Tag: clean air

Power Plant Pollution

The air we breathe is precious. Please help protect it, and drive less!

Fossil fuels are a major contributor to our changing climate. We need to get rid of them not add more to cause air and water pollution.

United States allows more greenhouse gas emissions
Thid week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was repealing a 2024 regulation that limited carbon emissions from power plants. This follows an action earlier this year that revoked a finding that carbon dioxide emissions were a threat to public health.

Fossil fuel power plants are the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, only behind the transportation industry.

Separately, the EPA is also pursuing a new rule that would prevent future governments from imposing a limit on emissions from power plants.

If you live in the United States and want to take action, reach out to environmental groups, engage in conversations within your community and speak to your elected officials. and drive less.

Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return

What if we act as if we love the future?

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

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What if we act as if we love the future?

Plastic is YUCK

This is excellent from USPIRG

When it comes to plastic, what goes around comes around. And not in a good way.We like to think plastic is gone for good after we throw it in the recycling bin or trash can. But plastic doesn’t just disappear. Instead, it finds its way back to us in the food we eat, in the water we drink, and even in the very air we breathe.The more we learn, the more concerned we become about plastic. It’s not only trashing our environment, it’s also getting into our bodies. That’s information you should be aware of and might want to pass on to your friends and neighbors.Let’s take a look at the ways in which the plastic we throw out eventually comes back to haunt us:Plastic is in our food. (Yuck.)Believe it or not, plastic particles called microplastics have been found in countless food items. Marine animals routinely mistake tiny microplastics for food. When we eat fish, shrimp or shellfish, we may eat the plastic these animals once consumed.1Plastic isn’t only in seafood. Microplastics are contaminating soil, and plants may absorb them through their root systems. This means that plastic may be finding its way into carrots, lettuce, potatoes and other common vegetables that we eat.2It's also in our water. (Yuck.)Microplastics are tiny. So tiny, in fact, that they can easily bypass standard water filtration systems. Studies have detected microplastics in tap water samples from cities all over the world.3If you think bottled water is plastic-free, think again. A single liter of bottled water may contain an average of 240,000 detectable plastic fragments, largely shedding from the bottle itself and the capping process.4Plastic is even in the air we breathe. (Yikes.)Because microplastics are lightweight, wind easily sweeps up plastic fibers from car tires, degraded trash and even polyester clothing. These airborne plastics can travel thousands of miles, settling in city streets, parks and everywhere in between. And when they’re airborne, people unknowingly inhale them.5We already have plenty of plastic. But they keep making more and more.If current trends hold, 1.2 billion tons of plastic could be manufactured each year by 2050. To put this number into perspective, the cumulative total would be enough to completely cover the U.S. in a layer of plastic that’s ankle-deep.6At PIRG, we refuse to let this become our future.We’re urging grocers to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging and petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to enact meaningful limits on microplastics in drinking water. And by raising public awareness of plastic’s problems, we’re working to generate the groundswell of support that’s necessary for meaningful change.But we can’t do it without you. Our work relies on the dedication of members like you who refuse to let the plastics industry dictate the health of our families and the future of our planet.Thank you for standing with us,Faye Park
President

P.S. Problems this big demand all hands on deck. You can help us reduce plastic waste and pollution with a donation today.

1. Lisa Frank, “New study finds microplastics in commonly eaten seafood,” Environment America, January 27, 2025.
2. Kate Peterson, “There is an alarming amount of microplastics in farm soil–and our food supply,” Civil Eats, January 27, 2021.
3. Tao Sun, Yuefa Teng, Chenglong Ji, Fei Li, Xiujuan Shan and Huifeng Wu, “Global prevalence of microplastics in tap water systems: Abundance, characteristics, drivers and knowledge gaps,” Science of the Total Environment, June 15, 2024.
4. Vicki Contie, “Plastic particles in bottled water,” National Institutes of Health, January 23, 2024.
5. Ally Hirschlag and Martha Henriques, “The air throughout our homes is infused with microplastics. But there are things you can do to breathe less of them,” BBC, April 11, 2026.
6. Leslie Kaufman, “The climate impact of our insatiable plastic addiction,” Bloomberg, December 30, 2022.Your donation will power our dedicated staff of organizers, policy experts and attorneys who drive all of our campaigns in the public interest, from banning toxic pesticides and moving us beyond plastic, to saving our antibiotics and being your consumer watchdog, to protecting our environment and our democracy. None of our work would be possible without the support of people just like you.

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It’s Earth Day!

April 22, is Earth Day.

Protect this precious resource. Never idle your car!



It’s a day to celebrate our beautiful planet!
Enjoy some time outside
it’s a day to think about the future and what we can do better.
I think we need to concentrate better on keeping our air and water clean. We have elected officials that don’t care about our water or our air.

What difference can we each make for clean air and clean water this next year?
Some things we can do: Buy less stuff, keep working to lessen your plastic use, drive less and walk or bike more, plant native plants in your yard, clean storm drains, and pick up after your pets.

Celebrate our beautiful earth by walking instead of driving today!

“Plastic is not in harmony with nature. What if we built a world where polluting people and the planet was never part of the design?” Plastic Pollution Coalition

Happy Earth Day

Earth Day

Our environment is everyone’s duty to protect!

Tomorrow is Earth Day. It is 55th Earth day since the annual event was initiated in the United States on April 22, 1970.

Earth Day was started by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson because he saw such deterioration of our water and air quality. It was a call to take better care of our planet. The call is even more important today with the terrible effects of climate change and the production of so much plastic which no one could visualize in 1970.

On this Earth Day visualize the world you want to live in and decide what changes you need to make to create the beautiful world you wish for??? How can we insure clean air and clean water for everyone?

Earth Day 2025 | Activities & Resources for April 22

World’s Indigenous People

We are all connected!

This is from the Carbon Almanac!

Today we celebrate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. 

Raoni Metuktire is an Indigenous Brazilian leader and environmentalist. Born in 1932, he has seen a lot of change due to climate change. 

In The Carbon Almanac, we feature his quote and it serves as a reminder that we are all connected.

We all breathe this one air, we all drink the same water. We all live on this one planet. We need to protect the Earth. If we don’t, the big winds will come and destroy the forest. Then you will feel the fear that we feel.

Butterflies

It’s always exciting when the Monarchs arrive!

Joy, we had our first Monarch butterfly in our yard today!

I was surprised to read this about the Monarch butterflies. See below from Minnesota Public Radio

Everyday concentrate on clean air and never burn wood or put dirty air into the atmosphere. That includes driving less!

This is from Minnesota Public Radio:

People can help by planting both native nectar and host plants, like milkweed, reducing pesticide use and mowing less grass less often.

Monarch butterflies are beginning to return to Minnesota and should start arriving in droves in the next two weeks. But the population returning from Mexico will likely be much smaller than in years past.

This winter, the number of eastern monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico was the smallest researchers had recorded in a decade.

A years-long drought pattern, winter whiplash and warming temperatures are all hurting the vulnerable species and the plants it relies on to survive, according to University of Minnesota Professor Emilie Snell-Rood, who studies monarchs and other pollinators.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/05/17/monarch-population-host-plants-hurting-from-climate-change-expert-shares-how-to-help?utm_campaign=20240516_PM_Edition_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc_&utm_content=

Less Waste for the Holidays

We are in a climate crisis, a waste crisis, and a plastic crisis. The last thing we need is for people to purchase more landfill junk. Everyone has a right to clean water and clean air. Buying less stuff, and producing less waste helps keep our water and air clean.

Purchase items of quality and things you really need this holiday. Also, become aware of the plastic that you send to the landfill.

Zero Waste is moving from our throw-away and overconsumption culture to a more sustainable way of reusing and refusing.

Food waste in landfills produces harmful methane gas.

The EPA reports that garbage increases 25% between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Here are new ways to reduce your waste.

Zero Waste for the Holidays Webinar

Gifting with less waste

Buy less, give more  

Wrapping with less waste

Tell Amazon: It’s time to move beyond wasteful single-use plastic packaging 

Refurbished gifts

Fixed for the Holidays 

Tell Amazon: We need repair scores

Reduce food waste

How to reduce food waste and save money this holiday season 

Tell Congress: Pass this bill to combat the worst kind of food waste
Federal food donation protections info
Calculator to figure out how much food to serve
Leftover ideas

How Can You Reduce Holiday Waste?

A Clean and Healthful Environment

It is up to all of us to create a healthy environment.

Do we have a right to a clean and healthful environment?

A Montana state judge sided with 16 young people in the country’s first ever constitutional climate case. The judge ruled that youth had a right to a healthy environment. This trial comes after state lawmakers passed legislation that allowed fossil fuel projects to be permitted without considering the climate impact and greenhouse gas emissions from their legislation causing harm and injury to Montana’s youth— a violation of their state constitutional right to a ‘clean and healthful environment.’

This should be a message to all of us. We all need to work to create a “clean and healthful environment” for our youth and for all of us. Everyday, we need to reduce our fossil fuels by driving less, buying less, not idling our cars, and reducing our use of plastic.

According to NOAA, Earth has just experienced the hottest July in 174 years of records, and the hottest eight Julys in the past eight years.

We all have experienced “Global Burning” and tragic weather events causing much loss of life and destruction. We must work together for a more stable future environment with clean air and clean water.

If everybody does a little it adds up to a lot! We all want to live in healthy communities, and everyone must do their part.

‘Gamechanger’ Ruling for Young Climate Activists in Historic Montana Trial

Is the judge’s ruling coming too late for some of our young adults? https://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20230817/cancer-rates-rise-among-people-under-age-50

Montana Youth Sued Their Government Over Climate Change and Won. Here’s Why That’s a Big Deal

June Superior Views

On what should have been a beautiful Lake Superior morning, smokey air was creeping across the big lake from fires burning in Canada. Luckily, most days are filled with brisk clear Lake Superior air.

Amazing butterflies, the Compton tortoiseshell.

Sounds of robust birds singing fill the woods. The chestnut sided warbler, song sparrows, oven bird, indigo buntings, red-eyed vireo and many others sing all day long.

The butterflies are the very best, and the contrast to so few butterflies in urban areas is striking. Every amazing butterfly that lives in June is here. They seem to love the host plants I have planted to get them to begin the next generation of butterflies. There is hope for the future if we could get over our addiction to pesticides and plant pollinator gardens.

milkweed

Milkweed is a wonderful host plant.

The swallow tail is one of the easiest butterflies to identify.

Seeing the bear, fox and big bucks and deer have been a surprise. After several years of scarcity, they are back, and the squirrels, chipmunks and bunnies are almost non-existent.

Bunch berries will have red berries later in the summer.

June in the north country of Minnesota and Wisconsin are famous for the beautiful but non-native lupine. They grow in patches everywhere. This year I was struck by all the June white plants blooming. and have enjoyed enormous fields of daisies. I especially love the delicate star flower, the false lily of the valley, the hardy Canada anemone, and classic north woods bunch berries. To experience these beauties, you need to get out of your cars and walk!

Star flowers

Ozone

I am sad about all the bad air warnings. One week it is wildfire smoke, the next week it is ozone pollution. Our precious summers go too fast to have to stay inside to avoid unhealthy air. Every action matters, and we all can make a difference! Let’s all work harder for clean air.

If everyone does a little, it makes a big difference! Please don’t use your leaf blower or lawn mower if they pollute, and please don’t idle your car/truck.

What can you do to help ozone pollution?

  • Don’t use lawn mowers or leaf blowers
  • Use public transportation or carpool. Minimize the use of cars and trucks.
  • Do not idle your car engine!
  • Take a long break from your outdoor heaters and fires!
  • Reduce your plastic use. Plastic pollutes our air and bodies at every stage of its life. Plastic is made from fossil fuels.
  • Do not use cleaning products that are harmful to the environment and to us.
  • Buy local products.
  • Maintain air conditioners, as their malfunctions cause CFC to escape into the atmosphere.
  • Spend more time indoors, where ozone levels are usually lower.
  • Choose easier outdoor activities (like walking instead of running) so you don’t breathe as hard.
  • Plan outdoor activities at times when ozone levels are lower (usually in the morning and evening).

Below is so interesting from Christopher Ingraham at the Minnesota Reformer https://minnesotareformer.com/

Much of the state is experiencing its third straight day of unhealthy air quality. The culprit this time isn’t wildfire smoke, but rather ozone – a colorless, odorless gas that forms when certain chemicals in the atmosphere interact under intense sunlight. 

In practical terms, ozone can cause similar breathing problems as wildfire smoke, and it’s linked to many of the same long-term health ailments, including premature death. But there are enough differences between these two flavors of air pollution that I wrote an explainer on them yesterday, in part to help me fully understand the situation.

One interesting takeaway: when it’s smoky out, experts recommend wearing a mask outdoors or running an air purifier with a HEPA filter inside, which removes smoke and other fine particles from the air. But ozone isn’t a particle, it’s a gas – meaning masks and air filters don’t work against it. 

And here’s an especially wild fact to ponder: many companies market “air purifiers” that actually add ozone to indoor spaces. Generally speaking you should steer away from products claiming to use “ionization” or “energized oxygen” to clear the air. The electric processes they rely on produce ozone and actually make the air dirtier.

Other products take this a step further – there’s an entire category of “ozone generators” that deliberately add ozone to the air, under the mistaken belief that ozone molecules remove other pollutants. It’s kind of like pumping car exhaust directly into your house to hide the smell of cigarettes. MN Reformer

And from the American Lung Association: It may be hard to imagine that pollution could be invisible, but ozone begins that way. As ozone concentrates and mixes with other pollutants, we often call it by its older, more common name—smog. It is currently one of the least well-controlled pollutants in the United States. And it is also one of the most dangerous.

Scientists have studied the effects of ozone on health for decades. Hundreds of studies have confirmed that ozone harms people at levels currently found in the United States. In the last decade, we have learned that it can also be deadly.

https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/what-makes-air-unhealthy/ozone

‘This Is the Critical Decade for Climate Change’: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reach Record High

It’s your personal responsibility!