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Despite widespread commitments among oil producers to reduce natural gas flaring, 2021 saw a net increase in flaring emissions worldwide.

Air Tracker is a new web-based tool that allows users to plot the likely path of air pollution 

REPORT: For Senior Populations, Black Americans Are Three Times More Likely to Die from Exposure to Particle Pollution Than White Americans

Supreme Court Will Not Reimpose Ban on the Use of Best Available Science to Quantify Costs of Climate Damage

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading international nonprofit organization, announced today it has signed a new agreement with Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies (SNU GSES) to study where and how much methane escapes from the nation’s gas delivery system in Seoul.

Companies are designing strategies that will drive immediate and meaningful progress on their climate and net zero commitments. The pressure points – from investors, employees and customers – on companies to take accountability for their climate impacts is mounting, putting business leaders under pressure to find immediate ways to slash their emissions.   Many are turning …

Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals and Maricel Maffini, consultant A powerful investigative article by Politico’s Helena Bottemiller Evich revealed significant structural and leadership problems at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) food program. The article articulated what has been implicitly understood by the food safety community. It led to demands from Congress for Commissioner …

Maria Doa, Ph.D., Senior Director, Chemicals Policy  The EPA will release a draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of formaldehyde, a key scientific review that identifies and characterizes the hazards from chronic exposure to this known carcinogen. The draft assessment, due to be published tomorrow, will be reviewed by the National Academies of Science,

A new study published this week in the journal Nature Communications reveals that low-producing oil and gas wells are responsible for approximately half of the methane emitted from all well sites in the United States while accounting for only 6% of the nation’s oil and gas production.

Faced with rising seas and stronger storms coastal communities have come up with a pearl of an idea…use recycled oyster shells as infrastructure.

Maricel Maffini, consultant and Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director This blog is the fourth in our Broken GRAS series where we explore the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) voluntary notification system for novel chemicals added to food, how the process works in practice, and why it is broken. Companies voluntarily …

EDF and partners around the world are working to elevate seafood’s role in addressing food insecurity, particularly in tropical developing nations, and to

Consistent measurement is essential for high-quality soil carbon credits and good for farmers, businesses and governments working toward climate solutions. The post How regional accounting can boost the integrity of the voluntary soil carbon market first appeared on Growing Returns.

Researchers from EDF and Woodwell Climate Research Center recommended creating a crediting framework to strengthen the soil carbon market.

Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals It is always worth keeping an eye on the latest U.S. data on blood lead levels in children. While no amount of lead is safe, it is nice to see lower levels reported in findings released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late last year. In …

Check out EDF’s newest study: “The value of early methane mitigation in preserving Arctic summer sea ice.” Available now in Environmental Research Letters.

By Samantha Liskow, Lead Counsel, Health EPA has started to fulfill its promise to take another look at many of the chemical risk findings made during the Trump Administration. First up was “HBCD,” a collection of flame retardants present in many goods, including building insulation, furniture, and electronics. In its revised risk determination for the …

By Maria Doa, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy, and Lariah Edwards, Ph.D., EDF-George Washington University Postdoctoral Fellow EPA recently asked its Science Advisory Board to provide advice on how it can incorporate cumulative impact assessments into its decisions making and on research to support cumulative impact assessments. At a public meeting of the SAB on March …

Before committing to a buildout of hydrogen, we must know how hydrogen can contribute to climate change, including significant warming potential.

A new study developed by Roush Industries for EDF shows rapidly declining costs for zero-emission freight trucks and buses, underscoring the feasibility of rapidly deploying these vehicles that will help us save money, have healthier air, and address the climate crisis. The study, Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electrification Cost Evaluation, analyzes the cost of electrifying vehicles …

By Jon Goldstein and Grace Weatherall Reducing the amount of methane emitted from oil and gas infrastructure is among the cheapest and simplest solutions we have to reduce global warming quickly while protecting public health. The Environmental Protection Agency is in the midst of developing rules to curb these emissions from oil and gas producers …

EPA Science Advisory Committee Draft Letter Recommends EPA Strengthen Particulate Pollution Standard

EDF surveys using advanced technology pinpoint, quantify, and track methane emissions from oil and gas production facilities in the Permian Basin.

Lauren Ellis, Research Analyst, Environmental Health  We recently submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a subset of proposed Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) published by the New Chemicals program under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). We commend EPA for issuing these proposed SNURs. Our review of some of the SNURs, however, raised concerns about chemical releases to the environment, risks to consumers,

Maricel Maffini, consultant and Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director This blog is the third in our Broken GRAS series where we explore how the Food and Drug Administration’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) voluntary notification system for novel chemicals added to food works in practice and why it is broken. In this blog, we examine …