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(This post was co-authored by EDF’s Peter Zalzal) When organic waste ends up in landfills, it produces methane — a powerful climate pollutant —as it decomposes. In the U.S., landfills are our third largest source of methane and a major driver of climate change. They also emit large amounts of health-harming and even cancer-causing pollution,

  By Neda Deylami Misinformation about zero-emission vehicles and confusion around federal Environmental Protection Agency standards versus those states can adopt under the Clean Air Act waiver has left many manufacturers, small businesses and fleet managers wondering what market-based policies like the Advanced Clean Trucks rule could mean for their operations and bottom line.  The …

By Neda Deylami. This blog was co-authored by José Acosta-Córdova, Senior Transportation Policy Analyst at LVEJO Transportation accounts for almost one-third of Illinois’ greenhouse gas emissions — the sector responsible for the most GHG emissions in the state. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, such as delivery vans, transit buses and large tractor-trailers are a disproportionate contributor …

As the impacts of climate change reveal themselves to North Carolinians in the form of heat, flooding, wildfires, drought, and increasingly intense and more frequent tropical storms, the case for urgent action to combat climate change is strengthening. Our state has made important strides, setting vehicle electrification goals and power sector emissions reductions directives, but …

The spring of 2024 saw a flurry of new, historic U.S. climate regulations.

Hazel Chandler and her daughter Jen have made fighting for the climate a family tradition.

What’s new: The American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air report last month, showing that climate change is making it more difficult to clean up our polluted air. About one-third of all Americans were breathing unhealthy air in 2023—a greater number than in year’s past, despite gains made through ever improving vehicle,

What’s new: EDF released a report this week, Illinois Warehouse Boom, which examines the growth of mega-warehouses and their health impacts in communities across Illinois, building on its recent research in New York. The launch event featured a report overview by EDF authors, personal accounts from community advocates and remarks from three state legislators (see …

Statement of EDF President Fred Krupp

A new report released Wednesday, April 24, 2024 by the Environmental Defense Fund traces the growth of mega-warehouses in Illinois communities, driven in-part by the e-commerce boom.

A chemical company has dropped its plans to burn plastic waste in a small Pennsylvania town, but the industry is still pushing this risky, polluting technology. With the world’s first global plastics treaty on the line, health and environmental advocates are pushing back against the industry’s fake plastic recycling solution. 

Statement of Alice Henderson, EDF Director and Lead Counsel for Transportation and Clean Air

The number of liquid natural gas export terminals along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas is growing. President Biden has issued a temporary pause on approvals for new facilities to better assess the risks they pose to climate and the health of local communities. 

(This post was co-authored by EDF attorney Richard Yates) The Environmental Protection Agency is soon expected to update our national protections against mercury and other toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants – pollution that is extremely dangerous to human health and has been linked to brain damage in children. EPA proposed strengthening the Mercury and …

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced stronger rules to limit toxic pollution from petrochemical plants. The new rules include vital measures to protect the health and safety of communities on the fenceline of this pollution.

What’s new: EDF’s Global Clean Air team was proud to launch the Sall Methane and Health project in March of 2024, a new collaboration funded by the Sall Family Foundation to track the health impacts of methane emitted by the oil and gas industry in Mexico. Key partners in the project include: The Centro Mexicano …

Nearly two years ago, the U.S. secured historic investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and CHIPS and Science Act. This clean energy plan supports all the hard work being done to strengthen technology and pollution standards to advance environmental justice and health equity at all levels. It takes everyone, individuals, our elected leaders, industry and all levers of government protections to address these challenges meaningfully.

A new interactive map can help you identify potential chemical exposures in your neighborhood.

What’s new: EDF’s Global Clean Air (GCA) team met earlier this month with a working group within Brazil’s national government charged with updating the country’s air quality standards. EDF is providing technical support to the group, led by Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), to overhaul the country’s air quality management strategy, aiming …

EDF & Arup offer a roadmap to help ports reach net zero by 2050

A new study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment, Boston University School of Public Health and the Environmental Defense Fund finds that pollution from oil and gas venting and flaring results in $7.4 billion in health damages, more than 700 premature deaths and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children annually.

New study shows just how much congestion intensifies emissions from diesel vehicles   In a recently published study, researchers from the University of York and Environmental Defense Fund show how traffic exacerbates nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution from road vehicles, in particular from intense emitters like diesel trucks and buses, pointing to solutions that can bring an …

Statement of Sarah Vogel, Senior Vice President, Healthy Communities

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today took important steps to strengthen safeguards intended to prevent toxic chemical disasters at thousands of industrial facilities across the country.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed pollution standards for new cars, buses and freight trucks would save more than 40,000 lives and prevent more than 25 million asthma attacks, according to a new analysis by Environmental Defense Fund.