Environmental Protection Agency

The Biden administration rolled out a slate of new pollution standards for cars, light trucks, and medium-duty vehicles Wednesday, a move that, in part, aims to hasten the adoption of electric vehicles to combat climate change. The rules would take effect for new vehicles manufactured starting with model year 2027 and work to boost sales of electric vehicles while reducing emissions in vehicles that run on fossil fuels. The regulations would result in avoiding seven billion tons of carbon emissions, according…

By TOM KRISHER and MATTHEW DALY (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week is expected to announce new automobile emissions standards that relax proposed limits for three years but eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The changes come as sales of zero-tailpipe emissions electric vehicles, needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry has cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA’s preferred standards unveiled…

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration this week is expected to announce new automobile emissions standards that relax proposed limits for three years but eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The changes come as sales of zero-tailpipe emissions electric vehicles, needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry has cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA’s preferred standards unveiled last April as part of the most ambitious plan ever to cut…

A 2021 study found that if farmers didn’t use pesticides, they would lose 78% of fruit production, 54% of vegetable production, and 32% of cereal production. At the same time, the way pesticides are delivered is not ideal: The only way to guarantee enough pesticide distribution is to spray too much. That isn’t great for farmers’ wallets or the environment. Along comes AgZen, a company born out of over a decade of MIT engineering research, with a new solution that uses AI to ensure that the…

As Teslas and other electric vehicles dazzled car buyers with futuristic technology and dreams of a gasoline-free future, hybrid cars began to seem like yesterday’s news. Sales of the Toyota Prius, the standard-bearer for hybrids, fell 85% over a decade. Now, a slowdown in the growth of electric-car sales has led General Motors, Ford Motor and Volkswagen to walk back ambitious targets for those vehicles. And sales of hybrids are robust, underscoring what may be the enduring reality check of 2023: Many Americans are hugely…

After spending $40,000 to electrify her Boulder home, which included installing heat pumps, K.K. DuVivier was ready to disconnect from natural gas and have her meter turned off. Then she got the bill to flip the switch: $5,333. The bill marked due Dec. 12 arrived after what DuVivier described as frustrating rounds of calls and emails as she tried to stop the gas service she no longer needs from Xcel Energy. The bill didn’t say why she owed more than $5,000. When she contacted Xcel again, DuVivier got an email saying the…

Suncor Energy’s oil refinery in Commerce City has reported 13 malfunctions since Dec. 1, sending excessive amounts of harmful pollutants into the air as the company provided little public information as to whether or not people’s health was at risk. The malfunctions caused Suncor to release more pollutants than the company is allowed under its two federal air pollution permits, and on at least two occasions those excessive releases lasted for days. In one incident on Jan. 13, the amount of hydrogen sulfide expelled from…

A long-abandoned effort to green up a section of Globeville that is split by Interstate 70 is being resurrected by community activists, residents, business people and environmental organizations. Blocks of planters attached to the base of tall, white concrete walls along 10 blocks on each side of the highway contain no greenery, just lumps of soil and one lone tree in the north-side planting beds. The scene tells the tale of a project left to wither away. Anthony Garcia Sr., an artist and community activist, said the…

By ALEXA ST. JOHN and TOM KRISHER (Associated Press) DETROIT (AP) — Engine maker Cummins Inc. will recall 600,000 Ram trucks as part of a settlement with federal and California authorities that also requires the company to remedy environmental damage caused by illegal software that let it skirt diesel emissions tests. New details of the settlement, reached in December, were released Wednesday. Cummins had already agreed to a $1.675 billion civil penalty to settle claims – the largest ever secured under the Clean Air Act…

BY ALEXA ST. JOHN The Department of Justice released new details of a settlement with engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. Wednesday that includes a mandatory recall of 600,000 Ram trucks, and that Cummins remedy environmental damage it caused when it illegally installed emissions control software in several thousand vehicles, skirting emissions testing. Cummins is accused of circumventing emissions testing through devices that can bypass or defeat emissions controls. The engine manufacturer will pay a $1.675 billion civil…