Search Climate Insights Directory
535 results
Hasta que los mares se sequen
The report examines the industrial aquaculture sector's dependence on fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO), highlighting how the extraction of forage fish disrupts marine food webs and undermines food security in vulnerable coastal regions. It criticizes the lack of transparency in supply chains and the inadequacy of current certification schemes, while calling for a transition toward herbivorous species and alternative proteins to protect ocean health.
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Document type: Executive summary
塑料与健康
The report details how plastics threaten human health at every stage of their lifecycle. It highlights toxic emissions during fossil fuel extraction (specifically hydraulic fracturing) and refining, the leaching of endocrine disruptors and carcinogens from consumer products and packaging, and the release of hazardous pollutants through waste incineration. It further examines the pervasive presence of microplastics in the air, water, and food chain, and their potential to cause inflammation, genetic toxicity, and organ damage. The document concludes that current fragmented regulatory approaches are insufficient and calls for a global reduction in plastic production based on human rights and health protections.
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Document type: Report
The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition TO GRAVE
The report 'Cradle to Grave' details the systemic health impacts of fossil fuels across their entire value chain—extraction, refining, transport, combustion, and disposal. It highlights how these processes cause respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities in 'sacrifice zones'. The document argues that current climate policies overlook these multidimensional health harms and calls for the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, the adoption of the 'Polluter Pays' principle, and a transition to renewable energy to prevent millions of premature deaths.
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Document type: Executive summary
le fardeau sanitaire des combustibles fossiles et l’impératif d’une transition juste
The document outlines the systemic health impacts of the fossil fuel life cycle, emphasizing that pollution affects individuals from fetal development through old age. It highlights the disproportionate burden on marginalized communities and calls for an immediate end to fossil fuel expansion, the elimination of subsidies, and the adoption of a 'polluter-pays' principle to fund a health-centered transition to renewable energy.
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Document type: Executive summary
O impacto dos combustíveis fósseis na saúde e a urgência de uma transição justa
The document details how fossil fuel production and combustion cause systemic health damage from fetal development through old age, disproportionately affecting marginalized populations in 'sacrifice zones'. It highlights that global fossil fuel subsidies reached an estimated US$ 7 trillion in 2022, including US$ 5.7 trillion in implicit subsidies representing unaccounted social and health costs. The report advocates for a 'just transition' that includes ending new fossil fuel projects, internalizing health costs via the 'polluter pays' principle, and redirecting financial resources toward renewable energy and public health infrastructure.
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Document type: Executive summary
El impacto de los combustibles fosiles en la salud y la urgencia por una transicion justa
The document details how fossil fuels cause systemic health damage across their entire value chain, affecting individuals from fetal development through old age. It highlights the disproportionate burden on marginalized communities in 'sacrifice zones' and calls for the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, the cessation of new exploration, and the internalisation of health costs through the 'polluter pays' principle to facilitate a just energy transition.
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Document type: Executive summary
Du berceau à la tombe: le fardeau sanitaire des combustibles fossiles et l’impératif d’une transition juste
The report details how fossil fuel production and use cause systemic health damage across all human life stages and geographic regions, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. It maps these impacts from site preparation and extraction to combustion and waste disposal, highlighting the role of pollutants like PM2.5, benzene, and heavy metals. The document also examines the societal harms of the industry, including forced displacements, human rights violations, and political corruption. It concludes by advocating for a 'just transition' that prioritizes public health, eliminates fossil fuel subsidies, and holds polluters accountable through the 'polluter-pays' principle.
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Document type: Report
MEDICAL ALERT! Climate Change Is Harming Our Health
The report, produced by a consortium of medical societies, alerts the public and policymakers that climate change is already causing direct and indirect health harms across the United States. It identifies vulnerable populations, such as children and the elderly, and details how extreme heat, weather events, air pollution, and the spread of infectious diseases impact public health. The document advocates for the acceleration of a transition to clean renewable energy as the most critical action to protect health and provide immediate co-benefits like improved air and water quality.
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Document type: Report
Climate Change in the British Mind
A survey of 10,660 UK residents reveals high levels of climate change awareness, with 86% believing it is happening and 75% attributing it to human activity. While 80% of respondents express worry about climate change and 82% support renewable energy, personal risk perception is lower than concern for future generations. The report also details local environmental experiences, noting that 68% of respondents experienced at least one environmental problem in the past year, most notably severe storms and flooding.
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Document type: Report
EPA GUTTED COAL ASH RULE BY DELAYING CLOSURE OF LEAKING TOXIC PONDS
The document criticizes a July 2020 EPA rule that postpones the closure of coal ash ponds, allowing utilities to continue dumping toxic waste into leaking basins until as late as 2038. It asserts that this rollback ignores the risks of groundwater contamination, catastrophic dam failures, and the increased threat of storm-driven flooding due to climate change, disproportionately impacting low-income communities and communities of color.
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Document type: Report
CLOSING THE FLOODGATES: HOW THE COAL INDUSTRY IS POISONING OUR WATER AND HOW WE CAN STOP IT
Coal-fired power plants are identified as the largest source of toxic water pollution in the United States, discharging billions of pounds of heavy metals into waterways annually. A review of 386 plants reveals that nearly 70% of those discharging coal ash and scrubber wastewater have no effluent limits on key toxins like arsenic and mercury, often operating under expired permits. The report highlights severe ecological damage, including massive fish kills in North Carolina and groundwater contamination in Missouri and Illinois, and notes that these plants are frequently located in marginalized communities. While the EPA proposed updated standards, the report argues that political interference from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) weakened these options. It advocates for 'Option 5,' a zero-discharge standard utilizing dry ash handling and vapor compression evaporation, asserting that such controls are cost-effective and would significantly reduce pollution.
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Document type: Report
Timeline of U.S. Federal Coal Ash and Power Plant Wastewater Regulation
The timeline details the evolution of U.S. coal ash and wastewater regulation, beginning with the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant spill and subsequent lawsuits by Earthjustice. It tracks the introduction of the first coal ash rule and revised Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) under the Obama administration, followed by a series of rollbacks and delays proposed by the Trump administration's EPA between 2017 and 2019.
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Document type: Fact sheet
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WAGES MULTIFRONT ASSAULT ON COAL ASH PROTECTIONS
The document details a 'multifront assault' by the Trump administration to roll back the 2015 EPA regulations on coal ash, a toxic byproduct of coal-fired electricity generation. It describes how six specific proposals aim to delay the closure of leaking pits, weaken wastewater standards, and eliminate financial requirements for cleanups. The briefing highlights the dangers of coal ash—including carcinogens like arsenic and hexavalent chromium—and cites historical disasters and contamination sites to illustrate the necessity of the safeguards being targeted.
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Document type: Briefing
Waste Deep Filling Mines with Coal Ash Is Profit for Industry, But Poison for People
The report examines the environmental and health risks associated with dumping coal combustion waste (CCW), or coal ash, into active and abandoned coal mines across the United States. It argues that this practice, often labeled as 'beneficial use' or 'recycling' to bypass regulations, allows toxic metals to leach into groundwater and surface water. The document highlights the failure of the U.S. EPA and the Office of Surface Mining to implement necessary safeguards, noting that minefilling is driven by economic incentives, reducing disposal costs by 89 to 95 percent compared to engineered landfills. It specifically identifies the increased risks from Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) plants and provides case studies of contamination in Pennsylvania and New Mexico. The report concludes by urging the EPA to adopt the National Academies of Sciences' recommendations for mandatory testing, site characterization, and long-term monitoring.
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Document type: Report
Tell EPA What You Think About Coal Ash!
The document argues that coal ash poses severe health and environmental risks, including cancer and water contamination, and asserts that only federally enforceable safeguards under RCRA Subtitle C can provide adequate protection. It highlights the failure of the Subtitle D approach and cites a 2008 disaster in Tennessee as evidence of the need for stricter regulations.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Coal Ash in Kentucky
The document details the prevalence of coal ash ponds and landfills in Kentucky, highlighting significant safety hazards and documented groundwater contamination. It argues that Kentucky's regulatory program is inadequate due to a lack of reporting requirements, inspection frequencies, and emergency planning for high-hazard dams.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Minnesota and Coal Ash Disposal in Ponds and Landfills
The document details the prevalence of coal ash ponds in Minnesota, highlighting that nine are rated as 'significant hazard' and many lack modern liners due to their age. It argues that Minnesota's regulations are insufficient, failing to require comprehensive groundwater monitoring, composite liners for new sites, or financial assurances for cleanup. Evidence of environmental damage is cited, including groundwater contamination at the Sherburne County Generating Plant and Boswell Energy Center, and a note that low-income individuals are over-represented by 43% in zip codes hosting coal-fired power plants.
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Document type: Fact sheet
North Carolina: Coal Ash Disposal, Damage and Regulation
North Carolina ranks 9th in the U.S. for coal ash generation, producing over 5.5 million tons annually. The state's infrastructure is characterized by 37 ponds, 29 of which are rated "high hazard," meaning failure would likely cause human life loss and significant economic and environmental damage. Most ponds lack liners and leachate collection systems, with 27 ponds being over 30 years old. Documented failures include breaches at the W.H. Weatherspoon, Cliffside, and Roxboro stations, as well as a 2010 failure at the Sutton plant. Water contamination is widespread, with 13 documented cases involving high levels of selenium, arsenic, and other heavy metals in groundwater and surface water. Regulatory gaps persist, as ponds built before 1994 are not required to have liners or conduct groundwater monitoring, and landfill monitoring remains discretionary.
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Document type: Fact sheet
NEW JERSEY COAL ASH GENERATION, CONTAMINATION AND REGULATORY GAPS
New Jersey electric utilities generate 642,300 tons of coal ash annually, ranking 37th in the U.S. While much of this waste is transported out of state, New Jersey residents face health and water quality threats from coal ash dumping in Pennsylvania and New York, including a 100-million-gallon spill into the Delaware River in 2005. The document argues that New Jersey's own regulations are insufficient because they do not mandate composite liners for all dump sites or universal groundwater monitoring at all coal ash ponds and landfills.
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Document type: Fact sheet
NEW YORK COAL ASH DISPOSAL IN PONDS AND LANDFILLS
New York generates 2.8 million tons of coal ash annually, ranking 15th in the US. The document identifies six coal ash ponds and numerous landfills, noting that five specific sites have contaminated groundwater or surface water with toxins such as arsenic, lead, and selenium. It argues that New York state law is deficient because it allows the Department of Environmental Conservation to exempt coal ash monofills from certain permitting requirements and does not mandate groundwater monitoring or composite liners for all facilities.
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Document type: Fact sheet