clean air act posts, articles, and infographics

What Would It Be Like if the GOP Abolished the EPA?

January 10, 2012 by Peter Lehner
with 484 views

The Republican Party has turned the Environmental Protection Agency into a political punching bag in the past year. GOP lawmakers routinely call for abolishing the agency and scraping the government standards that protect us from pollution. These attacks are part of the GOP’s larger ideological war against government regulation. But what... [read more]

“We can’t wait” … The President Stands Up to Fossil Interests

December 14, 2011 by A Siegel
with 361 views

President Barack Obama might finally have crystalized to a core message that, honestly, should have been core from the election through today.We cannot wait …- To address the health care inequities, costs, and shortfalls- To foster a more honest engagement between the financial community (Wall Street) and the citizenry (Main Street)- To... [read more]

If You’re Male and <40, Thank The Clean Air Act …

November 3, 2011 by A Siegel
with 303 views

We know that the regulation leads to a safer society and that regulatory paths toward reducing pollution loads leads to a healthier society. These are simply facts. Those facts, however, can be difficult to translate from larger statistics to our personal lives. A new research paper from Nicholas J. Sanders and Charles F. Stoecker provides something that any American young man might wish to consider. [read more]

Right In Your Backyard: Climate Change Threatens Health

August 5, 2011 by Kim Knowlton
with 303 views

Now consumers have access to a new tool called “Climate Change Threatens Health.” These pages (www.nrdc.org/climatemaps ) bring the effects of climate change down to the local level. Users can zoom in on 5 US maps, see how their health is vulnerable to climate change, and learn about what’s needed to protect their families and reduce climate change. [read more]

Important Lessons To Learn From The CAFE Standard Compromise

July 29, 2011 by David Doniger
with 161 views

Today President Obama will announce a third historic agreement to bring us cleaner cars and trucks, dramatically cutting carbon pollution and raising fuel economy for new cars, SUVs, minivans, and pick-ups built between 2017 and 2025. The latest Clean Car Peace Treaty builds on a 2009 agreement for 2012-16 vehicles, and a 2010 pact... [read more]

What We Need: Moderation, Innovation, and Entrepreneurial Solutions

June 28, 2011 by Scott Edward Anderson
with 263 views

On a late September morning I walked into the FOX Business studio in New York to sit down with host Stuart Varney and former EPA head Christine Todd Whitman. We were talking about why environmentalists seemed to be increasingly disgruntled as 2010 was coming to a close. "The environmentalists were disappointed they didn't get all they... [read more]

Supreme Court Doubles Down on EPA and Clean Air Act

June 23, 2011 by Steve Seidel
with 352 views

In a unanimous (8-0) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in AEP v Conn that the state and land trust plaintiffs could not invoke a federal common law public nuisance claim against the five largest electric power companies. The plaintiffs in the case were seeking controls on the carbon dioxide emissions from the utilities’ power... [read more]

Business to Congress: Let The EPA Do Its Job

March 30, 2011 by Nicole Lederer
with 228 views

A vocal group in Congress is attacking the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through the Clean Air Act. These lawmakers say leaving the EPA in charge of large polluters is bad for business.If they were truly interested in helping to turn our economy and getting Americans back to work, they... [read more]

Wall Street Journal's Baloney on EPA and Carbon

March 29, 2011 by David Doniger
with 232 views

They say passing legislation is like making sausage. Well, at the Wall Street Journal, writing editorials is like making baloney. On Monday the Journal unsurprisingly put its megaphone behind Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) to amendment to block EPA from curbing dangerous carbon pollution. McConnell’s amendment, which may... [read more]

Happy Birthday to the Clean Air Act -- 40 Years Young!

December 31, 2010 by nrdc switchboard
with 1,385 views

We've been celebrating the Clean Air Act's 40th anniversary a lot this year, but today is the old girl's actual birthday. President Richard M. Nixon signed the 1970 Clean Air Act into law on the last day of that year. In his remarks, he saluted the new law as the achievement of leaders of both parties: "How did this... [read more]

Texas Home Alone: Another Court Rejects Challenge to Coming Carbon Standards

December 29, 2010 by nrdc switchboard
with 808 views

Texas just lost another round in its bizarre and solitary quest to block the first carbon pollution control requirements under the Clean Air Act, which take effect next week. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in New Orleans, rejected the State’s request for a “stay” of one of the key steps being taken by the Environmental... [read more]

Clean Air Standards Coming for America's Biggest Carbon Polluters

December 23, 2010 by nrdc switchboard
with 930 views

In a big step forward to protect Americans’ health and well-being, EPA is announcing today a two-year plan to set clean air standards for power plants and oil refineries, the two largest industrial sources of the dangerous pollution that drives global warming. Following on the heels of the Obama administration’s breakthrough... [read more]

David Doniger - Supreme Court to Hear Case Against Nation's Biggest Carbon Polluters

December 6, 2010 by nrdc switchboard
with 719 views

The Supreme Court will hear challenges by America's biggest power companies to a landmark appeals court ruling in Connecticut v. American Electric Power that they can be sued to curb their emissions of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming. Four coal-burning power companies – American Electric Power, Southern Company,... [read more]

David Doniger: The Alone Star State

November 4, 2010 by nrdc switchboard
with 1,168 views

By David Doniger, Policy Director, NRDC Climate CenterTexas, together with a slew of industry associations and right-wing groups, has brought a blizzard of lawsuits to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s initial steps to reduce the dangerous pollution that is driving global warming. As President Obama said yesterday,... [read more]

The Right, the Far-Right, and the Out-of-Sight-Right Attack EPA's Carbon Pollution Standards

September 16, 2010 by nrdc switchboard
with 669 views

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landmark Clean Air Act this year, a new poll shows that nearly three out of four Americans support protecting the EPA’s authority to take steps that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities and other major industrial polluters. More than four out of five Americans... [read more]