State of the Air Report Shows Citizen Advocacy and Common-Sense Policies Work
The American Lung Association released its annual “State of the Air” report today and it showed that Birmingham has made significant improvements in air quality over recent years. The Birmingham metro area ranked 53rd most polluted for ozone, 22nd most polluted for...
Report: More than Half of Americans Live with Unhealthy Air Pollution Levels
The American Lung Association today released the annual State of the Air report, finding that 52.1 percent of Americans live in counties that have unhealthy levels of either ozone or particle pollution, the two most widespread pollutants in the United States....
Alabama Still Threatened by Dirty Energy
Almost exactly 17 years ago today, I wrote an essay entitled “Fitzgerald’s Fools: Corruption in The Great Gatsby.” The thesis of that paper was that naivete, greed, and fragile masculinity are the toxic cocktail that destroys the American Dream. Daisy Buchanan’s...
What’s In The Air We Breathe? Understanding Air Toxics & Risk
Birmingham’s air quality has improved since the days when thick orange-brown clouds enveloped the city, but our air is still far from healthy. In the American Lung Association’s 2014 State of the Air report, Birmingham ranked 16th in annual particle pollution and 23rd...
EPA to Live-Stream Civil Rights Public Meeting
This story has been updated with the webcast link and to correct the time of the event. The. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is hosting a public meeting at Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, March 1 from 3–6 p.m....
Gasp Hires Michael Hansen as Executive Director
Birmingham, Ala. — Gasp today announced that it has hired Michael Hansen to assume to role of executive director effective immediately. The Memphis, Tenn., native joined Gasp in 2013 as communications director. In that role, he managed marketing strategy, branding,...
Curveball at the Supreme Court: Clean Power Plan Blocked
On February 8, 2016, in a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an administrative stay that halted the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan would have denied the stay. On January 21, 2016 the D.C. Circuit Court denied a stay on the...
Gasp to Weigh in on Proposed Changes to EPA Civil Rights Complaint Process
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today we celebrate the life and...
Alabama Ranked 5th Most Polluted State for Particle Pollution
HealthGrove, a website that offers news and data analysis about health topics, has named Alabama's air pollution the fifth worst in the nation. Specifically, their researchers analyzed fine particulate matter data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....
Mississippi Beats Alabama to Net Metering
I’m sure you’ve heard Alabamians say “thank God for Mississippi.” Whether we are looking for a silver lining whilst bemoaning Alabama’s low rankings for education or obesity, in many categories, Alabama edges out Mississippi to where Alabamians can breathe a sigh of...
A Toast To Clean Air: Honoring the Past, Committing to the Future
Birmingham was built, literally and figuratively, by steel, iron and coal. This is no secret. The massive statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking, who keeps an eye on the city from atop Red Mountain is a dead giveaway. So, too, are the remains of...
Action Alert: Comment on the EPA’s Proposed Methane Rules
In September, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed its first-ever standards to protect Americans from the harmful heath effects that come with oil and gas operations. As we explained at that time, methane is the primary component of natural gas and is a...
Guest Blog Post: How Clean Is The Air in Your Home?
With all the attention on pollution from cars and factories, you might think about your home as a sacred space of filtered purity. But the truth is that the air in most homes is two to five times more contaminated than outside. And city homes with tight spaces are...
Bringing Solar Energy to Low-Income Households
Solar energy is the fastest growing source of electricity in the U.S. Last year, the amount of solar capacity installed in the U.S. every three weeks was equivalent to the entire amount of solar capacity installed for the year in 2008. Not only is the solar energy...
‘Dark Money’ Fighting Against Solar Energy Exposed
Net metering continues to be a hotly contested issue between energy companies and consumer advocates — including pro-solar and environmental groups. Media Matters, a “progressive research and information center,” has published an extensive report on so-called “dark...
‘Biking & Breathing’: Columbia Researchers Employ Wearable Technology to Study NYC Air Pollution
If you’re anything like me, you look forward each week to the newest episode of Science Friday, a.k.a., “SciFri.” I listen to the show on Birmingham’s NPR affiliate, WBHM. Last week, Science Friday aired a particularly interesting segment for us at GASP. “Pedaling...
EPA Proposes First-Ever Rules to Reduce Methane Emissions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is continuing the streak of important air pollution prevention regulations. Last week, the EPA proposed the nation’s first-ever rules for methane emissions from oil and natural gas drilling. Methane is the primary component of...
What the Federal Court’s Ruling on the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Actually Means
Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by states and industry groups that the Transport Rule — or Cross-State Air Pollution (CSAPR) — was overly burdensome. While the D.C. Circuit kept the Transport Rule in place, the Court ordered the EPA to...
Alabama Power Seeks 500 Megawatts of Renewable Energy
Perhaps one of Alabama’s best kept secrets is that the sun shines here just like it does in other Sunbelt states. That’s the conclusion you might draw based on the state’s lackluster performance in the solar energy sector. Alabama has long lagged behind the rest of...
MATS Rule Not Dead, Will Protect Public Health
In April, I wrote about the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule that had just gone into effect: "GASP strongly supports the MATS rule because it will be crucial in improving air quality and public health. Until recently, there were no national limits on...
GASP Named a Finalist for BBJ Nonprofit Awards
GASP is honored to be named a finalist for the Birmingham Business Journal's 2015 Nonprofit Awards! We're in the running in the "Under $350k (revenue)" category with two outstanding organizations: TechBirmingham and KultureCity. We asked our executive director to tell...
Citizen Science Movement Can Help Solve Birmingham’s Pollution Problem
On Tuesday, I sent a letter to Heather McTeer Toney, EPA Region IV administrator, asking that her agency invest in “next generation” air monitoring in Birmingham to gather data, empower citizens and improve public health for northern Birmingham communities. “It has...
PSC’s ‘Misplaced Priorities’ Lead to Higher Utility Bills for Alabamians
A report titled "What Public Service? How the Alabama Public Service Commission’s misplaced priorities put utility profits over people" was released last week by Greater Birmingham Ministries. GASP has been seeking transparency at the PSC for the past two years with a...
Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Will Improve Air Quality, Protect Health
On December 16, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a rule to reduce emissions of toxic air pollutants from power plants called the mercury and air toxics standards, or MATS. The aim is to reduce emissions from new and existing coal- and oil-fired...
Why Did the Board of Health Dismiss GASP’s Appeal of ABC Coke’s Permit?
The Permit The Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to issue what are known as Title V Operating Permits for facilities that qualify as major sources of air pollution (e.g., manufacturing facilities, power plants, and chemical plants)....
Update on GASP’s Appeal of the ABC Coke Permit
GASP has been raising awareness of the toxic air pollution affecting Birmingham since our inception. As soon as the EPA named the potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) for the contamination in the 35th Avenue Superfund Site, we got to work advocating for stronger...
Reducing Air Pollution Improves Children's Lung Health
"The current report and other studies suggest that further improvement in air quality may have beneficial public health effects." This month, a study of the long-term effects of air pollution found that improving air quality also improves the respiratory function of...
Guest Blog Post: Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired
"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired." – Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights and Voting Rights Leader On Monday, Feb. 2, I was admitted into UAB’s Spain-Wallace hospital for a lung infection due to an exacerbation related to my cystic fibrosis. Last Monday, Feb....
Alabama Power Customers ‘Left in the Dark’ by Public Service Commission
A study released today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) confirms what GASP has been saying for the past two years: lack of transparency by the Alabama Public Service Commission hurts consumers. “The Alabama PSC ‘regulates’ Alabama...
State Department, EPA Team Up to Monitor Global Air Quality
The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed this week that they are teaming up to launch a "new air quality partnership" focused on fine particle pollution (PM 2.5). The EPA will set up air monitors at U.S. embassies and...
