Air

"Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached their annual peak last month, and once again were the highest in human history. Despite the economic collapse resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to sharp declines in carbon dioxide emissions, the amount of the greenhouse gas has continued to climb."

"A key measure of carbon dioxide emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere hit a record in May even as a global pandemic brought the world’s economies to a virtual standstill this year, according to U.S. government data published on Thursday."

"The Trump administration, in twin actions to curb environmental regulations, moved on Thursday to temporarily speed the construction of energy projects and to permanently weaken federal authority to issue stringent clean air and climate change rules."

"From Washington to Los Angeles, the scene has become eerily mundane in the last week: The soft thud of a tear gas canister landing on pavement, followed by a billow of white smoke enveloping a throng of fleeing demonstrators."

"The EPA disagreed with a White House request to use current data when revising its rule on mercury air pollution, publicly available email exchanges show, which a law professor says could weaken the agency’s legal defense of the regulation."

"James Enstrom’s work on particle pollution’s health effects contradicts the findings of dozens of studies, but that hasn’t stopped the agency from relying on it."

"A coal company has challenged an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) power plant pollution regulation in court after the agency recently finalized changes that weaken the standards' legal underpinnings."

"Some of the nation’s automakers are set to intervene in a lawsuit from a conservative group challenging the Trump administration’s plans to drastically reduce fuel economy standards."