Oscar's Green Lens

       Hello everyone, and happy holidays! 2025 was an amazing year, and I hope to continue to improve this blog's quality and consistency as we move into the new year. Trying something new, I want to give news on a city-level, state-level, country-level, and global-level, to give you a glimpse of environmental policy news from all levels of our world.     In Northbrook, a new partial ban on gas-powered leaf blowers will become effective in the new year after it was approved in December 2023 by the Village of Northbrook. It is a 9-month ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, with a 4-week spring clean-up and an 8-week fall clean-up period in which the ban is lifted. (Note, these don't affect your everyday battery-powered and corded leaf blowers) This partial ban will be wonderful for our environment. By reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides, the partial ban will improve the air quality     In Illinois, especially rural part...

 Hello, and happy early Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates!      One of the biggest pieces of news in the U.S. environmental politics scene, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Donald Trump administration is moving to overturn the 2024 ruling that lowered the allowable concentration of soot in the air from 12 to 9 micrograms per cubic meter. This rule was initially designed to protect public health, especially youth and the elderly. This rollback is still in the process of happening, despite legal challenges from nearly 25 states and industry groups. This change is an extreme showing of the tension between environmental health regulation and industry. As we have seen in the past year, the administration has taken the latter's side 9 times out of 10. This time, however, it is public health that is being endangered, not just the environment. In my opinion, big change must come from this administration to prioritize the health of the environment, an...

  Hello! There are some big, big changes going on, so let's cover them. Firstly, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has proposed to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which requires large industrial facilities to report their annual emissions. The motivation for the proposal is to reduce regulatory burden and save money for businesses. However, even if the GHGRP is ended, some certain oil and gas facilities would still have to report in 2034 due to the Clean Air Act. However, oppositions argue that removing these reporting hurts transparency, and makes it harder to track climate progress. In my opinion, this is a huge step back for climate regulation, and I think in order to continue moving forward, we need more real data and numbers, not less. However, this proposal conflicts with existing laws and requirements, which could lead to legal challenges. As of yesterday, the University of Exeter's Global Tipping Points Report has reported that the Earth ...

 Hello, welcome back to my blog! Instead of the usual "monthly rundown", I'd like to share a little of what I have been up to in the past few months (hopefully it's interesting enough to excuse my 2 month absence from posting).        About 1 month and a half ago, I learned about the Line 5 pipeline  n the straits of Mackinac. I quickly became interested in the issue, especially the debates surrounding the topics. I was able to get in contact with a couple of the involved parties, including the EGLE, Enbridge, and Sierra Club. I asked each of them the following questions:  1.) If all sides (Environmentalists, Enbridge, etc.) came to the table tomorrow with an open mind on the Line 5 issue, what would the first compromise look like to you? 2)How do you personally weigh the risk of ecological damage against the economic benefits of Line 5, and where do you draw the line between acceptable risk and irreversible harm? EGLE (Department of Environment, Great...

Hello! Apologies for the nearly 2 month break since my last post. The end of the school year is always a busy time, and I wasn't able to make time to write a post. Nonetheless, here is the big news of the month! Global Warming Heating Up: Global Warming is a pressing environmental issue that is widely debated and researched. However, the issue it presents is becoming more and more relevant to public health as time passes. According to UN news, "nearly half of humanity already living in areas highly susceptible to climate change," and because of this, hundreds of thousands of people are dying to heat related issues across the world. The UN also notes that Europe accounts for a third of the world's global heat-related deaths. To combat this, WHO/Europe on Wednesday created a new program, called the "Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health". I think this program is a step in the right direction. However, more drastic measures need to be made by our world ...

 Hello! Here are some recent updates in environmental policy from the past 2 weeks! LG & Samsung vs. Indian Government: As some of you may know, LG and Samsung are massive tech companies based in South Korea. Recently, they have filed a law suit against the Indian Government over their new e-waste recycling policy. Put simply, the policy requires that manufacturers pay 22 rupees(or 25 cents) per kilogram of e-waste produced to certified recyclers. The policy aims to increase e-waste recycling in a more formal way. Samsung and LG claim that the policy unfairly raises prices and lacks clear environmental benefits. In my opinion, the policy is fair. However, officials should provide official reports that show significant environmental impact from the policy. What is your opinion on this policy? UK Government vs. Small Businesses On a similar note, in the UK, the government has created a new policy, a new tax, that affects businesses with over 25 tons of packaging annually. It aims...