Big Environmental News and Big Personal News

A real good news / bad news situation

I was about to send this newsletter earlier in the week and then got some personal news that makes it all the more relevant to my life. Recently, the Biden Administration and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) announced some pretty exciting stuff (though perhaps you didn’t even hear about them amongst the cacophony of Trump noise). These were massive environmental wins that are also part of Biden’s larger efforts to reduce cancer (the Biden Cancer Moonshot). 

I’m sure you can see where this is headed - this week I found out I have thyroid cancer. The good news is, based on the information I have now, I should be totally fine when I come out the other side of the treatment process. But time will tell! I will keep you updated as things progress (probably on IG). 

In addition to being part of the cancer moonshot, these changes highlight a specific focus of the Biden Admin’s commitment to environmental justice; they focus on policies that make sure all people have access to a safe and sustainable environment because currently people of color and low-income people face disproportionally high pollution levels. Americans should be able to live and work in clean and safe environments and we should do what we can to reduce cancer - this shouldn’t be political, but when the opposing force is corporations who want to maximize profits it becomes not only political, but partisan in the America of today. 

Two New Environmental Regulations to Protect American Health

Image source: EPA

On Tuesday 4/9 and Wednesday 4/10 the Biden Administration announced two new federal regulations to protect Americans from dangerous environmental and health impacts: 

1) More than 200 chemical plants will be required to cut their emissions of toxic pollution by more than 6,200 tons per year; and 

2) Municipal water systems will be required to eliminate “forever chemicals” (the PFAS we want out of our water bottles and pans) from the water supply. 

Chemical Plants

A new EPA rule requires a reduction of toxic emissions from 218 chemical plants, more than half of which are in Texas and Louisiana. There’s a particular concentration in Cancer Alley Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. 

• The rule says that these chemical plants have to reduce emissions of chemicals including carcinogenic ethylene oxide (used in sterilization), carcinogen chloroprene (used to make a type of rubber called neoprene), benzene (used in products like plastics, dyes and nylon) and vinyl chloride (used to make PVC plastic). 

• Cancer cases within about 31 miles of facilities that release pollution into the air are expected to fall by 60 percent under the rule.

• The new rule will slash more than 6,200 tons (5,624 metric tonnes) of toxic air pollutants annually.

• The Justice Department sued a major polluter (Denka) last year that was polluting majority-black neighborhoods, saying it had been releasing unsafe concentrations of chloroprene near homes and schools. 

Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, whose Louisiana district includes the Denka plant, called the new rule “a monumental step" to safeguard public health and the environment. “Communities deserve to be safe. … It must begin with proper regulation. It must begin with listening to the people who are impacted in the neighborhoods, who undoubtedly have suffered the cost of being in close proximity of chemical plants.''

Robert Taylor with the Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish in the Zion Travelers Cemetery next to the Marathon Refinery, April 6, 2024. Credit: Julie Dermansky. Source: DeSmog

PFAS in Drinking Water

The second regulation the EPA rolled out will require municipal water systems to eliminate PFAS (pronounced P-Faz) chemicals. These "forever chemicals" are used to help products repel water and oil, but they linger in the environment and the human body and are linked to a variety of health problems including cancer, thyroid disease, reproductive problems and heart and liver damage. The chemicals are found in the blood of nearly 97% of all Americans, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Within 5 years, water utilities will have to reduce five forever chemicals to the lowest level they can be reliably measured and will have to tell the public when levels of these chemicals are too high.

• This will impact about 100 million people.

• It will prevent nearly 10,000 deaths and significantly reduce serious illnesses, including cancers.

• The bipartisan infrastructure law that President Biden signed into law in 2021 provides billions in funding to implement this regulation and help municipal water systems upgrade their filtration processes. 

• One study found that 16% of utilities had at least one PFAS chemical at or above the new limits. A new report in Texas found that 49 municipal water systems exceed the new limits for at least one of the chemicals.

• There has been a shift in our public policy approach to PFAS after research has revealed the risks. Less than a decade ago, the EPA said levels shouldn’t exceed 70 parts per trillion, now the agency says no amount is safe.

Dr. David Andrews, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group called the new national standard “historic.” “This is the first time since the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments were passed in 1996 that a drinking water contaminant made it through the regulatory process to the finish line.”

Talking Points

There’s two levels of things to talk about here:

1. The actual policy changes made by the Administration. Which include the above as well as: 

• Caping mining dust to fight a resurgences of black lung disease in miners

• Phase down the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (greenhouse gases) to slow climate change

• Cap and charge for methane emissions

• Reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions

• Tightens limits on a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment that increases cancer risk in nearby residents

2. When you elect a President you are electing an Administration. Between the Bipartisan Infrastructure law (which should have been called a climate change law but couldn’t so it would pass), DOJ lawsuits and EPA enforcement, the Biden Administration is using their discretion to push forward environmental justice changes. 

• As the guy from the Environmental Working Group said, this is the first time in nearly 30 years that the EPA has been able to regulate new drinking water contaminants. 

• The Trump Administration rolled back more than 100 environmental rules. 

• Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement.

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