WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- The American Lung Association issued the following statement on Feb. 7, 2024: * * * In response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) finalizing updated National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Fine Particulate Matter, Harold Wimmer, President and CEO of the American Lung Association, issued the following statement: "Particle pollution kills thousands of people in the United States each year. Today's final rule from EPA on particulate matter pollution is   more

RICHMOND, Virginia, Feb. 8 -- Virginia Commonwealth University issued the following news: By Amelia Heymann It's a cliche, Shirlene Obuobi admits, but the Ghanaian-American physician - and self-taught cartoonist - is driven by the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. "Cliches are cliches for a reason," she said. "Images themselves come jam-packed with emotional content." Obuobi, M.D., visited Virginia Commonwealth University on Tuesday to deliver VCU Libraries' Black History   more

MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 8 -- The Australian Conservation Foundation issued the following news release: The Climate Council and the Australian Conservation Foundation are urgently calling for climate change to be a key focus in the reform of Australia's national environment law. This follows the release of the Senate inquiry report on the Climate Trigger Bill yesterday. New national polling, commissioned by the Climate Council, shows a strong consensus among Australians for climate change to  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration issued the following news release: The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that U.S. natural gas consumption reached a record high in January at 118 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). A burst of cold weather increased demand for heating and reduced natural gas production, which led to high inventory withdrawals. According to its February Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA expects natu  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- Environment America Research and Policy Center issued the following statement on Feb. 7, 2024: * * * The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a new rule on Wednesday to reduce soot pollution. Soot, also known as particulate matter, is one of the deadliest forms of air pollution since the small particles can easily enter people's lungs and trigger asthma attacks, heart disease, lung disease and cancer. The EPA estimates that achieving the new standards wil  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following news release on Feb. 6, 2024: * * * Settlement Advances EPA's National Enforcement Priority of Protecting Communities from Coal Ash Contamination * * * Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement under the Agency's Coal Ash (Coal Combustion Residuals) program with the Greenidge Generation LLC, an electrical generating plant in Dresden, New York. This settlement, the first under EPA  more

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb. 7 -- Global Witness, an organization that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption and human rights abuses worldwide, issued the following news release on Feb. 6, 2024: The European Commission today set the ball rolling on the process to agree the European Union's climate targets for 2040, with a suggestion for a headline target of 90% net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 relative to 1990 levels. However  more

PARIS, France, Feb. 8 -- International Federation for Human Rights issued the following news release on Feb. 7, 2024: * * * Seven United Nations special rapporteurs and working groups expressed their utmost concern about the adverse human rights impacts of the Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTPC for its acronym in spanish). This statement follows an intense campaign -promoted by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the National Committee for the Fight against Clima  more

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 8 (TNSres) -- Khalifa University issued the following news: * * * New model harnesses machine learning to efficiently predict hydrogen adsorption in shale gas formations, will save significant time in planning underground hydrogen storage * * * Hydrogen is a promising clean fuel alternative, but its storage poses problems for large-scale use. There is potential for underground hydrogen storage, but researchers need to be able to predict how much it is po  more

CHIPPENDALE, Australia, Feb. 8 -- The Nature Conservation Council issued the following news release on Feb. 7, 2024: The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state's leading environmental advocacy organisation, has today welcomed the introduction of legislation to ban offshore mineral, coal and petroleum exploration, mining and gas drilling (and associated infrastructure) in NSW waters. "I applaud Minister Sharpe and the Minns Government for the leadership they have shown   more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Feb. 8 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management issued the following news release: The biggest land parcel transfer at East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) has just been completed. DOE's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has transferred a 365-acre tract where a powerhouse complex was once located to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee (CROET). CROET is a local nonprofit that receives building and pr  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement issued the following news on Feb. 7, 2024: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement today announced more than $5.8 million in fiscal year 2023 funding from President Biden's Investing in America agenda to address dangerous and polluting abandoned mines and to create good-paying jobs and catalyze economic opportunity by reclaiming abandoned mine lands in Missouri. Mil  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- The Oregon State Public Interest Research Group issued the following statement on Feb. 7, 2024: * * * The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a new rule on Wednesday to reduce soot pollution. Soot, also known as particulate matter, is one of the deadliest forms of air pollution since the small particles can easily enter people's lungs and trigger asthma attacks, heart disease, lung disease and cancer. The EPA estimates that achieving the new standards wil  more

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Feb. 8 -- The Sierra Club issued the following news release on Feb. 7, 2024: Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long-awaited National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter (PM2.5) -- commonly known as soot -- which will lower the annual standard from 12 mcg/m3 to 9 mcg/m3. Soot pollution is shown to increase the risk of asthma, heart attacks, stroke, cancer, and premature death, and nationally, this new standard is expected to   more

OAK CREEK, Wisconsin, Feb. 8 -- The Sierra Club issued the following statement on Feb. 7, 2024: * * * Today, the EPA released updated National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM2.5), or soot, taking a positive and long-awaited step toward addressing a dangerous and deadly air pollutant responsible for over 100,000 deaths in the United States every year. EPA's final air quality standards for soot lowers the annual standards from 12 mcg/m3 to 9 mcg/m3, and will pre  more

ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb. 8 -- The Southern Environmental Law Center issued the following news release on Feb. 7, 2024: Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency significantly strengthened the national standard for fine particulate matter pollution, determining that many more people would have continued to die prematurely under the previous standard. "Today's action is a very positive step," said Keri Powell, Senior Attorney and Leader of SELC's Air Program. "The strengthened standard will   more