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Good News—and Bad—about Fossil Fuel Power Plants in 2023 

Union of Concerned Scientists

And fossil fuel power plants may not stick to their retirement schedules for a variety of reasons. NO x also contributes to the formation of ozone (or “smog”), another toxic pollutant. A bit more on those reasons later. A recent study found that more than 99 percent of the global population is exposed to unsafe levels of PM 2.5

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Why UCS Supporters Are Pressing EPA to Let California Enforce Its Truck Pollution Rules

Union of Concerned Scientists

California’s leadership on reducing truck pollution has been on full display the past few years, passing critical regulations requiring 90 percent reduction in smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NO X ) emissions from diesel trucks and requiring manufacturers sell an increasing share of electric trucks to move away from fossil fuels altogether.

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Improving EPA’s Latest Ozone Transport Rule

Acoel

EPA’s latest proposed rule targeting NOx emissions from fossil-fueled electric generating units (EGUs) is a classic study of diminishing returns. The agency’s air quality modeling indicates that most areas would receive an ozone reduction of less than 0.1 enjoyed ozone reductions of 3 to 5 ppb or more.

Ozone 40
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Why the Bay Area’s Zero-Emission Appliance Rule is a Big Deal

Legal Planet

Several cities in California, including Los Angeles and in the Bay Area, have outlawed new gas hookups, but these are the first regulations that would effectively ban the sale of gas appliances. Additionally, NOx react with other chemicals in the air to create other harmful pollutants, like fine particulate matter and ozone.

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A Radical Proposal Hidden in Plain Sight in the Overshoot Commission Report

Legal Planet

It’s in their very first mitigation recommendation, for a “graduated, differentiated phaseout” in production and consumption of fossil fuels. Isn’t it obvious that the world needs to get rid of fossil fuels, and haven’t a bunch of people called for it? Targeting fossil fuels not emissions.

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EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Rules Are Critical—and Complex. Here’s What to Know, and What to Watch.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Through the Clean Air Act , and as affirmed—and reaffirmed—through multiple legal sagas, EPA is statutorily obligated to address carbon pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. One critical tool for forcing that reckoning comes from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA decision, but it did not ground EPA.

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Clean Fleets Rule Slated to Deliver Healthier Air for Californians

Union of Concerned Scientists

In the coming years, Californians will begin to see a massive switch away from highly polluting fossil-fueled trucks to zero-emission electric trucks. Additionally, the rule phases out the sale of fossil-fueled trucks in 2036. This rule creates the first-ever, economy-wide, zero-emission standard for large truck fleets.