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Advocates say ICC Made Important Steps to Protect Customers Despite Rate Increase

The global backdrop to this month’s newsletter is somber. Still, there are bright spots for climate progress, and important opportunities for business action and advocacy.

What Happened? Last month, FDA’s scientists published the toxicological reference value (TRV) for exposure to cadmium in the diet. This value is the amount of a chemical—in this case cadmium—a person can consume in their daily diet that would not be expected to cause adverse health effects and can be used for food safety decision-making.

This year, California marked the 10th anniversary of its landmark cap-and-trade program, and the Golden State has good reason to celebrate: California saw reduced year-on-year emissions from nearly every sector covered by the program. On top of delivering on critical emissions reductions, cap-and-trade has generated revenue resulting in $9.3 billion implemented through California Climate Investments …

Twenty-nine public interest groups sent a letter to President Biden today expressing strong support for protective limits on particulate matter pollution in EPA’s pending standards for cars and passenger trucks.

Environmental Defense Fund today praised updated EPA regulations that will clarify how states and the federal government can work together to reduce harmful pollution under one of our nation’s key clean air laws.

NOTE: This is the fifth in a series about EPA’s regulation of new chemicals. See below under Go Deeper for links to the other blogs in the series. What Happened? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed new regulations for its safety reviews of new chemicals under our nation’s primary chemicals law, the Toxic Substances …

Statement by Derek Walker, Vice President of EDF's U.S. Region

In a move that will protect communities across the country, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will soon finalize new rules to reduce methane and other toxic, smog-forming  pollution from the nation’s oil and gas industry. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that’s fueling much of the climate crisis due to the excessive warming it creates …

Today, a broad group of environmental, civic, and environmental justice organizations celebrate New York State’s action requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to better protect communities and the region from damaging and frequent flooding harms. In response to demands from the public as well as state and federal elected officials, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) last week sent a letter to overhaul the $52.6 billion storm surge protection plan proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The State’s letter triggers a required process in federal law for the Corps to holistically study and provide solutions to address frequent tidal and river flooding, heavy rainfall, groundwater emergence, erosion, sea level rise, and storm surge as a part of the Corps’ New York- New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Study. The state’s letter joins concerns raised by a group of 14 bipartisan Members of Congress and 38 New York State legislators.

By Maria Doa, PhD, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy, and Colin Parts, Legal Fellow NOTE: This is the fourth in a series about EPA’s regulation of new chemicals. See below under Go Deeper for links to the other blogs in the series. What Happened? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed new regulations for its safety …

EDF statement from Katie Schneer, Senior Analyst, U.S. Climate

The Biden administration today announced its modernization of key guidelines that inform how our nation responds to serious threats like health-harming environmental contaminants and climate-destabilizing pollution.

Vulnerable communities facing increased risk from flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, and other extreme weather could soon receive a big lifeline thanks to the introduction of the National Coordination on Adaptation and Resilience for Security (NCARS) Act. If passed, this bipartisan legislation would create a unified national strategy for disaster planning. This proactive approach would consolidate government …

Statement From EDF SVP for Political Affairs Elizabeth Gore

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s proposed Phase 3 Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards are poised to add yet another spark to the medium- and heavy-duty truck industry’s acceleration toward low- and zero-emission trucks. Whereas many of the incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act are intended to spark demand for zero-emission trucks, EPA’s proposed truck …

New EDF Economics Discussion Paper reviews the instrument options available to policy makers to address methane emissions from the coal sector during the coal phase-out. This paper complements previous EDF research focusing on instruments options for methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.   Coal use is one of the major sources of CO2 globally,

A modern, clean public transit system is critical to meeting climate goals. That's why EDF is working with a growing coalition of businesses, advocates and community groups to develop a comprehensive congestion pricing plan to help New York get there.

By Maria J. Doa, PhD, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy, and Greg Schweer, Consultant NOTE: This is the third in a series about EPA’s regulation of new chemicals. See below under Go Deeper for links to other blogs in the series. What Happened? EPA recently proposed regulations to govern how it reviews companies’ pre-manufacture notifications for …

Statement of EDF Senior Director Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, Jon Goldstein

Today, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued a statement outlining Washington’s intent to pursue linking its cap-and-invest program with the joint cap-and-trade system operated in California and Quebec.

This report from EDF and group of partners crossing sectors shares implementation lessons from a learning pilot in New York City designed to harness risk transfer to provide immediate and flexible post-flood assistance to under-resourced households.

The Environmental Protection Agency took important action to more fully recognize states’ authority to reduce the harmful pollution emitted by America’s older diesel trains.

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is deeply disappointed with the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court's decision today to strike down the state's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) regulation.

This report shares a process of social innovation undertaken to improve the financial recovery of low- and moderate-income (LMI) households from increasing climate disasters. The report first discusses the broader issue of cross-sector collaboration and team building and then walks through the insurance-based innovation steps in detail.