#CleanAirAct

[enterprisewired]

Cummins Inc. to Recall 600,000 Ram Trucks in $2 Billion Settlement Over Emissions Cheating

Cummins Inc., a prominent engine manufacturer, is set to recall 600,000 Ram trucks as part of a landmark settlement with federal and California authorities, revealing details that emerged on Wednesday. The settlement, finalized in December, mandates Cummins to address environmental damage resulting from the use of illegal software that enabled the evasion of diesel emissions tests.

The Agreement

Under the agreement, Cummins Inc. has already committed to a staggering $1.675 billion civil penalty, marking the largest settlement ever secured under the Clean Air Act. An additional $325 million is allocated for pollution remedies, bringing the total penalty to over $2 billion. Officials from the Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and the California Attorney General emphasized the significance of the settlement in a press briefing.

The settlement stems from allegations that, over a decade, hundreds of thousands of Ram 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty pickup trucks, manufactured by Stellantis, were equipped with Cummins diesel engines featuring software designed to limit nitrogen oxide pollution during emissions tests. However, during normal operations, the software allowed higher pollution levels, violating environmental standards.

Approximately 630,000 trucks from model years 2013 through 2019, equipped with the so-called “defeat devices,” will be recalled. An additional 330,000 trucks from 2019 through 2023 had emissions control software that was inadequately reported to authorities, although it did not disable emissions controls.

Stellantis, the manufacturer of Ram trucks, deferred comment on the case to Cummins, which has consistently denied the government’s allegations and is not admitting liability.

Engine maker Cummins Inc. to repair 600K Ram trucks in $2B emissions cheating scandal

Clarification from Cummins Inc.

Cummins Inc. clarified in a statement that the financial commitments associated with Wednesday’s actions were consistent with those announced in December. Despite the recall, the company highlighted that the engines not being recalled did not exceed emissions limits. The penalty includes provisions for unreported software.

As part of the settlement, Cummins Inc. will address the smog-forming pollution resulting from its actions. Preliminary estimates suggest that the emissions bypass produced “thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides,” according to U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

The Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act, enacted in 1963, requires car and engine manufacturers to adhere to emission limits to protect the environment and human health. The transportation sector, responsible for about one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, is a crucial target for emissions reduction efforts.

The Cummins settlement follows a series of emissions cheating cases in the automotive industry, including Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal in 2015 and Fiat Chrysler’s penalties in 2019. The severity of fines underscores the commitment to deterring violations and prioritizing public health over profit. Diesel exhaust, a known carcinogen, poses serious health risks, including respiratory infections, lung disease, and asthma.

Curious to learn more? Explore our articles on Enterprise Wired

[undergroundusa]

SHARE & EDUCATE

[instavyapar]

World Lungs Day

Healthy lungs, happy life! Take steps today for a smoke-free, pollution-free world. 🌍🚭 Breathe life into every moment!

#BreatheBetter #LungAwareness #HealthyBreathing #CleanAirAction #LungsMatter #AirPollutionAwareness #HealthyRespiration #BreatheClean

[friendsafforestation]

Climate Action - Your action needed before November 27, 2023! This is where you come in. This Giving Tuesday, November 28, let's stand together to make our voices heard in support of nature-based solutions for climate action. Your generosity will play a crucial role in shaping the future of our city.We invite you to participate in the City of Saskatoon 2024/2025 final budget review. Join with Climate Hub and Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas to write a letter to the City of Saskatoon and share your thoughts on the importance of afforestation and nature-based solutions. Together, we can influence the city's first-ever Climate Action Budget.  Members of the public who wish to participate in the City of Saskatoon 2024/2025 final budget review by either submitting a letter and/or requesting to speak to council must arrange to do so before the cut-off, Monday, November 27, 5 p.m.https://wordpress.com/post/stbarbebaker.wordpress.com/22419#ClimateActionNow  #SustainableLiving  #GreenFuture  #ZeroEmissions  #RenewableRevolution  #EcoFriendlyChoices  #SaveOurPlanet  #CleanEnergyFuture  #GoGreen  #ProtectOurEarth  #ClimateJusticeNow  #EveryActionCounts  #ActOnClimate  #ResilientCities  #BeatPlasticPollution  #CarbonNeutralGoals  #SustainableTransport  #GreenInnovation  #ReduceReuseRecycle  #BreatheClean  #ClimateResilience  #EarthGuardians  #ClimateAwareness  #NatureBasedSolutions  #GlobalWarmingFighters  #PlanetOverPlastic  #CleanAirAct  #ClimateWarriorsUnite  #GoSolar  #EcoActivism  #GreenCommunities  #LowCarbonFootprint  #RethinkConsumption  #ProtectWildlife  #GreenPolicyNow  #ActForNature  #ClimateHope  #ConsciousLiving

[informationpalace]

The U.S. Air Quality Falls Dramatically Says ‘State of the Air’

According to the recently released report of ‘State of the Air’ 2020, the air quality in the United States is deteriorating significantly, leaving around 150 million people which is approximately the half of America’s population, breathing heavily polluted and unhealthy air. The national senior vice president of public policy for the American Lung Association – Paul Billings – said, "We're moving in the wrong direction, with nearly 21 million more people breathing dirty air than in last year's report." That is certainly a bad news for the individuals like Tim Seib, a 37 years old, the director of the New York City regional theater who suffered from asthma disease his whole life. "When asthma symptoms start, you don't know when your next full breath of air is going to come. It almost feels like you're drowning," Seib continued, "I don't think until you've walked in the shoes of someone with respiratory issues you really understand how scary that can be." 50th Anniversary of Clean Air Act This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, which charged all sources of air pollution to be controlled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The aim was to decrease air pollution and acid rain, advance air quality and visibility, slow climate change and guard the ozone layer. According to the EPA, after 1990, the year a new series of amendments were passed, the act is responsible for a 50% reduction in emissions of main air contaminants. However, under the Trump administration a lot of those rights were scaled back or went unchecked. The report unfolded that fact that it is the lack of regulation – along with worsening climate change – that has contributed to the recent reversal of improvements in air quality. Billings said, "If there's no environmental cop on the beat, we know that polluters will skirt the rules of the law, will cheat and will increase emissions, and pollution will increase. It has increased." Equally critical have been the environmental advocacy organizations. Sarah Vogel, the vice president for health at the Environmental Defense Fund. "Around the world, toxic air kills 5 million people every year and, as this report makes clear, the US has a long way to go to better protect communities." "Unfortunately, the Trump administration is still trying to weaken existing safeguards and allow even more dangerous pollution in our air," she added. Substantial Impacts on Health Studies reveals even short-term particulate pollution exposure can cause cardiovascular problems, strokes and asthma attacks and also lead to dementia development. Air pollution also raises the risk of dying from the novel coronavirus disease, Covid-19. A new analysis by Harvard found that the U.S. counties with the highest air pollution levels had substantially higher COVID-19 mortality rates than counties with far lower levels. Seib lives in New York City's Harlem Neighborhood, to which Covid-19 has been extremely hard hit. A few weeks ago he got a milder form of the virus and even that was frightening for him. He stated, "All my life, my asthma symptoms have gotten worse at night, so the Covid symptoms just kept intensifying and it was scary to go to bed at night not knowing if I was going to wake up in the middle of an asthma attack or be more compromised than I was when I went to sleep." "So my message would be, please just try to see it through someone's eyes, like myself or God forbid, someone who has even worse symptoms or health concerns," he added. "Because we don't have a ton of options out there, and it's a very scary and very real thing to wake up to every day." Do not forget leaving your valuable comment on this piece of writing and sharing with your near and dear ones. To keep yourself up-to-date with Information Palace, put your email in the space given below and Subscribe. Furthermore, if you yearn to know about UN approval of coronavirus resolution, visit our construct, ‘United Nations Accepts the Novel Coronavirus Resolution.’ Read the full article

[mycoblonde]

Yesterday James and I went to a cemetery in Brooklyn to collect a tiny piece of a tiny Usnea—it’s only the second Usnea known from NYC in the last 100 years! Thanks to awesome citizen scientists Molly and Matthew for finding it (and for the dope hazelnut flour brownies...wow) and to Sarah at the cemetery for the assist. Citizen science for the win! #lichens #lichenology #mycoblonde #DNA #cleanairact #sciencing #cemetery #biodiversity #usnea #nyc #brooklyn https://www.instagram.com/p/B8bsJPDA_WV/?igshid=hpcnbif7f66e

[laprogressive]

LA Progressive has a new post on http://bit.ly/2nRzqxn

Cap & Trade Loses in Los Angeles

A look at the RECLAIM program shows that what failed in L.A., won’t work statewide.

[ct3ch]

Trump administration reveals plans to roll back vehicle fuel standards

Trump administration reveals plans to roll back vehicle fuel standards

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcedthat it wanted to roll back vehicle efficiency standards put into place by the Obama administration, and today the Trump administration revealed its plan to do so. While the previous policies stated that automakers have until 2025 to get their average fuel efficiencies for passenger vehicles to over 50 miles per gallon,…

[dcastgaming-blog]

I was walking around with my vape feigning ignorance but if FUCKING BODYSLAMMING is an issue I may stop that. #DontSlamMeBro #cleanairact Also wtf is with the symbols they used. To someone who can't read it's "no running, no drowning. No talking, no drinking"

[wingriot]

Your Amazing! . . . . . . . . #air #cleanairact #cleanair #cleantech #climate #climatechange #datacenter #coffee #coffeeshops #coffeecups #cans #eco #ecofriendly #ecosystem #energyefficient #gogreen #onthegrid #forest #cardboard #paper #packaging #logistics #shippingworldwide #oceanpreservation #farming #LOVEYOU #radiology #ultrasound #xray #aucklandcity #wingriot ♼♻

[ctvpatricia-blog]

#mdattorneygeneral @BrianFrosh joins coalition of states & localities opposing @presidenttrump efforts to stall #cleanpower lawsuit. Story tonight on #CTVNews @pgctv #unhealthyair #powerplants #emissions #pollution #toxicair #smog #groundozone @EPA #cleanairact (at Baltimore, Maryland)

[civicdirect]

Proud to be #liberal / #progressive. #womenssuffrage #votingrights #civilrights #medicare #socialsecurity #cleanairact #cleanwateract - #conservatives have been on the wrong side of #history of every one of these issues. Thanks @occupydemocrats

[existgreen-blog]

We were lucky enough to see a few whales during a snorkeling & sailing adventure on our trip to Puerto Vallarta. These are such amazing creatures and it is nearly impossible to capture their size in a photograph. However - I still tried! :) I have a couple more #whalewatching images to follow. ⠀ ⠀ While on the water, it was hard to miss the cloud of #smog resting over the city. Although I didn't notice air pollution in my lungs during the visit, it was very visible from the water. The #puertovallarta geography is very similar to the Los Angeles Basin. Air pollutants seems to get stuck to the west of the mountain range (the Sierra Nevada in both cases). A combination of agriculture and fuel burning in the area leads to the worst air conditions. ⠀ ⠀ Although LA still has problems with air quality, it has improved greatly from conditions in the 70s, 80s, and 90s with implementation of increasingly strict clean air regulations.⠀ ⠀ Without regulations, this smog will only get worse over time. We need to preserve the current #USEPA regulations and we need to help those countries without regulations in place to work towards a more #sustainablefuture ⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #whales #whalesofig #airpollution #sustainableagriculture #fin #makeasplash #ocean #marinemammals #marinelife #cleanairact #savetheepa #epa #environmentalprotection #regulationsneedtobetolerated (at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)

[reading-writing-revolution]

it’s only #statesrights if it’s about owning other human beings, is that it? #GOP #Trump #CleanAirAct #slavery

[slehrke-blog]

Typology of Policy

According to Ripley and Franklin, policy is categorized into four typologies: protective regulatory, competitive regulatory, distributive, and redistributive. In class, we had to categorize seven important laws, programs, and acts in the proper place. The one that stuck out to me the most was the Clean Air Act of 1963. This act is “A US federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and enforce regulations to protect the public from airborne contaminants known to be hazardous to human health” (Feeney), making it a protective regulatory policy. Protective regulatory policy is defined in An Introduction to the Policy Process as, “A type of policy that seeks to protect the public and consumers from market problems, such as deceptive advertising, faulty products or negative externalizes”(Birkland, p.253). This relates to population growth because the reason we have these issues that need to be regulated is due to effects of human polluting the earth.