Arizona leaders are encouraged by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new soot standards they said will protect people from dangerous and deadly particle pollution.

Sandy Bahr, director of the Grand Canyon chapter of the Sierra Club, said the revised standards will help reduce harmful pollution and improve air quality by lowering the standard for fine particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter, known as PM 2.5, from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to nine micrograms per cubic meter.

"Due to its small size, soot can penetrate our lungs, get into our blood stream causing really harmful impacts, including premature death, heart disease, aggravated asthma and decreased lung function, coughing and difficulty breathing," Bahr outlined.

The EPA said the new standards will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, yielding up to $46 billion in net health benefits in 2032.

Bahr pointed out the standard failed to strengthen the 24-hour PM 2.5 standard, which would have helped protect Arizonans from short-term spikes in air pollution.

Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, contended the new standards are what he considers "a call to action," for air quality districts around the state and Arizona's Department of Environmental Quality.

"To come up with new plans to implement new strategies to reduce the amount of particulate matter this is coming off of agricultural lands, industry, paved roads, even fireplace dust and smoke," Humble urged. "There's a lot of different sources that they're going to have to take a look at now."

Humble added the new standard will prevent air quality districts and the Department of Environmental Quality from placing their monitoring stations in areas he said they know are clean, instead focusing on communities where people live and work.

Recent extreme wildfires in Wyoming burned nearly 500,000 acres and among those recovering are ranchers and their surviving livestock.

Wildfires burned through large swaths of ranch lands in northern Wyoming and southern Montana last month, including the House Draw Fire, which blazed across nearly 175,000 acres in Johnson and Campbell counties. No homes or human lives were lost, but important ranching resources were, such as hundreds of miles of fencing, winter forage and summer grazing grounds.

Micah Most, agriculture and natural resources educator for the University of Wyoming Extension, said livestock deaths are hard to tally, but the injuries are apparent.

"We're seeing a lot of cattle with injured feet, burned feet, from walking through or over the hot ground as they were escaping," Most pointed out. "A lot of stress just generally on those animals."

Most emphasized the outpouring of support from people in Wyoming and beyond has been "deeply meaningful." The office is coordinating hay donations, locals are helping with livestock relocation and a community network is hosting a drive for fencing supplies. Financial donations can be made to Wyoming Rancher Fire Relief and elsewhere.

Most explained some injured animals may need to be culled from the herd and sold at a discounted price. Extension offices across the state have been revisiting their emergency preparedness and response materials to help people and ranchers deal with increasingly extreme weather events.

"Finding ways to kind of harden your home area, maybe the home ranch place, and limit some of the risk factors," Most stressed.

The fires also burned through important habitat for pronghorn, mule deer and breeding grounds important to the greater sage grouse.

Environmental leaders are set to gather in Durham to address how climate change is impacting human health and well-being.

Emily Wolfe, health manager for CleanAIRE NC, said the cascading effects of climate change are clear. The ninth annual NC BREATHE Conference aims to connect climate leaders and environmental health professionals to address challenges.

"We'll be talking about policy and policy change as it relates to environmental impacts on human health and well-being and community health," Wolfe outlined. "We'll be talking about specific pollutants and connections to human health and well-being."

Wolfe pointed out the conference will cover topics from air quality to heat exposure. Keynote speaker Harold Mitchell will share his personal experience transitioning from an environmental health victim to an advocate for policy change. The conference will take place on Oct. 1-2 at the JB Duke Hotel.

According to the World Health Organization, climate change affects health in various ways, from illness to extreme weather to food system disruptions.

Jeff Robbins, executive director of CleanAIRE NC, said while much focus is on resolving the root causes of the issues, the mental toll of environmental crises is often overlooked. He emphasized a key goal of the conference is to address stressors.

"One of the things that we really wanted to explore this year is the mental health aspects of the environmental impacts on folks," Robbins explained. "This is new for us this year in terms of how do we explore that, how do we start to identify some of those issues, and then how does that then inform what we do going forward."

Another major topic is PFAS, harmful chemicals linked to cancer and immune-system damage. While PFAS contamination in water is well known, Robbins stressed new research will shed light on how the chemicals affect the environment in other ways.

"This research is kind of going to shed some light on what are the findings and some of the issues relative to airborne PFAS," Robbins added.

Organizers hope the conference fosters collaboration and generates actionable ideas to protect communities from the growing threats of pollution and climate change.


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Indigenous water protectors and allies met at Michigan's Straits of Mackinac last week, to spotlight the dangers of the 71-year-old Line 5, deemed North America's riskiest crude oil pipeline.

Headlined by the nonprofit Oil and Water Don't Mix, the protests featured two main events: The "Pipe Out Paddle Up" in St. Ignace which showcased a flotilla against Enbridge's Line Five oil spill risk, followed by the "Water is Life Festival" in Petoskey, celebrating local music and advocacy for ending Line Five's threat.

Nichole Keway Biber, Michigan organizer for Clean Water Action, a member of the Oil and Water Don't Mix coalition, explained Indigenous people have been given stewardship over the waters.

"Also really critical to us having lived relationship to our culture and what our teachings are and our instructions are," Keway Biber explained. "So much of that is to protect and oversee the water and the wildlife."

Keway Biber emphasized the events focused on the preservation of the Indigenous way of life. Enbridge has maintained Line Five's safety is exclusively regulated by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Keway Biber noted there are many individuals, both from Michigan and beyond, who treasure and deeply value the Great Lakes but remain unaware of the significant threats posed by Line Five.

"They may not know we're constantly just a moment away from this catastrophic kind of ruination of those precious fresh waters," Keway Biber stressed. "It's powerful for them to first and foremost here about it from people who are committed to protecting the water and the people and the wildlife."

Enbridge moves up to 540,000 barrels of light crude oil, light synthetic crude oil and liquefied natural gas through Line Five.