air pollution

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Usually when we talk about transportation emissions causing climate change here at TreeHugger, we focus on CO2 emissions or methane emissions—the usual suspects in the global warming discussion. In regards to cargo shipping, companies are investigating how much slowing down ships can reduce emissions. A new study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado shows, however, that it’s not just the carbon emissions from cargo shipping which are a serious global warming concern, but also the soot these s...

In response to our post Why do Republicans hate bicycles? Commenter Michael wrote: "Not to mention that Mayor Bill White (Republican mayor of Houston) is pushing the EPA to make refineries and chemical plants verify their emissions. Of course, considering this piece of news shows a Republican actually being green goes against Treehugger, nothing about it will get posted."

We take umbrage at that; we are not anti-Republican, we are pro-bike and pro-environment and perfectly happy to do EPA-bashing whichever the source. Here goes:

Bill White, the Mayor of Houston, th...

Headlines revealing the discovery that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reduced the value of a statistical life by almost a million dollars abound. The news, as you might expect, generates some of the best humorous comments (quotes overleaf). But what does it all really mean? How does it affect your environmental quality? And how does it affect your finances, especially in a down economy?...