Climate Point: 'Forever chemicals' capped in drinking water
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. From Palm Springs, I'm Janet Wilson. Grassroots efforts by ordinary people paid off with major wins this week against environmental harm.
Drink up. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced its first-ever regulation to protect people against toxic “forever chemicals” found in drinking water, setting allowable limits near zero.
Polyfluoroalkyl substances - or PFAS - are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not easily break down in our bodies or the environment. The cancer-causing chemicals are found in hundreds of everyday products, from microwave popcorn to non-stick pans and cosmetics, and were heavily used by firefighters and the military in flame-fighting foam.
Cincinnati-based attorney Rob Bilott and the Environmental Working Group fought for years for the regulations. Bilott credits victims of PFAS exposure and others who spoke out about chemicals in their drinking water for making a difference.
“You may be up against major companies, or the whole regulatory system, or the scientific system or the legal system,” he said on Wednesday “But you know what? That can be changed.”
At least 70 million Americans get their water from systems with high enough levels of PFAS to require reporting to the EPA, according to a Paste BN investigation, including in large urban areas like Salt Lake City, Sacramento, California, Madison, Wisconsin and Louisville, Kentucky, according to the data.
EPA administrator Michael Regan said the new regulation will reduce exposure to the chemicals for approximately 100 million people - avoiding tens of thousands of deaths. The feds are also offering $1 billion to states for public water system testing. From Massachusetts to coastal New Hampshire to Wisconsin and elsewhere, all public water systems have three years to complete monitoring for PFAS and must inform the public of the level measured in their drinking water. When PFAS are found at levels that exceed the U.S. limits, the water agencies are required to install systems to reduce them within five years.
In a related move, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Wednesday sued 22 companies, including 3M and DuPont de Nemours, claiming they knew the health risks of PFAS, yet "they hid research showing that their products were extremely dangerous and did so while making millions in profits."
Move over kids. Two thousand older Swiss women won a lawsuit Tuesday against their government for not doing enough to protect them from climate change, including potentially deadly heat waves that they argued impact tehm more because of their age and gender.
Europe's top human rights court ruled that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change, in a decision expected to resonate in court decisions across Europe and beyond.
One of the women's group leaders, Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, told Reuters she was struggling to grasp the full extent of the decision. "We keep asking our lawyers, 'Is that right?'. And they tell us 'it's the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible.'"
Shine on, or shining you on. This week's energy headlines include more pitched battles over solar projects, oil and gas drilling and pipelines, and mining for ingredients needed in electric vehicles.
In rural Mohave County, Arizona, leaders voted to ban solar, then to allow a polluting gas-fired power plant near retiree homes. Joan Meiners with the Arizona Republic has a great long read on this eye opener.
Final permits aren't yet issued for a copper mine that would sit 100 feet from Lake Superior, next to pristine wilderness, but opponents fear it's all but locked in. The feds also issued a mixed report on a new oil pipeline in Wisconsin, issuing a mixed report supporting both the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa opposing it and the Canadian oil giant Enbridge seeking to build it on different points.
Thousands of acres near two national parks in New Mexico were dropped from an oil and gas lease auction after a federal agency found extraction in those areas could lead to contamination of the region’s water table and collapse cave systems.
Truth to power. I was lucky to travel to Philadelphia last week for the annual Society for Environmental Journalists conference, where I moderated a panel on the bumpy transition to renewables. What struck me most was a question from Nigerian journalist Abdulkareem Mojeed about how destitute countries can obtain rooftop solar and other lifesaving, modern technology. While wealthier countries have pledged to help the Global South, there are no easy answers.
Afterwards, I spoke with him about his work for Premium Times, including investigations he did into the failure of "green bonds" to restore forests. He received death threats from corrupt officials for reporting the stories, he said, but did it anyway.
Read on for more, including which parts of the US are worst for allergies this year - and yes, climate change is making them worse. Some of the stories below may require a subscription. Sign up and get access to all eNewspapers in the Paste BN Network. If someone forwarded you this email and you'd like to receive Climate Point in your inbox for free once a week, sign up here