skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, October 3, 2024

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

Biden discusses Middle East conflict; FBI reveals Trump used Twitter during Capitol riot, memo unsealed; Michigan voters urged not to overlook local races, focus on school boards in rural areas; National Drive Electric Week in Arizona highlights electric and hybrid vehicle benefits.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Special prosecutors say Trump "resorted to crimes" after losing the 2020 election, Democrats say Project 2025 threatens reproductive freedom, and voters in several states consider nonpartisan primary elections.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Cheap milk comes at a cost for residents of Washington's Lower Yakima Valley, Indigenous language learning is promoted in Wisconsin as experts warn half the world's languages face extinction, and Montana's public lands are going to the dogs!

Report: EPA clean air benefits include 200,000 lives saved

play audio
Play

Monday, September 23, 2024   

New air pollution standards issued by the Environmental Protection Agency over the past four years should bring $250 billion in economic benefits each year in Colorado and across the U.S., according to a new report.

Rob Wolcott, founding board chair of the Environmental Protection Network and the report's co-author, said the new protections will save more than 200,000 lives.

"In addition to the reductions in premature death, we have the massive reductions in the number of asthma attacks," Wolcott pointed out.

Analysts projected reduced air pollution from industry and tailpipes will lead to 100 million fewer asthma attacks, ensuring fewer missed school days and fewer trips to the emergency room. Walcott noted the economic benefits far exceed any costs associated with compliance with the new standards.

Coloradans living along the Front Range may have to wait for some benefits. The EPA has cited Colorado for not reducing ground-level ozone pollution to levels considered safe.

Report co-author Jeremy Symons, senior adviser for the Environmental Protection Network, warned benefits from the new air pollution standards are not guaranteed. He pointed to Chapter 13 of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, written by six former Trump-appointed senior EPA officials, which details plans to roll back key EPA protections.

"By putting polluters in control of our air and water, instead of EPA scientists, Project 2025 would put millions of Americans needlessly at risk from asthma attacks, from cancer, lung disease and heart disease," Symons contended.

Walcott added the new standards are especially critical for those most at risk from air pollution, including children, older Americans and low-income families and communities of color living in the shadows of refineries and highways.

"Communities in particular, that have been subject to sustained, high, cumulative exposures over time, will be the ones to experience the greatest benefits here," he said.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Georgia has the fourth-largest prison population in the country, with approximately 50,000 incarcerated people in state custody. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The U.S. Department of Justice has released a report on the state of Georgia's prisons, citing horrific conditions and extreme violence. The …


Health and Wellness

play sound

A 2024 study showed almost 26% of Nebraskans reported having a mental-health illness in the past year -- nearly 3% higher than the national average…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Experts warn health insurance premiums could rise an average of $1,000 a year for more than 2 million Californians who buy coverage on the individual …


About 6,500 South Dakotans are in state or federal prisons, local jails and other kinds of facilities, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. (Wikimedia Commons)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent problems in South Dakota prisons have concerned lawmakers, corrections commission members and family members of those incarcerated, who formed …

Environment

play sound

By Jennifer Oldham for Sierra.Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public New…

A rendering depicts the proposed entryway for Teague Park in Longview, Texas. (Photo courtesy City of Longview)

Environment

play sound

The City of Longview, in east Texas, will use a $1.3 million federal grant to make upgrades to one of its largest parks. Teague Park sits in the …

Social Issues

play sound

Social behavior experts said teens have fewer safe spaces to gather, with technology-driven isolation complicating matters. It is more pronounced in …

Environment

play sound

This week, federal officials announced a new round of funding for passenger rail projects. It is part of a larger push to expand and restore service…

 

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