US Supreme Court declines to pause EPA power plant emissions rule

US Supreme Court declines to pause EPA power plant emissions rule

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to put on hold a new federal rule targeting carbon pollution from coal- and gas-fired power plants at the request of numerous states and industry groups in another major challenge to President Joe Biden’s efforts to combat climate change. The justices denied emergency requests by West Virginia, Indiana … Read more

Tesla asked Canada to reduce tariffs on its EVs made in China, Reuters source says

Tesla asked Canada to reduce tariffs on its EVs made in China, Reuters source says

Before Canada said this week it was imposing a 100 per cent duty on Chinese-made electric vehicles, Tesla approached Ottawa and asked for a lower tariff on its autos, a Canadian government source told Reuters on Wednesday. Canada, following the lead of the United States, said on Monday it was setting the tariff for all … Read more

Corn growers join lawsuit against EPA for emissions mandates

Corn growers join lawsuit against EPA for emissions mandates

(The Center Square) – Several U.S. oil and corn industry lobby groups are suing the Biden Administration over its plans to slash planet-warming tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks. The coalition argues the regulations will cause economic harm.  Dave Loos, Illinois Corn Growers Association director of Biofuels, says higher octane fuels could be a solution. The EPA finalized … Read more

Ottawa removes regulatory red tape for Trans Mountain pipeline

Ottawa removes regulatory red tape for Trans Mountain pipeline

Ahead of Canada’s plan to move the Trans Mountain pipeline to Indigenous ownership, the federal government is changing how it manages the pipeline, according to a notice published Wednesday on the federal government’s official newspaper, Canada Gazette. The Canada Development Investment Corporation and Trans Mountain Corporation will no longer need authorization from a top official, the governor … Read more

Exxon ordered to pay $725M to mechanic who claimed toxic chemicals caused cancer

Exxon ordered to pay 5M to mechanic who claimed toxic chemicals caused cancer

A Pennsylvania jury ordered ExxonMobil to pay $725.5 million to a former mechanic who claimed toxic chemicals in the company’s gasoline and solvents caused his cancer, according to attorneys for the plaintiff. The 10-2 verdict came on Thursday, attorneys said, after a trial in a state court in Philadelphia, where former mechanic Paul Gill alleged he was … Read more

EPA issues toughest rule yet on power plant emissions, but it’s likely to face court challenges

EPA issues toughest rule yet on power plant emissions, but it’s likely to face court challenges

Washington — Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency. New limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration’s most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector, the nation’s … Read more

‘CSI on the ocean’: Whale researchers comb B.C. waters for eDNA

‘CSI on the ocean’: Whale researchers comb B.C. waters for eDNA

It was just after 8 a.m. when Gary Sutton and his crew spotted the signature black dorsal fins cutting through the cool waters of the Salish Sea, off the coast of Vancouver Island. More than a dozen Bigg’s killer whales, also known as transient killer whales, swimming north in search of food. They surfaced every few minutes, the spray of their … Read more

U.S. eases vehicle emissions rules, but overall reduction targets remain unchanged

U.S. eases vehicle emissions rules, but overall reduction targets remain unchanged

The Biden administration on Wednesday slashed its target for U.S. electric vehicle adoption from 67 per cent by 2032 to as little as 35 per cent after industry and autoworker backlash in the political battleground state of Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) instead adopted a “technology neutral” regulatory scheme that allows automakers far more freedom … Read more

US Bans Last Form of Asbestos in Use

US Bans Last Form of Asbestos in Use

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday a comprehensive ban on asbestos, targeting the last remaining form of the chemical still used in the United States. Although asbestos was the first chemical banned under a 2016 chemical safety law removing it from many consumer products, the cancer-causing material is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake … Read more

North Bay, Ont., and DND move to remediate ‘forever chemicals’ site that contaminated drinking water

North Bay, Ont., and DND move to remediate ‘forever chemicals’ site that contaminated drinking water

The City of North Bay, Ont. and the Department of National Defence (DND) are set to begin a $20-million project this spring to remediate a site contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — often referred to as “forever chemicals.” From the early 1970s to mid-1990s, DND conducted training exercises at the city’s Jack Garland Airport with aqueous film-forming foams that contain … Read more