Anything related to air quality, air pollution, or the atmosphere
"A handful of mega data center projects would emit over 100 million tons per year of greenhouse gases, an enormous amount roughly equal to the annual emissions of a mid-sized industrialized country."
"The Trump administration is moving to make it harder for communities to weigh in on proposed data centers, even as a backlash against the behemoth projects grows across the country." "Under the proposal, states would no longer need to provide public notice or solicit comments on air pollution permits for data centers and other projects."
"For decades, communities have relied on the agency's cancer risk estimates to hold polluters accountable. This year, it's missing."
"A massive new gas plant in Texas will be built with much less efficient technology than regular gas plants. It’s far from the only data center power project to rely on dirty turbines."
"Mutual aid groups that started giving out PPEs during Covid are now loaning air purifiers and distributing masks to fume-addled communities"
"As regulations have reduced prenatal exposure to harmful emissions from vehicles and industry in recent years, smoke from climate-fueled wildfires is erasing air quality gains."
"An environmental group argues Louisiana officials did not account for all of the harmful emissions Meta’s data center in Richland Parish will produce when it approved the facility’s Clean Air Act permit revisions in June."
"The president’s push for data centers is driving a boom in gas-burning power plants. Texas is leading the way."
Summertime and the livin' is smoggy. American air may be clearer now than when the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, but pollutants still abound. Heat and sunlight stoke chemical reactions that exacerbate health hazards. And worsening wildfires mix in harmful smoke. The latest TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.
The U.S. freight system delivers significant environmental impacts nationwide, especially in states that host major rail-and-road hubs and seaports. Meanwhile, new federal laws and policies are making it harder to curtail pollution generated by freight trucks, trains and warehouses. Journalist John Lippert looks at how the public, private and nonprofit sectors are rising to this challenge.
