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NTAA News!
NTAA seats New Chairwoman and Secretary!
NTAA would like to congratulate Syndi Smallwood for becoming the new chairwoman of NTAA! Syndi serves as the Environmental Director of the Jamul Indian Village, Region 9, in California. NTAA would also like to congratulate Billie Toledo for becoming the new secretary for NTAA! Billie is from the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians, Region 7, in Kansas. Visit NTAA’s website to learn more about NTAA’s Executive Committee here.
NTAA welcomes the newest NTAA Member Tribe, The Rappahannock Tribe, Region 3, in Virginia! Join us in welcoming them to the family of 154 NTAA Member Tribes! If you and/or your Tribe would like to join the Rappahannock Tribe and NTAA as a member, please visit NTAA’s website here!
The NTAA is currently seeking story submissions for the 2022 Status of Tribal Air Report!
We are asking that you draft the short story or nominate someone who you may think has a great idea! Please list or write a short paragraph below for one (or two) of the topics given in the Google Form. You may also submit another form response. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: Friday, February 25th, 2022
The NTAA STAR is an annual publication intended to provide an understanding of the importance and impact of Tribal air programs. As such, one of the biggest components to the STAR is the unique perspectives of air programs within Tribal communities. In last year’s STAR, there was mention of needs not being met when it comes to implementing programs or projects due to the lack of funding and infrastructure. Our hope for this STAR is to emphasize funding, and not just the need for more funding for Tribes, but more emphasis on how Tribes are utilizing funds to implement projects and programs. So please provide your success and challenge stories, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to Mariah.Ashely@nau.edu, NTAA Community Program Coordinator, for any questions.
NTAA has released a new template letter that Tribes can use to respond to EPA’s Proposed revisions for National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Primary Copper Smelters. Comments to EPA are due on February 25, 2022. You can find the template letter here and find NTAA’s fact sheet here. To learn more, visit NTAA’s website here or EPA’s website here.
Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes News
The Washington Post – Biden Administration Sets Interim Greenhouse Pollution Cost Estimates
E&E News – EPA pushes school ventilation upgrades as mask mandates fall
NM Political Report – Clean Future Act heads to House floor
Politico – Biden’s climate agenda stalls, and progressives fume
E&E News – White House CCS guidance exposes environmental justice rifts
E&E News – Inflation news throws more cold water on ‘Build Back Better’
E&E News – A devastating blaze picked a fight with scientists
The Hill – Biden administration announces green manufacturing push
High Country News – The first answer for food insecurity: data sovereignty
Grist – Climate change brings thinner, more unstable ice to the Great Lakes
Indian Country Today – An Indigenous Super Bowl champion
Here’s your link to this week’s NACAA Washington Update
Climate Change/Energy
NBC News – U.S. megadrought worst in at least 1,200 years, researchers say
NPR – Ocean water along U.S. coasts will rise about one foot by 2050, scientists warn
E&E News – With climate bill stalled, Democrats push EJ agenda
AP News – UN to finalize science report on how warming hits home hard
Montana Public Radio – Youths suing Montana over climate change will have their day in court
Politico – Climate investing ‘boycott bills’ flood state capitals
The Guardian – Facts give lie to claim record oil money is being poured into green projects
The Washington Post – Manchin wants ‘good things on climate.’ What does that mean?
Utility Dive – US senators express bipartisan support for hydrogen as states vie to become hydrogen ‘hubs’
NPR – How climate change is forcing cities to rebuild stormwater systems
The Independent – Super Bowl heatwave – you can thank climate change
The Hill – Congress must find common ground on climate
ITEP Tribes and Climate Change Monthly Newsletter
Toxics/Mobile Sources
E&E News – Who wants Biden’s EV-charging money? Everybody
USA Today – Fact check: EV transition does not require every gas station in the U.S. to go electric
Bloomberg Green – Sticking With Gas-Guzzlers Over EVs Could Delay Postal Upgrade
Reuters – U.S. energy department advances $6 bln nuclear plant program
CNBC – These 23-year-old Texans made $4 million last year mining bitcoin off flare gas from oil drilling
The Guardian – Experts skeptical of Shine Energy’s proposed ‘flexible’ coal power station
Utility Dive – PJM stakeholders advance interconnection reform plan to speed process, clear clean energy backlog
Grist – Biden’s 500,000 EV charging stations get a $5 billion start
Axios – How artificial intelligence could help fuel the electric vehicle revolution
Indoor Air Quality
Why is this Happening? – 50 min. Chris Hayes Podcast – An Indoor Clean Air Act? with Dr. Linsey Marr
E&E News – EPA pushes school ventilation upgrades as mask mandates fall
9News – Cooking with gas could create in-home air pollution
RE Journals – Is indoor air quality now an incentive for employees? Honeywell study suggests it is
