skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Bill Clinton is hospitalized for observation and testing after developing a fever; Biden commutes most federal death sentences before Trump takes office; Proposed post office 'slowdown' threatens rural Americans; Report: Tax credits shrink poverty for NM kids, families; Tiny plastic pieces enter the body in ways you'd never think of.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Biden commutes the sentences of most federal death row inmates, the House Ethics Committee says former Rep. Gaetz may have committed statutory rape, and the national archivist won't certify the ERA without congressional approval.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

Idahoans Can Fight Bad Air During Winter Inversions

play audio
Play

Monday, December 23, 2019   

BOISE, Idaho -- The winter inversion season is a reminder of the daily pollution seen in valley communities across the West.

Inversions are weather patterns that occur when warm air acts like a lid, trapping colder air in valleys and causing stagnation.

When it's unable to move, air quality suffers and can even be dangerous for sensitive populations, including children and older people.

Austin Walkins, a senior conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League, says inversions on their own aren't necessarily bad, but are intensified by certain activities.

"Pollution that comes from vehicle tailpipes, from wood stoves, from industrial facilities, normally goes up in the air, mixes and then gets blown away and dispersed," he points out. "During inversions, all of that just gets stuck in these valley communities. And so, it starts to have a really significant impact on public health."

Walkins says folks can improve air quality during inversions by limiting what they burn in wood stoves and by driving less. He suggests taking public transit if it's an option.

Walkins says he hears resistance from people who say one less car on the road won't help. But he maintains getting everybody on board is integral to protecting public health during an inversion.

"Every single bit of air pollution that we can keep out of the air benefits everyone," he stresses. "So, we encourage folks to be that leader in their community and say, you know, 'I know that everyone else is still driving, but I'm going to take the bus, and then I'm going to challenge my friends and family to take the bus.'"

Walkins commends Valley Regional Transit in the fight against tailpipe pollution with its recent purchase of eight electric buses. The low-emission transporters coming to the Treasure Valley will be the first mass transit electric buses in Idaho.

Disclosure: Idaho Conservation League contributes to our fund for reporting on Energy Policy, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness, Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Juana Valle's well is one of 20 sites tested in California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions in the first round of preliminary sampling by University of California-Berkeley researchers and the Community Water Center. The results showed 96 parts per trillion of total PFAS in her water, including 32 parts per trillion of PFOS - both considered potentially hazardous amounts. (Hannah Norman/KFF Health News)

Environment

play sound

By Hannah Norman for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News Ser…


Environment

play sound

Animal rights organizers are regrouping after mixed results at the ballot box in November. A measure targeting factory farms passed in Berkeley but …

Environment

play sound

Farmers in Nebraska and across the nation might not be in panic mode anymore thanks to another extension of the Farm Bill but they still want Congress…


Immigration law experts say applying for asylum status can be very lengthy, and that programs such as Temporary Protected Status can fill the void for people fleeing violence elsewhere in the world. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

With 2025 almost here, organizations assisting Minnesota's Latino populations say they're laser focused on a couple of areas - mental health-care …

Social Issues

play sound

A new report found Connecticut's fiscal controls on the state budget restrict long-term growth. The controls were introduced during the 2018 budget …

As of August, enrollment in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System had reached 66,114 students, representing an increase of 8.4%, according to state data. (Adobe Stock/AI generated image)

Social Issues

play sound

Nearly a dozen changes could be made to the Kentucky Community and Technical College system, under Senate Joint Resolution 179, passed by lawmakers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collab…

play sound

By Julieta Cardenas for Sentient.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021