Despite the veto of a key piece of Montana environmental legislation, advocates are not giving up on the measure becoming law - even though the state Legislature has already adjourned. Senate bill 442 would have infused $30 million into the coffers of Habitat Montana, the state s premier conservation program created by the Legislature. It protects wildlife habitat and access to public lands for hunters, hikers and fishermen - as well as roads, veterans programs and mental-health services. .
Four months after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, residents say they continue to struggle with ongoing health problems, and face an uncertain future without federal help in the form of an emergency disaster declaration. Cindy Walter, a resident of East Palestine, said she has been staying in hotels after developing health problems in her home. She explained since the derailment, she has had a series of doctors visits, and now has to use an inhaler. .
By Ray Levy Uyeda for Prism.Broadcast version by Alex Gonzalez for Utah News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration Lola Maldonado grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah’s most populous metro area, nestled into the west side of the Wasatch Mountains, where the range’s highest peak, Mount Nebo, stands nearly 12,000 feet tall. The steep mountains form a canyon below, where Maldonado said particulate matter and air pollutants form a blanket of haze. As the consequences of climate change have ballooned in past decades, air pollution is just one of the downstream effects that Maldonado, 19, and other young Utah residents will be navigating for years to come—unless the government discontinues its support of a fossil fuel-based state economy. On March 15, 2022, Maldonado and six other young people sued the state of Utah for denying their state constitutional right to life by politically and economically sup
A West Dallas neighborhood, citing decades of air and noise pollution, wants an asphalt shingle plant to abandon its decades-old location - but foot-dragging and bureaucracy is stalling a timely exit agreement. In mid-2022, roofing manufacturer GAF announced plans to close its shingles factory - located in a predominantly working-class Latino neighborhood, labeled Dallas most polluted ZIP code in a study by Paul Quinn College. Since then, GAF has filed for city rezoning, which if approved, would allow it to stay until 2029. .
A coalition of activists, academics and governments is building a network of low-cost air quality sensors. It says it is missing a key collaborator the City of Dallas.