The Central Valley has some of the most polluted air in the country. And the White House's recent assault on the state's environmental regulations could make it worse.
Ozone, a gas and harmful air pollutant is created by volatile organic compounds when pollutants are emitted by cars, power plants and other industrial facilities.
Ozone, which is formed when sunlight reacts with chemicals emitted from cars, is getting worse as we drive more and it gets hotter. And it’s having a disastrous effect on people’s health.
When the environmental movement came of age in the late 1960's, the issues and conflicts were clear: Solving endangered species meant protecting the adorably large and/or cuddly things – pandas, blue whales, or tigers. Stopping pollution meant shutting down the pipe or smokestack directly dumping into our air or water.
Despite regulatory progress in recent decades, pollution from gasoline and diesel-powered combustion engines is still doing enormous damage to human health.
From 2011 to this year, the Maine DEP sided with oil companies and ignored Environmental Protection Agency attempts to rein in hazardous emissions from tanks in South Portland and Searsport.
Study finds decreasing lead in topsoil coincides with reductions in children's blood levels, which suggests playing around the dirt may be an important source of the toxic for children
