PSE Energy Quarterly is the newsletter of Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy, a nonprofit research institute dedicated to supplying evidence-based scientific and technical information on the public health, environmental, and climate dimensions of energy production and use.
Top Story
Shonkoff Testifies in Congressional Oil and Gas Hearings
PSE Executive Director Dr. Seth Shonkoff testified before a Congressional House subcommittee hearing on the health and climate impacts of oil and gas development. Senior Scientist Dr. Dominic DiGiulio testified in another congressional hearing focused on water impacts of oil and gas development.
New Briefs
Equitable Solar California leads the nation in the adoption of rooftop solar systems, but there has been limited information on which communities do, and do not, benefit from these installations. Now, the data is in: The adoption of distributed solar is closely correlated with socioeconomic status as well as with health, environmental and demographic indicators. The study, led by PSE scientist Dr. Boris Lukanov and published online August 20 in Energy Policy, is the first peer-reviewed analysis of distributed solar adoption in disadvantaged communities. Read the news story.
Health Co-Benefits Global Health benefits from climate change mitigation could amount to trillions of dollars annually, as eliminating sources of carbon emissions reduces health-damaging co-pollutants that contribute to premature mortality. Given these benefits, why aren’t countries acting more aggressively to curb fossil fuel combustion? Energy Analyst Annie Dillon unpacks the question in her blog post, “Co-benefits are key to spurring policy action on climate.”
Richmond Emissions Inventory Map This new mapping tool, part of PSE’s ongoing Richmond Air Monitoring Network project in California, visualizes criteria and toxic air pollutants from permitted facilities in Richmond, California. Users can select individual facilities, view their reported emissions, filter the results by pollutant, facility, or census tract, and download any of the underlying sensitive-population data from CalEnviroScreen 3.0. Go to interactive map.
Richmond Air Monitoring Network Updates This month, PSE hosted the Richmond Air Monitoring Network’s first meeting of its Technical Advisory Committee, which includes experts on air pollution and public health from UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Committee members will provide valuable oversight to support the scientific integrity of the air monitoring project. Read all related news on the project’s News and Updates page.
This issue of PSE Energy Quarterly was published August 29, 2019, in Oakland, California.
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