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nastratin OP t1_ja7f6ap wrote

The Environmental Protection Agency recently gave a Chevron refinery the green light to create fuel from discarded plastics as part of a “climate-friendly” initiative to boost alternatives to petroleum. But, according to agency records obtained by ProPublica and The Guardian, the production of one of the fuels could emit air pollution that is so toxic, 1 out of 4 people exposed to it over a lifetime could get cancer.

>That kind of risk is obscene,

said Linda Birnbaum, former head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

>You can’t let that get out.

That risk is 250,000 times greater than the level usually considered acceptable by the EPA division that approves new chemicals. Chevron hasn’t started making this jet fuel yet, the EPA said. When the company does, the cancer burden will disproportionately fall on people who have low incomes and are Black because of the population that lives within 3 miles of the refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

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Ok_Skill_1195 t1_ja8z5p0 wrote

What the fuck does the EPA even do anymore? Like what is their purpose other than placating the masses when they're greenlighting this shit?

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sambull t1_ja90izv wrote

it's all captured now.. irs can't tax the rich, epa can't enforce anything other then a doing business tax, same with all the bank regulations.

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DoItYourSelf2 t1_ja9206e wrote

Yeah, when they were caught ignoring pleas from academia to do something about the lead in Michigan I pretty much wrote them off.

This didn't even seem to get much press, I think I saw a Frontline on it.

Same BS with the FDA. Our government is just about hopelessly corrupt and/or inept.

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CheesiestButt t1_jabspnu wrote

Time to move away and let the burden fall on the sickly politicians with foam in their mouths that stay

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shkeptikal t1_ja9hbej wrote

This is what tends to happen when you legalize government corruption. Welcome to the Plutocracy!

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Parafault t1_jacdwrl wrote

The EPA has been gutted so badly that they aren’t able to do much of anything anymore. I know people who work there, and they’re all extremely passionate about environmental protection: they’re just short staffed and their ability to actually regulate is often limited.

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sigmatrophic t1_ja9pz8r wrote

EPA that was gutted by trump

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sharksnut t1_jaa2xc0 wrote

This entire initiative is Biden, begun under a Democrat controlled Congress:

"In January 2022, the EPA announced the initiative to streamline the approval of petroleum alternatives in what a press release called “part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions to confront the climate crisis.” While the program cleared new fuels made from plants, it also signed off on fuels made from plastics even though they themselves are petroleum-based and contribute to the release of planet-warming greenhouse gases."

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CarryNoWeight t1_jaaohwp wrote

You're both right! Trump positioned the head of exxon and biden kept the ball rolling =)

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crowsaboveme t1_jaa9nnw wrote

Rule 6 - Comment Quality

Comments must be on topic, contribute to the discussion and be of sufficient length. Comments that dismiss well-established science without compelling evidence are a distraction to discussion of futurology and may be removed.

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