EPA proposal takes on health risks near US chemical plants

By  MICHAEL PHILLIS The Associated Press In what could prove a significant move for communities facing air pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed on Thursday that chemical plants nationwide measure certain hazardous compounds that cross beyond their property lines and reduce them when they are too high. The proposed rules would reduce cancer risk and

Toxic fumes on board airplanes? Airlines may have to do something about it

Masked passengers fill a Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank to Las Vegas on June 3, with middle seats left open. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS) By Kiera Feldman Los Angeles Times The airline industry would be forced to adopt new measures to protect passengers and crew members from toxic fumes on airplanes under a bill introduced

Commercial aviation, built on pollution, is getting a tiny bit greener

An Airbus SE A380-800 Emirates commercial airliner prepares to land at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada. (Brent Lewin / Bloomberg) By  William Ralston Bloomberg The amount of time between planes landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport might seem prosaic to the untrained eye, but there’s a lot more going on than a pilot negotiating

Identifying Overburdened Communities

Introduction The Climate Commitment Act requires Ecology to create a Cap & Invest program to lower greenhouse gas emissions across the state. Additionally, the  Climate Commitment Act  requires us to identify “ overburdened communities  highly impacted by air pollution,” and make sure that this program reduces a class of pollutants called  “criteria” air pollutants , as well

Why Seattle needs to start taking wildfire smoke more seriously

1 of 2 | Feven Breuner, 14, was taken to Seattle Children’s hospital several times since September due to asthma and respiratory issues exacerbated by wildfire smoke. (Greg Gilbert / The Seattle Times) Skip Ad By Naomi Ishisaka Seattle Times columnist Feven Breuner just wants to breathe. That’s not been easy the past couple of months for the

It’s not your imagination, ‘smoke season’ has become real in Seattle

Almost all of the summer and fall “bad air” days since monitoring began were in the last six years, showing that wildfire smoke events in Seattle really are a recent phenomenon. (Kylie Cooper / The Seattle Times)   By Danny Westneat  Seattle Times columnist When the Spanish flu was pronounced over back in 1918, Seattleites