"Cancer Alley" is one of the most polluted areas of the United States and lies along the once pristine Mississippi River that stretches some 80 miles from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, where a dense concentration of oil refineries, petrochemical plants, and other chemical industries reside alongside suburban homes.
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Researchers from Johns Hopkins University detected ethylene oxide at significantly higher levels than modeling from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows, said senior study author Peter DeCarlo.
The substance, which is used to sterilize medical devices and spices, increases risks of cancers including breast cancer.
DeCarlo said the results suggest that polluters are underreporting how much they emit — by a factor of between two and 10.
This means cancer risk due to exposure to the substance is greater than previously believed.
“Cancer Alley” is the nickname of an industrial area of Louisiana that is also home to predominantly Black communities who face significant levels of pollution of various chemicals.
Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.
House Republicans are blasting Wall Street firms over climate-minded investing, the latest flare in the party’s criticism over environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.
New York police arrested dozens of climate activists dressed as orcas Tuesday morning in front of the Citigroup headquarters as they protested the bank’s ongoing investment in fossil fuel expansion, according to group Climate Defenders.
Two Colorado lawmakers are pressing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to scrutinize existing and proposed pollution permits at three Utah oil transport facilities, whose expansion they fear could endanger residents and wildlife across state lines.
Rising human exploitation of the oceans is pushing ever further into regions that scientists increasingly suspect are full of conscious life. New research into creatures from sperm whales to octopuses, …
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining will hold a hearing to receive testimony on pending legislation.
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight will hold a hearing titled “Environmentalism Off the Rails: How CARB will Cripple the National Rail Network”
The House Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust will hold a hearing titled “Climate Control: Decarbonization Collusion in Environmental Social and Governance ESG Investing”
What We’re Reading
News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:
‘It’s unbearable’: in ever-hotter US cities, air conditioning is no longer enough (The Guardian)
Wall Street Backers See Breakthrough Moment for Carbon Offsets (Bloomberg)
California looks to seize profits from Big Oil in climate change lawsuit (The Financial Times)
Former President Carter is “experiencing the world as best he can,” while he is no longer awake every day in hospice care, his grandson revealed in an interview late last week. Read more
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, slammed his GOP colleagues for their acceptance of the Hunter Biden verdict Tuesday after arguing former President Trump’s guilty verdict was the result of a rigged system. Read more
