Posts by RNRF Admin
EPA Provides Recommendations for Researching Cumulative Environmental Impacts
Exposures to pollutants in the environment, including in air, water, and soil, lead to adverse impacts to human health and the environment. These pollutants are also referred to as chemical stressors. There is growing recognition that other types of stressors, referred to as nonchemical stressors, also affect human health and wellbeing. These include socioeconomic disadvantages, lack…
Read MoreEfforts to Reduce Global Warming Remain Insufficient
UN Climate Change News, 26 October 2022 – A new report from UN Climate Change shows countries are bending the curve of global greenhouse gas emissions downward but underlines that these efforts remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. According to the report, the combined climate pledges…
Read MoreCalifornia Expands Plastic Producer Probe into Top Bag Manufacturers
SAN FRANCISCO – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today (November 2, 2022) sent letters to seven manufacturers of plastic bags demanding that they substantiate their claims that the bags are recyclable. The seven manufacturers provide a large portion of the bags used by California grocery retailers and have certified that these bags meet recyclability requirements as required by state law SB 270. However, despite…
Read MoreParis Agreement Updates and the Ukraine Crisis’s Impact on Climate Action
On May 12th and 13th, 2022, representatives from nearly 50 countries met in Copenhagen to revisit 2022 climate targets and promote compliance with the Paris Agreement. This interim meeting was jointly hosted by Denmark, the United Kingdom (host of COP26 in 2021), and Egypt (host of COP27 in 2022). The meeting’s goal was to refocus global…
Read MoreThe Fossil Fuel Industry’s Current Investments are Incompatible with Climate Goals
Swift reductions in the burning of fossil fuels are necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. In May 2021, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that if the world is to achieve Paris Agreement goals, construction of new oil and gas fields and coalmines must…
Read MoreEPA Proposes to Ban Ongoing Uses of Asbestos, Taking Historic Step to Protect People from Cancer Risk
Proposed Rule is First-Ever Risk Management Rule Issued Under New Process in 2016 Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act On April 5, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took action to protect people from asbestos exposure by releasing a proposed rule to prohibit ongoing uses of the only known form of asbestos currently imported into the…
Read MoreNew Study: Inequitable Patterns of U.S. Flood Risk in the Anthropocene
More loss expected from poor land use planning than from the direct impacts of climate change Flood risk in the United States is typically evaluated based on historical trends. Increasingly, these trends are no longer applicable to future flood conditions and risk. A new study in Nature Climate Change analyzes the changing flood risk landscape in the…
Read MoreNet Zero Financial Alliance Has Serious Shortcomings
At COP26 in Glasgow in November of 2021, a group of financial institutions representing $130 trillion of private capital joined a framework called the “Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero” (GFANZ). The alliance is led by Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy for Climate and Finance, and requires its members to be accredited by the…
Read MoreRevisiting the 1872 Mining Law
This article was originally published in the Geological Society of America’s Speaking of Geoscience blog, By Morgan Disbrow-Monz, GSA Science Policy Fellow On October 5, 2021 the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), met to examine and consider updates to the General Mining Law of 1872. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto…
Read MoreNew U.S. Study Reports Health Effects at Air Pollution Levels Below Current Standards
Researchers found risk of mortality at lowest levels of air pollution. A comprehensive new study examining potential health risks from low levels of air pollution exposure in 68.5 million older Americans was published today by the Health Effects Institute (HEI), reporting increased risks of mortality, including at the lowest levels of exposure to fine particulate…
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