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The Hub 3/6/2026: Clean Air Council’s Weekly Round-up of Transportation News
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Save the SEPTA Zero Fare Program! Follow Transit Forward Philadelphia for events and actions to fight for this program.
Image source: The InquirerThe Inquirer: SEPTA trolleys will use AI cameras to catch drivers breaking no-parking rules in Philly – Starting this week, cars parked illegally in the SEPTA trolley lanes will be issued tickets from automated enforcement cameras. 30 trolleys across six lines will be getting AI-camera systems installed to issue those tickets. Violations will result in a mailed warning until April 1st, afterwards there will be a $51 ticket. This program is in addition to the 152 SEPTA buses with AI-powered cameras issuing tickets for parking in bus lanes which began last year. Trolleys cannot go off track to avoid illegally parked cars, they result in delays to service, and hours of delays total.
Image Source: BillyPennBillyPenn: 30th Street a popular option for Philly’s future intercity bus station – Three potential sites are being evaluated by the City of Philadelphia to build a permanent bus terminal for Greyhound and other intercity carriers. The old Filbert St. site near Chinatown will soon house intercity bus pick up and drop off, with plans to reopen in May. The lease on that site will end in 10 years, with extensions only available for 5 additional years. The sites being evaluated would be a permanent home, and owned by the City. The most popular option at a public meeting last week was the 30th St Station. Wednesday’s open house was a crucial first step for this plan, with plans for more public meetings later this year. An online survey is also available and seeking feedback.
Image Source: PhillyVoicePhillyVoice: SEPTA gets $5.5 million in federal funding to enhance World Cup service – The Federal Transit Administration is awarding the 11 host cities of the World Cup funds to run service and make improvements ahead of the six games scheduled for Lincoln Financial Field. SEPTA is getting around $5.5 million to assist with expenses for the World Cup and other 2026 events. The estimated cost to increase service this summer is expected to be around $21.5 million. SEPTA typically adds 10 extra trips to the Broad Street Line schedule before and after Eagles games, and will probably do the same for World Cup matches. FIFA FanFest is a five week festival at Lemon Hill taking place this summer, and along with the nation’s 250th anniversary, SEPTA will be operating at a much larger capacity. These funds support the operational budget, which has been underfunded for years due to lack of state support.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit: Bus Line Refresh
The Inquirer: Mayor Parker backs legislation to boost housing development around SEPTA stations
PhillyVoice: Waymo is tweaking its self-driving car tech to navigate in heavy snowfall
Philadelphia Today: PA’s Anniversary License Plates Confuse Toll Readers, Sending Out Wrong Bills
The Inquirer: SEPTA chief gets a three-year contract at $395,000 a year
SEPTA: SEPTA Ended Key Tix Sales; Riders Must Use Tickets within 180 Days of Purchase
Zero waste is the real climate solution, not waste incineration
This is a guest article written by Mariel Vilella, Director Global Climate Program at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, which supports local environmental justice efforts around the world to end waste pollution and implement regenerative zero waste solutions.
Around the world, momentum is growing to tackle the waste crisis in ways that also confront climate change, protect health, and strengthen local economies. This shift reflects a simple truth: the future of waste is not burning, it is prevention, reuse, recycling, and composting.
Recent reporting by the BBC described waste incineration as the dirtiest form of energy generation in the United Kingdom, reinforcing long-standing scientific and community concerns. Far from being a clean solution, waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration accelerates climate pollution, destroys valuable resources, and locks cities into outdated systems just when a circular, low-carbon transition is most urgent.
Burning waste drives the climate crisisIncinerators convert nearly all carbon in discarded materials directly into CO₂, releasing it immediately into the atmosphere. Plastics, derived from fossil fuels, are especially harmful: burning one metric ton of plastic waste produces about 1.43 metric tons of CO₂-equivalent, even when energy is recovered.
Rather than reducing emissions, WTE reinforces the same linear model responsible for environmental breakdown, resource extraction, overproduction, and overconsumption. It delays the systemic change required to meet global climate goals.
The WTE incineration industry often portrays criticism of their facilities as emotional or ideological rather than science-based. This is an old-fashioned tactic to undermine the real concerns people have and the growing body of scientific evidence showing just how problematic burning waste is.
Incineration plant converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. Source: Trish Walker/Flickr
Lock-in that blocks the circular economyLarge incinerators require enormous and continuous waste streams, often 100,000 tonnes or more every year for decades, to remain financially viable. The United Nations Environment Programme warns that such investments can create long-term lock-in, discouraging waste prevention, reuse, and recycling while even pushing municipalities to import waste to keep facilities running.
Several high-income regions that heavily invested in incineration, across Europe and parts of Asia—now face overcapacity, stranded assets, and slowed progress toward resource efficiency, often so-called circularity. These experiences show that burning waste is not a bridge to sustainability, but a barrier.
Toxic pollution and hidden costsIncineration does not eliminate waste, it transforms it into toxic air pollution and hazardous ash. Between 25% and 30% of burned material remains as contaminated residues that must be landfilled under strict controls. Monitoring near incinerators has revealed dangerous dioxin contamination in soil, vegetation, and food sources, with public health authorities in parts of France warning residents not to consume locally produced eggs due to toxic exposure.
These burdens fall disproportionately on marginalized communities, raising profound environmental justice concerns. For example, in the UK, waste incinerators are three times as likely to be located in the most deprived and ethnically diverse areas, raising fears about air quality and the health of vulnerable people. This pattern is not unique to the UK; around the world, wealthier neighborhoods rarely have incinerators at their doorstep, while poorer communities bear the brunt of the pollution and risks.
Expensive energy that wastes resourcesDespite being framed as energy infrastructure, WTE is inefficient and costly:
- Electricity generation efficiency typically reaches only 20–30%, meaning it produces power at less than half the efficiency of coal-fired and modern natural gas power plants.
- Incinerators contribute around 1% of Europe’s total energy demand.
- Valuable materials, and the energy embedded in producing them, are permanently destroyed.
In many lower-income countries (e.g. Ethiopia), high organic moisture content makes incineration technically unreliable, leading to failed or underperforming projects. Far cheaper and more effective climate solutions already exist.
A just transition means choosing zero wasteA truly sustainable waste and climate strategy must also deliver a just transition. In contrast to that, waste-to-energy incineration displaces the livelihoods of waste pickers and recycling workers, especially across the Global South, where millions depend on materials recovery for income, but also in the Global North, where reuse, repair, and recycling create far more employment than disposal.
By destroying recyclable materials and centralizing waste management, incineration replaces many community-based jobs with fewer capital-intensive roles. Zero waste systems do the opposite, expanding dignified work in collection, sorting, composting, reuse, and recycling while strengthening local economies and delivering rapid climate benefits.
This is why movements led by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and Zero Waste Europe are calling for:
- An end to new incineration projects
- Accountability for the toxic impacts of existing facilities
- Public investment in prevention, reuse, and recycling
- Policies that prioritize zero waste solutions and just transition for workers’ rights
Our campaigns and research make clear that burning waste undermines climate action, public health, and economic justice, while zero waste delivers benefits across all three.
Free plough on landfill site image, public domain CC0 photo. Photo: rawpixel.com
The global shift is already underwayGovernments, cities, and communities are increasingly moving beyond incineration toward circular, low-carbon waste systems. Financial frameworks in Europe are withdrawing sustainability recognition from waste burning, while zero waste cities worldwide are demonstrating faster emissions cuts, more jobs, and healthier neighborhoods without destroying resources.
The path forwardWaste-to-energy incineration belongs to the past. Zero waste belongs to the future.
Choosing zero waste means:
- Cutting climate pollution quickly
- Protecting communities from toxic exposure
- Creating far more jobs and fairer livelihoods
- Breaking the cycle of extraction and waste
Most importantly, it ensures the transition to a low-carbon world is just, inclusive, and truly sustainable.
The solution is already in our hands.
The post Zero waste is the real climate solution, not waste incineration appeared first on 350.
Community Air Monitoring Network Updates
Clean Air Council has been engaged in an EPA funded air monitoring program in Delaware County and South and Southwest Philadelphia for about two and a half years now. In that time, Council staff have installed 60 purple air monitors and 8 high quality VOC sensors at private residences, churches, and municipal buildings across Marcus Hook, Trainer, Chester and surrounding areas in southern Delco, as well as throughout Grays Ferry, Eastwick, Kingsessing and surrounding areas in S/SW Philly. You can see all the Council’s Purple Air Monitors 24 hours a day at www.purpleair.com.
The data we have seen from these monitors over time paints a striking picture of air quality in the greater Philadelphia area:
1. Higher air quality readings occur in both Summer and Winter
2. Most days are in the moderate/yellow zone across our region, which exceeds air quality standards
3. The most significant poor air quality readings have been caused by the addition of wildfire smoke to our existing regional air quality challenges
We’ve also seen a strong correlation between when residents are noticing odors or respiratory symptoms, and when the Purple Air particulate monitors or VOC sensors are spiking. For example, air quality reached hazardous levels from June 12th-14th 2025 when smoke from the Mines Spung Wildfire in New Jersey blanketed the region. Residents noted noticeable smog, trouble breathing, and itching and swelling eyes during this poor air quality event.
In January 2026, a resident reported a noxious odor in the Kingsessing/Cedar Park neighborhoods. The red line in this graph demonstrates how the nearest Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) sensor in Kingsessing spiked within the same time period, affirming resident reports on the ground.
Residents can report air quality concerns as a simple but effective way to be an advocate for cleaner air. The more specific the information we have from impacted residents the better we can identify local pollution patterns, trends, and sources, as well as support ongoing advocacy. Residents who notice unusual and strong odors or visual signs of pollution, including, smoke, dust, heavy smog, or spills and leaks can report air quality issues to different governmental agencies.
In the case of an emergency, including strong odors, fires, spills or leaks, please call 911.
For these emergencies and other serious air pollution concerns, also call:
1. The Department of Environmental Protections (DEP) at 1-800-541-2050
2. The EPA’s National Response Center at 1-800-424-2050.
However, if you reside in Philadelphia, call the Philadelphia Air Management Services at 215-685-7580, instead of the EPA’s National Response Center. You can find more information at https://cleanair.org/complaints/.
Going forward, Council staff will continue to support our Community Air Monitoring network, including our network of incredible air monitor hosts. We hope to be able to use the data generated by our host monitors to inform advocacy efforts for cleaner, healthier air in the Philadelphia and Delaware County region.
If you would like to host a Purple Air monitor or VOC sensor, we have a few more to distribute in Delaware County. Contact Outreach Coordinator Alyssa Felix at afa@cleanair.org. You can also reach out to Advocate Russ Zerbo at rzerbo@cleanair.org any time you have air quality concerns. If you are a current air monitor host and have questions or concerns about your monitor, contact Community Organizer Jendaiya Hill at jhill@cleanair.org
The Hub 2/27/2026: Clean Air Council’s Weekly Round-up of Transportation News
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Save the SEPTA Zero Fare Program! Check out Transit Forward Philadelphia’s Week of Action to join the fight for this program.
Image Source: The InquirerThe Inquirer: Chinatown Stitch, which would cap the Vine Street Expressway, is in limbo after Trump yanked funds. Can it be saved? – $159 million in federal grant money has been rescinded in an unprecedented situation. Federal legislation has taken back $3.2 billion that had been awarded but not yet fully spent, leaving 55 projects across the nation confused about how to proceed. In Philadelphia, Chinatown Stitch would reconnect the north and south sides of the neighborhood by physically capping Vine Street Expressway belowground. Now, despite the public popularity of the project, efforts have paused due to concerns about spending money from other revenue sources, without a guarantee of repayment for these community funds.
Image Source: The Inquirer6ABC: Public weighs in on future location of Philadelphia bus terminal – The Philadelphia City Planning Commission held an open house for public discussion this week, to hear feedback on where the new Greyhound bus terminal should be located. Three options were presented: 29th and Arch Streets near 30th Street Station, the 1500 block of Vine Street, and the 700 block of Arch Street. The Greyhound station on Filbert Street is scheduled to temporarily reopen in May. This would be for a permanent installation. The public can give further feedback in a survey found here.
Image Source: PennDOTFox29: Route 202 detour started Thursday, Feb. 26 in King of Prussia for sinkhole repairs – Route 202 southbound traffic was diverted, starting Thursday of this week. PennDOT addressed sinkholes and to prevent future road problems for the highway in King of Prussia. The section of southbound Route 202 being worked on is also known as Dekalb Pike, between Prince Frederick Boulevard and Henderson Road. PennDOT hasn’t provided a specific end date for the detour, but expects the repairs to fully resolve sinkhole issues in the area.
Other StoriesPhillyVoice: Philly still needs to clear many roads of snow, but SEPTA and NJ Transit have restored most service
State Smart Transportation Initiative: States DOTs can lead in cutting emissions
WHYY: Work resumes on the Hudson River rail tunnel project, but NJ Transit delays continue
MassLive: Boston extends fare-free bus program after ridership jumps on key routes
SafeStreets: 2026 Safe Streets and Roads for All: Project Brainstorming Workshop
The Inquirer: Philly has lots of trails. For the first time, it is hiring a full-time crew to maintain them.
SEPTA: Additional Regional Rail Service for the 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show
Fresh Air Newsletter Feb2026
Solar Project to Reclaim 2,000 Acres of Toxic Mineland
“Approval of the Black Moshannon Solar project is a victory for the people of Rush Township, a victory for clean energy, and a victory for a sustainable economy,” stated Tom Pike, Clean Air Council Director of Campaigns. “This is the kind of forward-thinking work that communities across the Commonwealth should be looking to replicate.”
Learn more FROM THE BLOG Clean Air Council Appeals Air Pollution Permit for Nation’s Largest Proposed Fracked Gas Power PlantThe Homer City Redevelopment project would be the nation’s largest fracked gas power plant to open in Pennsylvania. This plant is being built to power a 3,200-acre AI data center campus, even though a plant this size could produce enough electricity to power over three million PA homes. The Notice of Appeal was filed with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board challenging errors in the plan approval.
Read the Full Story Feet First Philly Awards 16 Public Space Enhancement Projects to Improve Communities Across PhiladelphiaAfter receiving over 70 applications for the Public Space Enhancement Program, a selection committee selected the 16 projects to be awarded funding to improve walkability in neighborhoods across Philadelphia. All of the funded organizations and their projects are located in communities that have experienced a lack of historical investment, or even active disinvestment in their public spaces.
Read the Full Story SUPPORT CLEAN AIRGifts from supporters like you are the most important dollars we receive because they allow us to respond quickly to urgent issues as they emerge rather than waiting for traditional grant funding.
Help Us Fight MEMBER Q&A Clean Air Council is so effective because our staff is a team of experts in their field and our members are so passionate about the environment. We wanted to share the expertise of our team by inviting members to ask about environmental issues they care about most. Below are just a few of the questions we received from dedicated members, like you.Q: Does Clean Air Council do local air monitoring and do you have any takeaways from the Purple Air data? – Alex S, member since 2026 and Eunice A, member since 1988
A: Yes, the Council operates a network of around 60 PurpleAir brand particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) monitors in the Philadelphia region. You can view the entire network at here. We saw higher air pollution readings than local governmental monitors at times, due to capturing hyperlocal air pollution events. The data is clearly demonstrating that more local air monitoring is needed to keep communities safe from pollution.
– Russell Zerbo, Clean Air Council Advocate since 2012
Q: With the IRA gutted, what other resources are available to help residents wanting to switch to renewable options or Electric Vehicles? – Molly W, member since 2023
A: At the state level, all large electric utility companies offer energy efficient rebate and incentive programs under Pennsylvania’s flagship energy efficiency law, Act 129. These programs differ, but PECO, for example, offers a rebate for installing rooftop solar. Electric utility companies may pay customers with solar panels for the excess electricity generated (known as “net metering”) but check with your utility company to see what’s available to you.
– Alice Lu, Clean Air Council Policy Analyst since 2023
Q: Are there ways that we can, by negotiations, force the data centers to use renewable energy / help communities develop renewable energy? – Ann J, member since 2026
A: Data centers are being proposed at lightning speed, but we’re working with state lawmakers to prioritize bills that offer protections for residents and the environment. Local governments can also adopt zoning ordinances, which determine how land is used. Data center ordinances can spell out water usage standards, noise limits, setback requirements, and requirements for energy usage.
– Alice Lu, Clean Air Council Policy Analyst since 2023
Q: What is the current status of the role of the PM2.5 particles released into the air by burning organic substances? – Merv K, member and volunteer since 2008
A: In a regulatory sense, almost all counties in PA meet the 2012 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5. In 2024, the EPA finalized a stricter standard based on rigorously vetted health data, however, the current administration asked the court to revert back to the old standard. It also failed to identify which areas do not meet the new standard, a necessary step to trigger air quality improvement measures. Clean Air Council and other groups are fighting to ensure that EPA retains and enforces the new standard. Specific regulations regarding burning organic waste are usually local.
– Nathan Johnson, Clean Air Council Engineer since 2017
Q: How can we streamline the permitting process for solar energy in PA to make it the cheapest, fastest, cleanest way to generate electricity? – Madeline D, member since 2023
A: There are several permitting barriers for large-scale solar in PA. For one, the interconnection authority PJM needs to expedite and solve its ‘queue’ approach that delays every solar project 5-7 years. The legislature also needs to create a centralized siting standard for solar farms because local zoning ordinances often take the form of de facto bans on solar. Finally, solar developers could do a better job of working with residents to offer comprehensive community benefits and reduce local opposition.
– Tom Pike, Clean Air Council Director of Campaigns since 2025
IN THE NEWS |
THE GUARDIAN
“The coal plant was an environmental monstrosity, but it was a pillar of the local economy and some people are nostalgic for that,” said Clean Air Council Director of Campaigns Tom Pike, and continued with “But no one wants to live next to a datacenter.
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IWW-Mitglieder finden sie dieser Tage im Postkästchen – alle anderen können die erste diesjährige Ausgabe unserer Flugschrift SOLID! hier nachlesen: SOLID! 1/2026
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The Hub 2/20/2026: Clean Air Council’s Weekly Round-up of Transportation News
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Join Clean Air Council and Transit Forward Philadelphia to celebrate Transit Equity Day on 2/21 with food, speakers, and community activities. Register and learn more here!
Help choose a home for the city’s bus station of the future! The Philadelphia City Planning Commission needs input to plan the intercity bus station to keep riders safe and comfortable. Take the survey here.
Image Source: Greater Bicycle Coalition of PhiladelphiaCommonwealth of Pennsylvania: Shapiro Administration Invests over $27 Million to Improve Traffic Safety Across Pennsylvania – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced an over $27 million investment through the Automated Red-Light Enforcement (ARLE) program to support 51 safety projects in 44 municipalities across the state. The program provides automated enforcement to improve safety at intersections where red-light running is an issue. Funding is supplied from red-light violation fines in Philadelphia. Philadelphia County had 6 projects awarded with a combined total of $13 million in funding.
Image Source: SEPTAFox29: SEPTA to end sale of Key Tix in March – The Key Tix program will be ending this March, after first launching in December of 2022. SEPTA has cited a significant decrease in demand for the mobile ticket platform. Key Tix allows riders to download a QR code as their ticket to be used at turnstiles on bus and metro service. Since allowing contactless payment on all modes since April 2025, Key Tix is no longer a needed alternative for riders, according to SEPTA. March 2nd is the planned last day of the program. Purchased Key Tix will remain valid for 180 days after purchase.
Image Source: The InquirerThe Inquirer: NJ Transit riders from Philadelphia should expect service disruptions for the next four weeks – Modified schedules and fewer trains will be running on NJ Transit until March 15th. All lines, except the Atlantic City rail line, will be affected to upgrade the 116-year-old Portal Bridge. Commuters are advised to check weekday and weekend schedules here. The Portal Bridge is also used by Amtrak, so riders should be aware of possible delays to their routes, and the entire Northeast Corridor.
Other StoriesThe Inquirer: Some Delco SEPTA riders will have 15 minutes added to their commutes, beginning Monday
BillyPenn: Options for Philly intercity bus terminal narrowed to three sites
The Inquirer: Lincoln Drive and dozens of other Philly roads get $13 million from PennDot
PhillyBurbs: Langhorne train station set for an overhaul. SEPTA wants input
The Inquirer: Cameras will soon enforce speed limits in five Philly school zones
6ABC: Philly’s Valentine’s Day trolley driver to retire after 40-year career
BillyPenn: SEPTA honors Caroline Rebecca LeCount, a civil rights icon who helped desegregate Philly’s transit system in the 1860s
Greenwashing in plain sight
Last week, TotalEnergies announced a donation of food and hygiene kits to communities affected by devastating floods in Mozambique. Framed as an act of corporate responsibility, the company presented this support as proof of its commitment to people facing climate-driven disasters.
But let’s be clear: this is not climate justice. It is climate impunity, disguised as generosity.
A small donation doesn’t undo the destructionThe company’s contribution, worth around $500,000, amounts to less than one dollar per person for the more than 700,000 people affected by flooding. Families who have lost their homes, farmland, livestock, and livelihoods are being offered symbolic relief from a corporation whose core business model is driving the very crisis destroying their lives.
TotalEnergies is leading a $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique. This project has already displaced communities, intensified insecurity, and locked the country into decades of fossil fuel dependence. Over its lifetime, the project is expected to produce 3.3 to 4.5 billion tonnes of carbon pollution more than the yearly emissions of every EU country added together.It was suspended after violent attacks in 2021 and has now been restarted, despite serious human rights and environmental concerns.
At the same time, Mozambique is on the frontlines of the climate emergency. Floods, cyclones, droughts, and extreme heat are becoming more frequent and more deadly. Over 450,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of animals have died. Communities are being pushed deeper into poverty.
The aerial view of the flooded village in Mozambique after a cyclone. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
$500,000 in humanitarian aid cannot outweigh the harm these projects cause. Limited investments in renewables or selective humanitarian gestures are often presented as evidence of transition, while overall fossil fuel expansion continues. This pattern, sometimes described as transition-washing, allows companies to preserve social licence while delaying the structural changes that climate science requires. And Mozambique is just one among many examples. And yet despite overwhelming harm, the companies like Total, who are most responsible for fuelling this crisis continue to extract massive profits. This is the pattern we see everywhere: profits are privatised and protected, while the damage is socialised and borne by ordinary people
Climate disasters are not unexpected side effects of fossil fuel extraction. They are foreseeable, scientifically documented consequences of continued oil and gas expansion.
For decades, companies like TotalEnergies have known that their products destabilise the climate. They have funded misinformation, lobbied against regulation, and delayed action while expanding production. When a fossil fuel company offers emergency aid after a climate disaster, it is responding to harms that are built into its own business model.
Polluters must pay, not pretendWhat Mozambique needs, and what communities across the Global South are demanding are not occasional donations, dependent on corporate goodwill. They need guaranteed, predictable, and adequate funding for loss, damage, and adaptation.
That is why 350.org and our partners are calling for binding climate levy and damage contribution mechanisms. These would require major polluters to pay, in proportion to their emissions and profits, into global funds that support communities before and after disasters. In other words: the costs must be upstreamed.
Instead of communities paying with their lives, land, and futures, polluters must pay as part of doing business.
This is the principle behind “Make Polluters Pay.” And it is the only fair response to a crisis they helped create. Today (19th of February) sees the opening of France’s first major climate trial against an oil and gas multinational, as proceedings begin at the Paris Court of Justice.
Since 2020, a coalition of advocacy organisations, Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, France Nature Environnement alongside the City of Paris, has asked French courts to require TotalEnergies to drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions and reduce hydrocarbon production.
As one of the world’s largest historical emitters and among the top global oil and gas companies, TotalEnergies continues to plan production growth of around 3% per year, while maintaining the majority of its investments in fossil fuels until at least 2030. The company is linked to dozens of major new fossil fuel projects worldwide, despite clear scientific consensus that no new expansion is compatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C.A ruling in this case could mark a turning point, helping shift climate litigation from a focus on governments alone to cases capable of reshaping the business models of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies. What the Paris court decides may influence similar cases far beyond France.
Beyond promises: ending fossil fuels for realA genuine phase-out is not a distant net-zero pledge. It is a planned and enforceable decline in fossil fuel production, starting immediately and continuing year after year.
According to the joint analysis by 350.org and Observatoire des multinationales in “This is what a total phase-out looks like,” ending fossil fuel expansion requires more than voluntary commitments. It requires governments to reclaim control over companies whose business models depend on continued extraction.
That means binding regulation aligned with climate science, strict limits on new approvals, and mandatory production decline pathways. It means removing shareholder primacy from decisions that determine the fate of communities. And where companies refuse to comply, governments must be prepared to use public-interest tools — including stronger regulatory intervention or public control — to redirect corporate capacity toward renewable energy and climate repair.
Phase-out also means accountability for past harm. Transparency through independent climate and human rights audits, and enforceable contributions toward loss and damage, are essential. Stopping future extraction does not erase decades of damage already inflicted.
Responsibility means:
-
- Ending new oil and gas projects
- A binding production decline plan with annual reduction targets
- Full transparency on climate & environmental impacts
- Ending fossil fuel lobbying and political interference
- Redirecting capital expenditure from fossil expansion to renewable energy at scale
- Mandatory contributions into global loss and damage mechanisms proportional to emissions and profits
- Respecting community land and consent rights
- Supporting a just transition to renewable energy
- Being held legally and financially accountable for climate harm
Locals stand outside TotalEnergies in Kenya to demand an end to fossil fuel projects. Photo: 350.org
Thats why 350.org has launched our petition, momentum is building to finally move beyond coal, oil, and gas. The shift now underway internationally recognises that voluntary corporate pledges are insufficient. Governments are increasingly acknowledging that fossil fuel phase-out must be coordinated, binding, and enforceable, not left to corporate discretion. More than 80 countries are now working together on concrete plans to phase out fossil fuels and accelerate clean energy. This is exactly the kind of leadership that communities on the frontlines have been demanding for decades.
A critical international meeting in Colombia this April could help turn these commitments into binding action. If governments step up, it could mark the beginning of the end for fossil fuels, while speeding up the affordable renewable solutions that cut energy bills, create jobs, and protect our shared future.
Some major emitters, including Canada, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, and Türkiye, have yet to join this effort. They must do so. The choice before us is stark. We can allow companies like TotalEnergies to continue profiting from destruction while offering token gestures in return. Or we can seize this moment to build a system where polluters pay, communities are protected, and clean energy serves the public good.
The post Greenwashing in plain sight appeared first on 350.
Clean Air Council, Earthjustice, and Partners Sue EPA For Illegal Repeal of Climate Protections
Health, environmental groups challenge the Trump EPA’s harmful, unscientific, and illegal repeal of the endangerment finding and elimination of clean vehicle standards.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 18, 2026) — A broad coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency today over its illegal determination that it is not responsible for protecting us from climate pollution and its elimination of rules to cut the tailpipe pollution fueling the climate crisis and harming people’s health.
The case, filed in the D.C. Circuit, challenges the Trump EPA’s rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding, which found that climate pollution is a threat to public health and welfare, and the elimination of the vehicle emissions standards.
The case was brought by:
- The American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment, Clean Wisconsin, represented by Clean Air Task Force,
- Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), Clean Air Council, Friends of the Earth, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC), and the Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice, and
- Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law & Policy Center, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Public Citizen, and Sierra Club.
The named defendants are EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and EPA itself as an agency.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is legally required to limit vehicle emissions of any “air pollutant” that the agency determines “cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” In 2007, the Supreme Court held in Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases unambiguously are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act and told EPA to determine, based on the science, if that pollution endangers human health and welfare. EPA made that determination in 2009, which led to new standards for vehicles. It built on that finding when issuing other standards.
In its repeal, the Trump EPA is rehashing legal arguments that the Supreme Court already considered and rejected in Massachusetts v. EPA.
Along with the repeal of the endangerment finding, the EPA eliminated all carbon emissions standards from vehicles. The EPA’s clean car standards set in 2024 would save drivers of new cars an average of $6,000 over the lifetime of their vehicles. The EPA’s own analysis found that eliminating the vehicle standards will increase gas prices, force Americans to spend more on fuel, and be a net negative for the economy.
Quotes from Plaintiffs:“With this action, EPA flips its mission on its head,” said Hana Vizcarra, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “It abandons its core mandate to protect human health and the environment to boost polluting industries and attempts to rewrite the law in order to do so. Earthjustice and our partners will defend what we all know to be true: climate pollution is harming our health, welfare, and economy and EPA has an obligation to control these harmful emissions.”
“Here in the Inland Valley, climate change isn’t some abstract future threat—it’s something our families live with every day. It’s parents worrying about their kids’ asthma as diesel trucks rumble past schools and neighborhoods. It’s workers commuting through smog and extreme heat, and families cutting short time outdoors because the air simply isn’t safe to breathe, it’s wildfires and flooding,” said Ana Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. “By trying to repeal the endangerment finding and weaken vehicle greenhouse gas standards, the Trump administration’s EPA is abandoning its legal duty to protect communities like ours. That decision would lock in more pollution, more dangerous heat, and more health risks—threatening our well-being, our local economy, and our children’s future. We won’t stand by while climate denial becomes official policy and puts the Inland Valley at risk.”
“The Endangerment Finding has been the backbone of climate policy for 17 years, protecting us from air pollution that endangers public health and welfare — including greenhouse gases that are driving climate change,” said Lawrence Hafetz, Clean Air Council’s Legal Director. “By repealing the finding, we are sweeping the single deadliest type of pollution, climate pollution, under the rug. Deadly floods, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes are harming our health, our communities, and our economy. This climate chaos plan is decimating the EPA’s ability to act when we need protections more than ever.”
“Today’s lawsuit makes clear that we will not idly stand by while EPA blatantly refutes its core mission to protect the environment and public health from dangerous pollution,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director for Friends of the Earth. “The science is overwhelmingly clear that greenhouse gases cause harm, yet the Trump administration has unlawfully chosen to benefit polluters at the planet’s expense. We will keep fighting and holding these bad actors accountable in court for their lawlessness.”
“The EPA’s rollback of the endangerment finding is a devastating decision that goes against the science and testimony of countless scientists, health care professionals, and public health practitioners,” said Ankush K. Bansal, MD, DCM, FACP, FACPM, SFHM, Physicians for Social Responsibility Board President. “It will result in direct harm to the health of Americans throughout the country, particularly children, older adults, those with chronic illnesses, and other vulnerable populations, rural to urban, red and blue, of all races and incomes. The increased exposure to harmful pollutants and other greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel production and consumption will make America sicker, not healthier, less prosperous, not more, for generations to come.”
“Revoking the Endangerment Finding sets our country down a dangerous path that will have unimaginable consequences for so many. It ignores the real harms that people and communities like ours along the Rio Grande in South Texas are already experiencing from declining rainfall, heat, and fragile ecosystems,” said Tricia Cortez, Executive Director of Rio Grande International Study Center. “We have a moral obligation to our current and future generations to protect their future and the well-being of our planet’s climate. We must act now to tackle and reduce all sources of harm. We need our national leaders to do everything in their power to protect our human race, and to leave behind a habitable and thriving world for those to come after us.”
“EPA’s repeal of the endangerment finding and safeguards to limit vehicle emissions marks a complete dereliction of the agency’s mission to protect people’s health and its legal obligation under the Clean Air Act. This shameful and dangerous action by the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Zeldin is rooted in falsehoods not facts and is at complete odds with the public interest and the best available science. Heat-trapping emissions and global average temperatures are rising—primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels—contributing to a mounting human and economic toll across the nation. This anti-science administration must be held to account for evading its responsibility to help address this acute crisis and we’re going to help make sure that happens,” said Dr. Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Ignoring the scientific evidence of the threat climate pollution poses to the health of all of us sends a very wrong message to communities across the nation and around the world. EPA has a duty to consider the well-being and safety of all, and the science is clear; climate change and air pollution threaten everyone’s health,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the American Public Health Association. “To reverse course now, and to also repeal limits on climate pollution from vehicles, puts everyone in the country at risk of experiencing serious and preventable harm. It also weakens our nation’s ability to address the severe health impacts caused by climate change.”
“EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment,” said Harold Wimmer, President and CEO, American Lung Association. “Repealing the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emission safeguards weakens important protections against air pollution that harm lung health. On behalf of the millions of people living with lung disease and everyone who breathes, the American Lung Association is committed to upholding the law and protecting public health.”
“We need to call the Trump Administration’s repeal of the Engagement Finding what it is – climate denialism and the EPA abandoning its responsibility to protect us from climate change,” said Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, Executive Director, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment. “The EPA is legally required to protect against air pollution that endangers the public’s health. It’s time that the EPA be held accountable for these reckless actions and get back to its mission to protect human health and the environment.”
“Repealing the endangerment finding and vehicle emissions standards are among the most destructive and irresponsible actions taken by the Trump EPA to date,” said Katie Nekola, General Counsel, Clean Wisconsin. “The dangers of climate change are becoming ever more apparent as Wisconsin experiences record heat, toxic air from wildfire smoke, and extreme weather. The EPA is ignoring its legal duty to protect our communities from the heath harms of greenhouse gas emissions in its zealous pandering to big oil, gas and coal interests.”
“As the nonpartisan National Academies stated last fall, the endangerment finding ‘was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.’ No amount of legal sophistry from this administration or EPA can evade the well settled statutory requirements and those scientific conclusions,” said Frank Sturges, Attorney at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “The Clean Air Act’s requirements are simple: protect public health and welfare from air pollutants that endanger them. On the law and on the science, greenhouse gases fit that bill. To protect public health and the environment, we will challenge this unlawful action in court, and when the dust settles, we will prevail.”
“We’re suing to stop Trump from torching our kids’ future in favor of a monster handout to oil companies,” said David Pettit, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Nobody but Big Oil profits from Trump trashing climate science and making cars and trucks guzzle and pollute more. Consumers will pay more to fill up, and our skies and oceans will fill up with more pollution. The EPA’s rollbacks are based on political poppycock, not science or law, and the courts should see it that way.”
“Taking away the endangerment finding doesn’t protect families — it abandons them,” said Conservation Law Foundation Senior Vice President for Law and Policy Kate Sinding Daly. “This scientific determination has for years served as the bedrock of our nation’s efforts to curb deadly pollution and safeguard public health and welfare. Taking it away only absolves the EPA of acting on behalf of every family in the country. We won’t let that stand and we’re prepared to take this fight to court to ensure our communities aren’t left to bear the consequences of unchecked climate-warming pollution.”
“Repealing the Endangerment Finding endangers all of us. People everywhere will face more pollution, higher costs, and thousands of avoidable deaths,” said Peter Zalzal, Distinguished Counsel and Associate Vice President of Clean Air Strategies at Environmental Defense Fund. “The Trump EPA’s action tramples mountains of scientific evidence, ignores the law, and is fundamentally at odds with EPA’s core responsibility to protect us from dangerous pollution. We are challenging this action in court, where evidence matters, and we will continue working together to build a better, safer and more prosperous future.”
“This is not a mere rollback. EPA is attempting to completely disavow its statutory authority to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles. After two decades of scientific evidence supporting the 2009 finding, the agency cannot credibly claim that the body of work is now incorrect. This reckless and legally untenable decision creates immediate uncertainty for businesses, guarantees prolonged legal battles, and undermines the stability of federal climate regulations. EPA cannot be permitted to abandon its responsibility to protect public health and welfare,” said Brian Lynk, Senior Attorney, Environmental Law & Policy Center.
“The Trump EPA’s slapdash legal arguments should be laughed out of court. Undercutting the ability of the federal government to tackle the largest source of climate pollution is deadly serious, but the administration’s legal and scientific reasons for doing so are a joke,” said Meredith Hankins, legal director for federal climate at NRDC.
“The repeal of the EPA’s endangerment finding is illegal, and if allowed to stand, it will have devastating impacts on public health and a livable climate for decades,” said Adina Rosenbaum, attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group.
“The Trump administration’s reckless decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding and strip the EPA of its primary authority to regulate greenhouse gases will have disastrous consequences for the American people, our health, and our shared future,” said Joanne Spalding, Director of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program. “In the early 2000s, the Sierra Club brought the first-ever lawsuit seeking federal greenhouse gas standards under the Clean Air Act, and as a result, these protections became a reality. Nearly 25 years later, we’re taking Lee Zeldin and Donald Trump’s EPA to court because people should not be forced to suffer for this administration’s blind allegiance to the fossil fuel industry and corporate polluters. This shortsighted rollback is blatantly unlawful and their efforts to force this upon the American people will fail.”
Climate change is a key challenge for Bangladesh’s new government
Crossposted from the Daily Observer
Written by Amanullah Porag, 350 Bangladesh Coordinator and Youth for NDCs Founder/Executive Director
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) victory in the country’s first democratic elections in 17 years was built on promises to restore democracy, stabilize the economy, and reform governance. But the new government has another urgent mandate: to protect people from a climate crisis that has driven at least 10 million Bangladeshis from their homes. For us, climate protection is a matter of national survival. With a staggering two-thirds of the country less than 15 feet above sea level, it is estimated that by 2050, one in seven people in Bangladesh will be displaced by climate change. For many years, I’ve worked with farmers who have lost their lands and homes because of encroaching sea waters. Most of them are forced to eke out a living in the sweltering streets of Dhaka, or else migrate abroad. We went to the polls hoping to correct past injustices-not just political corruption, but also systemic injustices that determine who suffers when floods destroy homes, when heatwaves turn factories into boiling rooms, when rising seas swallow farmland.
The BNP’s campaign manifesto included surprisingly clear environmental commitments: a “National Green Mission” that includes 25 million trees over five years, green jobs for youth, and a concrete target of 20% renewable electricity by 2030. Especially for a youth electorate starved of change, those green commitments matter. The question now is whether these promises will survive the BNP’s contact with power. A 20% renewable energy target by 2030 is not insignificant. If achieved, it can begin to transform an energy sector too long dominated by mega fossil fuel projects that have left people stranded with costly, unreliable electricity they can’t afford, and the country with debt it can’t pay. Unfortunately, the BNP also emphasized oil and gas exploration and refinery expansion as part of Bangladesh’s energy security measures. If the new government continues to lean into fossil fuels, it will fall prey to the same corrupt forces that doomed the nation. It should instead reform procurement, modernize grid infrastructure, and dismantle distortions that locked Bangladesh into expensive power deals.
Sure, planting trees is a good policy. But climate justice requires more. It means protecting coastal communities without displacing them for infrastructure projects. It means ensuring river erosion victims receive rehabilitation, not just temporary relief. It means designing urban heat action plans that protect workers and low-income communities. It means ending environmentally destructive projects that undermine long-term resilience. Bangladesh does not fall short on climate rhetoric, but on implementation failures. If the BNP wants to redefine governance, climate policy is where that promise will be tested most visibly. In its first 100 days, the new government must demonstrate its seriousness in addressing the energy and climate crisis that is eroding our capacity for progress.
First, it must audit all existing power purchase agreements and move to lower electricity prices. Second, it must revise the energy master plan, aligning it with climate science, economic rationality, and a just transition framework. Third, it must operationalize the national climate plan-moving beyond targets to delivery strategies, budget alignment, and accountability mechanisms. The greatest risk now is complacency. Governments often begin with reformist language but gradually slide into short-term stabilization politics, negotiated deals, and environmentally risky mega-projects justified in the name of development. We cannot allow that to happen again.
This is not yet a moment for antagonism. Youth activists, climate researchers, policy practitioners, and civil society are not adversaries of the newly elected government. Many of us have worked on climate governance and adaptation planning long before this election. If the BNP is serious about its green commitments, climate advocates stand ready to support with research, monitoring, implementation, and community engagement. But support does not mean silence. It means measurable progress, transparency, and accountability. It means speaking up when commitments drift.
The BNP’s victory reshaped the political landscape. Now it must decide whether it will reshape Bangladesh’s climate trajectory. This government has inherited more than power. It has inherited responsibility in one of the most climate-exposed countries on Earth. The elections are over-but Bangladesh’s climate test has just begun.
The post Climate change is a key challenge for Bangladesh’s new government appeared first on 350.
Tell the City of Pittsburgh: We Need A Snow Removal Plan for Non-Drivers
Image Description: an image of a Pittsburgh bus lane covered in ice and snow, next to bold black text reading “Pittsburgh needs a snow removal plan for non-drivers”.
This post was written by Alisa Grishman, Founder of Access Mob Pittsburgh, with support from Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Pittsburgh Center for Disability Justice, and BikePGH.
Even in snow, all Pittsburghers deserve the freedom to move.
Tell City leaders to develop a snow removal plan for all!On January, 25th, 2026, the City of Pittsburgh experienced a significant snowstorm. Since that event, our region has had persistently below-freezing temperatures- ensuring that unplowed, unshoveled snow remained where it fell for more than two weeks. Throughout this time, snow and ice have obstructed key sidewalk corridors, piled up in front of bus stops, and rendered curb cuts on street corners entirely inaccessible.
For the 30% of Pittsburghers who are non-drivers, the snowstorm and the City’s resulting inaction has been a prolonged disaster.
Thousands of residents have been stranded, unable to leave their homes and safely access their grocery stores, medical appointments, schools and jobs. And people with disabilities have been disproportionately harmed by this failure to properly address snow conditions because there has simply been no accessible way to navigate our City’s right of ways under these conditions. Those who did venture out were forced to walk or roll on the street alongside active traffic, putting themselves into danger in order to access their daily needs.
Our City’s lack of a pedestrian snow removal plan has become very apparent through this experience.
Tell City leaders to develop a snow removal plan for all!The City failed to enforce statutes requiring property owners to shovel their sidewalks. Bus stops remain uncleared even two weeks later, and snow plows focused on clearing streets for single occupancy vehicles without regard to buses’ access to the curb. Worse of all, snow plows throughout the City used ADA curb ramps and sidewalks as storage space for large piles of ice and snow.
How can the City keep our rights-of-way accessible to all after snowfall?Access Mob, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Pittsburgh Center for Disability Justice and BikePGH recommend that the City of Pittsburgh Develop a Pedestrian Snow Preparedness Plan. This plan must do the following:
- Set clear roles within the City and County as to who is responsible for different aspects of snow removal. At present, the Department of Public Works is responsible for streets, and the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure cites property owners for failure to shovel sidewalks. There must be a specific agency charged with overseeing pedestrian right-of-way snow clearing efforts.
- Support the passage of Councilwoman Barb Warwick’s legislation for a Right-of-Way Accessibility Needs Inventory.
- Partner with Pittsburgh Regional Transit to identify and ensure clearing of high volume bus stops, stops serving critical infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and grocery stores, and stops with frequent ramp deployments.
- Formalize a relationship between the City and the County for collaborating around snow removal in pedestrian thoroughfares in the event of an extreme weather emergency.
- Prohibit plowing snow onto curb cuts at crosswalks.
- Update snow removal procedures at bus stops. Require roads and sidewalks at bus stops be cleared to the curb.
- Ensure that walking routes to our public schools are clear and usable for the students and parents who are required to walk.
- Ensure sidewalks on bridges are clear, which may involve creating maintenance agreements with adjacent municipalities.
- Create a program that would incentivize residents to go out into their communities and remove snow in vital locations such as curb ramps and bus stops. (In New York City, the Department of Sanitation has an ongoing program wherein residents can apply to be an Emergency Snow Shoveler. In the event of a heavy snowfall, this network can be activated and shovelers are paid $19.14/hour to shovel out curb ramps, crosswalks, bus stops, and fire hydrants. On February 4, 2026, Philadelphia announced that it, too, would be implementing a similar program focusing on curb ramps throughout the city.)
- Promote the Snow Angels program and incentivize participation.
- Develop a media package (social, print, and televised) to educate property owners on their responsibilities in regards to snow removal, emphasizing why it is so important to do it properly.
We urge City and County leaders to treat this moment with the seriousness it demands and to act now in preparation for future moderate and severe snow events. Mayor O’Connor has rightly recognized the need to invest in additional plows and equipment; that commitment must be matched by a comprehensive, enforceable sidewalk, bus stop and curb ramp snow removal strategy that prioritizes people who walk, use mobility devices, and rely on public transit. The failures of this storm response were not merely inconveniences—they created dangerous, exclusionary conditions that cut thousands of Pittsburghers off from work, healthcare, and community life.
Access Mob, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Pittsburgh Center for Disability Justice and BikePGH respectfully request a meeting with the Mayor’s Office and City Council to discuss these recommendations and to collaborate on a clear, accountable plan for implementation. Pittsburgh can and must do better, and we stand ready to work with City leaders to ensure our City is accessible, equitable, and safe for all residents—no matter the weather.
Take action: tell City Council to develop a snow removal plan that serves non-drivers!The post Tell the City of Pittsburgh: We Need A Snow Removal Plan for Non-Drivers appeared first on Pittsburghers for Public Transit.
Why climate change is making us re-think growth and progress
The cyclone-induced flood that destroyed rice farms across Sumatra, Indonesia in late-November last year, doesn’t show up in any economic model. Neither do the weeks families spent in emergency shelters, or the infections from contaminated water, or the lost harvests farmers will spend years repaying.
People wade through the floodwater in the aftermath of flash floods at Tukka village, Central Tapanuli, North Sumatra province, on December 2, 2025. Photo: YT HARIONO / AFP via Getty Images
What does show up is Indonesia’s 5.11% GDP growth in 2025, a number widely deemed as proof the country was thriving. Ironically, the 51.8 trillion rupiah ($3.2 billion) the government is spending to rebuild what the floods destroyed is not really registered as a loss, in the language of economics. Recovery from massive destruction now counts as progress, as long as money changes hands.
This is a core flaw at the heart of how we measure progress in our current global economic and political systems. And now a new study involving 68 climate scientists from 12 countries, reveals we’ve been drastically underestimating the economic toll of climate change.
What we actually mean by “growth”We hear about progress and economic growth constantly. From headlines to election promises and budget announcements. It’s presented as proof a country is doing well, and if the country is doing well, our lives must be improving too.
In practice, growth actually measures almost entirely one number: GDP, or gross domestic product. It adds up the total value of goods and services produced in a country over a given period. When GDP rises, businesses are assumed to be producing more, hiring more workers, paying more wages. When it falls in hard times, like during the 2009 global financial recession and COVID-19., companies cut back, jobs vanish, incomes shrink.
This pattern has made GDP become the dominant yardstick of success. Governments pursue it, economists track it, politicians campaign on it. What began as a technical economic measure has become shorthand for whether a society is moving forward or falling behind.
Which means key government decisions including budgets, rest on economic models built around the GDP. These models shape how much governments spend on healthcare, housing, schools, transport, climate action and other public services to make life better for ordinary citizens.
But…the calculations are wrongDespite their widespread use, economists have long acknowledged that GDP doesn’t measure wellbeing, health, inequality, or quality of life, the actual, vital indicators that show whether people are doing well.
Now, a study led by the University of Exeter has revealed that these models have an additional, critical blind spot: they fail to account for the cascading shocks of climate change which are the extreme events and tipping points that can rapidly unravel livelihoods, infrastructure, and entire economies.
Most economic models treat climate damage as slow, gradual, manageable. They focus on global average temperatures, which are projected to rise steadily from around 1.2°C of heating today toward 2°C in coming decades, and estimate damages based on those smooth trends.
But that’s not how climate impacts unfold in the real world.
Climate change doesn’t raise your local temperature by 1.5°C and wait politely for you to adapt. It floods your city on a Tuesday in March. It burns your forest in a week. It kills your crop in a single heatwave while economists debate smooth curves and average temperatures.
The study shows that we and the systems we rely on suffer most from such sudden shocks and local and regional disasters, not from small, gradual shifts in global average temperaturs. A sudden flood destroys crops, leading to food prices spiking. Power stations go offline so factories shut down. Heatwaves overwhelm hospitals and workers fall ill. Roads and ports close, breaking supply chains. One shock triggers another in what the researchers call “cascading failures.”
A million deaths can look like growth if you measure it soGoing a step further, the study also argues that GDP-based metrics give a fundamentally warped picture of progress because they miss what matters most to people: lives, health, ecosystems, social stability. In fact, after disasters, GDP can even rise because rebuilding and emergency spending count as ‘economic activity’. Destruction can register as success, and this is dangerous.
For instance, in the US, climate-related costs – including disaster recovery, repairs, and surging insurance premiums- are responsible for $7.7 trillion, or 36%, of the country’s GDP since 2000, meaning a significant chunk of what we call “growth” is actually disaster recovery spending.
LAKE LURE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 28: The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and overflows the town with debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene on September 28, 2024, in Lake Lure, North Carolina. Approximately six feet of debris piled on the bridge from Lake Lure to Chimney Rock, blocking access. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
What broken models actually cost us
By missing the cascading failures and compounding shocks that define climate risk, today’s economic models create a false sense of safety. Precise-looking numbers incentivise governments and investors into delaying action — playing down impacts, skipping hard choices, and chasing short-term wins like political successes over long-term protection for citizens. Meaning we skip early planning and investment. We leave people unprotected. Governments underfund prevention while spending vastly more on disaster response after it’s too late.. For example, Hurricane Maria killed nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rico in 2017 and caused $90 billion in damage. The island had received minimal pre-disaster mitigation funding because models suggested the risk was manageable. Pakistan’s 2022 floods displaced 33 million people and caused $30 billion in damage; early warning infrastructure that could have saved lives had gone unfunded for years.
Destroyed homes and vehicles sit in floodwaters after Hurricane Maria in this aerial photograph taken above Hamacao, Puerto Rico, on Monday, Sept. 25, 2017. Photo: Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg
By the time governments react, lives are already lost, damage costs have skyrocketed, and recovery drags on for years while displaced families wait for aid that’s never sufficient. Prevention looks expensive until disaster strikes, but when it does then recovery costs six times than what prevention would have required. And this is crucial extra public money that could have been spent on schools, hospitals, housing, and the basic services communities need to thrive.
The consequences of this miscalculation are staggering. The study’s findings reveal that missing catastrophic shocks and cascading failures could lead to GDP losses as high as 50% between 2070 and 2090–losses that don’t appear in the models guiding policy decisions today.
The alternative already existsIf growth is supposed to mean progress, then our metrics must reflect the conditions that make life better — safety, health, stability, and jobs. And there are ways to measure these conditions directly: is housing affordable? Do people have access to clean air and water? Are we prepared for climate disasters?
The pieces for such a different approach are already in place. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the world’s accounting systems fail to place real value on the environment, and that the global economy must stop rewarding pollution and waste disguised as production and growth.
Around the world, governments, economists, governments and researchers are testing and developing alternative measures of progress that incorporate long and healthy life indicators including environment and social factors like the Human Development Index and Genuine Progress Indicator, inclusive wealth measures that track natural and human capital alongside economic production, and emerging climate-risk-adjusted indicators like Climate Risk Index designed to reflect the he human and economic toll of extreme weather that existing models ignore.
What’s needed now is for decision-makers to abandon the incomplete and dangerous models currently shaping vital societal decisions that don’t serve the world we live in now, and move toward more realistic and inclusive measures that also account for the reality of the climate crisis. Investors, too, should recognize that every dollar flowing into fossil fuel infrastructure today accelerates the very shocks that will destroy portfolio value tomorrow.
Indonesia’s GDP may be rising, but families are still repaying loans for harvests that have drowned. India is losing more people to pollution each year while economists celebrate a ‘booming’ economy. These oppositions may have found a place in our current accounting systems, but they mustn’t in our real lives.
Sources:
- The public is losing patience with promises of economic growth – Public Finance, July 2025. https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/opinion/2025/07/public-losing-patience-promises-economic-growth
- GDP Over Breath: How Systemic Failure Chokes India’s $5 Trillion Dream – ESG News, January 16, 2026. https://www.esgnews.earth/latest-news/gdp-over-breath-how-systemic-failure-chokes-indias-5-trillion-dream/16263.html
- Indonesia Expects $3 Billion Rebuild After Deadly Floods – Insurance Journal, December 8, 2025. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2025/12/08/850172.htm
- Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria – The New England Journal of Medicine. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1803972
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The Hub 2/13/2026: Clean Air Council’s Weekly Round-up of Transportation News
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Register here for Transit Equity Day: Workshop & Celebration! Join Clean Air Council and Transit Transit Forward Philadelphia to celebrate on 2/21 with food, speakers, and community activities. Register and learn more here!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Download Valentines for your favorite public transit rider from the Council here.
NBC Philadelphia: AI-powered cameras on SEPTA buses have led to thousands of tickets – SEPTA buses have been capturing footage of drivers idling or parking in bus lanes throughout the city, and more than 112,000 citations have been issued in the past seven months as a result. Cameras are on more than 100 SEPTA buses with routes in Center City and University City. AI-powered cameras identify cars parked illegally in bus lanes or stops, and footage is sent to PPA officers for review. Bus routes with ticket enforcement have gotten 3-6% faster, with citywide bus route travel times having slowed during the same time period. The bill for the first seven months of this program is nearly $2.8 billion, with fees from drivers reaching $4.3 million. The agency says the focus of this program is to increase compliance, not increase revenue for the PPA.
PhillyVoice: Philly to put up ‘No Stopping’ signs along bike lanes citywide after receiving $1 million from PennDOT – Philadelphia is replacing signs across the city to better protect cyclists. Signs in bike lanes currently instruct drivers not to park, but as part of a $27 million funding package, they will be replaced with ones that also instruct drivers not to illegally stop in bike lanes. The funding package uses revenue from red light cameras to pay for traffic safety upgrades.
Image Source: The City of Philadelphia6ABC: Controller says speed cushions installed at Philadelphia schools not done to standards – In the summer and fall of 2025, 140 speed cushions were inspected at 44 schools by the Philadelphia City Controller. Only two had height and length measurements within the specified range. 95% of the inspected speed cushions were too steep, and homeowners had been reaching out to 311 to report noise, drivers swerving to avoid them, and vehicle damage. It’s unclear if the city will be forced to pay to repair the cushions or how much the total bill would be. A copy of the published report can be found here.
Other StoriesThe Inquirer: $29M in federal and private funds to go toward Delaware River watershed projects
SEPTA: New Bus & Metro Schedules, Feb. 22 & 23 & New Regional Rail Schedules
6ABC: Portion of MLK Drive in Philadelphia closed until further notice due to emergency maintenance
WHYY: Judge orders Trump administration to restore funding for rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey
6ABC: Study finds parts of country have large gaps in charging infrastructure
As EPA Revokes Endangerment Finding, EJ Organizations Continue Fight to Protect Communities From Climate Chaos & Hold EPA Accountable
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coalition of environmental justice networks representing millions of frontline and fenceline communities demand justice: Revoking the Endangerment Finding and vehicle standards is unacceptable and we will keep fighting for our rights.Press Contacts:
Ashley Sullivan, ashley.sullivan@weact.org, (917) 837-1183 (WE ACT/EJLF)
Isella Ramirez, info@movingforwardnetwork.com, (323) 854-1857 (MFN)
Prerna Sampat. press@ceed.org, (CEED/Platform for a Just Climate)
Kayla Ritchie, kayla@unbendablemedia.com, (CJA)
Stephanie Herron, sherron@comingcleaninc.org. 802-251-0203 ext.707 (EJHA)
NATIONWIDE – Today, the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final decision to revoke the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions regulations. In response, the coalition made up of, the Moving Forward Network (MFN). Climate Justice Alliance (CJA). Platform for a Just Climate (formerly referred to as the Equitable & Just National Climate Platform), Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), and the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (EJLF) shares that the injustice shown through this decision only strengthens our resolve to hold the EPA accountable to its mission to protect human health and the environment, while continuing to fight to protect the communities we represent across the U.S.
Last September, the coalition submitted written comments to the proposed repeal-signed by 100 organizations and individuals, alongside a powerful collection of testimonies that capture the real-world impacts of climate and transportation pollution, and frontline and fenceline communities’ need for robust environmental and health protections. As the coalition underscored. the EPA must be held accountable for violating its mission, by prioritizing the corporate polluter agenda while putting millions of lives at risk. This administration must answer for its betrayal of the public, especially environmental justice communities, who continue to be put in the greatest danger. With this decision on the heels of the EPA’s 55th anniversary, the coalition furthers our call on the Agency to renew its commitment to environmental justice, restore essential funding, and ensure protections for current and future generations.
“The Endangerment Finding ensures that the EPA can do its job to protect our health and well-being by curbing pollution. By revoking this, the administration continues to show that their priorities are grounded in sacrificing our health, endangering communities and commodifying the Earth for more corporate extraction and profits, at the expense of our future.” – Mar Zepeda Salazar, Legislative Director, Climate Justice Alliance
“One year ago, Trump rolled into office with a barrage of executive orders tearing down environmental protections and making corporate polluters’ toxic wishlist into his top priority. Now, Trump’s EPA is rolling back a critical scientific determination, the endangerment finding, opening the door to more pollution, more asthma attacks, more heat-related illnesses, and more fires and storms fueled by climate change in our communities. But here is what this Administration needs to know: we’re still here, we’re still united, and we are still resisting these attacks on environmental justice communities. We refuse to accept a future where our communities are turned into sacrifice zones so corporate polluters can profit.” – Byron Gudiel, Executive Director, Center for Earth Energy & Democracy (CEED), convener of the Platform for a Just Climate.
“The EPA’s repeal of the Endangerment Finding is a harmful step backward for communities that have shouldered the greatest pollution burdens for generations. Environmental justice communities remain on the frontlines of air and climate hazards, and this rollback threatens to deepen those inequities. The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment, and that responsibility must be fulfilled equitably across all communities. We will continue to speak out and organize for a safe, just, and healthy future where our communities can truly thrive.” – Denise Patel, Director of Organizing, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Environmental Justice Leadership Forum
“The revoking of the Endangerment Finding and the vehicle standards puts American lives at risk. We will continue to uplift the EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. We continue to be committed to fighting for clean air and a healthy environment. Justice is in the air.” – Isella Ramirez, Moving Forward Network
“EPA has the authority and moral obligation to do more, not less, to reduce the harms from toxic air pollution and climate change, both of which are disproportionately concentrated in poor and primarily of color neighborhoods. Instead of protecting public health, protecting the environment and creating a 21st century economy based on innovation and collective care instead of extraction and sacrifice zones, this administration wants to take us back to a time before the EPA existed- when rivers caught on fire, children were poisoned by lead, smog choked communities, and average life expectancy in the U.S. was about five years shorter. Communities like the ones that make up EJHA who are poisoned by industrial and vehicle pollution are sick and tired of sacrificing our families’ health for the profits of corporate polluters”. – Stephanie Herron, Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA)
Additional Background:
The comments shared by this coalition provide a specific rationale for opposing the EPA’s flawed decision rescind its 2009 Endangerment Finding and GHG Vehicle Standards. This includes that:
- This decision denies the lived experience, backed by science, of the effects of
pollution on public health, the environment, and the climate.
- This decision does not consider the targeted and harmful effects that this “historic deregulation” effort will have on workers.
- This decision is based on flawed science.
- This decision is unlawful.
- This decision does not consider the benefits of climate and environmental protection.
The EPA was built 55 years ago in response to the organizing and advocacy efforts from communities across the country as a call to protect human health and the environment, and serves several critical functions, including developing and enforcing regulations, providing grants, and studying environmental impacts. Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, we have witnessed dozens of unprecedented EPA rollbacks of hard-fought, peer-reviewed, research-based, and life-saving regulations, as well as the termination of millions of dollars in critical grants. For these reasons, the coalition demands that the EPA be held accountable for its deadly decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions standards.
About This CoalitionCenter for Earth, Energy & Democracy (CEED) is a convener of the Platform for a Just Climate and is a member of the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) and the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (EJLF).
The Platform for a Just Climate is a coalition of EJ groups and national environmental organizations from across the country united around a shared commitment to ending the environmental racism that has left economically disadvantaged communities, Indigenous communities, Black communities, and communities of color exposed to disproportionate levels of toxic pollution and bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. Our coalition has stood strong for over five years around our shared vision for a just climate future — and our platform has grown to include over 300 co-signer organizations from all over the country.
The Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (EJLF) is a national coalition of nearly 40 organizations in 22 states who work to ensure that a diverse grassroots perspective is reflected in federal, state, and local programming and policy decisions. Organizations are based in red, blue, and swing states, including those in Appalachia, the Deep South, Northwest, Midwest, Northeast and Southwest regions. EJLF members represent Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income communities in large cities to rural areas. These groups are actively working together to advance key climate justice and environmental policy to ensure the protection and advancement of communities of color and low-income communities throughout the U.S. The EJLF is hosted by WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Learn more at ejforum.org and follow us @ejforum.
The Moving Forward Network (MFN) is a national network of over 50 member organizations that centers grassroots, frontline-community knowledge, expertise, and engagement from communities across the US that bear the negative impacts of the global freight transportation system. MFN builds partnerships between these community leaders, academia, labor, big green organizations, and others to protect communities from the impacts of freight. Its diverse membership facilitates an integrated and geographically dispersed advocacy strategy that incorporates organizing, communications, research, legal and technical assistance, leadership development and movement building. This strategy respects multiple forms of expertise and builds collective power. The Moving Forward Network is a project of Windward Fund
Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) formed in 2013 to create a new center of gravity in the climate movement by uniting frontline communities and organizations into a formidable force. Our translocal organizing strategy and mobilizing capacity is building a Just Transition away from extractive systems of production, consumption and political oppression, and towards resilient, regenerative and equitable economies. We believe that the process of transition must place race, gender and class at the center of the solutions equation in order to make it a truly Just Transition.
Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform is a national network of grassroots Environmental and Economic Justice organizations and advocates in communities that are disproportionately impacted by toxic chemicals from legacy contamination, ongoing exposure to polluting facilities and health-harming chemicals in household products. EJHA supports a just transition towards safer chemicals and a pollution-free economy that leaves no community or worker behind. The EJHA network model features leadership of, by, and for Environmental Justice groups with support from additional allied groups and individual experts.
The post As EPA Revokes Endangerment Finding, EJ Organizations Continue Fight to Protect Communities From Climate Chaos & Hold EPA Accountable appeared first on CEED.
TRUMP REPEALS CRITICAL ENDANGERMENT FINDING FURTHERING THE ADMINISTRATION’S CLIMATE CHAOS PLAN
PHILADELPHIA, PA (February 12, 2026) – Today, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the repeal of the Endangerment Finding and greenhouse gas standards for vehicles. This 2009 finding solidified that greenhouse gases endanger human health and safety by worsening climate change. The finding, based on decades of scientific consensus, is a ruling that has been the basis for the U.S. federal government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. By repealing the Endangerment Finding and greenhouse gas standards for vehicles, the Trump administration is acting on its climate chaos agenda and undercutting EPA’s ability to protect health and the environment.
Lawrence Hafetz, Clean Air Council’s Legal Director, issued the following statement:
“The Endangerment Finding has been the backbone of climate policy for 17 years, protecting us from air pollution that endangers public health and welfare — including greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. By repealing the finding, we are sweeping the single deadliest type of pollution, climate pollution, under the rug. Deadly floods, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes are harming our health, our communities, and our economy. This climate chaos plan is decimating the EPA’s ability to act when we need protections more than ever.”
PRESS RELEASE: Civil Society Organisations Raise Alarm Over Exclusion of Farmers from Regional Seed Strategy Discussions in West and Central Africa
Thiès, Senegal, 12 February 2026
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), in collaboration with civil society organisations and farmers from West and Central Africa, has expressed deep concern about the sub-regional workshop on the seed sector organised in Abidjan by CORAF (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development) and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) from 11 to 13 February 2025.
While recognising the importance of regional dialogue on seed systems, AFSA and its partners warn that the current process risks violating farmers’ rights by marginalising the peasant seed systems that are the foundation of food production in Africa. Their rights are, in fact, guaranteed internationally by major legal instruments, namely the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) and Article 9 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).
The workshop, which aims to define regional strategies for the seed sector, has largely excluded peasant organisations and civil society actors with long experience of peasant seed systems, including community seed banks and seed boxes, seed fairs and participatory seed development initiatives throughout the region.
“Any seed strategy that excludes farmers and their organisations is fundamentally flawed,” said Alihou Ndiaye, coordinator of the West African Farmers’ Seed Committee (COASP), a member organisation of AFSA. “Farmers are not peripheral actors. They are the guardians and innovators of the seed systems that feed Africa. Policies must be developed with them, not for them.”
AFSA also expressed concern about the continued use of the term “informal seeds” in policy discussions, even though African Union processes under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) recognise peasant seed systems as essential to agricultural transformation and climate resilience.
According to recent African Union studies, between 80 and 90 per cent of the seeds used by African farmers come from peasant seed systems, but these systems remain poorly supported, if at all, by policies and regulations.
“To label farmers’ seeds as ‘informal’ or inferior is to ignore the reality that these systems provide the majority of seeds used in Africa,” said Famara Diédhiou, coordinator of the AFSA seed working group. “Farmers’ seeds are diverse, resilient and adapted to local conditions. The African Union’s CAADP process now recognises farmers’ seed systems and indigenous seed systems as essential to Africa’s agricultural future, and regional strategies must align with this shift by recognising farmers as the legitimate custodians of our seed diversity.”
Civil society organisations have also criticised current proposals to simplify certification systems, which risk treating farmers’ varieties as inferior. Instead, they advocate for regulatory systems based on equal recognition, but with rules adapted to the nature and diversity of farmers’ seed systems.
CSOs and POs remain very vigilant about the threat posed by UPOV to the seed system in African countries, whose governments are under constant pressure from agribusiness lobbies. This requirement is non-negotiable, as Jean-Paul Sikeli of COPAGEN put it: “We cannot allow the UPOV regime to destroy Africa’s genetic heritage. Our seed systems must protect diversity and farmers’ rights, not impose industrial uniformity.”
AFSA and its partner organisations call on CORAF, FAO and regional institutions to ensure that future processes fully include farmers’ organisations and civil society, to align strategies with the African Union’s new policy directions, and to strengthen peasant seed systems as the foundation of resilient African food systems.
“The future of seeds in Africa cannot be decided in rooms where farmers are absent,” added Mr Ndiaye. “If we want resilient food systems, farmers must be at the centre of policy and investment decisions.”
AFSA and allied organisations remain ready to engage constructively with regional institutions to develop inclusive, farmer-centred seed policies across Africa.
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See AFSA’s Position Statement here.Media contacts:
Famara Diedhiou, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) famara.diedhiou@afsafrica.org, WhatsApp +221 77 539 89 28
Jean Paul Sikeli, Coalition for the Protection of African Genetic Heritage (COPAGEN) sikelijeanpaul3@gmail.com, WhatsApp +225 05 92 50 06
Trump EPA Misses Legal Deadline to Reduce Deadly Air Pollution
Broad coalition of groups condemns illegal inaction, puts EPA on legal notice.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — February 11, 2026
The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to meet a Feb. 7 deadline to designate areas in violation of the strengthened 2024 national air quality standard for soot, as required under the Clean Air Act. These designations are the first step toward bringing dangerous soot pollution levels down into compliance with that health-based standard, which the EPA projects will save thousands of lives annually.
Yesterday, nearly 20 health, community, and environmental groups around the country officially put the EPA on notice of their intent to pursue legal action unless the EPA issues the overdue designations.
“The EPA’s inaction isn’t just illegal; it’s a reckless forsaking of human health,” said Seth Johnson, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “The 2024 soot standard is the law, supported by EPA’s own scientific evidence, so this is an indefensible move. It is absolutely EPA’s legal responsibility to designate the areas that are not in compliance so that they can start taking the commonsense steps the Clean Air Act requires to ensure all Americans breathe clean air. Implementing the 2024 standard is not about assigning blame, it’s about saving lives.”
Last year, EPA reversed course and asked a federal court to strike down the updated National Ambient Air Quality Standard limit for PM2.5, also known as soot, which EPA strengthened in 2024. The rule requires reductions in the amount of deadly pollution in the air people breathe to protect people’s health. The EPA did not dispute the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the more protective standard and projects the 2024 standard will save 4,500 lives in 2032 alone.
“As physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists who treat patients with lung disease, we know air pollution kills,” said Dr. Alison Lee, MS, ATSF, chair of the American Thoracic Society Environmental Health Policy Committee. “Exposure to particulate matter pollution triggers asthma attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, heart attacks, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and premature death. The EPA has a duty to protect the American public from the dangers of air pollution by ensuring all communities meet the existing pollution standards.”
Health, environmental, and community groups, along with a coalition of states led by California, have asked the federal court to uphold the 2024 standard. The case is pending, and the 2024 soot standard remains in effect.
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to designate areas that are in violation of the standard as “nonattainment” and put them on a path to clean air, but the agency has failed to do so by the legally required deadline. The most recent official data shows over 75 million people live in counties that have air quality that violates the 2024 soot standard. Read more about Earthjustice’s analysis of EPA’s failed implementation.
Soot pollution stems largely from burning fossil fuels for electricity, manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture. It causes premature death and is further linked to cancer, asthma attacks, and hospitalizations and emergency room visits for severe heart and lung diseases.
See national data on soot and smog pollution.
The groups sending the letter announcing possible legal action are Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, American Thoracic Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Centre (Cleveland, OH), Rio Grande International Study Center (Laredo, TX), RiSE4EJ (Kansas City, KS & MO), and Sierra Club, all represented by Earthjustice; NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council); Environmental Defense Fund; Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, Conservation Law Foundation, and Michigan Environmental Council, all represented by Clean Air Task Force; and CleanAIRE NC, Savannah Riverkeeper, and Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, all represented by Southern Environmental Law Center.
“By failing to make timely designations, EPA has once again failed to take mandatory action to safeguard public health under the Clean Air Act and instead subverts its obligation to regulate air pollution and hold polluters accountable,” said Hayden Hashimoto, attorney at Clean Air Task Force. “EPA’s own findings show that reducing soot pollution would save thousands of lives, yet the Trump administration’s EPA has ignored the science in its efforts to dismantle Clean Air Act regulations. EPA’s inaction blatantly disregards the law it claims to be following – and our communities will suffer.”
“The 2024 PM2.5 standard represents a step towards stronger public health protections, especially for communities who are disproportionately harmed by continuous exposure to particulate matter. Delaying designations puts Midwest communities that need it the most at continued risk and represents a step backwards for ensuring that no community, and no child, is left to breathe unhealthy air regardless of their zip code,” said Beto Lugo Martinez, of RiSE4EJ, a Kansas City-based group.
“Nurses witness firsthand the toll that air pollution, especially particle pollution, has on people’s health,” said Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, executive director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. “Nurses advocated for a strong and health protective PM2.5 standard because the science is clear – soot pollution harms health. It is critical that EPA fulfill its legal obligation to protect communities across the country from hazardous air pollution.”
“Particle pollution kills thousands of people in the United States each year,” said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association. “The Lung Association and other health organizations championed these limits on soot because the science is clear: they will save lives and prevent asthma attacks. But that promise is only fulfilled if EPA does its job and ensures that places with unhealthy levels of soot put in place measures to clean it up. EPA’s failure to take this step on time means people will suffer health harms that should have been prevented.”
“Particulate matter pollution can cause asthma attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and premature death. It can harm even the healthiest, but millions of individuals across the U.S. are at greater risk if they have respiratory disease or are one of the nearly 25 million Americans with asthma. PM exposure also disproportionately impacts the health of low-income and minority communities, who often live near polluting sources,” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “EPA must act now to designate areas that are not meeting the 2024 standards and hold them accountable to protect the public’s health.”
“Every day of the Trump EPA’s illegal delay is another day that over 75 million people across the country are exposed to soot pollution that kills, causes cancer, and chokes lungs,” said Ryan Maher, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Instead of shielding children, the elderly and pregnant people, who are all especially vulnerable to soot pollution, the EPA is protecting only the profits of the industries creating the filthy air.”
“Trump’s EPA is trying to weaken a life-saving health standard and keep the public in the dark about where the air is unsafe — so polluters can dodge the cleanup the law requires,” said John Walke, senior attorney and director of federal clean air at NRDC. “That’s like disabling the smoke detector and telling families to sleep through the danger.”
“EPA’s attempt to delay or dodge its obligation to give states the tools they need to reduce deadly soot pollution puts Southern communities at even greater risk, especially communities of color and those living below the poverty line often surrounded by industry,” said Caroline Cress, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Cities including Atlanta, Augusta, and Charlotte can’t afford for EPA to continue to push off designating these areas where people are already suffering from the serious health risks of breathing unhealthy air.”
“The Clean Air Act is not a suggestion; it is a mandate to protect the very air we breathe,” said Jeffrey Robbins, executive director of CleanAIRE NC. “By missing this deadline, the EPA is effectively choosing to leave millions of Americans in the dark about the safety of their air while delaying the urgent work of reducing deadly soot pollution.”
“Augusta communities have some of the highest asthma rates in the nation, and our health suffers because of poor air quality,” said Tonya Bonitatibus of Savannah Riverkeeper. “Instead of protecting human health, EPA is catering to industry and ignoring the very real risks communities are facing. Our children’s health and ability to breathe should take priority over industry saving money on air quality control controls.”
“EPA’s delay is unlawful and deadly,” said Rachel Briggs, staff attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. “Soot pollution kills, and every day the agency fails to act is another day communities are left unprotected. The law is clear, the science is clear, and EPA must do its job.”
“When people inhale soot, the particles are so small that they can pass through the lungs directly into a person’s bloodstream,” said Lawrence Hafetz, legal director of Clean Air Council. “The EPA ignoring its duty to identify areas with illegally high soot levels means more unnecessary funerals, heart attacks, and cardiovascular disease, as well as more children sickened with asthma.”
“Delaying action on deadly soot pollution is a moral and regulatory failure that puts communities of color and vulnerable families at greater risk,” said Codi Norred, executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light. “Caring for our shared Sacred Earth means ensuring that no one is forced to sacrifice their health just to breathe. Everyone deserves the right to clean air.”
“Soot is one of the deadliest types of pollution, and it puts people across the country at increased risk of serious illnesses and early deaths,” said Richard Yates, clean power attorney at Environmental Defense Fund. “EPA’s designation of areas is essential to efforts to limit this pollution in the air we breathe. But EPA has now entirely failed to make any designations – leaving numerous counties with unhealthy levels of soot. EPA must take the actions required by law to protect communities nationwide from this dangerous pollution.”
The Lilongwe Declaration on agroecology-based School and College meals
We, the over 80 delegates from Kenya, Uganda and Malawi, including educators, school administrators, entrepreneurs, researchers, civil society organisations, development partners, and policy actors, convened in Lilongwe, Malawi, on 22nd January 2026, to deliberate on ‘Agroecology-based School and College Food Procurement Systems in East and Southern Africa’
WE THANK the Government and People of Malawi for the warm welcome and support we have received during this event. We also appreciate the International Development Research centre of the Canadian government and their partners for making this event possible, and urge them to continue supporting the development of agroecology-based school meal programmes in Africa.
We RECOGNIZE that school meal programmes across our three countries play a critical role in advancing nutrition, education, gender equality, social protection and local economic development, particularly for children from marginalized and food-insecure households. We further acknowledge that these programmes operate within complex and evolving contexts, shaped by climate change, rising food prices, environmental degradation, policy gaps, and structural inequalities.
We note that:
- Malawi is implementing multi stakeholder school meals system, while confronting constraints related to agricultural productivity, procurement systems, and institutional coherence
- Uganda relies largely on community- and parent-led school feeding arrangements, in the absence of a comprehensive national policy, resulting in uneven access, nutritional disparities, and heavy burdens on households.
- Kenya has articulated strong policy ambitions through its National School Meals and Nutrition Strategy and emerging agroecology frameworks, yet continues to face challenges related to funding stability, climate shocks, and farmer–school coordination.
Across all three countries, we recognize that women, youth, and other marginalized groups remain central to food production and preparation, yet continue to be underrepresented in decision-making and benefit-sharing within school food systems.
Guided by the principles of agroecology, food sovereignty, participatory action research (PAR), and gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), we affirm that school meal programmes are strategic leverage points for transforming local food systems, strengthening resilience, and advancing social justice across Africa.
OUR SHARED REGIONAL VISION
We collectively envision school and college meal systems in Malawi, Uganda and Kenya that are:
- Agroecology-based, environmentally sustainable, and climate-resilient
- Home-grown and territorially embedded, prioritizing local producers and local markets
- Inclusive and gender-transformative, ensuring equitable participation and benefits
- Educationally integrated, linking food, learning, culture, and livelihoods
- Institutionally supported, through coherent policies, adequate financing, and accountable governance
COMMITMENT
- We affirm agroecology as a scientific, practical, cultural, and political approach that supports biodiversity, nutrition, climate adaptation, and community agency. We commit to:
- Advancing agroecological production as a preferred foundation for school and college food supply
- Promoting diversified, indigenous, and culturally appropriate foods across menus
- Integrating school gardens, food forests, and Integrated Land Use Design (ILUD) as learning and food production spaces in all three countries
- We recognize that sustainable school feeding depends on short, transparent, equitable, sustainable and inclusive supply chains. We therefore commit to:
- Strengthening direct linkages between schools, smallholder farmers, cooperatives, aggregators, and territorial markets in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi
- Supporting procurement mechanisms that are flexible enough to accommodate small-scale, seasonal, and agroecological production
- Reducing over-reliance on imported or conventionally produced foods while safeguarding food quality, safety, and reliability.
- We acknowledge that unequal power relations continue to shape access, participation, and benefits within school feeding value chains. We commit to:
- Ensuring women’s leadership and decision-making power in procurement committees, producer organisations, and school governance structures
- Creating meaningful opportunities for youth employment, entrepreneurship, and skills development across the value chain
- Applying an intersectional GESI lens that recognizes how gender, age, disability, poverty, and geography interact to shape exclusion
- We recognize the role of producers, entrepreneurs, processors, traders, caterers, and service providers in making school feeding systems viable. We commit to:
- Supporting agroecology-aligned enterprises
- Promoting appropriate technologies for storage, processing, clean cooking, and post-harvest loss reduction
- We reaffirm the value of participatory, action-oriented research in generating locally relevant solutions. We commit to:
- Co-producing knowledge with schools, farmers, communities, and policymakers across the three countries
- Using evidence to refine models, inform policy dialogue, and guide scaling strategies
- Ensuring that research outputs are accessible, context-sensitive, and usable by all stakeholders.
- We recognize that agroecology-based school feeding requires enabling policy and institutional environments. We commit to:
- Advocating for integration of agroecology into school feeding programmes in Malawi, Uganda & Kenya
- Strengthening coordination among the actors involved in school feeding programmes
- Promoting transparent, accountable, and participatory governance of school feeding systems.
CALL TO ACTION
We call upon:
- Governments of Kenya, Uganda and Malawi to provide sustained political, policy, institutions and financial support for agroecology-based home-grown school feeding
- Farmers and producer organisations to organize collectively and engage proactively with schools
- Civil society organisations to facilitate inclusion, capacity building, and policy advocacy
- Researchers to facilitate the generation of data that support evidence based design of agroecology-based school feeding models
- Development partners to support long-term, locally grounded, and gender-transformative food system transition.
Done on 22nd January 2026, Lilongwe, Malawi
There’s a New Storymap for the NMS Watersheds Alliance!
Clean Air Council and the Naamans, Marcus Hook, Stoney Creek (NMS) Watersheds Alliance are excited to announce the launch of the new NMS Watersheds Storymap! The storymap is an ArcGIS platform that shares the history, geography, and importance of the NMS Watersheds, as well as the story of the creation of the NMS Watersheds Alliance, and the accomplishments and goals of the group.
Take a Sneak Peak!
The Naamans Creek, Marcus Hook Creek, and Stoney Creek Watersheds
Naamans Creek, Marcus Hook Creek, and Stoney Creek (NMS) are part of the Delaware River Watershed and represent the last unprotected subwatershed area in Delaware County. The NMS watersheds are situated in and around the municipalities of Marcus Hook, Trainer, Upper and Lower Chichester, and Bethel Township.
Healthy watersheds are an essential foundation for healthy communities and ecosystems. These subwatersheds are a critical and valuable part of our local communities, but are also subject to ongoing pollution and contamination from local industrial sites. Petrochemical processing plants, refineries, tank farms, and other industrial facilities can leave behind legacy contaminants that persist in local ecosystems. Stormwater runoff can carry pollutants such as oil, gasoline, heavy metals, and other toxins that degrade water quality, harm local wildlife, and even impact drinking water. If left unaddressed, these issues can lead to further harm of the watershed, including reduced biodiversity and diminished access to the natural spaces that residents depend on for physical and mental well-being.
The Creation of the NMS Watersheds Alliance
In 2024, with the support of the Clean Air Council and Marcus Hook Area Neighbors for Public Health, residents came together to develop a local watershed group to protect the NMS subwatershed areas. The NMS Watersheds Alliance is a nonpartisan group of residents committed to the protection, restoration, and conservation of the Naamans, Marcus Hook, and Stoney Creek (NMS) watersheds. The Alliance aims to encourage community stewardship and to promote connection, enjoyment, and respect of the watershed by all who live, work, play, and visit. NMS Watersheds Alliance initiatives address conservation, recreation, and water pollution issues in the watershed through outreach and education, advocacy, and stewardship.
Learn more about the NMS Watersheds Alliance by checking out our new brochure!
Introducing the NMS Watersheds Storymap
To tell the unique story of the NMS and virtually bring people into the watershed, the NMS Watersheds Alliance launched the Naamans, Marcus Hook and Stoney Creek Watersheds Alliance Storymap in early 2026. The creation of this storymap provides visualization of the watershed for residents and serves as an important tool for understanding our local water resources. The storymap details the history and geography of the NMS creeks, Delaware River Watershed, and pollution threats the NMS faces.
Residents can take a virtual tour of the watershed and learn more about the NMS Watersheds Alliance’s initiatives. This includes storm drain marking workshops, tree plantings, creek clean-ups, stream salinity testing, revitalization of local parks, advocating for the mitigation of pollution in our local streams, and more! The NMS Watersheds Alliance will regularly update the storymap with new projects, initiatives, and information about our creeks and watersheds. Check out the storymap to visit the NMS Watersheds virtually and learn more!
Get Involved with the NMS Watersheds Alliance! Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date, and if you’d like to join the NMS Watersheds Alliance’s monthly meetings, contact Alyssa Felix-Arreola at afa@cleanair.org.
Water bankruptcy: how fossil fuels are destroying the world’s water supply
The climate crisis doesn’t always arrive as a sudden headline-grabbing disaster. Sometimes, it creeps up quietly: in shrinking rivers, failing wells, and communities being forced to “use less” of what they barely have. But make no mistake: what looks like scarcity is actually theft. Theft of a stable climate. Theft of reliable rainfall. Theft of the water systems that have sustained life for millennia.
A new report from the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era” warns that the world has entered an era of “global water bankruptcy.” It means we are using and damaging freshwater systems faster than nature can replenish them and in many places, the damage is irreversible.
This is what the climate crisis looks like when it hits the systems that sustain life. And it’s being driven by the same forces destroying our climate: fossil fuel extraction, industrial agriculture, and an economic system that treats nature as an infinite resource to exploit for profit.
From “Crisis” to “Bankruptcy”. What’s the difference?For decades, policymakers and researchers have described global water challenges as a “water crisis” or “water scarcity.” But scholars have long warned that this crisis framing fails to capture the reality of long-term, structural decline. The word “crisis” sounds temporary. Bankruptcy means something more permanent and more concerning. It describes a system that’s been used up so badly that it can no longer simply bounce back.
The UNU report documents a scale of loss that makes this distinction unavoidable:
- Roughly 70% of the world’s major aquifers (underground layers of rock and soil that store water) are in long-term decline.
- Rivers that once flowed to the sea now run dry for months each year.
- Over half of the world’s large lakes have lost water since the early 1990s.
- The world has lost an estimated 410 million hectares of natural wetlands over the past five decades, nearly the size of the entire European Union. These were ecosystems that once stored water, buffered droughts, and regulated local climates.
Perhaps most alarming, the world has lost more than 30% of its glacier mass since 1970. These “frozen water towers” once released meltwater during dry seasons, sustaining billions of people. Their disappearance is the liquidation of nature’s water savings account — with no mechanism for repayment.
Almost all the world’s glaciers are shrinking and fast. Credit: Copyright 2011 Michael C Smith
Bankruptcy essentially means you can’t restore what’s been permanently lost. Compacted (squeezed out) aquifers can never store water again. Extinct species don’t return. Glaciers that took millennia to form won’t regrow in our lifetimes.
Fossil Fuels > The Climate Crisis > Water CollapseWater bankruptcy is being locked in by climate breakdown, which in turn is driven overwhelmingly by the burning of fossil fuels i.e. coal, oil, and gas. Here’s how climate change is destroying our water systems:
- Rising temperatures intensify the water bankruptcy spiral: Every fraction of a degree of global warming increases evaporation from soils, rivers, and reservoirs. Hotter air sucks moisture from the land, turning what would have been manageable dry spells into devastating droughts. The report documents how drought is increasingly “anthropogenic”, meaning it’s not just about lack of rainfall, but about human-caused warming, land degradation, and over-extraction combining to create permanent water deficits.
An Indian man takes bath under the tap of a water tanker on a hot day in Ahmadabad, India. Heat wave conditions prevailed as temperature rises in many parts of India. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
- Extreme rainfall creates the cruel paradox – floods without recharge: At the same time, climate change is intensifying rainfall. Storms arrive in violent bursts that flood cities and wash water away before it can infiltrate soils. More than half of global agricultural land is now moderately or severely degraded, meaning it cannot absorb and store water. Communities experience the cruel paradox of flooding and water shortage in the same year or sometimes in the same month.
- Melting glaciers: short-term surge, long-term catastrophe: Glacier melt illustrates the danger of mistaking short-term increases for security. As glaciers melt faster, rivers may briefly swell. But once glaciers shrink past critical thresholds, dry-season flows collapse permanently. For the 1.5 to 2 billion people who depend on glacier-fed river systems such as the Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra, and Andean rivers, this means water supplies that sustained entire civilizations are disappearing.
- Industrial agriculture and extractive industries devour and pollute water: Around 70% of global freshwater withdrawals go to agriculture, much of it for water-intensive monocultures in regions that cannot sustain them. Meanwhile, mining, fossil fuel operations, and industrial pollution render vast volumes of remaining water unusable. Water may still exist on paper, but functionally it is gone, too contaminated for drinking, farming, or healthy ecosystems.
The scale of water bankruptcy is quite extensive and ever- growing:
- Nearly 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity at least one month per year
- 2.2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water
- 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation
- Over 1.8 billion people were living under drought conditions in 2022-2023
- Drought-related damages cost over $307 billion per year worldwide — more than the annual GDP of three-quarters of UN member states.
But statistics only tell part of the story. Water bankruptcy shows up in daily realities no one should have to face. Farmers watch wells fail after generations of reliability and go into debt drilling deeper into aquifers that will soon collapse. Girls walk farther for water instead of attending school. Informal settlement residents pay more for less reliable water from tanker trucks while wealthy neighbourhoods maintain green lawns. Entire communities are forced to move as water sources disappear. Rising food prices as irrigation fails and harvests decline, pushing the poorest households into deeper poverty and hunger.
Young women and girls carry water in Nigeria. Credit: Flickr
And here’s the brutal irony: the communities facing water bankruptcy today are often those who’ve contributed least to the climate crisis but are protecting the water systems everyone depends on like Indigenous water guardians stewarding watersheds, small-scale farmers practicing sustainable agriculture and communities resisting extractive industries and defending rivers from pollution.
Their knowledge and their resistance are being ignored while their water is being stolen by the same systems driving climate chaos.
The Fossil Fuel Era Has to End NowEvery year governments delay ending coal, oil, and gas, ordinary people pay the price, not in abstract climate targets, but in higher food prices, worsening health, lost livelihoods, and growing insecurity. Water bankruptcy is another consequence that makes those costs impossible to ignore.
The solution is not complicated. End fossil fuel expansion. Phase out coal, oil, and gas. Invest in clean energy and resilient, public, community-led water systems. Set binding limits on industrial water extraction. Align climate policy with the reality that there is no livable future without functioning water systems.
What happens next depends on whether leaders continue protecting polluters or finally choose people, justice, and a livable planet.
Sources
- Global Water Bankruptcy Report – UNU-INWEH (2026)
- Fossil Fuels Did This: How the Industry Drives Drought – 350.org
- The Planetary Boundaries Framework – Stockholm Resilience Centre
- Water Conflict Chronology – Pacific Institute
- UN 2023 Water Conference Outcomes
The post Water bankruptcy: how fossil fuels are destroying the world’s water supply appeared first on 350.
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