Air Pollution

Things related to air pollution from large industrial sources of pollution.

Canadian wildfires bring air quality alert, lower temperatures to Upstate NY – syracuse.com

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Canadian wildfires bring air quality alert, lower temperatures to Upstate NY – syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Wildfires in Quebec could make it hard to some people to breathe today in most of Upstate New York.

The state has issued an air quality alert for virtually all of Upstate through 11:59 p.m. today. The alert is for fine particulates that can cause eye and nose irritation, and can burrow deep into the lungs, causing shortness of breath in people prone to breathing problems.

People with heart or lung conditions should avoid strenuous activity outdoors and stay indoors, the state health department said.

More than 10,000 coastal Quebec residents were evacuated over the weekend as the fires raged. Wildfires have burned across Canada since last month, from the western provinces to the Atlantic maritime province of Nova Scotia, destroying about 10,000 square miles of forest and grassland.

NPR

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California’s plan to phase out diesel trucks has been approved by the EPA : NPR

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California's plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state's efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast.

The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California — which has some of the nation's worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers and even large passenger pick-ups.

"Under the Clean Air Act, California has longstanding authority to address pollution from cars and trucks. Today's announcement allows the state to take additional steps in reducing their transportation emissions through these new regulatory actions," said EPA Administrator Michael Regan, in a statement.

Probably the Republicans will take back the White House next year, and they'll roll it back. And then Democrats will reverse the decision in 2029 when they over the decision as they win back the White House, but we all know the direction it's going -- diesel is dying as are our fossil fuels. Cities will be so much nicer when not full of such noxious gases. Competitive elections aren't exactly good for business.

I think it’s silly that liberals are getting all worked up about tuning of diesels. 🏭

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I think it’s silly that liberals are getting all worked up about tuning of diesels. 🏭

Emissions standards are good from the factory but may not be practical or desirable in all areas. Some parts of the country have unhealthy air, and they have annual emissions inspections for automobiles and other restrictions. Plenty of other locations are rural and have relatively pure air, where the emissions equipment is good to have but not essential for clean air purposes.

Many diesel pick up truck owners install tuners and remove emissions equipment. Tuners can improve fuel economy, reliability and performance. They can make it better to tow heavy loads or for tractor pulls, or for the fun of rolling coal. It’s not to say stock emissions don’t have a place anywhere but for those who choose to disable controls outside of pollution control areas, so be it.

Some pollution crosses air basins and people drive from one community to the next. Even the most backwoods farm kid might drive into a city’s air basin with their dirtier emissions than stock truck. But that doesn’t matter because they are a minority, and their one vehicle is balanced out by many cleaner vehicles on the road. Most fleet vehicles will never be modified and even the majority of most truck owners will not be bothered to buy a tune or take off unnecessary emissions equipment.

And while you can model the impact of these emissions and make enormous sounding numbers on the impact to the environment, such numbers rarely take into account overall urban emissions or that many vehicles are operated outside of emissions basins. A much more important stragety should be to focus on new vehicles from the factory and emissions compliance in air basins that are currently not in compliance.

Now I understand that liberals and Joe Biden’s administration is looking for as many ways as possible to punish rural residents and conservatives who didn’t vote for them to the greatest extent possible. But government power shouldn’t be used to punish your political enemies.

NPR

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Biden will allow summer sale of E15 gas : NPR

President Biden will announce Tuesday that his administration will temporarily allow E15 gasoline — gasoline that uses a 15% ethanol blend that is typically banned from sale from June to September — to be sold this summer, a measure intended to help ease gas prices on a day when inflation hit its highest monthly figure in 40 years.

This will be an interesting experiment in air pollution control. Will it make air pollution worse in major cities from additional volatile organic compounds being released in the air?
 
Or will the impact be muddled from everything else -- such as less driving due to high gas prices, plus all the smoke from wildfires? Only time will tell.