The Environmental Protection Agency is clamping down on methane emissions, and environmental groups say West Virginians' health will benefit.

Methane is the single largest greenhouse gas source in the United States, now generating more pollutants than the nation's shrinking coal industry. The regulations address natural gas processing and transportation, where the vast bulk of methane is released into communities.

Angie Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, said the state has an especially high concentration of oil and gas wells, with more than half of residents living within a mile of a facility.

"These efforts to reduce methane will mean better air quality in our communities," Rosser contended. "Which means better health for our residents and also good news for reducing and slowing climate change."

Rosser added the new rules come at a time when the state faces increased risk of severe flooding. She noted communities near wells are at greatest risk of potentially costly and dangerous explosions and health effects of leaking methane. In a statement, the American Petroleum Institute said "to be truly effective, this rule must balance emissions reductions with the need to continue meeting rising energy demand."

Rosser added new technologies and third-party regulators tied to stricter methane regulation could expand West Virginia's job market.

"This rule also provides the potential to create new jobs in the state, that are needed," Rosser emphasized. "We're looking at how we can leverage this rule to create a whole new class of jobs that deal with methane mitigation."

According to the BlueGreen Alliance, made up of labor unions and environmental groups, more than 10,000 jobs could be created annually nationwide over the next decade with stronger efforts to curb methane emissions.


get more stories like this via email

As Cleveland tightens its air quality standards for the first time since 1977, health officials are urging residents to take simple steps at home to reduce their exposure to harmful pollutants.

The Environmental Protection Agency reported Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors, where air pollution levels can be two to five times higher than outdoor air.

Richard Stewart, public information officer of the Department of Public Health for the City of Cleveland, said the city's push is part of its efforts to engage local residents with new monitoring tools and resources through its "CLEANinCLE" initiative.

"A lot of folks don't realize small changes inside the home can really improve your quality of life," Stewart pointed out. "For example, taking your shoes off before you come in the house, checking for lead paint dust, cracking windows. Just regular cleaning can make a big difference in improved air quality in your house."

CLEANinCLE is a community air monitoring project, including sensors in multiple neighborhoods. The health department hosts two public meetings this week, one Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Frederick Douglass Recreation Center and another on Thursday at the Community of Faith Assembly. Both events include free in-home air assessments and raffles for air purifiers and electric stoves.

While many cities face water-related lead risks, Stewart noted one of Cleveland's biggest concerns is still old paint. Officials are asking residents to look out for cracking or peeling paint surfaces, especially in older housing and report issues which could expose children to lead.

"There's no amount of lead that's acceptable in a child's bloodstream," Stewart emphasized. "If you see that 'alligator paint,' where it's cracking and kind of fizzling on the house, contact your landlord. And if you're not getting any results, contact us."

The city also has a Lead Hazard Control Grant Program to help eligible property owners remove lead paint.

A new study shows trees in mid-city Los Angeles absorb up to 60% of carbon dioxide emissions during spring and summer when the trees are most active.

In 2021, researchers from the University of Southern California placed 12 sensors in central L.A. to monitor carbon dioxide levels.

Will Berelson, professor of earth sciences, environmental studies and spatial sciences at the University of Southern California-Dornsife, said trees are surprisingly effective at lowering carbon dioxide levels in the air.

"The input of CO2 from cars is predicted to be a certain level," Berelson explained. "But when we look for CO2, we find much less. This difference is due to uptake of CO2 by trees."

Berelson pointed out emissions are like passengers on a train, as wind moves pollution through the city, where some get picked up and dropped off. The sensors measure the pollution in real time. The research published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found trees absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide, averaged over 24-hour periods over a year. So clean energy, improved public transit and broader emissions reductions are still needed.

Berelson noted the sensors, called a Carbon Census Array, will track carbon dioxide levels for years to come.

"The City of L.A. is always committed to reducing emissions and it isn't clear how they're going to keep track of whether their emissions have actually lowered or not," Berelson observed. "But we've got a way to now track emissions and quantify emissions."

The sensor network is now being expanded, with 12 additional sensors reaching out to Santa Monica on the west side of the city.

The negative effects on air quality from industrialized animal facilities in North Carolina stick around for a long time, according to a new study.

The research showed the effects are felt most by communities of color.

Sally Pusede, associate professor of environmental science at the University of Virginia and lead author of the study, said her team used satellite measurements of ammonia pollution associated with industrialized swine operations in eastern North Carolina.

"Those ammonia air quality impacts are disproportionately experienced by residents in eastern North Carolina who are Black and African American, Hispanic and Latino, and Indigenous," Pusede reported.

Compared to white communities, the study found ammonia concentrations were 27% higher for Black communities, 35% higher for Hispanic communities and 49% higher for indigenous communities between 2016 and 2021. Pusede noted satellite data from 2008 to 2013 showed the trends have largely remained unchanged.

Weather conditions can also increase the effects of ammonia pollution, with warm conditions and calm winds amplifying disparities. Pusede pointed out contrary to claims industrial swine operations only affect nearby communities, ammonia in warm conditions can travel quite far.

"Ammonia is emitted into the atmosphere, it travels downwind and then eventually that ammonia will deposit," Pusede explained. "The next day when the sun comes up, the air temperature warms, that ammonia can be reevaporated or revolatized into the atmosphere, and then can be transported even further downwind."

Pusede added broadly speaking, there are no protections from the air quality effects of industrial agriculture, not just ammonia but other pollutants as well.

"In North Carolina, there's a history of people not being protected by the state regulatory agencies," Pusede observed. "There's also not been regulations at the federal level from the EPA, and so that's a problem."


get more stories like this via email