The Calm Before the Storm

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from U.S. power plants dropped 3.1 percent in 2008, tempering a steady increasing trend in recent years. In contrast to the one-year decline in emissions, power… Read more

Disaster in Waiting

The massive spill of toxic coal ash from TVA’s Kingston plant in Tennessee just before Christmas dramatized how unsafe disposal practices can damage the environment and threaten the health of… Read more


Refined Hazard

Petroleum refineries are a major source of pollution in the United States, releasing a significant amount of carcinogenic pollutants into the air Americans breathe. Although petroleum refineries are the backbone… Read more

Cementing a Toxic Legacy?

Cement kilns are poisoning our air, water and food with mercury pollution. For more than a decade, the EPA has neglected this health threat. Now, new data from EPA itself… Read more

Tar Sands

Over two thirds of currently planned expansions of U.S. oil refining capacity are designed and intended to accommodate heavier, dirtier crude oil from Canadian “tar sands,” according to data on… Read more

Houston We Have a Problem

As the petrochemical capital of the United States, the Houston area is at the center of a toxics storm. Numerous studies have documented dangerous levels of toxic air pollution in… Read more

Running Out of Time

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants rose 2.9 percent in 2007, the biggest single-year increase since 1998, according to new data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Emissions of… Read more

Dirty Kilowatts

Nationwide, the power plants that provide electricity to run our homes, businesses, and factories also account for 40 percent of carbon dioxide, roughly two thirds of sulfur dioxide, 22 percent… Read more

Shortchanging the Clean Air Act

State agencies are responsible for most of the day to day work required under the federal Clean Air Act, such as monitoring emissions, developing air quality plants, and writing and… Read more