Environment | WPN World People News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice announced on January 14 that the United States has filed and simultaneously settled a civil lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor North America Inc., Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc. (Toyota) for systematic, longstanding violations of Clean Air Act emission-related defect reporting requirements, which require manufacturers to report potential defects and recalls affecting vehicle components designed to control emissions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with the corporation BC Systems/Fresh Express (BC Systems) to resolve violations of the federal Clean Air Act and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. BC Systems will pay a $186,975 civil penalty for violating chemical accident prevention requirements at the company’s storage and distribution facilities in Yuma, Arizona, and Salinas, California.

The Supreme Court of Norway ruled in the People Vs Arctic Oil court case where environmental and youth organisations have sued the Norwegian State for opening up for new oil drilling in the Arctic, on December 22. The judgment was uneven, with four judges believing that the oil licenses in the Arctic should be invalid for climate reasons, but the majority voted in favour of the Norwegian state.

New Zealand’s parliament voted Wednesday to declare a climate emergency and committed the government to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025.

A special issue of the Production Gap Report – from leading research organizations and the UN – finds that the COVID-19 recovery marks a potential turning point, where countries must change course to avoid locking in levels of coal, oil, and gas production far higher than consistent with a 1.5°C limit.

Climate change is now the biggest threat to natural World Heritage, according to a report published on Dec.2 by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). A third (33%) of natural World Heritage sites are threatened by climate change, including the world’s largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef, assessed as having a “critical” outlook for the first time.

An evening of traffic congestion and air pollution: Increased funding for air quality monitoring and research can save children from respiratory diseases due to pollution.

On Oct.27, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld protections for wilderness-quality lands within Montana’s Bitterroot National Forest against a rising tide of motorized and mechanized backcountry use. The court affirmed a 2018 Montana district court ruling which upheld the U.S. Forest Service’s 2016 Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan against a legal challenge brought by motorized and mechanized users.

A group of senior women is taking the Swiss government to the European Court of Human Rights because their health is threatened by heat waves made worse by the climate crisis.