Air quality, Regulation

EPA rescinds Trump rule expected to make air pollution regulation harder

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Read the full story at The Hill.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is rescinding a Trump-era rule that was expected to make it harder to regulate air pollution, the agency announced on Thursday. 

The agency issued an interim rule to rescind the previous rule, stating that the changes made by the prior rule were “inadvisable, untethered to the [Clean Air Act], and not necessary to effectuate the purposes of the Act.”

Rescinding the Trump-era rule will allow the agency to use the pre-Trump process as it carries out its own regulations.

Education, Climate change, Events

Summer Institute for Climate Change Education: A Re-grounding in Truth

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July 28–30, 2021
Cost: $250; Scholarships available
More information and to register

The NOAA Climate Program Office and The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program are hosting a virtual summer institute for climate change education. The event will include networking with a national audience, as well as one full day dedicated to working, planning, and learning with regional cohorts. On-screen time will be segmented, with the opportunity to choose which sessions you would like to attend.

Europe, Pollution prevention

EU Commission adopts zero pollution action plan

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Read the full story at New Europe.

The European Commission on May 12 adopted the Zero Pollution action plan, which sets out an integrated vision for 2050 where pollution is reduced to levels that are no longer harmful to human health and natural ecosystems, as well as the steps to get there.

Carbon capture/sequestration, Illinois

Catch me if you can: Carbon trapping experiment set for Springfield

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Read the full story in the Illinois Times.

The state and federal governments have granted $67 million for a project at City Water, Light and Power aimed at capturing carbon dioxide from coal before emissions reach the air.

Construction is expected to begin next year, with operations commencing in 2023. “We’re committed to run this, roughly, through 2024,” said Kevin O’Brien, director of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana, which is overseeing the project. “We’ll know pretty well early on how well this is working. Fingers crossed, it will work very, very well.”

Illinois, Natural resources, Prairie Research Institute

The wild world of Illinois’ state biologist: Marsh rice mice to swamp rabbits to white-tailed deer

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Read the full story in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Eric Schauber brings a wide-ranging experience in the wild world and academia to his dual role as Illinois’ state biologist.

Renewable energy

Eminent domain opens doors for fossil fuels — could it do the same for renewable energy?

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Read the full story at Grist.

Environmentalists have long opposed it for fossil fuel projects. Now, the legal power could be vital to building renewable infrastructure.

Agriculture, Corporate sustainability, Food and beverage manufacturing

‘Regenerative farming practices can help restore the earth’: PepsiCo discusses its Positive Agriculture Programme

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Read the full story at Food Navigator.

By 2030, PepsiCo wants to have spread regenerative farming practices to 7m acres of cultivated land, the equivalent of its entire agricultural footprint. FoodNavigator hears from David Wilkinson, Senior Director of European Agriculture for PepsiCo Europe, to learn more.

Publications, Solar, Sports

Sports going solar cuts costs, creates jobs and is climate positive

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Read the full story from the Australian Conservation Foundation.

Installing solar panels on major sports stadiums and on the roofs of cricket, soccer and AFL head offices could generate around 20,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy – enough to power 2,890 households, new research has found…

The research was conducted by the School of Photovoltaic & Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE) at the University of New South Wales and the Australian PV Institute (APVI).

Corporate sustainability, Food and beverage manufacturing, Supply chain

‘Supercharging adoption of sustainable solutions’: The Coca-Cola Company joins AB InBev 100+ Accelerator

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Read the full story at Beverage Daily.

The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive Company and Unilever have joined AB InBev’s 100+ Accelerator to fund and pilot sustainable innovation in supply chains.

Environmental justice

Environmental justice fueled by social science, engagement

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Read the full story from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Under the midday sun, several people sat fishing on the bank of a meandering river. They were just downstream from a nuclear power plant.

“Most people don’t fish in the middle of a weekday,” said Dave Anderson, an economist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). “It turns out, they were fishing for food.”

Since 1994, PNNL has been assessing environmental justice related to licensing large, complex energy infrastructure projects, which sometimes occur near minority and low-income communities. Like the people fishing, these communities can be directly affected by the noise, chemicals, traffic, and other effects of industrial areas and may not see any of the economic benefits toward their long-term quality of life. When a site is proposed, multidisciplinary teams from PNNL are behind the scenes identifying potentially affected communities and conducting evaluations to see if there are disproportionate impacts to underserved groups.

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