 62% of the losses were due to direct human causes such as agriculture and aquaculture. Mangrove degradation is greater than the average for tropical and subtropical forest loss.

Water
Conservation
Plants

Mayday Terranean

Mayday Terranean is a documentary film portraying the problems of the Mediterranean Sea as well as the beauty it still has to offer. Scientists, conservationists and activists from countries around the Mediterranean Sea talk about the topic, their relationship to ocean conservation and shed light on the story of this wonderful but endangered place.

Water
Pollution
Conservation

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 1: Return to the Wild

Go behind the scenes with Wilderness Documentarian Ross Thomas as he learns the amazing and inspiring stories of the critically endangered California condor. Ross meets the Ventana Wildlife Society experts who have been working since 1997 to restore these majestic giants to the wild Big Sur coast. Ross’s epic journey begins with a once-in-a-lifetime visit with Senior Wildlife Biologist and California Condor Recovery Program Manager, Joe Burnett, to a wild condor’s nest deep in the Big Sur wilderness. Ross witnesses the intimate interaction between a condor parent and its new chick in the crown of a giant redwood tree. Ross then travels with Joe to see the Condor’s Big Sur sanctuary, which was destroyed by the Dolan Fire in 2020.

Conservation
Extinction
Pollution

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