PLASTIC POLLUTION AND PLASTIC WASTE PACT

After a fortnight of talks participated by almost all nations on the planet, there emerged an almost unanimous voice to take concrete action to track, monitor and mitigate plastic wastes that had cluttered landfills, rivers, tributaries, creeks, canals, lakes, seas and oceans. U.S. remained the only holdout on May 10, 2019 in the 186-nation U.N.-supported Basel Convention. 

****** PLASTIC POLLUTION CONFERENCE (NOVEMBER 28 - DECEMBER 2, 2022) ****

First of Five Conferences Held in Uruguay 

United Nations Environment Programme convened its first series of five conferences on the world's plastic waste from November 28, 2022 to December 2, 2022 at the Pacific Coast city of Punta del Este of Uruguay. Representatives from more than 160 governments, chemical industries, climate groups and civic organizations met over the five days to discuss and debate on various options to curtail plastic waste from our oceans, seas and rivers. Industry groups want to settle on a voluntary global agreement to mitigate the problem of plastic waste. Environmental groups prefer a more hands-down, pro-active binding agreement with measurable goals and specific targets. No concrete agreement or even compromising point of convergence was found in the first round of talks.  

****** PLASTIC POLLUTION CONFERENCE (NOVEMBER 28 - DECEMBER 2, 2022) ****

Kenya Talks on Plastic Pollution Falls Short in Outcome

The second session of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics, or INC-2, took place at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris from May 29, 2023 to June 2, 2023. The INC-3, or the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics, was held in Nairobi between November 13, 2023 and November 19, 2023. There was high expectation that negotiators will arrive some form of consensus on the broad framework of an agreement before the fourth of the five rounds of negotiation. Instead, the draft got longer as member states added their own proposals. The fissure was apparent too in the negotiating sessions. A more pro-active intervention group led by Norway and Rwanda stressed on an international binding treaty to cut down the imprimatur of plastics throughout its entire lifecycle and reduce certain chemicals as part of its eradication by 2040. The other group, mostly led by the oil-producing nations, wants to shift the focus away from mandates to voluntary adherence and from managing the entire lifecycle of plastics to waste management. 

PLASTIC POLLUTION

Study Identifies Largest Plastic Polluters

Every year our planet is burdened by plastic waste as a result of 400 million metric tons of plastic produced by large corporations as well as by small firms. Many of these plastic waste fill our landfills, swirl in ocean currents, or break up into microplastics that are inhaled by humans, thus creating adverse health outcomes. It's also often difficult, if not impossible, to identify who are behind this massive plastic pollution. That's going to change with an expansive study published on April 24, 2024 in the Science Advances. The study backed by the group Break Free From Plastic involved more than 100,000 volunteers across the globe. The study is based on 1,576 audits from more than 1.8 million pieces of plastic between 2018 and 2022. Out of more than 1.8 million pieces of plastic, circa 910,000 samples did have clear brand names. Based on the findings, researchers concluded that 56 firms contribute more than 50% of plastic waste. The biggest culprit is Coca-Cola Company, with a whopping 11% share. Coca-Cola is pursuing an ambitious plastic-free strategy, formally known as World Without Waste strategy, that calls for converting into 100% recyclable packaging by the end of 2025 and reusing recycled material in at least 50% of the packaging. Other large polluters are Nestle, Pepsi and Danone. 

BIODIVERSITY

First Comprehensive Biodiversity Report

Scientists on May 6, 2019 said that human activities are putting enormous pressure in the nature's ecosystem, leading to possible extinction of more than a million plant and animal species. However, there is still time to restore a more biodiverse planetary equilibrium if there is concerted and coordinated effort to fight against what "we have reconfigured dramatically life on the planet". The more than 1000-page report was compiled by Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) based on research of more than 15,000 scientific and government reports by more than 450 researchers. The report had to be approved by all 109 nations. The report also called for simultaneous work on fighting climate change and sustaining species. 

************* U.N. BIODIVERSITY CONFERENCE AT MONTREAL (COP15)*************

Landmark Agreement Reached in 2022 Montreal Biodiversity Conference

The U.N. Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, was held at Montreal, Canada from December 7, 2022 to December 19, 2022. The conference had lofty goals to begin with, but descended in so called economic divide and fault zones that had affected so many environmental conferences before. African nations were passionate in raising their demand for fair share and creating a Biodiversity fund to help out the poor nations. One sticking point was about creating a new fund for Biodiversity. However, developed countries focused on creating a fund under the existing Global Environmental Facility. At last, African nations agreed to a new fund as part of GEF. French Ecological Transition Minister Christophe Bechu said that creating a "fund under the GEF is the best way to obtain something immediate and efficient". China, which holds the presidency in the conference, has unveiled an agreement framework on December 18, 2022. Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqui said that "we have in our hands a package" that might "halt and reverse biodiversity loss and put biodiversity on the path to recovery", to the rapturous applause of the officials. The key provision of the deal, agreed in the wee hours of December 19, 2022, is 30-by-30, implying 30% of terrestrial and marine areas are to be brought under the purview of protection clause of the deal by 2030. At present, only 17% of the terrestrial and 10% marine areas are under the protective cover. The deal also calls for raising $200 billion by 2030 for Biodiversity. It [agreement] will commit $20 billion per year to poor nations for Biodiversity by 2025 and increase that to $30 billion per year by 2030. France's Christophe Bechu lauded the deal because it would strive for "very precise and quantified objectives on pesticides, on reduction of loss of species, on eliminating bad subsidies". 

************* U.N. BIODIVERSITY CONFERENCE AT MONTREAL (COP15)*************

********** U.N. BIODIVERSITY CONFERENCE  (COP16) AT CALI, COLOMBIA *********

Global Biodiversity Conference Begins to Pursue 23 Measures Agreed Two Years Ago

Environmental leaders and policymakers launched the COP16, or the current round of the Biodiversity Conference, at Cali, Colombia on October 21, 2024 to put in place a workable mechanism, or at least a plan for it, to push forward with 23 measures, including preserving 30% of the planet and 30% of the degraded ecosystems under a protection plan by 2030. They are some of the follow-up action plans from the 2022 COP15 conference at Montreal, where 196 nations have participated, that the leaders in this conference are to undertake with a concrete set of plans. 

Key Decisions Made as COP16 Draws to an End

The two-week Conference of Parties 16, or COP16, conference in Cali came to a conclusion on November 2, 2024 with some modest, but significant, achievements. Main among them is a proposal to form a "subsidiary" body that will include indigenous people to make decisions on biodiversity. This proposal is a significant victory for indigenous rights and say in issues related to biodiversity. Another important achievement is to agree on obliging biotechnology firms benefitting from rainforests and assets from other indigenous regions for producing invaluable medication and therapies that bring hefty revenues for the firms to share 0.1% of revenue with the source communities. The revenue sharing model, formally known as "Genetic Information Fee" model, will reinvest money in the development of many impoverished regions where the biotech firms source their product from. 

********** U.N. BIODIVERSITY CONFERENCE  (COP16) AT CALI, COLOMBIA *********

Router Is a Key, but Often Most Overlooked, Gateway of Cybersecurity Risks

If one has to go by what American Consumer Institute's recent research tells us about cyberattacks, routers are one of the most vulnerable devices that might compromise our internet security, leading to increasing identity theft, malicious activity, fraud and espionage among others. Hackers may compromise office and personal routers, and steal information from network traffic.

The research conducted by American Consumer Institute involved 186 devices from 14 manufacturers. Out of 186, 155 devices, or approximately 83 percent, were found to have vulnerabilities to potential cyberattacks in the router's software. What is more alarming is that, the research found, an average of 172 vulnerabilities exist in our Wi-Fi routers.

Not all the vulnerabilities are equally bad, and the National Vulnerability Database includes scores for each of them and flags them either as "Low", "Medium", "High", or "Critical" to reflect the risk severity. Within the American Consumer Institute research sample, 28 percent of the vulnerabilities were considered "High-risk" or "Critical". High-risk vulnerabilities don't require a skilled hacker to compromise the consumer's system. However, unlike the "Critical" vulnerabilities, "High-risk" vulnerabilities don't compromise the entire system. According to the American Consumer Institute's research, on average, a router has 12 "Critical" vulnerabilities, 36 "High-risk" vulnerabilities, 103 "Medium-risk" vulnerabilities, and 21 "Low-risk" vulnerabilities, respectively. Part of the responsibility lies in the consumers' hands as it's their prerogative to use any software updates to patch known vulnerabilities in the router. An average consumer may not even worry of updating router software. Unfortunately, router-makers also do not offer a user-friendly way to update router software.

As the IoT is creating exciting opportunities for innovation and integrating our ways of life like never before, the cybersecurity is taking front and center of our national security. Symantec has reported an alarming 600 percent increase in IoT-related cyberattacks, with router accounting for 33.6 percent. This threat is likely to grow in scale and frequency over time. To effectively combat this threat, we need a two-pronged defense. A deep-rooted awareness among consumers to take the cybersecurity seriously, including the ones exposed by as commonly and widely used device as router. On the manufacturers part, they need to show more commitment in terms of resources and funding to make devices with router software updates as seamless as possible, including identifying any "High-risk" or "Critical" vulnerabilities and auto-patching those vulnerabilities to provide consumers peace of mind and sense of cybersecurity they deserve in the rapidly integrated world. 

Methane Emissions

Obama Administration's Frontal Attack on Methane Emissions
Obama administration took a series of measures in the summer of 2015 to tackle the menace of methane emissions. Methane is 25 times deadlier than CO2. Most of the methane emissions happen from leaks in drilling rigs, making it incumbent on the oil and gas industry to shoulder the major responsibility for reducing this harmful gas. As per administration's plan, the oil and gas industry is asked to reduce methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2025 compared to 2012 emission levels. One caveat is that thousands of existing facilities are exempt from the rules. Also, there is not enough state-initiated rules to pressurize oil and gas industry to work on addressing the leaks. Few states, including Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wyoming and Ohio, require drillers to take remedial action in case of any leak. Texas, responsible for 30 percent of the nation's methane emissions, doesn't even require that.

Obama Administration Issues Final Methane Ruling
On May 12, 2016, Environmental Protection Agency issued a sweeping, final ruling on emissions of Methane, a hallmark and legacy of President Barack Obama. The rules call for, among others, reducing Methane emissions by up to 45 percent by 2025 compared to 2012 levels. Country's most of the emissions occur from gas well leakages in the booming shale formations. The cost-and-benefit analysis needed for such rules showed a health care and other benefits of $690 million, while the costs associated with the implementation of these rules were estimated to be $530 million in 2025. The EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said on May 12, 2016 of the final rules that they were going to "protect public health and reduce pollution". The rules will go into effect in the summer of 2016. Initially the rules will cover new and modified sources such as wells, compressors, pipes and pumps, but, in the long run, will provide an ideal template to extend them to cover the used sources.

Interior Department Issues Methane Rule in the Final Days of Obama Administration
Interior Department on November 15, 2016 issued Methane rules covering the oil and gas wells on the federal lands that might not last long as the Trump Administration would most likely to strike down the rules. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, issuing the rules, strongly backed the rules--aimed at cutting Methane emissions as much as 35 percent--as "standards that make good economic sense for the nation".

Trump Administration Reverses Obama-era Methane Rules
In a pair of steps, Trump administration put a stab at Obama-era strict methane rules, reversing first the ones related to so called "flare-ups" that happen in natural gas fields in public and private lands, and then a week later, on September 18, 2018, issuing rules that took the leash off the coal power plant operators from changes that had to be made under Obama-era rules and would cost $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion over 10 years and reduce methane emissions by up to 180,000 tons a year.

Trump Walks back on Obama Methane Rules
Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency in an irresponsible manner proposed on August 29, 2019 some of the drastic changes to the rules put in place in 2016 by Obama administration. Methane is a very potent Greenhouse gas, almost 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, but breaks down in the atmosphere relatively quickly. The policy, unveiled by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, will surely be challenged by environmentalist groups, state of California, whose Attorney-General Xavier Becerra called it "monumentally stupid decision", and other states.

U.N. Report Calls for Cutting Methane Emissions almost by Half

A U.N. Environmental Program report issued on May 6, 2021 called for cutting methane emissions by 45%  by 2030 if the world had to prevent the global temperature from rising by more than a half degree by mid-century. The report also states that a 45% reduction in methane emissions, which are more potent than carbon dioxide but stay much less in the air, will take out nearly 200 million tons of methane and save approximately 250,000 lives a year worldwide. Majority of methane emission sources are pipeline leaks, leakage during drilling and livestock belching. Program Director Inger Anderson said that "it is absolutely critical that we tackle methane" emissions. 

Scientists May Now Have the Pieces of Puzzle for Recent Rise in Methane

Scientists are baffled in the sudden rise in Methane since 2020. The significant uptick of methane began in 2007, with annual increments of 5 to 6 PPB. However, the rate of increase doubled since 2020. Now, scientists may have the answer, or at least part of it, to the sudden rise, and it may not all be tied to the fossil fuel. Fossil fuel, cow's stomach, agricultural fields and wetlands are among some of the key sources of Methane. Microbial emissions from cow's stomach, agricultural land, wetland and arctic permafrost are now transforming the methane footprint in our atmosphere in a way never seen before. 

According a research published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers found that microbial emissions were more pronounced starting in 2007, The Washington Post reported on November 4, 2024. 

Researchers analyzed samples of Methane, or CH4, collected from 22 locations at a Colorado laboratory. They emphasized on the heavier carbon isotope, or C13, to see how many of them had the molecules from the heavier carbon isotope. The methane emissions from natural gas well and gas leaks do contain more heavier carbon isotope compared to microbial emissions. However, increased microbial emissions over time also yield to heavier isotope-filled emissions. The research found a significant increase in microbial emission-led Methane in the air compared to the fossil fuel-led Methane. Microbial emission stems either from human-caused sources (example, rice fields) or natural sources (wetlands). Because of the global warming, continents' vast wetlands such as the Congolese wetlands in Africa, are warming up too, leading increased emissions from the microbe. 

EPA RULES, INVESTIGATIONS AND RELATED ACTION

EPA Coal Rules Upheld by Appeals Court
In a stunning rebuke to Texas and other states, a federal appeals court on April 15, 2014 rejected states' challenge to Environmental Protection Agency's authority to write strict rules limiting emission of mercury, chromium, arsenic, acid gases, nickel, cadmiums and other harmful chemicals from coal- and oil-fired power plants. In 2000, EPA's determined that it had authority under the Clean Air Act to control emission standards for mercury and other chemicals emitted from the power plants. In 2012, EPA re-affirmed its determination, triggering Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to file a lawsuit.

***************************** MERCURY STANDARD *****************************
Supreme Court Hands Obama Victory on Mercury Emissions for Coal Plants
The U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on March 3, 2016 rejected even to consider a motion filed by Texas and 19 other states to put a hold on EPA's rules on limiting emission of mercury, chromium, arsenic, acid gases, nickel, cadmiums and other harmful chemicals from coal- and oil-fired power plants. Roberts' refusal to refer the appeal to full court came weeks after February 9, 2016, Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling to put a hold on Obama administration's Clean Power Plan. Currently, EPA is carrying out a cost-benefit assessment of the implication of EPA's rules on limiting emission of mercury, chromium, arsenic, acid gases, nickel, cadmiums and other harmful chemicals from coal- and oil-fired power plants. 20 states went to U.S. Supreme Court after failing to get any reprieve from the lower courts to put a hold on the rules in the interim, and Justice Roberts refused to oblige them.

Trump Administration's EPA Takes a Stab at Obama-era Mercury Rules
Environmental Protection Agency on December 27, 2018 published an expansive set of rules, reversing the course of tightening mercury standards that Obama-era EPA had passed in 2011. Those standards, known as Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, had led to $18 billion in clean-up and other efforts by the nation's coal-fired utilities. EPA's acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler, is a longtime champion of coal industry and utilities. Now, public will have 60 days to comment before the rules go into effect. Obama administration used "co-benefit" methodology as part of the cost-benefit analysis and included the effect of particulate matters while estimating the adverse impact of mercury on human health as often those particulate matters are associated with emissions of mercury from smokestacks. According to Obama administration estimate, at least 11,000 premature deaths would have been avoided by implementing the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards. Mercury is a neurotoxin, and can harm brain and nervous system in young children.
***************************** MERCURY STANDARD *****************************

********************* OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S CLEAN POWER PLAN **********
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on September 20, 2013 issued new carbon limit rules for the new power plants.

* CO2 emissions from the gas-fired power plants will be limited to 1,000 pounds per megawatt-hour of power generated

* CO2 emissions from the coal-fired power plants will be limited to 1,100 pounds per megawatt-hour of power generated

In June 2014, EPA will issue the CO2 emissions rule for the existing power plants.

Obama's Carbon Footprint
On June 3, 2014, Obama administration issued its draft proposal on carbon dioxide emission from nation's power plants that have potential to alter the future energy landscape. The draft rule, also known as the Clean Power Plan, calls for reduction of carbon emissions from power plants by 30 percent nationwide by 2030 below 2005 levels. However, different states have different targets, and there is flexibility on how states arrive at their target goals as long as those goals are met by 2030.

ERCOT's Concern over EPA's Clean Power Plan
Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, on November 17, 2014 released the first version of its response to the EPA's Clean Power Plan issued on June 3, 2014 that called for almost 38 percent reduction in Texas' emissions by 2030. The ERCOT report voiced concern over the power reliability that might be caused by possible coal plant shutdowns.

Final Rules for Power Plants Unveiled
In a campaign style boisterous mood at the White House surrounded by a friendly audience and live-streamed on YouTube, President Barack Obama on August 3, 2015 marked the official unveiling of the 1,560-page Clean Power Plan that drew cheers from progressives and condemnation and threat of lawsuits from conservatives. The final rule increases the threshold of carbon emission reduction from coal-fired power plants to 32 percent, from the draft plan of 30 percent made public in June 2014, by 2030 compared to the 2005 level. However, the final rule gives states up to 2018 to come up with and submit a plan. The states are required to start meeting goals by 2022 , an additional two years compared to the preliminary rules issued in June 2014, and be fully compliant by 2030. The states are also given freehand and leeway to devise plan on reducing the carbon emission, ranging from focusing on renewable energy, starting a cap-and-trade system for exchanging carbon credits and emphasizing on retrofitting older coal-fired power plants. However, the political atmosphere now is so vitiated and vitriolic that it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when, the avalanche of lawsuits against the rule will be filed. To add fuel to the fire, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, wrote letters to all state governors in March 2015 to ignore Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.

States Request Supreme Court to Rein in the Administration
A coalition of 25 states, including Texas, on January 26, 2016 filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to put a hold on Obama administration's Clean Power Plan as its merit was being considered by the court. An appeals court in Washington D.C. denied a similar request last week.

Supreme Court Puts a Hold on Administration's Clean Power Plan
A divided Supreme Court on February 9, 2016 ruled by 5-4 vote ordering Obama administration to put a hold on any further action related to Clean Power Plan, giving a temporary victory to a coalition of 27 states, mostly Republican ruled, and coal power plant operators. What's most disconcerting to the administration and environmental groups is that the five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court may have thought that there is reasonable chance that the plan will be rejected by the court. A federal appeals court in Washington refused last month to put a hold on the implementation of the Clean Power Plan as a hearing before the appellate court would begin on June 2, 2016. Under the Clean Power Plan,
* States are to submit their respective plan to EPA by September 2016, or seek an extension
* Compliance is not required until 2022

EPA Scuttles Clean Power Plan
Saying that the war on coal was over, EPA chief Scott Pruitt used a coal town in Kentucky as a backdrop on October 9, 2017 to announce that he would roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan that was aimed as a tool as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Register will publish new rules to this effect on October 10, 2017.

Looser Coal Power Plan Draft Reported
The New York Times reported on July 5, 2018 that Trump administration had a draft, to be published soon, ready to ease the requirements enshrined as part of the Obama era's Clean Power Plan.

21 States Sue Trump Administration over Coal Rules
In June 2019, Trump administration replaced Clean Power Plan with its own rules that gave plenty of rooms and leeway for the states to formulate their own plans to cut down the carbon emissions from the coal-fired power plants, diluting one of the most transformative environmental policies of Obama administration. On August 13, 2019, 21 mostly Democratic-run states filed a lawsuit at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to block the Trump administration's new rules that went into effect in June 2019.

U.S. Supreme Court Curbs EPA's Authority in Carbon Emissions

U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2022 ruled 6-3 against the EPA's authority to cut carbon footprint and imprimatur from the nation's coal plants. Writing for the majority, Justice John Roberts said that, although laudable, EPA's action to rein in carbon emissions from the nation's coal-fired power plants without the explicit approval from Congress was tantamount to exceeding the authority granted to it by the legislative branch of the government. 

Expansive Rule to Cut Carbon Emissions from Power Plants

As part of Biden administration's ambitious goal of eliminating carbon footprint from the electricity sector by 2035 and the overall economy by 2050, Biden administration on April 25, 2024 unveiled one of the most expansive rules to cut the carbon emissions. As per the rule that encompasses around four measures: 

* Coal-fired power plants which want to operate beyond 2039 have to capture or cut 90% of smoke-stack emissions by 2032

* Coal-fired powerplants scheduled to retire by 2039 are required to cut or capture some degree--not as stringent as 90%--of smoke-stack emissions by 2032

* Coal-fired powerplants scheduled to shutter by 2032 are not under the aegis of the rule

* New powerplants fueled by coal or natural gas are required to reduce (through cutting or capturing) 90% of carbon pollution

* Coal-fired powerplants are required to reduce the wastewater pollutants

* Coal-fired powerplants are required to safely manage coal ash in unlined storage ponds

The rule unveiled on April 25, 2024 by Michael Regan's EPA will cut emissions 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon emissions by 2047, an annual equivalent to taking out 328 million tailpipe emission cars from America's roads. 

Biden administration has taken several significant incremental steps like the ones unveiled on April 25, 2024 through the rulemaking process as well as legislative measure like Inflation Reduction Act to achieve the the goal of Net Zero by mid-century. Republican states as well as power industry groups are sure to file lawsuits against the newest rule. EPA Administrator Michael Regan refrained from unveiling rules related to natural gas-fired powerplants until next year although his initial proposal last year included those plants too. 
********************* OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S CLEAN POWER PLAN **********

********************* EPA VS. STATES IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT **************
Supreme Court Upholds EPA's Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gas
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2014 ruled in a 7-2 majority that EPA retained the powers to regulate greenhouse gases. The ruling in essence upheld the apex court's 2007 verdict that EPA could consider greenhouse gases to be pollutants under the Clean Air Act if they contributed to the climate change. The standout judges were Judge Samuel Alito and Judge Clarence Thomas. However, in a separate, but related, ruling (5-4), the court also made it clear that the EPA couldn't use the authority to make the permitting process stricter.
Background of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
The legal wrangle between Obama administration's Environmental Protection Agency vs. Texas and other litigants were consolidated into one case, and the hearing began on February 24, 2014 at the U.S. Supreme Court. At the heart of the case was U.S. Supreme Court's 2007 ruling that Congress had authorized the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas from vehicles. However, EPA extended that mandate to assert its regulatory arm not only to cover emission from vehicles, but also to other facilities such as refineries and power plants under the Clean Air Act, which calls for regulating any facility with more than 250 tons of pollutants. The state of Texas and other litigants argued that greenhouse gases such as CO2 were not subject to Clean Air Act, and so the EPA lacked the authority to regulate them. Also, at 250 tons of pollutants, many facilities such as hospitals and schools will be subject to the Clean Air Act regulation. To work around that, EPA tweaked the threshold, thus violating the Clean Air Act, according to these litigants.
********************* EPA VS. STATES IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT **************

EPA Rejects Texas' Parts of Regional Haze-Fighting Plan
Environmental Protection Agency on November 24, 2014 rejected parts of the clean-air plan submitted by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Under the plan submitted by the TCEQ, 14 coal-burning units at seven Texas power plants have to be equipped or improved to reduce emissions of SO2. Under the Clean Air Act, states have to submit their plans to reduce pollutants that cause hazy skies, and coal-burning plants face a herculean task to work on this front at the same time they face cheaper natural gas that emit significantly less pollution. EPA under the Administrator Gina McCarthy has been active in writing rules and re-setting the regulatory landscape on emission standards for mercury, CO2 and other pollutants. By December 1, 2014, Administrator McCarthy will issue a revised standard for Ozone pollution in country's urban areas.

**************************** EPA's NEW OZONE STANDARD *********************
EPA's New Ozone Standard Sets Texas in Collision Course
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on November 26, 2014 published new requirements for Ozone standard for nation's urban counties. The stringent requirements, lauded by environmental and physician groups, raise the bar of clean air standard significantly compared to the requirements ordered by the EPA under President George W. Bush. The current standard, ordered under President Bush, of safe Ozone amount in air, 75 parts per billion (PPB), according to many experts and environmentalists, was too high, and they were particularly elated after the new requirements would lower the Ozone threshold to a range of 65 PPB to 70 PPB. Especially for North Texas, that's a high bar to reach as the Ozone level in North Texas as measured at a facility in Denton is as high as 81 PPB and has even failed to pass the current threshold set under the Bush administration.

EPA Issues New Ozone Rules to Reduce Smog
The Environmental Protection Agency on October 1, 2015 issued the final rule on the limits of Ozone in the air as part of effort to fight against asthma and other breathing related diseases. Under the new EPA rules, the Ozone standard is to be brought down from the current limit of 75 PPB to 70 PPB. The new rules have detractors on the both sides of the issue. Many in the business side called the rules a job killer, while environmentalists said that the rules didn't go far enough, citing the June 2014 study conducted by the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee, EPA's independent science advisory body, that reported Ozone level around 70PPB to have significant adverse health impact on vulnerable groups.
**************************** EPA's NEW OZONE STANDARD *********************

************************** OBAMA-ERA WATER RULES REVERSED ***************
Trump Administration Overturns Obama-era Water Rules
The EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Assistant Secretary of Army for Civil Works R.D. James on September 12, 2019 signed an official proclamation that would start a rule-making process to be finalized by the end of the year. The document signed by the Trump administration officials defines much more narrowly what's considered as protected waterways. Under the Clean Water Act of 1972, developers, farmers and ranchers have to seek permit before beginning activities that may lead to polluting streams and tributaries before they merge to larger lakes and water bodies. In 2006, the United States Supreme Court delved into the issue, but didn't deliver any definitive verdict. Obama administration in 2015 issued rules protecting many streams and waterways from pollution. The September 12, 2019, Trump administration's move aims at overturning the 2015 Obama-era rule.

Biden Admin Reverses Trump-era Water Rules

Environmental Protection Agency on December 30, 2022 introduced rules that would redefine what could be brought under the aegis of Waters of the United States framework, thus overturning the Trump-era rules imposed in 2019. EPA Administrator Michael Reagan said on December 30, 2022 that the proposed rules would "deliver a durable definition of WOTUS that safeguards our nation's waters, strengthens economic opportunities, and protects people's health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners". The proposed rules strike a balance, according to the Biden administration, between laissez faire approach of Trump administration that has removed, through its 2019 rules, nation's half of wetlands and 1.19 million miles of rain-dependent streams and rivers from federal protection and the controversial 2015 effort by the Obama administration to expand the scope of Clean Water Act of 1972. 

Biden Administration Revises of WOTUS Rules after Supreme Court's Adverse Ruling

EPA on August 29, 2023 unveiled new rules that revised the broader, more expansive rules unveiled earlier after the conservative justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in a May 2023 verdict restrained the authority of the administration from what it could do to apply the Clean Water Act to protect water streams, creeks, marshlands, wetlands and other water bodies. The case pitted the U.S. against an Idaho couple--Chantell and Michael Sackett--as the plaintiff objected to the U.S. requiring them to getting a federal permit before filling part of their property with rocks and boulders. Alluding to the property rights, the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2023 sharply limited Biden administration's authority to regulate wetlands that didn't have a "continuous surface connection" with "traditional interstate navigable waters" such as river or ocean.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan, unveiling the revised rules on August 29, 2023, alluded to the U.S. Supreme Court's "continuous surface connection" rationale for the dilution of stricter WOTUS rules unveiled in December 2022. 
************************** OBAMA-ERA WATER RULES REVERSED ***************

************************** HYDROFLUOROCARBON PHASE-OUT RULE ************

EPA Proposes Rule to Reduce Refrigerator and Freezer Gases

Environmental Protection Agency on May 3, 2021 unveiled the first rule-making proposal of the Biden administration, targeting the Hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a key ingredient of the gases for refrigerators and air conditioners. Congress as part of an omnibus pandemic relief and spending bill passed a measure in December 2020 to wean the country from production and use of HFCs over a 15-year timeline. HFCs are hundreds to thousands times more potent than Carbon Dioxide in warming up the planet, and thus the rule targeting HFCs is more effective in mitigating climate change crisis than rulesets focused on other greenhouse emissions. The May 3, 2021, ruleset envisions cutting down the production and use of HFCs by 85% over 15 years. 

EPA Administrator Michael Regan issued a statement on May 3, 2021, lauding the rule as part of "President Biden's ambitious agenda to address the climate crisis". In addition to calling for a 15-year phase-out, American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, or AIM Act, strives for capturing and storing the carbon emissions and reducing diesel emissions by vehicles. EPA analysis has shown savings of about $284 billion over the next three decades and reduction of equivalent of 187 million metric tons of Carbon Dioxide, roughly equal to annual greenhouse gas emissions from one in seven vehicles in the United States. 

************************** HYDROFLUOROCARBON PHASE-OUT RULE ************

************************** JOURNEY TO JUSTICE ********************************

EPA to Ramp up after Administrator's "Journey to Justice" Tour 

Environmental equity is very personal to Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan as he himself has been a testament, while growing up, to communities of color being subjected to disproportionate exposure of toxic elements. After taking a "Journey to Justice" tour in the Fall of 2021 through the Gulf Coast's petrochemical trail spanning three states, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, Michael Regan had a more profound understanding on how vulnerable communities were bearing the disproportionate brunt of pollutants emitted by refineries, petrochemical plants and other energy plants dotting along the Gulf Coast. On January 26, 2022, EPA announced that it would carry out unannounced visits and install air quality monitoring equipment in Louisiana's "chemical corridor" between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. EPA also ordered the city of Jackson, Mississippi to remedy its water pipelines and water supply systems as they, at the current conditions, violated the Safe Drinking Water Act. In separate letters, Administrator Michael Regan urged Jackson and other Mississippi cities to use $79 million from the bipartisan infrastructure package to "solve some of the more dire needs" the localities were facing. Industrial pollutions affect the health of communities of color more severely than their White peers. A Toxic Release Inventory prepared by the EPA shows that the African Americans and other minorities constitute 56% of the population who live in the vicinity of landfills, refineries and chemical plants, making EPA action all the more urgent to drive the environmental equity. 

EPA to Target Chemical Industry's Pollution

Often termed as Environmental Racism, the sheer degree of pollution from Louisiana's Chemical Corridor has harmed the surrounding communities of color for generations, making them as part of the so called Cancer Ally. During EPA Administrator Michael Regan's Journey to Justice tour in 2021, he had intimate conversation with the communities that had been afflicted significantly by the emissions of the chemical plants in the vicinity of their neighborhoods. 

Now comes the time for regulatory prescription to address decades-old systemic discrimination. On April 9, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency issued rulesets, cutting emissions from industrial pollution sources such as Ethylene Oxide, Chloroprene, Vinyl Chloride, benzene 1,3-Butadiene and Ethylene Dichloride, respectively. The rulesets issued on April 9, 2024 call for reducing 6,200 tons of toxic pollutions annually and beginning "fenceline monitoring" for the six key pollutants--Ethylene Oxide, Chloroprene, Vinyl Chloride, benzene 1,3-Butadiene and Ethylene Dichloride--that would be crucial for bringing accountability and transparency. 

************************** JOURNEY TO JUSTICE ********************************

EPA Investigating whether Colorado Rules Lax in Protecting Minorities from Harmful Pollution

Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation in March 2022 into how state rules are working in providing protection, or lack of it, to the communities of color from the harmful pollution from Suncor refinery in north of Denver. Often pollution levels exceed federal standard, once forcing even a school to go into lockdown. EPA in a December 28, 2022, letter explained the scope and scale of the investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

EPA Outlines the Framework of "Green Bank"

Biden administration's EPA on February 14, 2023 unveiled a broad outline of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, or so called Green Bank, established as part of the landmark climate law passed last year. According to the outline unveiled on February 14, 2023, $20 billion will be distributed among 15 nonprofits who will work with banks, institutions and individuals to invest in green energy projects in the under- and unprivileged areas. Another $7 billion will be invested through states and local jurisdictions in solar energy sector, including installing solar panels on rooftops, community settings and other areas. Lauding the "Green Bank", EPA Administrator Michael Regan said that the fund would help the low-income and poor communities to "realize opportunities". 

EPA MEMO ON CYBERSECURTITY RISKS TO WATER UTILITIES

EPA Requires States to Report on Cybersecurity Risks to Water Systems

A day after Biden administration issued a wide-ranging cybersecurity plan to counter and curate rising cyberattacks on the nation's infrastructure, Environmental Protection Agency on March 3, 2023 issued a memo requiring states to report on cybersecurity risks in the audit of their public water systems. After a 2021 remotely orchestrated effort to poison the water system of a small public water jurisdiction near Tampa in Florida raised nationwide alarm, it became imperative for America's more than 151,000 public water systems to strengthen the cybersecurity defense. The memo written by EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox didn't outline a timeline.  

***************************** FOREVER CHEMICALS (PFAS) ************************

EPA Issues Ruleset to Reduce "Forever Chemicals" in Water

Environmental Protection Agency on March 14, 2023 has issued rules to lower the PFAS, or Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, a family of chemicals that stay in water without degradation, thus assuming the moniker of "forever chemicals", to the lowest measurable level. Calling it a "transformational change", EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox said that the goal would be limit the PFAS level to 4 parts per trillion, lowest measurable level as of today. The ruleset now goes to commentary period and is expected to become the law later this year. 

EPA Issues Final Rules on "Forever Chemicals"

Using Fayetteville, North Caronia as the venue, EPA Administrator Michael Regan on April 10, 2024 announced the final rules on limiting the concentration of "forever chemicals", or PFAS, in the nation's water systems. Environmentalists and water safety advocates lauded Regan's focused stand on adhering the scientific criteria to regulate the water quality for public health and not diluting the proposed standards originally unveiled in March 2023. 

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS, is a broad family of chemicals that have long staying power in water. Under the finalized rules, two specific types of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS--PFOA and PFOS--are required to be capped at 4 parts per trillion threshold. Three other types, including GenEx Chemicals that pose a severe problems in North Carolina, are required to adhere to the maximum limit of 10 parts per trillion. 

Many of the nation's water utilities are planning to sue the Biden administration over the stricter limits.

Trump Admin's EPA Dilutes Forever Chemicals Rules

Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency led by Administrator Lee Zeldin said on May 14, 2025 that it would abrogate the rules written by Biden administration related to the three types of PFAS, including GenEx Chemicals, and retain the new thresholds (4 parts per trillion) for two other PFAS--PFOA and PFOS--chemicals, but delayed the timeline of adherence by two more years to 2031. 

***************************** FOREVER CHEMICALS (PFAS) ************************

EPA Finalizes Rules that will Boost Biofuels, but not Ethanol for the Next Three Years

Environmental Protection Agency on June 21, 2023 unveiled new rules for biofuel industry that, according to the agency chief, Michael Regan, will reduce the reliance of foreign fuel by up to 140,000 barrels a day and "play a critical role by diversifying our country's energy mix and combating climate change, all while providing good paying jobs". Under the new rules, biofuel blend for 2023 is set at 20.94 billion gallons, 21.54 billion gallons for 2024, and 22.33 billion gallons for 2025, respectively. However, the federal Renewable Fuel Standard keeps the ethanol volume the same (15 billion gallons) for all these three years (2023-2025), a decision that frustrates farmers in Midwestern states such as Iowa. Many biofuel advocates thought that EPA would be more aggressive in embracing "advanced biofuels" such as algae, switchgrass, landfill waste, or cellulosic ethanol, but EPA Administrator Michael Regan walked on a cautious rope there. 

EPA Tightens Standards for Soot Emissions 

Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency on February 7, 2024 took a much anticipated step to lower the cap of soot emissions from the current allowable maximum of 12 micrograms of fine particle pollution per cubic meter of the air to 9 micrograms by 2032. EPA Administrator Michael Regan estimated that the new rule would save $46 billion in healthcare and other costs, prevent circa 800,000 asthma attacks and avoid 4,500 premature deaths by 2032. 

EPA's Internal Watchdog Points Erroneous Fund Allocation based on non-Reliable Data

The Environmental Protection Agency allocated circa $3 billion among states to identify and replace lead pipes based on unverified data, according to a report published on May 16, 2024 by the agency's Inspector-General Sean O'Donnell. The report implies that some states may have received more than needed amount, while others have received less than their required funding. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is to distribute $15 billion over five years among states to identify and replace lead pipelines. 

EPA Rules on a Key Pesticide 

Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention on August 6, 2024 issued emergency rules that suspended the registration of Dimethyl Tetrachloroterephthalate, or DCPA, a weedkiller, used in fields growing crops such as cabbage, Brussels, Broccoli, Sprouts and onions as, based on the research, DCPA was linked to adversely affecting the vital metrics of the newborns of pregnant farmworkers tending to fields sprayed with the pesticide manufactured by only one firm in the US, AMVAC Chemical. 

************** FLUORIDE IN WATER: EPA VS. FOOD & WATER WATCH ***************

Unprecedent Ruling by a Court on Water Fluoridation

The fluoridation of the nation's water systems began after the federal government in 1950 approved addition of fluoride to water to fight tooth decay. The water systems continued the practice after toothpaste manufacturers came up with their own fluoride-based products. However, as time passed and research domains expanded, there emerged a new concern over the impact of fluoride on the development of children's IQ. 

In 2015, federal officials lowered the fluoridation cap from 1.2 to 0.7milligrams per liter. The WHO recommendation is a ceiling of 1.5 milligrams per liter. Separately, the EPA had a maximum allowable limit of 4 milligrams per liter to ensure against chemical's adverse impact on bones and pain. 

The genesis of this case is in 2017 when Food and Water Watch has filed a lawsuit against EPA in California. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ordered the EPA to lower the fluoride levels in the water, but stopped short of what could be the threshold. The Dallas Morning News in its September 26, 2024, edition reported that EPA was reviewing the verdict. 

************** FLUORIDE IN WATER: EPA VS. FOOD & WATER WATCH ***************

*********************************** LEAD IN WATER *******************************

Final EPA Rule Calls for Removal of Lead Pipes within 10 Years

Biden administration on October 8, 2024 published the final rule on lead pipe removal from the nation's water system network. The final EPA rule comes on the heels of 10th anniversary of Flint Water Crisis, a shameful and sorrowful chapter in our nation's life. Under the new rule, the lead concentration can't go above 10 parts per billion, or 10 PPB, one-third reduction in the current lead standard of 15 PPB. If the lead content goes above 10 PPB, the pipes will be removed. President Joe Biden used a cavernous union hall in Milwaukee, a city with the fifth-largest lead pipe network, on October 8, 2024 to remind the voters who could be trusted to address the lead in water system. 

*********************************** LEAD IN WATER *******************************

EPA to Eliminate Successful Energy Star Program

The Dallas Morning News reported on May 8, 2025 that Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency was planning to terminate a three-decade+ money-saving program that had saved so far $500 billion in consumer bills. The Energy Star program for common household appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators and ACs was unveiled in 1992 by George H. W. Bush administration. 

EPA Proposes to Rescind Linchpin of Many Climate Regulation Rules

The 2009 "Endangerment Finding" highlighted by the EPA has become a key driver to pushing a slew of state and federal laws to curb the emissions of the Greenhouse gases, including CO2. Trump administration's second stint has zeroed in on this scientific finding from the day number 1. On July 29, 2025, Trump administration took the first stab at this finding ["Endangerment Finding"] by proposing to rescind it.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the rescission effort single most "deregulatory action in the history of America". 

PM2.5: Trump Admin Argues to Roll back Biden Era Particulate Matter Rule

Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency on November 24, 2025 said in a filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia to vacate the Biden-era PM2.5-related rule that had been carried out "without rigorous, stepwise process that Congress required". The rule is expected to go into operational mode with the "area designation deadline of February 7, 2026", according to the filing, and the administration is appealing the court to vacate the rule beforehand.

Under the Biden-era rule, PM2.5, or Particulate Matters measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, will be limited to no more than 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Trump administration is seeking to revert the rule the first Trump term's threshold: 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

EPA Takes Final Steps to Rescind "Endangerment Finding" Rule

Trump administration on February 12, 2026 took the final step to gut the Obama-era environmental guardrails, known as the "Endangerment Finding" rule that came into effect in 2009. Standing alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Trump touted the action single largest deregulatory step in the U.S. history. 

OCEANS, ARCTIC, ANTARCTICA, WHALING BAN

WHALING BAN

An international commission issued a binding ruling on March 31, 2014 banning whale hunt in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. The Hague-based International Court of Justice said in a 12-4 ruling that Japan was at breach of its international obligation by issuing permits to catch and kill minke whales and issuing hunting permits related to humpback and fin whales within the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, established by the International Whaling Commission. Japan can't appeal the court's ruling which dismissed Tokyo's argument that its whaling program was meant for scientific purposes.

Japan to File New Plan to Resume Whale Hunting
In what was supposed to be the last nail in the coffin for Japan's whaling program near Antarctica because of a caustic ruling by the Hague-based International Court of Justice on March 31, 2014 turned out to be nothing more than a year-long postponement of the country's research whaling program as Agriculture Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on April 18, 2014 that it would file a new application to the International Whaling Commission for its research whaling program for 2015.

ARCTIC

20% More Loss of Ice Sheets Reported in New Research

The recent research on the volume of ice sheets in Greenland pushes the world to an unchartered territory in future as the consequences will not only be limited to sea level rise, but to influence the ocean water circulation pattern. The research was published in Nature on January 17, 2024. Earlier researches and findings had estimated a loss volume of 5,000 gigatons of ice sheets during study period  (1985-2022), equivalent to 26-foot tall ice coverings for a Texas size place. The new research based on more precise measurements of retreat (melting at a faster rate than forming) and calving (breaking off the edge of massive ice sheet) on the periphery shows that an additional 1,034 gigatons might have been lost. 

************************************** ARCTIC OIL DRILLING *********************

Protesters Use Kayaks to Show Displeasure against Arctic Drilling
As Royal Dutch Shell's 400-foot-long, 300-foot-tall Polar Pioneer drilling rig, docked in the Elliott Bay next to the Port of Seattle Terminal 5, was set to begin its voyage for pre-exploration preparatory work in the Arctic Ocean, thousands of environmentalists on May 16, 2015 protested against the company in an innovative way by paddling hundreds kayaks in the vicinity of the rig.

Trump Administration Releases ANWR Drilling Plan
Trump administration's Interior Department on September 12, 2019 issued the finalized version of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling plan that would allow energy companies to tap 1.56 million acres of the 19-million acre refuge. 

Biden Administration to Conduct New “Environmental Impacts” Analysis of ANWR

Hours after being sworn in as the 46^th President of the United States, President Joe Biden signed an executive order—one of dozens such orders to undo several Trump-era policies—to pause on the leasing process of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and instructed the Interior Department to review the previous lease-granting process. After more than seven months of review, the Interior Department found “multiple legal deficiencies” in Trump-era review process. The Bureau of Land Management announced on August 3, 2021 that it would begin a public process to determine the scope of the review and identify major issues related to the leasing process as part of an endeavor to “conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program".

************************************** ARCTIC OIL DRILLING *********************

ANTARCTICA

U.K. Gives Licenses for Pricey Chilean Seabass, Squaring off against Key Ally

The Dallas Morning News reported in its June 26, 2022, edition that U.K. had quietly issued licenses for fishing Chilean Seabass off the coast of South Georgia, an uninhabited island on the periphery of Antarctica. For the first time, the Chilean Seabass fishing will go without any catch limit from the 26-member Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR. U.S. criticizes the U.K. action to issue licenses in the Spring of 2022 without seeking catch limit from CCAMLR as irresponsible at best and illegal at worst. 

Largest Iceberg on the Move

The Dallas Morning News reported in its February 9, 2024, edition that the world's largest iceberg was moving at the rate of 0.62 miles per hour towards South Georgia Island. Iceberg A-23A broke off the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf to the northeast of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in 1986. The Rhode Island-size iceberg was stuck in the ocean for more than three and half decades before beginning to loosen in early 2020s, and by March 2023, it was freely floating. A-23A is the oldest and largest iceberg, and weighs nearly 1 trillion tons. 

The iceberg is on its way towards South Georgia Island, a no-human island, but enriched ecosystem that's home to many endangered species, variety of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Its productive water nurtures a vibrant supply of Krill, prey for Fur Seals. There is abundance of support system for Penguins, Seals and Seabirds in the near ideal climate of South Georgia Island. 

OCEANS (GENERAL)

Third U.N. Ocean Conference Begins with Hope for Treaty Ratification

The third U.N. Ocean Conference began in Nice, France as President Emmanuel Macron on June 9, 2025 called a healthy ocean crucial to biodiversity and sustainability. At the heart, is the so called High Seas Treaty adopted in 2023. To become effective, the treaty requires ratification from 60 nations. As of today, at least 55 nations have ratified the High Seas Treaty of 2023, with another 15 expected to do by the end of 2025. The treaty will allow nations to conserve areas of oceans which are in the ungoverned, international zone, accounting for two-third areas of the world's oceans.

Healthy oceans are key to human survival as 50% oxygen we breathe comes from the oceans, they also absorb 30% of carbon emissions and 90% of the excess heat produced by those emissions. Only 2.7% of the oceans are now immune from the destructive extractive activities, according to Marine Conservation Institute. The goal of the international community is a lofty pledge of so called "30-by-30", implying 30% of the land and ocean areas aimed at for conservation by 2030. Without implementing High Seas Treaty of 2023 rigorously, it will be hard to meet the lofty goal of "30-by-30".

Air Pollution: A Tale of Two Different Stories from Beijing and New Delhi

The high-pitched mid-January 2014 warning by the U.S. embassy in Beijing about the air pollution in the Chinese capital caught eyes of people all over the world as a key measure of fine particulate matters known as PM2.5 exceeded 500, upper limit of the measurement scale. PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matters who are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameters. For the first three weeks of 2014, the average measure of PM2.5 was 227 in Beijing where the same measure averaged 473 in New Delhi. While Beijing crossed the mark of 500 in the night of January 15, 2014, New Delhi had eight such days, but without raising the slightest of eyebrows. The fine particulate matters are linked to premature death, heart disease, stroke and heart failure. In October 2013, World Health Organization declared that it caused lung cancer.

A WHO Study Finds India Most Polluted
A World Health Organization study of 1,600 cities found four Indian cities--New Delhi, Patna, Gwalior and Raipur--to be four-most polluted cities in the world. The annual average of PM2.5 in New Delhi is 153 compared to Beijing's annual average of 59. The WHO study was published on May 8, 2014.

Beijing Imposes Environmental Emergency
Nearly two years after devising a four-stage alert system to flag severe air quality, authorities for the first time ever raised the alert to the highest stage, so-called red state, for three consecutive days beginning on December 8, 2015. As part of the red-state alert, Beijing's schools will remain closed, half of the vehicles will be required to be off the roads and many factories will be shut down over the three days December 8-10, 2015. On December 8, 2015, the reading of PM2.5 rose to 300 micrograms per cubic meter, and was expected to rise until a cool front would arrive on December 10, 2015 to bring it down. Under the WHO guidelines, any reading of PM2.5 over 25 is deemed unhealthy.

Indian Capital Choked with Smog; Schools, Colleges, Factories Shuttered

New Delhi region on November 4, 2022 experienced "severe" air quality standard for the third day in a week, leading to school, college and factory closures and ban on diesel trucks with non-essential goods entering the capital region. On November 4, 2022, the air quality standard hit a record of 445, almost 10 times the acceptable threshold of 24-hour average of 45 as recommended by the WHO in 2021.