Search Climate Insights Directory
1,293 results
AES Puerto Rico: 20 Years of Coal Ash Contamination
The document details the environmental and public health crisis in Guayama, Puerto Rico, caused by Applied Energy Services (AES) and its mismanagement of coal ash since 2002. It highlights the contamination of the South Coast Aquifer and the failure of both the EPA and local authorities to enforce the Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) rule. The text criticizes AES's proposed remediation plan as a 'sham' and reports on efforts by Earthjustice and the U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee to hold the company accountable.
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Document type: Statement
Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone plans: concerns relating to up-coming review
ClientEarth warns Greater Manchester authorities that delaying or diluting the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) risks legal challenge and exacerbates public health crises. The region continues to report illegal nitrogen dioxide levels, contributing to an estimated 1,200 premature deaths annually. ClientEarth argues that the CAZ is the most effective tool for compliance and that economic or political concerns do not justify delaying health protections, particularly for low-income and minority communities who are disproportionately affected.
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Document type: Statement
South Africa’s Energy Fiscal Policies
The report finds that South Africa's energy fiscal policies are largely misaligned with its climate goals, with fossil fuel subsidies totaling ZAR 172 billion in FY 2020/21. These subsidies, particularly Eskom bailouts and carbon tax exemptions, outweigh the ZAR 100.5 billion in fossil fuel revenues. The social costs of fossil fuel combustion—estimated at a minimum of ZAR 550 billion annually—far exceed both revenues and subsidies. While the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) has successfully lowered renewable energy costs, investment has been hindered by political opposition and Eskom's financial instability. The report recommends tying bailouts to transition reforms, phasing out carbon tax exemptions, and using fossil fuel tax revenues to support vulnerable households and a just transition.
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Document type: Report
Illustrating the threats of fossil fuel production
The report details a rapid threat identification methodology and the accompanying Fossil Fuel Atlas web platform, which allows stakeholders to overlay fossil fuel infrastructure data with environmental and social datasets. It argues that fossil fuel production drives ecological degradation through land conversion, pollution, and biodiversity loss, while also causing social harms such as the dispossession of Indigenous lands and health risks. The document provides a comprehensive taxonomy of these threats and demonstrates the tool's application through case studies in Western Africa, Egypt, Mozambique, South Africa, and the Philippines.
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Document type: Report
SHIPPING
WWF aims to drive transformational change in the shipping sector by influencing shipping companies, financial institutions, and policymakers to adopt sustainable practices. The strategy focuses on the mitigation hierarchy to address issues such as marine mammal strikes, noise disturbance, and air and water pollution. Specific regional priorities include the Arctic, where decreasing sea ice has increased shipping traffic, and the Eastern Pacific, where WWF promotes vessel traffic management measures like Blue Corridors to protect biodiversity and the Galapagos archipelago.
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Document type: Fact sheet
GreenLatinos will continue to fight for full passage of BBBA
GreenLatinos advocates for the immediate passage of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA), arguing that the legislation is essential for providing climate justice, clean energy infrastructure, and water security to disproportionately affected Latino and Indigenous communities. The organization specifically calls on Senator Joe Manchin and Colorado Senators Hickenlooper and Bennett to support the bill's provisions on coastal restoration, lead removal from drinking water, and sustainable transportation.
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Document type: Statement
Comments Submitted on Behalf of Florida Rising on Draft Title V Permit No. 0250348- 013-AV, Proposed in Response to Application for Renewal of the Title V Permit for the Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility
The document opposes the renewal of the Title V permit for the Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility (Covanta Incinerator). It argues that the draft permit fails to include necessary emission limitations from previous State Implementation Plan (SIP) and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permits, lacks adequate monitoring for pollutants and odors, and contains unlawful 'director discretion' provisions. The authors emphasize that the facility is located in an environmental justice community where 92% of the population are people of color and 36% live below the poverty line, exacerbating health risks from toxic emissions and greenhouse gases.
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Document type: Report
Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels
The document outlines the externalities of fossil fuels, noting that they accounted for 74% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. It highlights severe health consequences, including 350,000 premature deaths in the U.S. in 2018, and emphasizes that these impacts disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color, specifically citing high cancer risks in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley."
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Document type: Fact sheet
Implementing Solar Irrigation Sustainably
The document outlines a framework for the sustainable implementation of solar-powered irrigation in India, specifically supporting the PM-KUSUM scheme. It emphasizes the 'water-energy-food nexus' and proposes five key pillars for state officials: inter-agency coordination, balanced financing for affordability, targeting marginal farmers, infrastructure support, and impact monitoring. The goal is to transition to clean energy and improve farmer well-being while preventing environmental degradation from groundwater depletion.
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Document type: Guide
China-driven port development: lessons from Kenya and Malaysia
The document analyzes the ESG impacts of the Lamu Port in Kenya and the Kuantan Port in Malaysia, both developed under China's Belt and Road Initiative. It finds that both projects caused significant environmental damage, including the loss of mangroves in Kenya and pollution from bauxite mining in Malaysia. Socio-economic issues include unpaid compensation for displaced communities in Kenya and public health concerns in Malaysia. The briefing argues that these projects often prioritize political elite interests over pragmatic alternatives, leading to governance failures and questionable economic rationales.
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Document type: Policy brief
Modernizing the Canadian Environmental Protection Act — Canada’s pollution and toxics law
The document argues that the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), 1999, is outdated and fails to address current environmental and health threats, such as the climate emergency and plastic pollution. It highlights the disproportionate impact of toxics on marginalized groups, including Indigenous people and lower-income Canadians, and calls for the implementation of 87 recommendations made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in 2017. The authors advocate for specific amendments to Bill C-28, including the recognition of a human right to a healthy environment, the prohibition of carcinogenic and mutagenic substances, and the establishment of a presumption of non-confidentiality regarding chemical substances.
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Document type: Briefing
POVERTY MAPPING OF THE OBUASI MUNICIPALITY AND OBUASI EAST DISTRICT
The report provides a comprehensive poverty profile of the Obuasi Municipality and Obuasi East District, highlighting a 'resource curse' where the presence of gold mining has not translated into widespread local prosperity. Key findings indicate high unemployment due to the loss of agricultural lands to mines, insufficient household incomes, and significant gender disparities in education and economic vulnerability. Environmental degradation, including water pollution and structural damage to homes from mining blasts, is prevalent. While AngloGold Ashanti has implemented some positive social interventions, such as malaria control and youth training, residents report limited direct employment and a lack of inclusive governance by local District Assemblies.
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Document type: Report
Climate Change in the American Mind, September 2021
The September 2021 survey indicates that public understanding of global warming is at record highs in the U.S., with 76% of Americans believing it is happening and 60% attributing it to human causes. While 70% of respondents express worry and 69% feel a personal responsibility to help, there is a gap in understanding the strength of scientific consensus, with only 24% aware that over 90% of climate scientists agree on human-caused warming. The report also highlights a high perceived link between global warming and domestic weather impacts, including extreme heat and wildfires, though many Americans rarely discuss the topic with friends or family.
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Document type: Report
The Environment Act 2021
ClientEarth evaluates the Environment Act 2021, noting that as a framework law, its success depends on future targets and rules. The organization criticizes the Act for failing to align air quality targets with WHO guidelines and for creating a loophole in deforestation laws by only restricting commodities produced illegally under local laws, which may fail to protect the Amazon rainforest.
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Document type: Briefing
ELECTRIC VEHICLE INCENTIVES IN THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT
The policy brief argues that the Build Back Better Act's EV incentives would accelerate market transformation, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution-related deaths while boosting U.S. manufacturing. It details specific tax credits for passenger and heavy-duty vehicles, emphasizes the importance of income caps to reach moderate earners, and explains how BBB charging infrastructure complements the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by focusing on community-level access.
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Document type: Policy brief
Environmental Racism in the Heartland
The report details how systemic racism in Kansas City has led to the disproportionate siting of polluting industries in communities of color and low-income areas, resulting in severe health disparities. It highlights the failure of federal and state air monitoring networks to capture local pollution 'hot spots' and describes the efforts of CleanAirNow to implement community-based monitoring. The document concludes with recommendations for stricter emissions standards, real-time fenceline monitoring, and the transition to zero-emissions transportation to protect vulnerable residents.
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Document type: Report
Lessons from the pandemic: environmental health requires government action
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) asserts that the government must shift from risk management to a hazard prevention paradigm to protect public health. Key recommendations include eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, reforming the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), implementing a just transition for workers and Indigenous peoples, and adopting a planetary health lens to integrate climate adaptation and mitigation.
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Document type: Statement
Clean Air and the Environment Bill Clause 2 - environmental targets: particulate matter
The Healthy Air Campaign (HAC) advocates for the inclusion of Lords amendment 3 in the Environment Bill to set a legal target for PM2.5 air pollution of 10 µg/m3 by 2030. The briefing argues that current UK legal limits are double the 2005 WHO guidelines and that achieving the stricter target is feasible based on technical analysis. It highlights the severe public health impacts of PM2.5, including an estimated 40,000 premature deaths annually in the UK, and notes the economic burden of over £20bn per year. The document emphasizes that the UK risks losing its global leadership in air quality as the USA and EU move toward stricter standards.
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Document type: Briefing
What is Ethylene Oxide (EtO)?
Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a colorless, flammable gas used primarily for sterilizing medical equipment and as a chemical building block. Classified as a carcinogen by the EPA and other bodies, chronic inhalation is linked to white blood cell cancers and breast cancer. The document highlights that EtO emissions disproportionately affect low-income communities and people of color, with some areas in Louisiana experiencing cancer risks over 200 times the EPA's acceptable levels. While the EPA has updated the Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing (MON) rule, the document argues that current regulations fail to require fenceline monitoring or a complete phaseout of the chemical, calling for stronger enforcement and the adoption of less toxic alternatives.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Clean Air Action: Applications of Citizen Science to Identify and Address Air Pollution Emission Sources
The paper examines how citizen science can be used to identify air pollution sources, noting that while low-cost monitors have increased the number of projects, public awareness of specific emission sources remains low. Based on a review of 33 case studies, the author develops a typology of initiatives and identifies six pathways for achieving outcomes, including identifying hyperlocal sources and strengthening enforcement. Success depends on trust, joint leadership between scientists and civil society, and clear data usage plans, while challenges include the complexity of pollution sources and the difficulty of definitively linking data to specific emitters.
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Document type: Research paper